I would like to bring to the attention of the chess community the fact that Alexander Hollins, a thirteen year old young man, was the Chief TD of a tournament held in Atlanta recently, the Thanksgiving Classic, in which over one hundred players participated. I have known Alexander since he became involved with chess. He has played in many tournaments and been involved with the chess community for many years, and therefore understands the world of chess more than many of the adults who have gotten involved with chess recently. I had not seen young Mr. Hollins for several years until talking with him at the Ironman chess club a few months ago. Not only has he grown much taller in that interval, but his level of maturity has grown as much, if not more, than his body, which was more than a little evident during that first conversation.
I will refrain from going into the reasons Alexander was pressed into duty except to say there is a dearth of TDs here in the Great State of Georgia, as is probably the case in other parts of the country. Mr. Hollins is one of only a few card-carrying Local TDs in the area. He was backed-up by his father, Kelly, and capably assisted by assistant TDs Michael Mathias and newly certified TD, and also organizer, Tim Brookshear, the Legendary Georgia Ironman. In addition, the man who has become known as The Sheriff (although he hates the moniker), Scott Parker, former President of the GCA, and also, more importantly, a former Georgia Senior Champion, not to mention the best TD I have ever known, took time off from his family duties to be on hand at the start of the tournament just in case there were any difficulties (there were not, I am pleased to report). The tournament ran as smoothly as any held in the state recently, if not more so.
I would like to ask the chess community if there has ever been a younger Chief TD? We read about the latest chess prodigy with regularity, but I do not recall hearing about a Chief TD so young.
Armchair Warrior
I’m sure there have been some small school or club events with a younger chief.
My son’s first event as chief was a 15-player club event when he was 14, and I didn’t think that was anything unusual.
main.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.ph … 1-13008826
This may, however, be the youngest for an event that required the chief to be higher than a club TD.
main.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.ph … 0-13407316
It is only 96 players, not 100, but that is still way over the 50-60 max that a club TD is supposed to not exceed. It is also within the 100-120 max that a Local TD like Alex is supposed to not exceed.
Here is a TD that got in 3 Chief TD’s in before 13:
uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200810258681
uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200812206431
uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200812216851
he managed another half a dozen or so once he got to 13.
Of course he had to be out done by his younger brother who got his first couple in at age 11:
uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200902216461
uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200906205131
and he had a total of about a dozen in before he turned 14.
It’s pretty cool to see kids this age directing events.
I ran my first tournament at age 14, before the days of MSA. But I don’t believe I ran a 100+ player event until I was 27. (I worked at large events before then, but wasn’t the chief TD.)
I think having young tournament directors is great for chess especially in this era. We can always use tournament directors in all states. I think with great power comes great responsibility and some of these younger tournament directors have done a great job of showing that can be responsible with this power over running tournaments. The questions it be answered are that how many will continue being tournament directors and how many are able to give up being players for the good of chess and promoted it as a sport in the united states ?
I am a private coach already faced with the perplexing situation of two young students who now openly prefer directing over playing. Go figure.
Michael Aigner
I recommend a complete psychiatric workup for both. 
There are still some closet directors among your students as well, no doubt.
Must one give up playing the game to become a TD Mr. Antonucci? Can one not do both?
Armchair Warrior
Preferably not in the same event.
To add to Mr. Nolan’s point, best is if there are several TDs around and each takes turns sitting out an event and directing. Doesn’t happen often, though.
Alex Relyea
You really can’t really do both well. You have to choose to be a player and a director. You don’t see Gata Kamsky or Hikaru Nakamura being a TD.
A lot of TD’s are good players (A player-Expert), but not great. Good enough to have a lifelong interest, but not good enough to make a living at the game.
I think I was 14 when I ran my first tournament. Maybe 15.
With all due respect Mr. Antonucci, I beg to differ with you. Try telling that to Mr. Scott Parker, former President of the Georgia Chess Association (possibly the best in the history of chess in the Great State of Georgia), a former winner of the Georgia Senior Chess Championship, and one of, if not the best TD I have ever known.
Armchair Warrior
I think what he was trying to say is that top GM’s don’t make good organizers. With the exception of GM Max Euwe, I think he’s right.
It may be hard to do both well. But it isn’t impossible. FIDE has approximately 80 International Arbiters who are also GMs or IMs. More than half of them are still active players. One especially notable man among this group is Lothar Schmid, who not only is a GM and a former World Championship arbiter (Fischer-Spassky, no less), but is also a very wealthy publisher and a trained lawyer.
None of these “double-dippers” are in the US. But this probably says more about the state of the game here than anything else.
Over the years I have seen a number of places where the TD was the highest rated players in the room at a tournament. In order to promote and grow the game, these guys sacrificed their own chances to play and win another tournament. They chose to give something back to the game.
I hope the young player who is a TD learns some of the lessons that I learned when I started directing tournaments as a teenager. The guys who introduced me to directing told me several things. One, always keep a Rulebook handy. Don’t be shy about saying, “I’m not sure, let me look it up.” Two, be fair and firm in your decisions. No favoritism. Don’t let players try bully you because of their rating. Three, don’t get lazy and watch the games. You have work to do. Four, the TD has a lot of discretion, but he must make sure not to abuse it. Five, shake the hand of everyone who is leaving the tournament. Give them a flyer and ask them to come to the next event. That is the best publicity you can do.
One difference between chess and sports like football and baseball is the length of the career. If you are a world-class GM, you can play at a very high level well into your 40’s and 50’s, so a “second career” in the game isn’t as necessary as for a baseball or football player.
Even in those sports, though, it’s exceedingly rare for a high-level player to become an official. It’s much more likely they become a coach and yell at the officials a lot…
I have worked with several younger tournament directors, but in much smaller scope tournaments, simply
nowhere close to A “B” event of 100+. This is quite an accomplishment, by any means. A key concern with
the younger tournament directors, is that they do need to be protected from the parents/coaches who choose
to be obnoxious, and unruly. Quite often it does take experience to keep their lid on, or to be able to escort
them elsewhere if it blows off.
You are quite correct in stating that there is a dearth of tournament directors, esp, computer qualified. I would
think that computer skills are essential for the chief td of this size event whether they are the actual computer
chief or not.
Rob Jones
I agree with Mr. Jones. I remember being a young TD, and having parents/coaches generally be much argumentative on the theory they could push a kid around…