CFC support for GMs

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  • CFC support for GMs

    What do Chess Talkers think of this idea:

    The CFC should cancel the e-zine, thereby saving about $18,000 per year, and spend the money on grants for active grandmasters. The cancellation might cause us to lose a few members, but not many.

    To qualify, a GM must be resident in Canada, and play “x” number of OPEN tournaments a year. There are currently 3 GMs who qualify: Sambuev, Kovalev, and Hansen.

    My thought is that having a GM play in a tournament increases the popularity of the tournament, and also the grants reward the GM for his skill/work/dedication over the years. 2013 grants depend on 2012 activity. I’m thinking, in the current situation, maybe $4,000 per GM, with the balance going into a reserve fund. Grants are paid quarterly, or something.

    An alternate plan is to pay for GM norms attained, maybe $1000 per norm, and then another $2,000 when the title is awarded. These would be one-time payments.

    Any thoughts?

  • #2
    Re: CFC support for GMs

    Not a bad idea. Maybe a combination of grants to players achieving certain levels of achievement such as IM/ GM norms and grants to the organizers of events (some of which would ultimately get back to the players as appearance fees/ prize money).

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: CFC support for GMs

      Originally posted by John Coleman View Post
      What do Chess Talkers think of this idea:

      The CFC should cancel the e-zine, thereby saving about $18,000 per year, and spend the money on grants for active grandmasters. The cancellation might cause us to lose a few members, but not many.

      To qualify, a GM must be resident in Canada, and play “x” number of OPEN tournaments a year. There are currently 3 GMs who qualify: Sambuev, Kovalev, and Hansen.

      My thought is that having a GM play in a tournament increases the popularity of the tournament, and also the grants reward the GM for his skill/work/dedication over the years. 2013 grants depend on 2012 activity. I’m thinking, in the current situation, maybe $4,000 per GM, with the balance going into a reserve fund. Grants are paid quarterly, or something.

      An alternate plan is to pay for GM norms attained, maybe $1000 per norm, and then another $2,000 when the title is awarded. These would be one-time payments.

      Any thoughts?

      No.

      First of all, it is a mistake to conjoin two entirely different policy ideas. Keep them separate.

      In terms of allocated any savings from a possible cancellation of the magazine, there are many possible candidates, including things like support for the various Canadian championships.

      And I am not interested in providing income support for selected players.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: CFC support for GMs

        No, for the reasons set out by Roger Patterson.
        "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
        "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
        "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: CFC support for GMs

          If chess players cannot make enough money playing chess then they should get a job.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: CFC support for GMs

            Originally posted by Roger Patterson View Post
            No.First of all, it is a mistake to conjoin two entirely different policy ideas. Keep them separate.
            I disagree, in proposing any new program, I think it essential to suggest how it might be funded. Maybe I put my original post in the wrong order. How about if I say
            1. Active grandmasters should receive grants
            2. The grants could be funded by canceling the e-zine.

            Personally, I AM interested in providing income support for selected players. I wish there was enough money in Canadian chess to provide a decent income to active GMs.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re : CFC support for GMs

              Originally posted by John Coleman View Post
              The CFC should cancel the e-zine, thereby saving about $18,000 per year, and spend the money on grants for active grandmasters. The cancellation might cause us to lose a few members, but not many.
              Is this what the CFC really want to do? I mean, there is a CFC-FQE deal, and the free webzine for FQE members is an important part of it. No more webzine, no more deal?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: CFC support for GMs

                First, the two items should not be conflated.

                Second, there are a number of problems with this proposal, though I like it in spirit. For starters, the e-zine is at least "fair" in the sense that every member has access to the e-zine. Sure, I don't really read it, and I am sure that there are many people who are members who can't be bothered to even sign up for it, but everyone has an equal shot at enjoying it.

                Under this pay-the-GMs proposal, why should people in, for example, NF support it? Perhaps if it were a stipend which GMs must use to travel to events with the requirement that they visit a minimum of five different provinces/territories for chess events (not necessarily tournaments) each year then at least that would be fairer, though I am sure many people would dislike my amended proposal, anyway.
                "Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: CFC support for GMs

                  Originally posted by John Coleman View Post
                  I disagree, in proposing any new program, I think it essential to suggest how it might be funded. Maybe I put my original post in the wrong order. How about if I say
                  1. Active grandmasters should receive grants
                  2. The grants could be funded by canceling the e-zine.

                  Personally, I AM interested in providing income support for selected players. I wish there was enough money in Canadian chess to provide a decent income to active GMs.
                  I don't think the question facing the magazine is "is it more or less important than option X for funding". The question is whether we should have it at all.

                  And I think the issue for funding select players is first of all, even if money is available, do we want to do it? And I don't so the question of how to fund it isn't relevant.

                  Even if you feel that active GMs should get grants, you also feel it is a higher policy objective than say improving the status and quality of the Canadian Closed? lowering membership fees? improving the automation and lowering the cost of the rating process? And you feel that no other criteria other than being 'active' is necessary - no tied return of service as Tom suggests?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: CFC support for GMs

                    Originally posted by John Coleman View Post
                    What do Chess Talkers think of this idea:

                    The CFC should cancel the e-zine, thereby saving about $18,000 per year, and spend the money on grants for active grandmasters. The cancellation might cause us to lose a few members, but not many.

                    To qualify, a GM must be resident in Canada, and play “x” number of OPEN tournaments a year. There are currently 3 GMs who qualify: Sambuev, Kovalev, and Hansen.

                    My thought is that having a GM play in a tournament increases the popularity of the tournament, and also the grants reward the GM for his skill/work/dedication over the years. 2013 grants depend on 2012 activity. I’m thinking, in the current situation, maybe $4,000 per GM, with the balance going into a reserve fund. Grants are paid quarterly, or something.

                    An alternate plan is to pay for GM norms attained, maybe $1000 per norm, and then another $2,000 when the title is awarded. These would be one-time payments.

                    Any thoughts?
                    In general, I think I have to agree with Roger's points: two separate issues. I am not in favour of using CFC money as a blanket stipend for GMs - money could be granted to specific tournaments and there could be some stipulations on what it can be used for: deferring travel costs for Canadian GMs etc. If the CFC has some surplus money, I think it should be used to support as many activities as possible (best bang for buck?)
                    ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: CFC support for GMs

                      No because if you really do want to cancel the e-zine and the true savings are $18000 (taking into account any sunk costs that would not be saved) then that amount of money could do quite a lot to promote chess in Canada to make up for the cancellation of the e-zine. So for example just some of that money pumped into the expenses of holding additional tournaments or improving existing tournaments (not bolstering prize funds) would do quite a lot for chess in Canada.

                      Also the criteria of having to be resident in Canada is questionable. Some of those who are resident in Canada are often active in tournaments outside of Canada. How would funding them to do so improve the attractiveness of tournaments held in Canada? If you are saying that it is to bolster Canada's image abroad then how do you justify not giving funds to someone like Kevin Spragget just because he is not living in Canada but is a Canadian citizen. I can't see giving the top three GMs in Canada money year after year to be helping. If you think of some of the GMs in Canada who no longer play, what good would it have done to give them a few thousand in the past. I don't think it would have been enough to encourage them to keep playing. Their disappearance from the Canadian chess scene would effectively mean a loss of the investment made.

                      Oh and at the very least I would divide Canada up into regions and fund at least one player in each region. Not just take money from members all over Canada and funnel it to players mainly in Ontario. The regions would be the usual BC, the west, Atlantic Canada etc.
                      Last edited by Zeljko Kitich; Friday, 30th November, 2012, 06:41 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re : CFC support for GMs

                        The problem is that if we cancel the e-zine, several members will just leave the federation... If we want to have more GMs, we should try to attract more new players, and an e-zine (or even better a paper magazine) are great way to do this.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Re : CFC support for GMs

                          Originally posted by Felix Dumont View Post
                          The problem is that if we cancel the e-zine, several members will just leave the federation... If we want to have more GMs, we should try to attract more new players, and an e-zine (or even better a paper magazine) are great way to do this.
                          An e-zine that is available for members only doesn't do anything to attract new players. A paper magazine sent out to members only has the same problem. And the whole idea of a paper magazine is behind the times.

                          The CFC has a website - it needs to leverage this site to attract chess players.

                          For example funding events, but with stipulations that to be eligible for funding, events have to set up websites with live game broadcasts from the CFC site.

                          Direct grants to players for travel to international events - you could make one of the terms that the player has to submit an event report to the CFC site.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Re : CFC support for GMs

                            Originally posted by Patrick Kirby View Post

                            The CFC has a website - it needs to leverage this site to attract chess players.
                            It's a dull grey. Better than Battleship Grey but still kind of depressing.

                            http://www.feng-shui-and-beyond.com/...g-of-grey.html

                            Green would be a better colour because it's brighter and tends to have a relaxing and more pleasing effect on viewers. For that matter, even white like FIDE uses would be better.
                            Gary Ruben
                            CC - IA and SIM

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