Tournaments in Southwest Virginia

All Things Chess
1

Normally, a one-day, 6 Grand Prix point tournament would probably not be worth mentioning here. However, I hope I will be excused in this case, because this is not only a single tournament. The Roanoke Valley is going to be host to four of these each year, on a regular schedule. Each will be:

1 day
3 rounds
G/90

G/90 is a bit fast for some - including me! - but the Roanoke Valley Chess Club is just hoping to get some chess going in this fairly light (for chess) area. We hope that this will get people used to thinking of Roanoke as a regular tournament visit for the larger Southwest Virginia Open, the last of which was the most successful ever.

Again, I hope I will be forgiven for talking up what is really small potatoes on a national scale, but this area could use anything it could get. With a regular, predictable schedule of these tournaments, and the once-a-year bigger stuff, we’re hoping to fill in a fairly large dark spot on the tournament map.

Here is the information on the first. We hope that any friendly tournaments in this region might put a note or say a word about this (and we’d certainly be delighted to do the same in return), since it’s coming up so soon that we won’t have but a very brief stint in the TLA.

6 Grand Prix Points
Don Starkweather Celebration
What: This will be a 3- Round, Grand Prix, Open chess tournament sponsored by the Roanoke Valley Chess Club. This tournament will be fully-rated by the U.S. Chess Federation.
Where: The Va. Heights Baptist Church. The church is located in Roanoke, Va. at the corner of Grandin Rd. and Memorial Ave. SW. It is directly across the street from the Grandin Theater.
When: Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008
Rounds: 10am, 2pm & 6pm.
Time Controls: G/90
Registration: Advance registration is $25 up until 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm on Friday, Feb. 8. Registration is $35 after that date, including at the door. Registration at the door will be from 8:00 am – 9:30 am, Feb. 9th.

ALL PRIZES ARE GUARANTEED !!
The top – section consists of the 8 highest-rated players. Other sections will be formed based on the number of players who enter. Some examples follow:

Octagonal Section: 1st - $125, 2nd - $100, 3rd - $75
Hexagonal Section: 1st - $100, 2nd - $75
Quad Section: 1st - $100
NOTE: If any section has less than a Quad, then this section will be combined with the one above it. In this case, the prize fund for the upper section will be increased by the number of entries; thus almost all of the entry fees will go for prizes!

USCF membership is required for this event. (These are available at site).
1/2-pt. byes are available for any round if requested before Rd.1. (Maximum # of byes: 1)
No Smoking. No Computers.

ADVANCE ENTRIES Send to:
& OTHER INFO. : Roanoke Valley Chess Club
P.O. Box 14143
Roanoke, Va. 24038
Tel.#: ( 540 ) 588-7519
e-mail: info@roanokechess.com

–
Thank you, and I apologise if this is not permitted or is unwelcome. It’s not my intention to break any forum rules or etiquette.

Joshua B. Lilly
Roanoke Valley Chess Club

2

Does this tournament meet Grand Prix standards? I know that it’s not very likely, but what if more than eight masters show up? I honestly don’t know the answer to this, but I’d like to hear from someone who knows more.

Alex Relyea

3

We are not anticipating 9 or more Masters. However, we are already aware that several aspects of our suggested format could not meet Grand Prix requirements. Worry not, though! This is already taken into account, and if we exceed our expectations, money and re-structuring are prepared in advance to continue to meet Grand Prix requirements.

Rest assured that we will do whatever it takes to meet the requirements, but we definitely don’t anticipate enough players arriving to upset the proposed schedule. But, if that many do show up, it would be great! If more money is needed, that will be on hand. Everything will be okay in this respect.

4

As currently written, the event does not meet the Grand Prix requirement that it be open to all masters. That should be easily fixed.

Remember that Grand Prix events MUST be advertised in at least one issue of Chess Life.

5

The actual format will be based on attendance numbers. The tournament will meet Grand Prix requirements by any means necessary. The suggested format as I posted was just that: suggested. Based on our anticipated numbers. Specifically to keep higher-rated players from having to play too many lower-rated players. This was done for the benefit of higher-rated players. If more than 9 players rated 2200+ attend, then of course the format indicated will not be used. I realise now that I ought not to have even mentioned the probable pairing divide, since it’s brought nothing but nitpicking. I don’t mean nitpicking in a negative sense, of course, since I realise this is perfectly well-intentioned and exhibits a desire to follow (and inform) of the rules. But I repeat, this will follow Grand Prix requirements. This tournament has already been examined and approved by, and entered into TLA, by Joan Du-Bois.

I was hoping to get some positive publicity for this tournament to raise attendence. Not for the profit of the club, since it will lose money on this, and not for my personal profit, since I personally spent my own money to get this a grand prix rating (and will receive nothing back whatsoever). This is really an honest attempt to start to hold regular, predictable rated tournaments in this region. Please don’t focus on the possible/probable section divide format. That was only what we expect to happen based upon our probable attendance. If more show up, I will once again pay out of my own pocket on the spot to meet any requirements. Any section changes will be made accordingly. I just want this to be positive. I wish I hadn’t mentioned the expected and suggested sections at all, since that’s the only thing people are responding on! I realise the intentions are on the side of law and order, and I appreciate that, but please realise those are only probabilities. We’re doing this to hopefully maximise the prize potential based around sections. Of course, everything for Grand Prix requirements will be altered accordingly if 9 Masters or more show up.

This tournament has been approved officially and will be in TLA.
The section dividing I listed was something I copy&pasted from a (lapsed) Senior TD who drafted up an “advertising pamphlet” for people to display at other tournaments in this region.
Money, sections, or any other Grand Prix requirements will be met on the scene and immediately if we are happily surprised on attendance numbers. I personally hope this happens. I’d rather have high attendance. This is purely to promote chess and have rated chess in this somewhat low-tournament region.

I hope we can find support, and that people will be interested!

6

Mike, I don’t see anything that would prevent any master or anyone else from playing. It’s an open tournament. What did I miss?

7

As it appears to be written, only the top eight players will be competing for Grand Prix points and money. That leaves the ninth highest rated master out in the cold.

Alex Relyea

8

I believe the wording in the Grand Prix regs is “prizes for which all masters are eligible.” Since they are probably not going to get more than eight masters, the simplest way to fix this would be to define the top section as “eight players or all masters, whichever is greater.”

9

Hey Josh,

I would love to see your Roanoke tournaments succeed. I would encourage you to use the free advertising available to you in Virginia, as well as at the USCF. When you send a TLA to Joan, cc it to me (matkins2@cox.net) and Macon Shibut.

Macon will put your tournament in the Virginia Chess Newsletter. vcfeditor@cox.net

I’ll put the TLA in the Baltimore to Richmond USCF Clearinghouse. You might be so far west that you are in another Clearinghouse area, but it wouldn’t hurt getting spotted by Maryland and Virginia players willing to make the trek out to Roanoke. I’ll also put a link to the tournament/series on the front page of the VCF’s website – vachess.org

You probably won’t get more than 8 masters, which seems to be the grand prix question everyone is asking. If you do, put them all in the same section and raise the prize fund accordingly. You might not even get your own Roanoke master as Mr. Potter doesn’t like G/90’s! But, it would be cool if you got a lot of players. Write something for the VCF Newsletter and I’m sure Macon will publish it.

Good luck!

Michael Atkins
VCF President

10

Given what I know of Grand Prix tournaments, most masters are drawn to events with $200+ as a first prize. In the past the general grand prix rule has been a minimum guarantee of $300 in prizes with the lowest guaranteed prize being $100. A 6GPP tournament would normally have a prize fund that would be $200-100; a 10GPP tournament could be $300-200-100 or some variation with the minimum $100 prize.

It is difficult to get 8 masters to come to a tournament where the first prize is only $125. The costs for playing in a weekend tournament can be over $150, if you total in hotel bills, gas, and meals. At best you might get only one or two, if they live within 50 miles of the event.

Even though I live in near Pgh, Pa., I rather like Virginia tournaments. I have played in Northern VA events and in Staunton, VA. If you run an event that looks attractive, I might give it a try.

11

I think I’ve managed to obtain a donation to the November entry to our tournament series, which ought to make it 10 GP points. This is a one-day event, so for people within a certain radius, of course hotel is not a factor. However, based on your message, I think we ought to see if we can contact the two hotels that are really, really close to the site, and see if either is willing to get some sort of deal worked out for us for players to be pointed their way. Seems kind of unusual for a 1-day event, but it might be worth checking out.

This donation is from someone who doesn’t even play chess, but hopefully it will help us knock it up to 10 points in November. That’s a bit hefty for a single-day tournament in this area! Also, with this first edition, we want people to tell us what works, what doesn’t, and what to improve or change, and we actually intend to follow through on those comments, suggestions, and complaints. If we want to continue a regular series in such a fairly light population area, with a comparatively small number of rated players, it is crucial that we make sure those who do show up have a good time.

12

Here are a couple of things I used to do in events that I organized.

1 In swiss events, give a free entry for a future tournament to the player who came in last place. This encourages them to keep playing and come back to your events.

2 Give away a few inexpensive door prizes (chess books, music CD, DVD or VHS movie, or some other donated item.) Sponsoring businesses might be more inclined to give an item or two rather than money to an event. One organizer I know likes to give away free dinner coupons or cards from local restaurants.

3 Have free coffee/tea on site. Plus some snacks. One Canadian organizer’s wife regularly brings boxes of granola bars, fruit, and tea because she said the chess players looked so sad and hungry! The size of the tournaments went up dramatically.

4 We held a tournament near Christmas at our little club. We wrapped up all of the prizes in Christmas wrappings and bows. We had enough on hand for the prize winners and all of the kids. The mothers made food for a Christmas party. Some of the adults who won prizes insisted we give the items to the kids. Everyone had a blast. And it didn’t really cost that much to do.