19-08-2014, 06:57 PM
Adam Bremner Wrote:Just to provide some numbers for people who don't know what the expense people are talking about is:
To play Euro Club Cup, it is 7 games, and is costing around £750 all told, so that's over £100 a game. I have been fortunate to get support from my club and university for playing this. Clement and myself are the respective board 1's at this for Edinburgh and Bon Accord, so it is a rare chance to get guaranteed monster opponents.
To play 4ncl, it is 2 games a weekend, and costs around £200 a shot assuming we can split a car, so again £100 a game. However, the great thing about this event is you can play some really good players. The last 4 rounds I played I got GM Bojkov, GM Gordon, GM Pert, IM Greet. These guys really make you raise your level.
An average 9 rounder is around £600 all told, so lets say £67 a game, and as Clement showed, in these types of events you are going to play a big number of sub 2100s. Although Andorra was a wonderful event last year for us, you have to expect to meet a lot of lower rated players in big opens.
So it really comes down to choice. Do you play the big open or the strong open? One might be more fun, the other better for your chess. Board 1 in the Euro Club Cup looks like both, but it's an exception, being a strong club event.