Chess Travel

All Things Chess
1

I was wondering how many people/players travel for a chess tournament? I am talking either flying and driving more than 90 minutes to play in an event. Back when I was much younger I use to travel 2-3 hours from the Chicago area down to Peoria for tournaments. I have flown to a number of US Opens, Canada, Gibraltar, Malta, Ireland, as well as a number of places in the US.

Having traveled to chess tournaments for over 30 years I have noticed that most tournaments are not what I would call travel friendly. They often have early morning Saturday rounds [especially the 1 day events], and the final round is usually late in the afternoon or evening. This often means you have to stay an extra night in/near the city the event is being held, or travel early and/or late when going to/from the tournament.

The split first round option and first round byes do try to deal with this problem. But there are people who would prefer not to take a bye & want to play at the same time control for the entire tournament. Final round byes are not offered very often, and again is not an ideal solution to the problem of tournament travel. As I recall there is a tournament in the US with a first round on the night of Thanksgiving, with of course a split round option for the Friday after.

It appears that travel friendly tournaments are “few and far between” just about anywhere. That is not to say they are totally non-existent. The Grand Pacific Open would be considered travel friendly by Canadians. The first round is Friday 6 pm on Good Friday and the final round is 10 am on Monday [Easter Monday is a holiday in Canada]. The Malta Open has its first round on Sunday [2 weeks prior to the Sunday after Thanksgiving] at 5 pm and its final round [9 rounds total] on the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving at 10 am. That gives participants Friday night and Saturday for travel to the event, and the following Saturday night and Sunday for travel from the event. I even know of an event in the Chicago area [a few years back] where the first round was Saturday at 1:30 pm [registration was noon to 1], second round Saturday evening, and 3 rounds on Sunday; with Monday July 4th as a travel day. As I recall someone drove from West Virginia for that event, and drove back Sunday Night with plans to open a convenience store Monday at 10 am.

All of this does bring up the interesting question: Would chess players prefer less chess [faster time controls or less rounds] in exchange for more travel time? When I talk/suggest faster time controls I am thinking in terms of G/90 rather than G/2 or G/60 rather than G/90.

Larry S. Cohen
Chess Player, TD, and Organizer
[Played in 33 different states, TD’d in 10 different states, & Organized in 6 different states]

2

Most of Bill Goitchberg’s tournaments can be taken at a relaxed pace if you elect the longest option in game days.

Here in Vermont, it is not at all unusual to have to travel 2+ hours to any tournament. You might want to read Stephen Moss’s book Rookie which was just published. He spent several years on the English, Dutch and US tournament circuits. His observations are insightful and witty.

3

Years ago, I used to write a regular column for the Iowa Chess News En Passant (the Iowa State Chess Association’s quarterly publication) called Chess Travels, which was part travel journal and part tournament report from various tournaments I attended. These included events in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota - as well as my last tournament, the US Amateur Team East from five years ago. In fact, we played in one of the tournaments I chronicled, a Midwest Amateur Team tournament held in Chicago. Those all required significant travel time.

Yes, tournaments are often not ‘travel friendly.’ I recall playing in a Kansas City tournament where the fourth round had a very long game and then I played a 100 move fifth round game (with a share of first place on the line) trying to grind out a win from the black side of a Classical Pirc against a 2100 player. The end result was finishing around 2 am, driving 3 hours back to Des Moines and going to work that morning.

I decided after that tournament that I wouldn’t play in tournaments without a sudden death secondary time control, for just that reason. So yes, I would prefer faster play to provide for a reasonable expectation of a finishing time on Sunday.

4

Most tournaments are local. The organizer designs his event to match with what the typical player in his tournament wants. If a person comes in from the outside, that is a bonus. In some respects chess tournament play on the local level is almost feudal in nature as chess is not widespread but exists in geographic pockets.

Only in large Grand Prix events do you see a significant number of players who travel over 2 hours or 400 miles to play in an event. Even so, the bulk of the players are still local. They travel 30 minutes or less to the venue. They go home and sleep in their own beds at night. They don’t worry about flights, bus schedules, or how early or late the rounds are.

Over the years, I have played in out of town tournaments in OH, WV, VA, MD, western NY, KY, TN, NC, IN, IL, MN(!), SD(!), S-Cal, CT, as well as several tournaments in Canada near Toronto. The interstate highway system and AAA have been allies. The biggest expenses were the hotels/motels. However, when gas prices went up over 50% and hotels around 30%, I started cutting back on traveling to chess tournaments. Generally, if the event was within 400 miles, or a 6 hour drive, I would at least look at the TLA. Grand Prix events have gotten more expensive, the prizes for class players only marginally attractive for the players I used to travel with. As a result, I have withdrawn from being an itinerant player to being an old knight in a feudal province tilting only in an occasional tournament. The armor gets rusty but I try to keep the blade sharp just in case I feel the itch to travel.

Just to give an example of travel, Pittsburgh to Indianapolis is 400 miles, or 15 gallons each way in gas. Hotels range from $95 to $120. Two day stay is over $200. I know that I could probably stay in a cheap dive, but the risks and aggravation are not worth it. If the entry fee is $90 or more, you are looking at spending around $400 or more for a 5 round weekend event. Um, given the general level of prizes for a 2200+ player who gets no free entry, has no class prize of 2200-2399 prize to play for, has to fight two or more GMs plus the local titans in order to get a prize of any kind, this is a significant outlay with little chance of reward from an economic point of view. I did that for a while, and broke a little less than even. Watched and listened to several 2500+ rated players talk about the stress, scrimping, and suffering they went through to just get by as a “professional chess player”. Glory and rating points don’t put food on the table or pay the rent. The Swiss System “lottery”, which one Russian GM called chess in the US, is expensive.

5

definitely something to be said for “homefield advantage”. i won’t do an overnighter unless i have someone to stay with. usually sleep fitfully, at best, in hotels. would love to get to some international opens though.

…scot…

6

Yes, those numbers are about right. When I was traveling and playing regularly, I won my share of prize money, but it certainly didn’t mean I broke even, let alone made a profit. I viewed tournaments as recreation rather than income-generating opportunities - and if I had spent the weekend on a college or pro sporting event, concert or other activity, my guess is I would have spent around the same amount of money. Different strokes for different folks.

7

Since we moved to the middle of nowhere ten years ago, we have no choice but to travel if we want to play rated chess. The closest small tournament venue is about two hours each way, doable in a day with fast time controls. The Dallas area is 4-5 hours, but at least they have lots of tournaments. We always plan to drive home the day after the tournament ends. Since we are now retired, time is not an issue, but the cost of hotels is.

I would like to start some tournaments in my own area, but there are not enough serious players. What could I do to attract players to drive 2-4 hours? I certainly can’t have large prize funds.

8

Moogy I would suggest you find some other way to draw in players from far away. Free food is one possibility, door prizes is another, as well as unusual formats. Theme tournaments are few and far between, as are Octogons [6-8 player sections of like rated players with a 3 round Swiss format]. Time controls are something that some players are picky about. And of course there is the Plus-Score format tournaments that can limit the amount of potential loss from running a tournament.
Do be certain to make a budget so, you have a strong idea of the number of players you need to draw in. Also, of course, try not to conflict with other events.

Larry S. Cohen

9

A special prize for “farthest traveled” is a good way to encourage people to make a trek to your tournament.

10

Like you I have played in many different states (and countries). The story I like to tell on myself is how, when I was an aspiring 2200 player, I would “pop down” to NYC for a weekend (from Pittsburgh). I would take a Peoplexpress flight on Saturday morning – this was the first discount airline (late 1970’s). Then, on Sunday night, I would take the 1:40 AM Trailways bus back home – it would arrive at about 11. I was a glutton for punishment! (And also, a penniless grad student.) I did this several times! I may have gotten my FIDE rating that way (in those days the FIDE threshold was 2200, and a rating was a valuable thing to have).

As my ambition cooled, and I took on a job and family, of course I stopped adhering to brutal schedules and sleeping on my friends’ floors to play out of town. But, another side of that is, I didn’t (and don’t) play nearly as much. Looking at it from your (the organizer’s) point of view, the people you are trying to attract are either young and chess-crazy and will do almost any schedule, or they are old and civilized and want the schedule to be convenient, but maybe even a convenient schedule isn’t going to bring them out.

Bruce

11

Did you ever fly Allegenghy Airlines to a tournament? Likely not as you’re still alive. :wink:

12

Oh, you mean Agony Airlines … changed their name to Useless Air …

(If that’s a serious question, the answer is I don’t remember. But I don’t think I’ve flown to too many tournaments, except the ones abroad and the U.S. Open in Hawaii.)

13

Self-serious. I had a friend in college who was from Germany. He was involved in three “incidents” with them. He liked that that gave him all the Scotch he wanted after each one. First time I ever flew in 1967 was with them from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. They had some creaky old turboprops back then…always and interesting flight. Lol

14

I actually liked those creaky old turboprops. I flew them several times on North Central airlines, later merged with Southern to form Republic, and eventually gobbled up by Northwest airlines.

Better still were the even older DC-3s. They had two wheels in front and one in back, just the opposite of modern aircraft. The back wheel was shorter than the front wheels, so when you boarded, the door was in the back, and you had to walk uphill to your seat. When the plane took off, the rear wheel rose off the ground first, so that now you were sitting level instead of facing upwards. When it landed, it landed level, front wheels first. Then, as it began to slow down and taxi into the terminal, the aft part of the plane gradually lowered until the rear wheel touched the ground, so now you were once again facing upwards, as though you were in a dentist’s chair. An interesting experience!

Bill Smythe

15

I’ve seen and been in DC-3s at air shows, but have never flown in one. My late father who was a Tech. Sgt. in the Army 8th Air Force had to fly one and land what I guess was the military version of one when the pilot and co-pilot were killed by a German fighter taking a run at it. Fortunately, the fighter was attacked and shot down by either a Spitfire or Hurricane before taking a second run at the DC-3. Only problem was, my father, while he had been at the controls briefly a couple of times while airborne, had never attempted a landing. He always said that God actually landed the aircraft.

16

Perhaps one might argue that the tournaments are in fact travel friendly, but your travel is day cheap.

17

I’m doing Alex Relya’s Portsmouth Open in January. Four rounds total on Sat. and Sun. A friend is driving down with me on Friday and staying with a friend of his in Portsmouth Friday and Saturday night. Cost to him is $60 plus food. I’ll be staying in the event hotel, a Holiday Inn–No Surprises. The hotel with taxes is about $220, $60 for the entry plus food. All totalled the weekend will likely run me about $350 as I’ll meet my daughter for lunch Friday, my treat, and will have dinner out with Alex and his wife. Gas isn’t too much as my Jetta now gets around 33 mpg in highway driving.

It’s a fun weekend the cost of which is acceptable. I generally do a tournament weekend in Winter as a mini getaway. This Summer I may do the Continental Open in Sturbridge, MA. The hotel rate at Bill’s tournament is usually quite good, but it’s preferable to do the longest number of days to make it relaxing. That would mean four nights at about $400 with the taxes. Add entry and food and it’s a close to $600 long weekend. Cutting one day or taking a round 1 bye knocks about $125 off the cost.

Most of the people who I’ve seen at the Continental don’t have any expectation of covering any of the expense with prize money. It’s just a vacation. New In Chess is running a tournament on a cruise that looks like good fun. So…I may skip Sturbridge and consider the cruise.
Then again, after reading Stephen Moss’ book Rookie, it might be fun to do Hastings and take my daughter with me to hang out for a bit in London with my nice/Goddaughter.

18

Here’s an idea for a chess vacation. I haven’t been to Marrakech since 1988, but would love to visit again. Beautiful city.
spectator.co.uk/2016/12/a-ma … in-heaven/

19

At this stage in my life my choices and preferences are in line with me Lafferty’s. In my 30s my choices would have been more like "10mostwanted"s.

20

So, the German fighter fired at the DC-3 while it was flying, killing the pilot and co-pilot, but the plane could still fly? What kind of damage could the plane sustain that would kill the crew, but allow the plane to remain airborne? I’ve always heard the DC-3 was a tough little airplane. And kudos to your father for being able to land it with little previous experience.

Bill Smythe