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Bob Armstrong
10-01-2010, 08:20 AM
Item # 12 - Tournament Coordination Committee

The non-executive Officer position of Tournament Coordinator was created at the Toronto July CFC AGM. It is still vacant. In the interim, Bob G. directed that a committee be formed to carry out some of the proposed tasks of this position – there was concern that CFC has received no bids for any of the 2010-11 national championships. Bob G has now appointed Governor Gordon Ritchie as Chairperson of the Committee. Gordon has been requested by Bob G to post an updating report on this committee, its mandate, and its activity, soon after the opening of the meeting. Concerns around the Can. Open or any of the National Championships can be raised here.

Gordon Ritchie
10-01-2010, 11:56 AM
We are still putting this committee together. We plan to convene on a separate discussion board and by the occasional teleconference call.
The purpose of the committee is to bring together a number of proven organizers from across the country to:
1) help solicit serious bids for our flagship events in 2011 and beyond
2) provide organizers of such events with the benefits of our experience
3) assist organizers in the actual presentation of these major events
4) establish a rotation over several years of these events among proven major cities
If the CFC does in fact appoint a tournament coordinator, the committee would obviously work with that person. Bob Gillanders serves on the committee.
At this point, I would make several observations which I plan to discuss with the committee:
1) The CFC is in serious difficulty over its flagship events which arguably are the raison d'etre for the federation. (There is an alternative source for ratings.)
2) The bidding process has been haphazard, arbitrary and completely unrealistic. The attempt at the AGM to raise minimum requirements for such events in the face of a complete absence of bids is one part of the problem. I believe the CFC should facilitate and support the organizers of these events.
3) The bar has been raised too high and unrealistic expectations created. My team in Ottawa were partly to blame with the showcase Open and CYCC we presented in 2007 thanks to a unique sponsorship situation. Montreal and Edmonton put on first-rate events, with a level of government support not available to other cities ($100K up front). Toronto put on a very high-class event but ran a deficit and had to come to the CFC AGM for some bailout assistance. These were spectacular events but this level of financing is simply not available every year.
4) It should be perfectly acceptable to present well-run but much more modest events. The Canadian Closed this year in Kitchener is a good example of what should be expected, despite the delusional demands of some of the participants. The Open should be perfectly acceptable in a university settting with student accommodation and simple playing hall---we do not need Class A hotels. The CYCC is a more attractive financial proposition but the revenues should be used to support the winners in their travel to the WYCC.
5) That opens the door to involvement of a number of locations outside the major metropolitan locations and should make it easier to organize these events in the suburbs of the major cities.
6) Ultimately, I would like to see a rota (along the lines of the British Open in Golf) whereby we would have at least tentative commitments from several strong organizations to run events in, say, three of the next five years and support other locations in the remaining two years.
I should stress that these are simply my own observations which have not been discussed with the committee.
I hope to get things up and running before the end of this month.
Gordon Ritchie

Fred McKim
10-01-2010, 01:13 PM
I have agreed to serve on this committee.

Mark S. Dutton, I.A.
10-01-2010, 01:17 PM
solicit serious bids for our flagship events in 2011 and beyond

should be the top priority.

Having a committee to plan for the future is good.... but we need 1 person now... to put the "finger on" organizers to solicit bids now for 2011 -- like yesterday!

FYI -- The organizers in Victoria BC are serious about putting together bids for 2012 for the Canadian Open and or Canadian Closed. We did the CYCC and the Canadian Junior in 2009.

Everything else Gordon has posted is important and we need an excellent person to head this committee -- perhaps Mr. Ritchie himself?

PS what happened to the repeat of 2010 Canadian Open in Toronto again -- has that fallen through the cracks?

Egidijus Zeromskis
10-01-2010, 02:54 PM
PS what happened to the repeat of 2010 Canadian Open in Toronto again -- has that fallen through the cracks?

Only rumors - "no".
I think the main Toronto organizers are involved now in http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=B&mapID=8
and more http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3986

Gordon Ritchie
10-01-2010, 03:38 PM
Mark
I agree completely. Our first priority is to get someone to step up for 2011 for the Open, Closed and CYCC. I believe this is more likely to happen if we set realistic expectations and offer full support.
Gordon

Fred McKim
10-01-2010, 04:28 PM
I don't want to seem to heavy handed, but it would seem that with the date approaching, Toronto area seems to be the only likely option.

As for foreign GM's, who cares. Let's try and get the Olympic boys.

I have a feeling that we will have the 2012 event lined up well before July 2011, so hopefully this trend will continue.

Aris Marghetis
10-03-2010, 02:56 AM
Gordon, I would be interested in working with your committee on this, thanks.

Hugh Brodie
10-03-2010, 08:57 AM
Re: 2011 Can. Open: has the FQE been approached (or have they approached the CFC)? The Quebec Open dates are known (July 23-30, 2011), and city (Montreal). The two events have been "merged" in the past.

As far as scheduling future events (and avoiding conflicts) - the dates and locations of all major Quebec tournaments for 2010-11 are known.

http://fqechecs.qc.ca/index.php?typ=acteur&sc=fqe/tournois&sbj=calendrier

(look for the events highlighted in yellow with "Tour du Quebec Oasis" next to them).

Michael Barron
10-07-2010, 10:29 PM
I would like to inform the Assembly of Governors that a group of organizers from Toronto leaded by Ted Winick is working on 2011 Canadian Open and CYCC bid, and another group from Hamilton leaded by Mihail Egorov is working on 2011 Canadian Junior bid.

So, with the help of Tournament Coordination Committee we have a hope... :)

Michael Barron
10-10-2010, 08:53 PM
I would like to inform the Assembly of Governors that a group of organizers from Toronto leaded by Ted Winick is working on 2011 Canadian Open and CYCC bid, and another group from Hamilton leaded by Mikhail Egorov is working on 2011 Canadian Junior bid.

So, with the help of Tournament Coordination Committee we have a hope... :)

For your information:
The group of Toronto organizers received a proposal from the hotel for 2011 Canadian Open.
Unfortunately, the dates in this proposal are July 16-24... :(

Currently Ted Winick is negotiating the possibility to run the event a week earlier - to avoid overlap with the Quebec Open.

Daxin Jin
10-11-2010, 08:46 PM
For your information:

I knew from the group of Richmond Hill organizers already had a proposal from Hotel for CYCC 2011 bid from July 3-7. Still work on details, will submit before this weekend. Also has own web-site
https://sites.google.com/site/cycc2011

Bob Armstrong
10-12-2010, 01:19 AM
Hi Daxin:

I know this is only a bid website in construction, but I note:

" Eligibility Must be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Canadian resident for at least 12 months ".

I think this is quite incomplete and somewhat misleading. It gives the impression that anyone meeting this one criteria can play.

But the 2011 CYCC has qualifying events across the country, and only those qualifying, and some others, will be eligible to play.

The organizers should speak to Michael Barron on those eligible ( this is discussed on the other YCC thread here in this meeting ). Then they should amend their website.

Bob

Lyle Craver
10-12-2010, 02:34 AM
I have always felt with respect to national tournaments which qualify for interzonal events (Canadian championship, CYCC, World Junior / Cadet etc.) that players should not be eligible to compete if they are not eligible to take part (AKA "represent Canada") at the next level should they qualify.

If we formally adopted this position it would make age / citizenship requirements very easy to explain.

Bob Gillanders
10-12-2010, 12:57 PM
Hi Daxin,

Very nice website. It is good to see your bid is taking shape.

However, visitors to your website may wrongly assume that your bid has been accepted, and begin making travelling plans for next summer. It may seem a long way away, but we do begin getting inquiries about the timing and location for the next years Canadian Open and CYCC about this time.

Could you please make clear on your website that this is a bid only, and the timing and location for 2011 is not determined yet.

Thanks. :)

Daxin Jin
10-12-2010, 01:09 PM
Hello Bob,

Our Bid form and Web-site still work on, it takes time by the end of weekend. When it finishes, we will give you update soon. Thank you for the questions, we will fix our mistakes with your help and support step by step!

Egidijus Zeromskis
10-12-2010, 02:02 PM
we will fix our mistakes with your help and support step by step!

"Canada Chess Federation" should be the Chess Federation of Canada; and the picture with the CN tower does not represent Richmond Hill ;)