24-08-2014, 07:09 PM
amuir Wrote:Andy B: Both Alan Tate and I have played First Saturday before but the cost has gone up.
What would the total cost of a Czech tournament cost Alan (flights + accommodation + entry + food) to get 9 good games + chance of GM norm like First Saturday ?
The first Saturday tournaments are very expensive to enter and not as cheap accommodation-wise as Czech, although food-wise I hear they do have some old Hungarian classics on the menu at reasonable prices
Czech closed events for GM norms are more expensive - you're talking £200+ entry fee for players with a 2300-2350 rating although IM's get a 10 % discount.
For the IM events you're looking at about £100 entry fee, £100 return flights (max. if you book in advance), £150 accommodation if you share with another player and the food, etc. is cheap as chips
Playing 2 in succession can probably be done for about £600 as I mentioned.
Apart from Alan Tate and Andrew Greet we don't really have anyone strong enough to seriously be looking at GM-norm events though.
For aspiring players, improving to 2300+ through playing strong tournaments and hard work and then trying their hand at the IM-norm events seems like a sensible approach.