21-12-2011, 08:42 AM
Hugh Brechin Wrote:a) It's not sad, no. We're talking a major investment of time here - being a perpetual student I'm not sure what the average annual holiday allowance is for people with real jobs, but I'm sure that two and a half weeks takes a significant chunk out of it. That can easily be the difference between being able to go on holiday somewhere with the family and not. I'm sure we'd love all of our top players to be absolutely focused on chess at the expense of all other things. Week-long tournaments in Scotland, among other things, are shorter and don't necessarily involve long separations from loved ones.
What about the support Staff? Heads of Delegation, Arbiters, Coaches etc. We have to take holidays as well to put the events on as well as the large amounts of time taken to get the events on in the first place. What would happen if we took the attitude of "I'm not doing a 9 round tournament for less than £1000?"
"How sad to see, what used to be, a model of decorum and tranquility become like any other sport, a battleground for rival ideologies to slug it out with glee"