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Eastern Ontario Open: onsite registrations today
Hi chess gang, the first round of the Eastern Ontario Open will be at 7pm tonight, and here is where we stand now. There were over 40 registrations as of last night, and I am going to the club mailbox later this morning. I will then confirm by email those registrations that are waiting for me in that mailbox. After that, the only way left to pay is onsite, before 645pm. If you pay after that, I will do my best to get you a good rated game, but it won't be a classic Swiss pairing. Anyway, if you are planning on surprising me tonight onsite, please take a moment to send me an email beforehand. Note that if you were counting on taking either a FIDE-title discount or an Amateur discount, that you have to email me beforehand. There is no late fee for paying onsite, but there is also no discounting available at the last minute. If you are registering for the Regular entry fee, then the email beforehand is just a courtesy to speed things up onsite. Finally, if you have already registered by email, and have changed your mind about coming, please take a moment to email me that before 430pm.
I look forward to seeing everyone tonight! Thanks again, and best regards, Aris.
--------- previous posting excerpts ---------
This weekend event will be largely similar to my previous events this season, but there are a few of tweaks that I am trying in the interest of making the whole weekend smoother for everyone. As always, I am open to feedback, but I would like to try out the following ideas at least this once. Most of these were kind of finalized during observations at our recent Ontario Open, and I am grateful to the players, especially ones I hadn't met before, for their input :
1) The registration/payment model of registering by email, then paying later seems to be working better and better. And in light of me posting the event details so late, I will do the initial pairings later, at 645pm on the Friday. This is much closer to the time of the first round than in the past, but when people have registered by email beforehand and renewed their CFC membership with the office, well their onsite payment goes quite fast. Please note though that this new 645pm cutoff for initial pairings will have to be quite firm, as I do not want to risk starting the round late for those who have already paid! ;)
2) As these Ottawa weekend events grow in size, the equipment logistics unfortunately have a way of distracting me from my prime tasks, which are to ensure the fair fun of all of the participants, from the titled players on the top boards, to the young newcomers who might not be as familiar as they could be with tournament etiquette, and would benefit from more of my attention. So, please do plan to bring a chess set, a chess clock, and a pen or a pencil!
3) Another by-product of bigger tournaments is bigger prizes, even in the lower sections, and that means that more of the games in the last round can get quite serious. For example, the very last game to finish in the Ontario Open would decide/confirm the $600 worth of prizes in the U1600 and U1400 sections. I need to be completely immersed in TDing such situations. Therefore, all cash prizes will be paid by cheque, to be mailed out later that evening. Any player who thinks they might have won money, simply has to address an envelope, and I will be providing such envelopes for exactly this mechanism.
--------- original event announcement ---------
The Eastern Ontario Chess Association (EOCA) organizes the EOCA Grand Prix, a series of weekend tournaments, over the 2008-2009 chess season.
The next EOCA event in Ottawa will be the Eastern Ontario Open, on June 26th-28th. It will consist of 5 rounds, with flexible bye and Amateur options.
We have multiple sections, and class prizes for every 200 rating points from 2200 to 1400. Every player will be submitted for both CFC and FIDE rating.
For more details on this event, and a great webpage for all of the events in the 2008-2009 EOCA Grand Prix, please consider bookmarking this weblink:
http://www.eoca.org/htm/tournaments%202008-09.html
For local players who normally register at the RA chess club on a Thursday evening, please note that I now often work evenings. Therefore, whenever I do expect that I will be dropping by the RA chess club, I will post my schedule at the ChessTalk site: http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Aris Marghetis
- Organizer/TD
- EOCA President
I look forward to seeing everyone tonight! Thanks again, and best regards, Aris.
--------- previous posting excerpts ---------
This weekend event will be largely similar to my previous events this season, but there are a few of tweaks that I am trying in the interest of making the whole weekend smoother for everyone. As always, I am open to feedback, but I would like to try out the following ideas at least this once. Most of these were kind of finalized during observations at our recent Ontario Open, and I am grateful to the players, especially ones I hadn't met before, for their input :
1) The registration/payment model of registering by email, then paying later seems to be working better and better. And in light of me posting the event details so late, I will do the initial pairings later, at 645pm on the Friday. This is much closer to the time of the first round than in the past, but when people have registered by email beforehand and renewed their CFC membership with the office, well their onsite payment goes quite fast. Please note though that this new 645pm cutoff for initial pairings will have to be quite firm, as I do not want to risk starting the round late for those who have already paid! ;)
2) As these Ottawa weekend events grow in size, the equipment logistics unfortunately have a way of distracting me from my prime tasks, which are to ensure the fair fun of all of the participants, from the titled players on the top boards, to the young newcomers who might not be as familiar as they could be with tournament etiquette, and would benefit from more of my attention. So, please do plan to bring a chess set, a chess clock, and a pen or a pencil!
3) Another by-product of bigger tournaments is bigger prizes, even in the lower sections, and that means that more of the games in the last round can get quite serious. For example, the very last game to finish in the Ontario Open would decide/confirm the $600 worth of prizes in the U1600 and U1400 sections. I need to be completely immersed in TDing such situations. Therefore, all cash prizes will be paid by cheque, to be mailed out later that evening. Any player who thinks they might have won money, simply has to address an envelope, and I will be providing such envelopes for exactly this mechanism.
--------- original event announcement ---------
The Eastern Ontario Chess Association (EOCA) organizes the EOCA Grand Prix, a series of weekend tournaments, over the 2008-2009 chess season.
The next EOCA event in Ottawa will be the Eastern Ontario Open, on June 26th-28th. It will consist of 5 rounds, with flexible bye and Amateur options.
We have multiple sections, and class prizes for every 200 rating points from 2200 to 1400. Every player will be submitted for both CFC and FIDE rating.
For more details on this event, and a great webpage for all of the events in the 2008-2009 EOCA Grand Prix, please consider bookmarking this weblink:
http://www.eoca.org/htm/tournaments%202008-09.html
For local players who normally register at the RA chess club on a Thursday evening, please note that I now often work evenings. Therefore, whenever I do expect that I will be dropping by the RA chess club, I will post my schedule at the ChessTalk site: http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Aris Marghetis
- Organizer/TD
- EOCA President