The 'Ottawa & Eastern Ontario chesstalk Public Social Group' (and other chesstalk social groups) may have been long disabled for posting purposes, due to trouble with spammers in the past, if nothing else. Hence I'll post in this thread my latest thoughts about organized chess as it relates to our former social group's region.
The recent Ontario Open, held at the RA centre in Ottawa, was a fine success in my view, judging alone by the impressive prize fund (as apparent in another chesstalk thread), and by the attendence of a considerable number of players of master strength or better (including a number of titled players). The Eastern Ontario Grand Prix schedule has about one rated weekend event per month on average now (counting 2 regular events in Gatineau that were put off for just this year, due to Canada 150 activities planned for the event hall). Kingston organized chess is resurgent, as far as I can tell (if it did in fact completely recede for a time). Morrisburg and Arnprior continue to host Grand Prix events, plus an Almonte summer event has been added. When I was still attending annual EOCA meetings as a CFC member, some years ago, the EOCA was in relatively healthy shape financially IMHO, occasionally suppying some such support to special chess events or causes. There is no obvious lack of organizers of rated events at present, in Ottawa at least. Things look relatively rosy. How could things be realistically improved for the EOCA, or at least for Ottawa organized chess, in the forseeable future?
This was my train of thought recently, as I reflected on my now not so fresh decision to get out of chess governance. Regarding the CFC level, all my ideas had been exhausted, with a few tried, and most not commented upon (or some not well greeted). Regarding the OCA level, I've always regarded that association as a shell organization that handles bids for provincial events or championships (if any held, or currently affordable), and otherwise passes on to its leagues their cut from the CFC, while the OCA keeps its own cut, hopefully much of it reserved in the bank for the bad times (after any set aside for e.g. provincial event[s] partial funding). Until there are more CFC members in Ontario, the OCA cannot be too ambitious at all in its aims, I feel, unless somehow it can garner a lot of sponsorship $. Highly inclusive provincial team championships or matches would be nice even now and then, but for travel issues/costs due to Ontario being so large. Internet team matches might be a substitute, but there are organizational issues with this too.
Back to the EOCA (plus Ottawa organized chess) level: as I wrote previously, things seem rosy enough here (at least for Ottawa), and this was my state of mind as I left this last level of chess governance behind as well. Still, can we possibly do better anytime soon? If so, where might any new initiatives be directed?
I first thought of the number of CFC Voting Members the EOCA has nowadays (i.e. three). For some reason it seems low to me, and yet the number of CFC members in the EOCA is likely not so low these days, since it's up in Canada. Then it hit me that by OCA rules junior members are worth only a fraction of what adult members are as far as counting towards 50, the number required to be entitled to a single CFC Voting Member (with 51 actually being worth a 2nd Voting Member, for example). This was part of my remembering suddenly that the proportion of adult members is down (and not just apparently in the EOCA region).
However you slice it, it would be good for the EOCA to have more members, adult or junior, regardless of whether you care about the number of Voting Members the EOCA has. A high number of VMs could be good for more than just the EOCA all the same, if only because the EOCA is fairly well run and thus arguably deserves more say in decisions at higher levels of chess governance.
So, how to get more CFC members signed up in the EOCA area? I may be wrong, but the idea of (even cheap/free) advertising to newbies, old as well as young, never seems to meet with too much enthusiasm in Canada, other than perhaps for any number of clubs' Executives. Nor does trying hard to attract media attention (proactively). Instead we seem to hope that newbies and the media fall into our lap. Then there's hoping for fresh organizers, and/or starting up new chess clubs and tournaments. On this last score, chess in just Ottawa is hardly cause for concern; the EOCA Grand Prix features a high percentage of Ottawa area events (and also currently having just end-of-season trophy prizes, but with unrelated $ prizes for all individual events). There are 7 or 8 clubs minimum in the area (which, plus the Grand Prix events, undercuts serious thought of the EOCA spending funds/efforts on trying to add to the bulk of such 'infrastructure' in Ottawa at least, though in regard to the largely barren EOCA area outside Ottawa it may [or perhaps should] be another story). So, I can't complain too much about the state of organized chess in Ottawa. If more people join CFC rated chess clubs in the area, I've secretly wished more would go to such Ottawa clubs other than the RA club, as it gets pretty full at times, and I'm not sure we'd permanently get a bigger room at some point if required.
Some may ask, what 7 or 8 Ottawa clubs do I refer to? Well, afaik there are two in Gatineau/Hull, then the Carleton & Ottawa University clubs. There is a Kanata club, plus at least one more in Kanata that's just for juniors. Of course there is the RA in Ottawa South, which is the largest club in the city, and then there are any possible remnants of the once very active Ottawa Chess Club.
At this point I recall my earlier wishing for team chess (unlikely for the OCA level any given year), and I then think it would be nice to have a club team league in Ottawa (as apparently there was long ago), but somehow I doubt all clubs involved could always field much more than 4 players reliably these days (plus many games might be mismatches). Maybe there's some (unrated?) club team league action going on at the Ottawa high school level still these days, who knows? Once again my thoughts about expanding organized chess reach an impasse for the time being. Perhaps others (even those outside the EOCA region) may have ideas or comments (possibly applicable to regions in Canada outside the EOCA area, too)?
P.S.: Here's link to chesstalk 2017 Ontario Open thread:
http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...ide-B-(-amp-A)
The recent Ontario Open, held at the RA centre in Ottawa, was a fine success in my view, judging alone by the impressive prize fund (as apparent in another chesstalk thread), and by the attendence of a considerable number of players of master strength or better (including a number of titled players). The Eastern Ontario Grand Prix schedule has about one rated weekend event per month on average now (counting 2 regular events in Gatineau that were put off for just this year, due to Canada 150 activities planned for the event hall). Kingston organized chess is resurgent, as far as I can tell (if it did in fact completely recede for a time). Morrisburg and Arnprior continue to host Grand Prix events, plus an Almonte summer event has been added. When I was still attending annual EOCA meetings as a CFC member, some years ago, the EOCA was in relatively healthy shape financially IMHO, occasionally suppying some such support to special chess events or causes. There is no obvious lack of organizers of rated events at present, in Ottawa at least. Things look relatively rosy. How could things be realistically improved for the EOCA, or at least for Ottawa organized chess, in the forseeable future?
This was my train of thought recently, as I reflected on my now not so fresh decision to get out of chess governance. Regarding the CFC level, all my ideas had been exhausted, with a few tried, and most not commented upon (or some not well greeted). Regarding the OCA level, I've always regarded that association as a shell organization that handles bids for provincial events or championships (if any held, or currently affordable), and otherwise passes on to its leagues their cut from the CFC, while the OCA keeps its own cut, hopefully much of it reserved in the bank for the bad times (after any set aside for e.g. provincial event[s] partial funding). Until there are more CFC members in Ontario, the OCA cannot be too ambitious at all in its aims, I feel, unless somehow it can garner a lot of sponsorship $. Highly inclusive provincial team championships or matches would be nice even now and then, but for travel issues/costs due to Ontario being so large. Internet team matches might be a substitute, but there are organizational issues with this too.
Back to the EOCA (plus Ottawa organized chess) level: as I wrote previously, things seem rosy enough here (at least for Ottawa), and this was my state of mind as I left this last level of chess governance behind as well. Still, can we possibly do better anytime soon? If so, where might any new initiatives be directed?
I first thought of the number of CFC Voting Members the EOCA has nowadays (i.e. three). For some reason it seems low to me, and yet the number of CFC members in the EOCA is likely not so low these days, since it's up in Canada. Then it hit me that by OCA rules junior members are worth only a fraction of what adult members are as far as counting towards 50, the number required to be entitled to a single CFC Voting Member (with 51 actually being worth a 2nd Voting Member, for example). This was part of my remembering suddenly that the proportion of adult members is down (and not just apparently in the EOCA region).
However you slice it, it would be good for the EOCA to have more members, adult or junior, regardless of whether you care about the number of Voting Members the EOCA has. A high number of VMs could be good for more than just the EOCA all the same, if only because the EOCA is fairly well run and thus arguably deserves more say in decisions at higher levels of chess governance.
So, how to get more CFC members signed up in the EOCA area? I may be wrong, but the idea of (even cheap/free) advertising to newbies, old as well as young, never seems to meet with too much enthusiasm in Canada, other than perhaps for any number of clubs' Executives. Nor does trying hard to attract media attention (proactively). Instead we seem to hope that newbies and the media fall into our lap. Then there's hoping for fresh organizers, and/or starting up new chess clubs and tournaments. On this last score, chess in just Ottawa is hardly cause for concern; the EOCA Grand Prix features a high percentage of Ottawa area events (and also currently having just end-of-season trophy prizes, but with unrelated $ prizes for all individual events). There are 7 or 8 clubs minimum in the area (which, plus the Grand Prix events, undercuts serious thought of the EOCA spending funds/efforts on trying to add to the bulk of such 'infrastructure' in Ottawa at least, though in regard to the largely barren EOCA area outside Ottawa it may [or perhaps should] be another story). So, I can't complain too much about the state of organized chess in Ottawa. If more people join CFC rated chess clubs in the area, I've secretly wished more would go to such Ottawa clubs other than the RA club, as it gets pretty full at times, and I'm not sure we'd permanently get a bigger room at some point if required.
Some may ask, what 7 or 8 Ottawa clubs do I refer to? Well, afaik there are two in Gatineau/Hull, then the Carleton & Ottawa University clubs. There is a Kanata club, plus at least one more in Kanata that's just for juniors. Of course there is the RA in Ottawa South, which is the largest club in the city, and then there are any possible remnants of the once very active Ottawa Chess Club.
At this point I recall my earlier wishing for team chess (unlikely for the OCA level any given year), and I then think it would be nice to have a club team league in Ottawa (as apparently there was long ago), but somehow I doubt all clubs involved could always field much more than 4 players reliably these days (plus many games might be mismatches). Maybe there's some (unrated?) club team league action going on at the Ottawa high school level still these days, who knows? Once again my thoughts about expanding organized chess reach an impasse for the time being. Perhaps others (even those outside the EOCA region) may have ideas or comments (possibly applicable to regions in Canada outside the EOCA area, too)?
P.S.: Here's link to chesstalk 2017 Ontario Open thread:
http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...ide-B-(-amp-A)
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