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First Sartuday has begun this season at a new location(no longer the Hungarian Chess Federation)
Groups are as follows
http://www.firstsaturday.hu
The GM group is a double round robin due to continuing poor participation. The large numbers of other groups (4 FM groups) is due to the large number of local participants.
In the lower FM groups, Hungarian locals are charged a flat fee(12,000HUF=C$60) while 'tourists/foreign residents' get charged according the rating related prices per the FS website. I just finished a team match and while walking back to the subway one of the Hungarian players let me know of the flat fee.
Last time I played I was charged C$235(47,000HUF) as a 2000FIDE rated player. This is a huge difference which I do not find acceptable so I no longer participate in any FS events.
If you want to put up with this sort of pricing discrepancy by all means come. The IM/GM group pricing I am not privy to. I would advise anyone planning to play here to
(1)Make your own accomodation arrangements and not go through the organizer. The new site is a hotel right in the middle of a fancy tourist area so prices will not be the cheapest.
(2)Have a backup tournament if you want to play in the IM/GM groups.
-Don't agree to any price or commit to entering until you arrive and bargain hard. It's the wild west here, just pretend you're buying fruit in a 3rd world market.
(3)Don't pay anything in advance.
Good luck and email if you plan on coming and I can provide more details as I become aware of them.
Michael Yip
Budapest
Groups are as follows
http://www.firstsaturday.hu
The GM group is a double round robin due to continuing poor participation. The large numbers of other groups (4 FM groups) is due to the large number of local participants.
In the lower FM groups, Hungarian locals are charged a flat fee(12,000HUF=C$60) while 'tourists/foreign residents' get charged according the rating related prices per the FS website. I just finished a team match and while walking back to the subway one of the Hungarian players let me know of the flat fee.
Last time I played I was charged C$235(47,000HUF) as a 2000FIDE rated player. This is a huge difference which I do not find acceptable so I no longer participate in any FS events.
If you want to put up with this sort of pricing discrepancy by all means come. The IM/GM group pricing I am not privy to. I would advise anyone planning to play here to
(1)Make your own accomodation arrangements and not go through the organizer. The new site is a hotel right in the middle of a fancy tourist area so prices will not be the cheapest.
(2)Have a backup tournament if you want to play in the IM/GM groups.
-Don't agree to any price or commit to entering until you arrive and bargain hard. It's the wild west here, just pretend you're buying fruit in a 3rd world market.
(3)Don't pay anything in advance.
Good luck and email if you plan on coming and I can provide more details as I become aware of them.
Michael Yip
Budapest