Prestwick 2012

[David G Congalton]

Work has started on the 2012 Prestwick Airport Congress website, which I hope will be an improvement on the 2011 site.

The site is still at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk">http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk</a><!-- m -->.

Obviosuly, there's still a lot of content to add and a lot of work to do but I hope it gives a flavour of what's to come. There will be the usual suspects of entry information, list of entrants, venue details, how to get there and so on. I am looking for fresh, innovative ideas for pages and for the congress too, so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to post here.

This could be the most exciting Scottish chess season for years with the recent news about the Scottish Championships, Prestwick is aiming to add to that with some new ideas, whilst retaining the parts that worked well in 2011. We hope to have all 8 sensory boards in operation at Prestwick, as well as coaching for juniors, many other ideas borrowed from succesful events at home and abroad and we'll maybe implement a few novel ideas of our own, such as everyone playing the last round in fancy dress. Those not entering into the spirit will be defaulted. Themes we are considering are animal antics, pirates of the Caribbean, Knights of the round table and Romans v Greeks. 8)

The website will be updated on a regular basis, so add it to your favourites and keep up to date with developments.

[Andrew McHarg]

...such as everyone playing the last round in fancy dress. Those not entering into the spirit will be defaulted. Themes we are considering are animal antics, pirates of the Caribbean, Knights of the round table and Romans v Greeks. 8)

Fancy dress is a funny idea. I said last season that we should have a Christmas tournament, and all the juniors under 13 should wear santa hats, and if you lose to one then you have to wear a santa hat too. How are you going to deal with the inevitable guys who come dressed as "Chess Players"? =o

[David G Congalton]

Addition of Greasy Palm adverts to the website (03/09/12) - I've been using the Greasy Palm site for a few years and I think it's excellent. I’ve never had an issue with it and have received a total of £232.60 since joining. This has been over a few years but that’s my fault because I go through phases when I remember to use it and phases when I forget.

It’s brilliant at Christmas when I order a lot of presents online and I go through Greasy Palm to earn cashback. I also went through it 2 years ago to purchase my car insurance (after researching the best price through the comparison sites and then checking Greasy Palm for offers that matched the best quote). If I remember right I got £75 cashback for that which effectively cut the cost of my car insurance to around the £200 per year mark.

I recommended the site to my mum and she recommended it to my sister. They both still use it and get a nice wee sum in their bank every now and again.

For each person that creates a new Greasy Palm account via the special referral adverts on the Prestwick Congress website I will be rewarded with £7.00 once that person has earned £15.00 or more in cashback. All future rewards I receive from Greasy Palm, including any non-referral rewards, will be donated to the Prestwick Congress fund. A proportion of this total amount will be donated by the Prestwick Congress to the Chess Scotland Sensory Board fund, in return for the use of the eight newly-acquired sensory boards.

I should stress, that it’s important that an ad link from the congress website is used to set up the account to ensure that Prestwick and the CS board fund benefit from the £7 reward, should you decide to join, you use it and you earn the £15 cashback amount. I’ll keep everyone up to date with the amount raised. If there are any questions please send me a mail via the forum.

The congress website address is <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk">www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk</a><!-- w -->

[David G Congalton]

We have the opportunity at Prestwick 2012 to hold an evening event on the Saturday night at either the venue or a local 4 star hotel, who have expressed an interest in being involved in the congress. The event would not be restricted to those taking part in the weekend congress but would be open to all. A buffet meal would be served at the event.

At the moment the suggestions we have are a showing of the film Bobby Fischer against the world and/or a quiz night. I’d like this to be a family friendly evening, which could be enjoyed by adults and juniors alike and I’m looking for comments and more suggestions of the sort of event players would be interested in coming along too.

I know it’s not until next year but I’m also trying to gauge if there would be enough interest in a Saturday night event. So would this be something of interest at a weekend congress?

[David G Congalton]

News relating to junior event, saturday night event and accomodation offer at Parkstone Hotel, Prestwick, updated on congress website <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk">www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk</a><!-- w --> . Add the website to your favourites to keep up to date.

Website also has some ads now which will hopefully generate some revenue for the event. More ads will be added but without comprimising the feel and look of the site too much.

Thanks to the two people who registered with Greasy Palm. The congress will benefit by £7 per person, once they have earned £15 of cashback.

The current cashback amount on my Greasy Palm account which will go into congress funds stands at £0.51. I have a couple of amounts pending, having purchased two items at play.com via Greasypalm for a birthday and having reviewed my spending on phone, broadband and TV I'm planning to move all to BT, again via Greasy Palm. The cashback earned should see the amount to congress jump a little.

[David G Congalton]

Entry fee details now published on the congress website, along with a couple of other updates. <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk">www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk</a><!-- w --> . Less than 6 months to go now. =)

For those who may be travelling by public transport to the event, reduced fares can be had by booking in advance.

It may also be the time to consider booking accomodation, whilst Prestwick is a seaside resort with plenty of accomodation on offer, it can be busy with people staying in the town who are using the airport or who are visiting Burns Country for the scenery, the golf or just for a weekend break. To get the best deals and/or the hotel of your choice, I would recommend booking well in advance.

For those who like a bit of comfort and quality, the Parkstone Hotel is offering special rates, inclusive of breakfast, for participants. The Parkstone is the venue for a Saturday night event during the congress weekend. Details of the hotel and the special rates are also on the congress website.

[David G Congalton]

Five months to go until the first Pawn is pushed in anger, unless of course the first move is a Knight move.

The early entry prize draw problem is now up on the congress website.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk/index.html">http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk/index.html</a><!-- m -->

Next year I might have a problem setting competition for the problem solving competition, if that makes sense.

[David G Congalton]

Happy New Year to all.

ENTRY BROCHURE & PRIZE FUND - A downloadable version of the 2012 Prestwick Congress Entry Brochure is now available online. See the tournament info page on the congress website.

We hope to have the form also available on the CS website shortly and have printed copies available at the forthcoming Lothians Allegro and Perth Chess Festival.

Details of the prize fund have also been published on a new page on the congress website, called, unsurprisingly, 2012 Prize Fund.

Hope to see you all in Ayrshire in 125 days time.

[David Deary]

Less than four months to go! Can't wait!

[David G Congalton]

There will be a few updates to the congress website this weekend, including news on the junior Saturday venue and(hopefully) all the games from the 2011 congress. Games from the major should be available now at the bottom of the 2011 congress page.

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk">www.ayrshirechesscongress.co.uk</a><!-- w -->