3rd Aurora Chess Day - July 27

[Bob Armstrong]

Tournament Organizing Financial Transparency

Bryan Lamb in Toronto used to post his full accounting usually by the end of the 4th round. I thought it was a great practice!

Regular chess-players do NOT know the costs associated with organizing, and yet they will always complain about chess-associated costs on anything from tournaments to chess books.......and they only find out everything isn't a free lunch by being educated in this way......and players could decide if Bryan was "ripping them off" with too high entry fees, and complain and refuse to play in his subsequent tournaments.

Amazingly, Bryan was a respected organizer and got good numbers to his tournaments.......and I recollect almost no complaints about the financial side of Bryan's operating (Others can correct me on this if I am mis-remembering)

This practice is abhorred by the organizers who are capitalism-oriented.......the private sector needs to show no one how much their bottom-line profit is.....if you are concerned, just don't play!!

If I am paying, I really don't see why I shouldn't know what part is profit to the recipient........is there a good reason, other than it IS a "rip-off", and is being hidden from the paying public?

Bob A

[Serge Archambault]

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[Grey Guo]

Well, if people really think the organizer can make good money with tournament, why not join us to organize some tournaments, we do need more tournaments. I would not recommend for detailed accounting, as people can still challenge why not buy something at wholesale price, etc,

BTW, the insurance is mandatory when we book rooms from library or school board, and the insurance is based on the number of people on-site, one junior player normally mean 2 or 3 people on-site.

[David Ottosen]

Well, if people really think the organizer can make good money with tournament, why not join us to organize some tournaments, we do need more tournaments. I would not recommend for detailed accounting, as people can still challenge why not buy something at wholesale price, etc,

I want to be clear - I don't begrudge anyone trying to make money running chess tournaments. I might personally feel it's not enough value for me to play, but that doesn't mean other people don't feel the same. I would just like to know what the facts are in making my decision to play or not play.

[Erik Malmsten]

Tournament Organizing Financial Transparency

Bryan Lamb in Toronto used to post his full accounting usually by the end of the 4th round. I thought it was a great practice!

Regular chess-players do NOT know the costs associated with organizing, and yet they will always complain about chess-associated costs on anything from tournaments to chess books.......and they only find out everything isn't a free lunch by being educated in this way......and players could decide if Bryan was "ripping them off" with too high entry fees, and complain and refuse to play in his subsequent tournaments.

Amazingly, Bryan was a respected organizer and got good numbers to his tournaments.......and I recollect almost no complaints about the financial side of Bryan's operating (Others can correct me on this if I am mis-remembering)

This practice is abhorred by the organizers who are capitalism-oriented.......the private sector needs to show no one how much their bottom-line profit is.....if you are concerned, just don't play!!

If I am paying, I really don't see why I shouldn't know what part is profit to the recipient........is there a good reason, other than it IS a "rip-off", and is being hidden from the paying public?

Bob A

There was a history of Toronto organizers showing the expenses breakdown going back to at least the '70s. The main goal was to show that the advertised 70% of entry fees went to prizes. This total may not include late fees. A weekender TD got like $2 or $3 a player. Doing pairings & crosstables by hand was harder work and the long hours made the salary less than the minimum wage; It is only a part-time job. For a period in the '90s a dedicated group of organizers worked for free and got hotel halls for free so the prize funds were higher.

Compared to then, a 50% expenses for a one-day event seems poor. Organizers are taking a risk of losing money from a low turnout, and these days have to buy insurance and pay FIDE fees. But there is also the eternal issue, such as does a lower entry fee attract more casual players? Or does a higher entry fee and higher prizes attract more top players?

[Erik Malmsten]

And not all return to players is cash. There are trophies! Also could be costs for coffee and cream, or pizza. Big events have given out t-shirts.

Sometimes could get a sponsor to donate a trophy, esp. an annual one. Nice to get a sponsor to pay for an ad on printed items like scoresheets, rule sheet, and paper boards that the players can take home.

Added to costs nowdays is having a website, taking and posting photos. Emailing flyers in advance, and maybe a thank you afterwards.

[Hugh Brodie]

Does a lower entry fee attract more casual players? Or does a higher entry fee and higher prizes attract more top players?

In general - I would say higher prizes and correspondingly high entry fees attract more top players. However - there is a limit. The World Open charges around $300 for $100k in prizes. The Millionaire Open failed with its $1000+ entry fees and $1 million in prizes with only about 500 players. Lower entry fees attract more (and lower-rated) players, and those who aren't interested in prizes. (I personally won't pay in the hundreds to play in an event in which I'm probably not going to win anything. I want to play more "for fun" than for prizes, so I will look for events with lower entry fees.). In a perfect world - 100% (or more) of entry fees would go into prizes - with sponsors covering everything else - e.g. Saint John 1988.

.One cost that has been eliminated is the cost of envelopes and stamps to mail out a couple of hundred tournament announcements.

[Erik Malmsten]

.One cost that has been eliminated is the cost of envelopes and stamps to mail out a couple of hundred tournament announcements.

The cost of mailing flyers was replaced by the mailing of a bi-monthly magazine to all CFC members. Nowdays, the CFC is incapable of emailing bi-monthly tournament announcements to all CFC members.(I do receive the monthly tournament listings from the USCF and emails from some of the local organizers).

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

There is 35 players on the list at this moment.

After Cristian-Gabriel Craciun (Romania, 1345) joined the tournament, it became an international one :)

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

A very strong player entered the tournament - FM Nicholas Vettese. His 2415 rating points are highest in the Aurora Chess Day of the registered player. Last time Mark Plotkin brought 2404 and exited with 2420.
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There is still time to arrange plans and enter the tournament.

SNo.		Name	Rtg	Club
1	FM	Vettese Nicholas	2415	On (Toronto)
2		Noritsyn Sergey	2337	On (Richmond Hill)
3		Lin Benjamin	2077	On (Toronto)
4		Profit Brian	2044	On (Trenton)
5		Li Hongyi	2001	On (Kitchener)
6		Berengolts Isai	1996	On (Richmond Hill)
7		Cater Brendan	1885	On (Brampton)
8		Xu Alex	1641	On (Oakville)
9		Wang Michael Grant	1503	On (Toronto)
10		Vijendra Vinushan	1502	On (Bradford)
11		Yao Henry	1501	On (Richmond Hill)
12		Hall William	1468	On (Aurora)
13		Mckay Josh	1453	On (Queensville)
14		Banic John	1447	On (Richmond Hill)
15		Gillis Doug	1353	On (Aurora)
16		Craciun Cristian-Gabriel	1345
17		Yang Lefan	1319	On (Markham)
18		Hadid Mohammed	1313	On (Mississauga)
19		Xu Leon	1289	On (Aurora)
20		Lin Joey	1285	On (Toronto)
21		Zhang Daniel	1278	On (Richmond Hill)
22		Chen Rae	1274	On (Mississauga)
23		Barbarich Zdravko	1234	On (Richmond Hill)
24		Singh Anya	1218	On (Markham)
25		Noritsyn Ivan	1188	On (Richmond Hill)
26		Pishdad M. Hassan	1146	On (Richmond Hill)
27		Qian Eric	1122	On (Newmarket)
28		Gao Heye	1085	On (Aurora)
29		Zhang Eric	975	On (Richmond Hill)
30		Li Triston	929	On (Aurora)
31		Au Ethan	871	On (Seneca Hill)
32		Zhu Jeremy	823	On (Richmond Hill)
33		Li Aiden	707	On (Kitchener)
34		Profit Oliver	668	On (Trenton)
35		Qian Ashley	570	On (Newmarket)
36		Yang Jayden	550	On (Richmond Hill)
37		Chen Alex	0	On (Aurora)
38		Hong Kaidong	0	On (Markham)

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[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Latest entries:
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Josh Guo	2274	Markham, ON
Aayush Ajith	1860	Brampton, ON
Ajith Desikan	1823	Brampton, ON
Umang Piyush Dwivedi	1713	Scarborough, ON
Larry Yang	1279	North York, ON
Aarush Ajith	1042	Brampton, ON
Cameron Herbert	961	Hamilton, ON
Nora Wu	945	Richmond Hill, ON
Lucy Yang	939	Markham, ON

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The counter is at 47.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

50 players have already registered. That is the capacity of the playing hall.
Anyone registering from now on will be put on a waiting list.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

The updated list with the freshest CFC rating were posted on the tournament website http://www.aucc.club/3rd-aurora-ches...s-day-players/
also http://chess-results.com/Tnr452314.aspx?lan=1 (the results will be posted here during the tournament )

I sent out a reminder about the tournament. If you have not received let me know.

In case someone wants to withdraw, let me know asap. There are several players willing to take your freed spot.