Al Onischuk writes in his article, Onischuk on Scorching Moscow: “The organization was pretty good, and I liked the fact that all the participants were provided with nice wooden chess pieces and clocks. The lack of those stops me and I’m sure some other GMs from participating in Open tournaments in the U.S.”
If GM Onischuk will supply some money-tree seeds, I’m sure many organizers would be happy to add such amenities.
I would dearly love to know what the budget is for that Moscow event, is it being held in a permanent chess venue like a club or at a hotel, and what percentage of the funds to run it came from participants (or possibly spectators) and what percentage from sponsors or angels?
I think I know the answer to those questions for most high-end USCF-rated events.
He should take a trip to Bloomington, Il and go to Colley’s Chess Cafe.
Provided lack of organizer supplied sets and clocks is the ONLY reason that Alex skips US Open tournaments (I have a feeling there is more to this), he IMHO makes a big mistake. On one side he deprives himself of opportunities to test his opening preparation against leading US players, on the other side the player of his strengh should realistically be able to score amoung the top 5 in average US Open, which is at least 1-2 grands in prizes for a few days of work. All this just because he doesn’t want to spent less than $200.00 (probably once in his lifetime) to get himself decent set, board and Fide clock?
Once again this is my humble opinion, but well groomed, professionally behaving titled and highly rated player appearing at the game with an elegant chess set, carry bag (probably with his initials) and professional clock creates very positive image for himself (translated in publicity and possibly earnings opportunities) and game in general. Not sure if Alex will be ever be reading this, but hope that someone will relay that to him.
Depending on which schedule one plays, the US Open is a 5-9 day commitment. With room rates seldom below $100 a night plus travel time, the cost to participate could easily be in the $1000-$1500 range.
The top boards at the US Open may even use wooden sets, though of course one has to win all the early rounds to stay on those boards.
Can a player in a tournament bring a wooden board provided the dimensions are tournament-sized? Would that make one very ‘prominent’, given the tendency to use the roll-out vinyl? I’ve never done any tournaments so I don’t know. I would rather play on something a bit more substantial but if I’m the only one bringing wood, I might look absurd.
Mike, I now understand my post was not very clear. Of cause I did not mean US Open tournament in particular. I meant average open chess tournament in USA, which is typically held over some holiday weekend (3-4-5 days). My example would be Chicago Open, type of tournament.
I totally speculate here, but I think what Alex is basically looking for is so-called “conditions” for titled players, which are in addition to free entry fees are paid hotel rooms, food allowance, sometimes paid airfare and appearence fees. Absense of sets and clocks is just tip of an iceberg. Some of those perks have been offered to highly rated Moscow Open participants, making it less risky and more attractive for them to come and play.
And as I said before, tell me where the Moscow event’s money came from, it sure wasn’t from entry fees.
I’m not really sure if GM Onischuk is saying that a) ALL the sets should be wooden, b) that not enough of the top boards are wooden, or that c) NONE of the top boards are wooden here in the US.
I’ve only worked scholastics, local Grand Prix events, and the National Open. Generally, scholastic players provide their own set and clock which is usually the roll-up boards and standard plastic pieces. At the local Open tournaments and the National Open, the organizer provides the same for most of the boards, but the top boards are the nicer wooden sets. It’s one of the “perks” for being up there. I’m sure the wooden sets and board are a bit of an investment, but they are really easy to provide to the players. To be honest, I don’t think it’s that difficult for most organizers to provide a wooden set to the top boards. And it would surprise me if most don’t already do this.
I think a) is out of the realm of possibility and c) seems unlikely to be true. I guess the question is, how many boards does GM Onischuk think should be wooden sets?
I do know a few players that do this. Usually it’s not a problem to replace the provided set with a personal set so long as the personal set is “standard” and that the opponent does not complain. The only complaint I’ve ever dealt with is that many wooden boards don’t have the notation guides on the side that (surprisingly) many tournament players rely on. So many times, I’ve see a player just use their nicer wooden pieces on the tournament board. I wouldn’t think you absurd for owning a nice chess set that you wanted to use.
- Enrique
At most of the K-8 scholastics in the Chicago suburbs the organizer will either own or borrow enough boards and sets so that the players don’t have to bring their own sets to play with. That avoids any last minute scrambles to borrow a set when neither player has one.
The high school tournaments (8-board matches) are run under the IL State High School Association chess regulations where each team is obligated to provide half of the sets and clocks, so the organizer usually does not provide them for those tournaments.
Moscow Open was held at Russian State Social University (100K + students) presumably durung two weeks winter break and was sponsored amoung others by Moscow City Administration (which is probalby the richest city administration in the country).
Did it answer your question regarding where the money came from, Mike?
There are a few tournaments that supply wooden sets for the top boards (U.S. Open, American Open), but it’s rare because of the cost. Generally it occurs only when a retailer wants to sell/auction the sets and boards at the end of the tournament. For the organizer to buy them would be impossibly expensive (not to mention the problem of what to do with them between tournaments), and renting runs into the “you broke it, you bought it” problem.
I guess I am “surprised”.
- Enrique
Can we take it as a given that you DO have wooden sets you provide on the top boards in the tournaments you organize or direct, Enrique? How do you haul them around and where do they get stored in between tournaments?
Yes. Which is why I was surprised. Like I said we do it for the local Grand Prix events (and the US Amateur West) that we run (3 a year).
We (the affiliate) store them in a storage unit along with rest of our “equipment”. We own 100 tournament sets and boards, about 3-5 wooden sets, 3-5 demo boards, and 3-5 clocks for tournament use. For each tournament the organizer picks up the equipment, uses it at the tournament, and returns it to the unit. We only use that stuff 3 times a year. Generally I can fit all of that in my car.
The unit also stores our merchandise for sale, excess trophies and awards for the scholastic league, lost & found for the scholastic league, and various tournament supplies. The scholastic stuff is about 75% of the unit’s space.
- Enrique
When I run a tournament, I have to schlep my computer, printer, supplies and suitcase down to the hotel. And back again. Adding a couple of wooden sets and boards to this is, ah, not realistic. That’s aside from the fact that they’re my personal property, and I would be really annoyed if, say, one of the pawns went missing. Very few U.S. tournaments supply equipment at all, let alone valuable wooden sets and boards. Maybe a chess club with a permanent site could do it, but there really aren’t all that many of those.
My turn to be surprised. I’ve never heard of an American chess club spending so much on supplies and storage. The Miami Open is the only tourney I’ve ever attended where the any equipment was supplied, and that was only for the top boards in the Open section. The rest have all been BYOB.
The bookseller usually prefers to supply the equipment.
I have some pictures from the Tucson Open (January) that I’ll get posted to the website, so you can see our tournaments. If every you get the opportunity to visit us, I hope you can make it to a tournament.
Tucson Open (40 GPP) - late January
US Amatuer West - Memorial Day weekend
Ye Olde Pueblo Open (30 GPP) - mid July
- Enrique