13-08-2016, 04:43 PM
I must admit that having given it some thought and reading Steve and Alex's points, many of which I had not considered, that it's not a simple issue at all. Come to think of it, the only Fide rated weekender I have played is Edinburgh: home advantage + good prize fund + relatively strong.
How important is it that the top Scottish players compete in weekenders? I'd say it is important - aspiring players get to play and learn from them and a GM or IM certainly adds to the prestige of the tournament.
Is £150 first prize enough compensation? Not unless it's local. You'd have to win outright not to make a financial loss and as mentioned 4.5/5 just to not lose rating. However this is not entirely an unexpected result. One thing I've noticed is that you rarely see several 2300+ players play the same tournament which makes sense given the risk/reward ratio. Is chess rewarding enough to just play? In my opinion if it's not in the morning, yes ; )
Is £300? Maybe.
£500? Yes.
Andrew Greet doesn't seem to care though and he has more to lose than most.
Possible solution: increase entry fees (see Largs). However there are downsides to this such as the obvious excluding of those who can't afford it.
Perhaps many will feel that this is elitist nonsense. There are quite a number of Fide rated tournaments around. If they are doing well then what's the problem.
One point I'm still unclear about is whether CS rated tournaments attract more/stronger players and offhand it doesn't feel like it, though if anyone has any stats I'd be interested.
How important is it that the top Scottish players compete in weekenders? I'd say it is important - aspiring players get to play and learn from them and a GM or IM certainly adds to the prestige of the tournament.
Is £150 first prize enough compensation? Not unless it's local. You'd have to win outright not to make a financial loss and as mentioned 4.5/5 just to not lose rating. However this is not entirely an unexpected result. One thing I've noticed is that you rarely see several 2300+ players play the same tournament which makes sense given the risk/reward ratio. Is chess rewarding enough to just play? In my opinion if it's not in the morning, yes ; )
Is £300? Maybe.
£500? Yes.
Andrew Greet doesn't seem to care though and he has more to lose than most.
Possible solution: increase entry fees (see Largs). However there are downsides to this such as the obvious excluding of those who can't afford it.
Perhaps many will feel that this is elitist nonsense. There are quite a number of Fide rated tournaments around. If they are doing well then what's the problem.
One point I'm still unclear about is whether CS rated tournaments attract more/stronger players and offhand it doesn't feel like it, though if anyone has any stats I'd be interested.