Hi all!
New TD here. For a one day Saturday tourney for adults, what are the best time controls and rating levels to gain the optimum number of registrations?
Thanks
Jim
There are so many variables that need to be considered. It is not a “one size fits all” situation. You may want to look at what has worked well in your area before.
Alex Relyea
You should register for access to the TD/Affiliate Support Area, there are tools there that you can you use to look at what tournaments have been run in your area (Washington state, presumably) and what the distribution of players by rating is.
Site considerations will also play a big part. If you have a site that needs you to be out by, say, 6PM, that will affect how many rounds you can run. 4 round one-day events always seemed to draw better for me than 3 round one-day events, and higher rated players may not want 5 really fast rounds.
Four rounds, G/60 d/5, is a pretty good bet for starters, if you don’t have to be out by 6 pm or some such outrageously early time. You can schedule a round every 2.5 or 3 hours. If round 1 starts at 10 am then you should be done by 9 pm or so.
Bill Smythe
There are a bunch of variables to consider when you organize and direct a tournament: Site (size, amount of time available, location, how close to places to eat between rounds, lighting, noise levels, parking, and rules for site use); type of event (trophies or cash prizes); expected number of players; costs (rating fee, TD fee, publicity, score sheets, pens/pencils, rental of site, prizes, and miscellaneous items); time controls; local history of past events level of success; and feedback from players.
I have directed a large number of events and played in a lot more. As a director, I tend to prefer Game 60 or Game 45 for a one day tournament. It gives you flexibility to put more time in between for lunch. The players seem to like it more as the event does not last all day. In the late spring and during the summer the players can get home before dark, a consideration for players who drive a distance for events. You can use either 5 second or 10 second delay; adults tend to find 10 second delay more attractive. The pieces and clocks also take less of a beating if you are providing them. 4 rounds is enough for a day of play. The most well attended events were Game 45.
As a player, I have played in Game 75, Game 60, Game 45, Game 30, and Game 15 (Quick Chess) events. While I like more time, Game 75 can be a grueling day. 4 rounds with round times at 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, and 7 pm leads to a 12 to 16 hour day depending on travel to a site. Players often drop out after round three if they feel they have no chance for a prize in order to get home earlier. Makes a mess for pairings for the TD, but that is the least of considerations for players. I recall many occasions of starting out at 5 am to drive to a site, playing all day, and getting home after midnight. Playing Game 60 or Game 45 is challenging enough. Rounds for a Game 60 can be at 10 am, lunch, 1 pm, 3:30 pm, and 6 pm, a reasonable 10 hour playing day. Game 45, with rounds at 10 am, lunch, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm, and 4 pm is even better for many players. You can run the later rounds earlier if everyone is finished and all of the players agree. This is a less taxing day of play. Game 30, which kids are used to, is often a hectic day as many Game 30 tournaments are 5 rounds. While some adults like it, or at least will adapt to if there is nothing else, many adults do not like Game 30. If you hold this type of tournament expect at least half of your entries to be kids. The chess moms will expect the event to be done by 3 pm. It will also be a hectic day for the TD dealing with fast turnaround times, dropouts after round 3 and 4, entries after the first round starts, byes, and a lot of other issues.
In my youth, I didn’t mind a 1 hour commute each way and a tournament that ran from 9AM to possibly 9PM, but these days people don’t seem to want to make 12 hour or longer time commitments, even for chess. Two or three day events tie up the entire weekend.
Personally, I liked G/75 as a time control, it felt like I had enough time to actually play serious chess, not that I was all that good at it. :sigh:
Those are some great insights. Thank you all for taking the time to answer.