03-04-2014, 09:14 PM
Jonathan Edwards Wrote:Never give free entry to anyone (FM/IM/GMs) for any event?
Depends on the objectives of individual congresses.
No free entry / appearance fees / conditions => Fewer titled players => Fewer entries and no/less sponsorship => Smaller budget and less money in chess.
Agree. Plus, if we want young players to break into the Olympiad team, they need a chance to play these guys... getting 4/5 against 21/2200s is good, but you need experience against the 23/24/2500s to make it to the next level.
One idea that may attract CS members to try and get sponsorship is to have a percentage that the individual keeps if he is successful - could be like 10/20%. So if you get sponsorship of £500 then you get to keep £50/100 for your efforts, and CS gets the rest. I've got a similar thing at my football club and it works quite well...