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As you may have noticed in a thread below, I am organizing and directing the Almonte Open this summer. While I have run tournaments at the club, this is my first weekend tournament. So I am looking for advice and comments here. What in your mind makes for a good weekend tournament? What things do you expect to see at a weekend swiss, and what things do you dislike seeing during a weekend swiss? They could be major items (prize funds) to small details (pitchers of ice water and glasses).
Bear in mind that I am talking about smaller events, less than 50 people, as opposed to large events with 100+ attendees, although that may or may not make a difference.
You may be opening a Pandora's Box here, Garland. Things I can think of just now would be a seperate skittles room and a normally quiet (besides well lit) playing hall at a nice room temperature. For a small event a nice touch, if possible, is for a nearby source of coffee for sale (besides cool water to drink). It's good also to have an event rated promptly by the CFC.
Last edited by Kevin Pacey; Sunday, 3rd July, 2016, 10:16 PM.
Reason: Adding content
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
I like to see equipment supplied (at least sets and boards - all identical - and preferably clocks as well), snacks and water available on-site, and a variety of places to eat within a short walk. In a large city, easy access to public transportation is a must.
Hi Garland;
Just offer a site with water ,coffee and cool air in the summer. Chess players complain too much and no matter how you try to please there are always more complaints.
They are chess players they all have sets and boards and if they play tournament chess they should by now have a clock. Catering to the masses is a no win cause.
You will have far less problems that way.
If possible I would avoid 3 games in one day. You will have to make a trade-off between entry fees, prizes and rent. My preference is for low entry fees, a nice playing site and as a consequence, low prizes or perhaps just trophies.
I have a tournament planning checklist that I will send you.
I don't like weekend tournaments that take up the whole weekend. That's a big no-no for anyone with anything like a family or social life.
2 games a day is a given, but with a tight schedule and slightly shorter time controls, it's possible to get it done within a reasonable time frame. I like to get back home before everyone is asleep.
Most "good vs bad" things are kind of obvious. Everybody would rather a comfortable room than one that's too hot, for example.
Here's my list in order of importance:
1. A good TD. One mistake (failing to catch a rule violation, screwing up pairings, forfeiting/failing to forfeit correctly...) can ruin an entire event.
2. A comfortable venue Hart house is way too hot. For some reason I forget this and keep going back, but I never have a good tournament. I also prefer a nice chair, but maybe I'm not good enough to demand that just yet :P.
3. Sections Back when I was trying to get 2300 perfs for the NM title I found it a little annoying when 1900's (or even 1800's) were allowed to play in the 2000+ section. Even if you win quickly, playing a 1900 hurts your performance score to some extent.
4. Supplies Clocks/boards/pieces/pens/water being provided is important to me. Aurora and Guelph are perfect examples.
And stuff I don't care about at all:
1. Prizes
2. Entry fee (within reason, I guess)
3. All those pre-tournament speeches.
* If a top section is strong enough, try to make PGNs of played games. (thus carbon copies)
* A room for parents, post-game analyses (less phones in the playing area)
* For memories - a picture per player.
* Publish a pre-reg list
* Publish online results for parents/friends who can not attend.
* Publish online the second day pairings for those who do not stay till the end (99%)
* A decent lighting (no high contrast shades of pieces on a board)
* As an organizer be ready to tackle problems you even could not imaging can exist (get WD40 for squeaking doors :)
I walk alot so quiet floors and close to drinking water and a clean washroom. Smokers may need to step outside during their game. No next door weddings.
One thing that bugs me is that tds keep printing pairings and crosstable at the smallest font, I find printing to page width is easier to read.
I want to have competitive games so prefer pairings within plus or minus 200 rating points. And no byes or forfeits.
It may deserve a seperate thread, but under 'Downloadable Resources' on the CFC website there are two old articles by Jonathan Berry, titled:
'Organize a Chess Tournament' & 'So you want to run a chess tournament?'.
These may really only be dated because there wasn't computer use by organizers/TDs when the articles were written, perhaps. If so, revising the articles to take computers into account could be a project of some priority for the CFC at some point, possibly.
If your tournament starts on a Saturday I would end registration on Friday night at 6pm and pair all players who have paid and post the pairings for round one. Half point byes should only be given if requested before round one starts. If someone wants to play and they registure after 6pm on Friday they will have to start in round 2. You could give them a half point bye for round one even if they registure after round one starts - this situation could be an exception.
I'm not sure if this will make your life easier as TD but it's an idea I have been playing with. There are some problems that could arise such as someone withdrawing last minute. But maybe the good would outweigh the bad?
If your tournament starts on a Saturday I would end registration on Friday night at 6pm and pair all players who have paid and post the pairings for round one. Half point byes should only be given if requested before round one starts. If someone wants to play and they registure after 6pm on Friday they will have to start in round 2. You could give them a half point bye for round one even if they registure after round one starts - this situation could be an exception.
I'm not sure if this will make your life easier as TD but it's an idea I have been playing with. There are some problems that could arise such as someone withdrawing last minute. But maybe the good would outweigh the bad?
Pairings should not be done for such swiss tournaments in advance. Just look how many forfeited games were at the CYCC (and entry fees were much higher than normal weekender)
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What makes a good weekend swiss?
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