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Today I was looking at the bid process announcement on the Fide website and wondered if folks felt we would be in a position to try and stage an important international adult or junior event in the foreseeable future?
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Just to clarify, when I say foreseeable future, may I suggest the next five years as a ball park figure.
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There is not the remotest chance that this is possible. Where do you want to start?
1. Cost of accommodation in the UK
2. Access to sponsors
3. Organising structure
4. The way the FIDE bidding structure is organised
Be realistic, Scotland could organise things - an International Seniors event in Edinburgh would be really nice, but the idea that the world or European Youth Championships could come to Scotland (or elsewhere in the UK) is an absolute no hoper
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It does seem strange timing to suggest this when in past 5 years we ave lost weekenders in:
Grangemouth
East of Scotland / Grangemouth
Perth
Aberdeen
Glenrothes
Hawick
Glasgow (sometimes)
West of Scotland
Really it seems we have some rather more fundamental issues that need attention. Not long ago if you live in our capital, like to sleep in your own bed and enjoy a weekend of chess you could pretty much do that once a month from September thru May/June. This year I think we have 2 events meeting my criteria. Its depressing. Lets have some more weekenders. Surely I am not alone looking for these?
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Was worth Robin floating the idea and apologies if this is somewhat hijacking the issue initially raised, I happen to 100% agree with everything George has said. To add to George's list...
Team Events:
Spens Cup - struggling and a strong candidate for next event casualty to go from the calendar?
Richardson's - just enough interest to make it a respectable 3 rounder, but long-term questions marks and definitely not thriving.
Individual Weeknighters:
MacIsacc - currently suspended and not looking good for a comeback.
Elder - likely to follow the MacIsacc, not exactly thriving.
Weekenders:
Who knows what is next to go, but it is no secret the fantastic Edinburgh Congress that is FIDE rated is making losses for some years and at serious risk of being the next casualty.
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Jonathan Livingstone Wrote:Who knows what is next to go, but it is no secret the fantastic Edinburgh Congress that is FIDE rated is making losses for some years and at serious risk of being the next casualty.
That will be news to Chess Edinburgh, Jonathan! The congress did make a small loss when it moved out of the city centre last year, due to a drop off in numbers, but it is back in an excellently located central venue this April - St Thomas of Aquin's high school, very close to Heriots which hosted the event for a number of years.
Major pressures facing the Edinburgh events are, I gather, similar to those facing the rest of the country, i.e:
- Finding suitable venues at an acceptable cost,
- Perhaps most significant: finding enough volunteers to help organise and run weekend events.
Merely bemoaning the lack of events and calling on others to set up working parties/whatever will have no effect. Helping to organise an event will have a positive impact. And if you pick your role wisely you might even still get to play in your brand new/resurrected weekender. Arrange a venue, book the arbiters, put out chairs/tables/sets. It's a lot of work for one person but not so much for a team.
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Referencing Martin's comments:
1) I want to play - not organise. Maybe when they day comes that I don't work 50+hour weeks I may feel differently. I agree however the problem must be insufficient numbers of individuals willing to organize events.
2) Chess weekenders continue to be extraordinarily cheap when compared to alternative options (e.g. 2 games of golf, a football match). If funding were a problem it seems there is a very simple solution readily available.
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George
To expand on my point, there are different levels of volunteering. The fact that you wish there were more weekend events you could play in indicates that you do have some time to spare, on some weekends at least. I agree that taking on a tournament director role would be a strain on 50 hours a week.
Each Saturday morning at 9.30am a free, timed 5km run takes place along the seafront between Cramond & Silverknowes (the Parkrun). About 500 people take part on average (including at least one FM). There are similar events across the country. This would not happen without a weekly team of volunteers. Some of these just need to turn up on the day and marshall, and some have more time consuming roles (e.g. preparing the list of finishers). People are encouraged to volunteer at times that suit them. You don't have to be an organiser: you can just stand and point the way and shout encouragement.
The point is that the event would not happen without this volunteering. If the same principles were applied to - say - chess in the South East of Scotland, then the number of weekenders could potentially be increased. Say you volunteer a couple of hours to help a weekend event and a number of other people do the same - the result should be a number of additional events coming onto the calendar. By giving a bit of time you would get a lot more weekends of chess in return. I wouldn't recommend the shouting though.
This obviously doesn't solve the issue of identifying organisers in the first place, but it would make events more likely to happen as it would make their job easier.
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Martin Robinson Wrote:Jonathan Livingstone Wrote:Who knows what is next to go, but it is no secret the fantastic Edinburgh Congress that is FIDE rated is making losses for some years and at serious risk of being the next casualty.
That will be news to Chess Edinburgh, Jonathan! The congress did make a small loss when it moved out of the city centre last year, due to a drop off in numbers, but it is back in an excellently located central venue this April - St Thomas of Aquin's high school, very close to Heriots which hosted the event for a number of years.
Major pressures facing the Edinburgh events are, I gather, similar to those facing the rest of the country, i.e:
- Finding suitable venues at an acceptable cost,
- Perhaps most significant: finding enough volunteers to help organise and run weekend events.
Merely bemoaning the lack of events and calling on others to set up working parties/whatever will have no effect. Helping to organise an event will have a positive impact. And if you pick your role wisely you might even still get to play in your brand new/resurrected weekender. Arrange a venue, book the arbiters, put out chairs/tables/sets. It's a lot of work for one person but not so much for a team.
Martin, it won't be news to Chess Edinburgh as that info comes directly from the Chess Edinburgh council members and I will reiterate is no secret. The Edinburgh FIDE is now in its 3rd venue in 3 years. That is far from stability, and venue costs as you have mentioned are a big part of the issue with that congress. Edinburgh Congress has made a loss for several years running. Is there any congresses out there not making a loss I wonder or even in profit?
I believe George and myself as active players who attend congresses and happen to be members of CS are more than entitled to have our say and voice our opinion. We are still a democratic federation are we not? I don't see anyone bemoaning here except yourself at George and myself. Enough with telling us to start organising/volunteering etc that is not really helpful. Like George I also work and have a young family and like to play chess myself. I also do my own wee bit in chess locally in various different ways.
As it happens my tiny little seaside town club to which I belong has been having ideas about starting up a congress of some description. Nothing to report or get excited about at this stage really. It has recently been picked up again and someone has been looking into costs, viability, venues, etc.
Sensible points have been made re the decline. Glossing over things and watching things with binoculars is not helpful, compared to raising concerns. Nobody is being criticised in postings about the decline of congresses. Even criticism itself can be okay where it is constructive.
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In the past, Scotland has been very successful in organising weekend events, good venues have been accessible at reasonable cost and organisers have been very good at attracting sponsors, but I am afraid the world has changed. Commercial sponsorship budgets are much tighter and health safety regulation and budget constraints have made local authority venues much more expensive. It is unlikely that things will go back to the way they were and for weekend events to be successful they need to be run in different ways.
The 4NCL and e2-e4 event have shown how successful events can be held at 'conference' hotels and I guess this the model used by the Ayr congress. These events have challenges too and there is always a shortage of organisers, but hopefully we'll see more of this type of tournament emerging in Scotland.
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