The organizers of the Millionaire Chess Open said they might cancel the tournament if 1500 players weren’t signed up by March 31. Not only did the tournament not have anywhere close to 1500 entries by March 31, the tournament only got 548 players total. Why didn’t the Millionaire Open get the turnout the organizers were expecting or hoping for? What do you think can be done in the future to improve the turnout?
I think I looked the other night and seen that only about 10000 US players were adult; I don’t know how many of those would be in the top players. Plus, $1K is a lot of money for us amateurs.
It also should have been centralized more, say in St. Louis.
I would like to see the stats on who came from where, their ratings, etc. if it isn’t too much trouble.
Including senior and life members, there are about 30,000 USCF members who are adults (age 25+) Another 7,500 are aged 16-24.
I think Vegas is a good spot for the tournament. Although its not a central location, there always seem to be cheap flights going there.
After the fine tournament that the organizers put on, the tournament series now has a good reputation instead of uncertain, and I think a second tournament would get more entries than the first edition. The bigger question is if it can get enough entries to break even.
One thing the organizers could do would be to hold the tournament on San Juan Island in Washington State. They could keep the same entry-fees but publicize that the big money would be vacuumed up for the playoff winners even in class sections a little better than was done at first. The beautiful location would draw Canadian players down and would perhaps increase the number of USCF members as well. Also the beauty of San Juan Island and the journey there would make a vacation out of a chess tournament. I for one would love an excuse to visit the area again!
I’ve been to the San Juan Islands several times!
We do not have demographic studies of USCF players to show what their income levels are. How many players can afford to spend $1000+ on an entry fee and $1000 to $2000+ more on travel expense, hotels, meals, etc. ? That 548 chose to come is an indicator that not that many players have that “irrational exuberance” necessary to play in an event like the MCO. Even when they know many months in advance about the tournament and can save toward it.
The playing conditions looked good, but that was to be expected. That the titled players would receive extra perks was also to be expected, but one would have expected more for the class players who shelled out big bucks so that the titled players could sniffle about how they should receive even more perks and money. If there is a next tournament, the organizers are going to have to take into account the “little guys” with their puny ratings a lot more to provide a better experience as a memorable tournament and as a vacation. Limos for all, first come first served. Hospitality rooms for everyone. Photography sessions. More lectures than comedians. Daily video reports and highlights, even real time look ins, on each section. A wider prize distribution rather than funneling so much to the top four in each section. Big party on the last day after the finish of the event for all who want to stick around. The organizers may not be able to afford all of that, but that is how the tournament appeared to be touted many months ago to draw players to come.
Agreed!!
I believe he was being facetious.
I believe we all understood that
There are a couple of mitigating factors that lessen the impact of the $1000 entry fee.
First, the depth of the prizes. Consider for example the U1400 section, which had 70 players. 24 of those won $1000 or more. Another 10 won $800. 22 won $600. 5 won $240. Only 9 won nothing. In U1600, of the 67 players 19 won $1000 or more, 10 won $640, 19 won $600, 4 won $300, and 15 won nothing.
Second, they had good hotel rates and travel to Las Vegas is often cheap. I did a couple “total cost” comparisons to other big open tournaments and I seem to recall it came out that it was more expensive, but by only a couple hundred dollars are so. That was under the assumption that you’d win no prizes.
Combine these, and I think for the average class player that attended it turned out the net cost was probably around the same as playing in a US Open or a National Open.
I believe you now understand that. I seriously doubt that you understood that went you made a post with a ! on it.
No, I understood that from the beginning. The reason I made my post with a “!” at the end is because it was surprising for someone to bring up a remote area in Washington that I’ve been to several times and it takes me back as I went there as a kid.
My suggestion was serious. The organizers of the Millionaire Open claimed that they would be jumping up and down to only lose …dollars. So money obviously was no object to them. I enjoyed the ferry ride to the San Juan Islands and I’m sure that anyone would appreciate the beauty of the place if they were to visit. For the players I’m sure that one venue is very much like another (Chess the Musical) but why not try to make it into a family outing? I had great seafood as well as the scenery. Besides, players who would spend thousands of dollars to play chess might appreciate being able to focus on their games without the lure of the casino nearby (as in Las Vegas).Now if I suggested Death Valley CA. (no offense to scorpions) you could safely consider my tongue firmly in cheek. Seattle was the cleanest city I ever visited but for exceptional beauty and focus. I like the San Juan Islands for the reasons I gave.
I highly doubt the San Juan’s have a hotel that would be suitable for a tournament of this size. But if it did, yeah, I would come for an event in such a beautiful setting.
I concur. The Friday Harbor Suites seems to be the largest venue and it would be too small for sure! But I still think this would be a great place to hold a chess event.
Where can I find these numbers?
I was estimating from MSA which showed one local player who had the following rankings:
Overall Ranking [i]x/i out of 53,660
Junior Ranking [i]x/i out of 40,234
Now, I was guessing that there were a total of 53, 660 members, and that 40,234 were Junior members, and arriving at 13,426 (OK, a few K more than the 10K I posted, but still…)
Not all members play. And I’m not at all sure that those counts include only active members.
Current membership numbers can be seen via BINFO posts, which can be accessed through this gateway.
Does anyone agree with me that these high priced high prize
events do not help chess as a whole? All they do is drive up
entry fees, encourage bagging.
What average players need to get strong medium priced tourns within your rating range or perhaps the ability to
opt out of prizes for a lower entry fee
Out of 80,000+ USCF member, very few are average. There are at least 3 major coordinate axis: affluence, age, and rating. Depending on where one falls in this coordinate system, people generally prefer different tournaments. Some keep playing the Benoni, go figure. Suum cuique.