Harry, I had intended on coming to the tournament to show support. Like Yogi Berra said about funerals, "It’s important to go to theirs, because if you don’t, they won’t go to yours."Then I noticed you have a G/120 time control…Those of us old enough to be playing in senior events come from the days when there was a secondary time control, usually after move 40. At that point we received additional time for the endgame. I’m sure, knowing you as I do, the particulars of the tournament are engraved in stone. I would hope you would at least consider adding a secondary time control, even if it means making it a 40/90 (or 30/90) SD 30 tournament. If not, at least question the players who enter, asking them which they would prefer.One more thing…I notice you have a 2 hour break between rounds on Sat, but only one hour on Sunday, presumably to give the players an earlier chance to get home. As a Senior who has played in several Senior tournaments now, I would say the minimum time needed between rounds is one and a half hours.Thanks for listening, and best wishes for your tournament.
Michael Bacon
To my knowledge Harry Sabine has never been on the Forums.
Maybe this will get him into the Forum?!
Seriously, Harry sent me a nice email:
Michael Thanks for your thoughts. It is too late to change the time control now as it has been advertised both on flyers and in Chess Life. However, I intend to do a survey of the participants to get a feel for what us “old” folks want in the future. The tournament for the last 3 years had been a one day game/60 event. We’re trying to make changes but couldn’t do everything at once. If we get to do the event again, I hope to offer a one round per day option.
Harry D. Sabine
And this is my reply:
Thanks, Harry! It’s great to hear an organizer say he will ask for input from the players! Will you use the 5 second delay? If so, would you consider, say, a 15 second delay, with the clocks set at 1:45? The St Louis Open had a 5 second delay and was set to begin at 1:55.Sorry I missed your orange shoes in Nashville! How was the Final 4?
The practice of subtracting from the time control a number of minutes equal to the number of seconds of delay or increment is no longer recommended practice under the rules. (It is still permitted as a variant.)
I once asked an senior citizen when the “good ole days” were. he told me 1948!!!
In Denton and Dallas, we have see a continual stream of players who have not played in some cases
since the early 1970’s returning. Which is great. What is usually not so great, is that the time
controls they are used to, and which I myself grew up playing, are usually no longer feasible, as
it is difficult or too expensive to procur a venue for a multiple day event that such longer time
controls require. Secondly, many seniors I have talked to, while they appreciate longer time controls,
the added expense of hotel rooms cuts into their buget severly, in many cases preventing them
from playing. Thus, I think the idea of a G/60 for such events, greatly increases the their ability
of most seniors to participate.
Rob Jones
Denton, Texas
So, when will you be submitting your bid to organize the 2010 US Senior Open, Rob?
There are just so many more events than in “the old days,” which is another reason multi-day tournaments aren’t the norm.
I am the editor of the New York State Chess Association magazine, and have a copy from the year of my birth, 1965. The calendar for the year listed 16 events, and while I am sure it didn’t get every chess tournament, it had all the big ones along with some local events.
Now there are weekends in New York where there are more than 16 tournaments.
The expense issue is part of the appeal for shorter time controls. I will play the 2 day schedule at the National Open which saves me a hotel night. I will play the 4 day schedule at the US Open. That schedule isn’t really saving a hotel night over the old 5 day schedule because I’m still having to come in the day before for a 2 pm first round.
Off topic a bit, but I don’t like the 4 day schedule because I have multiple days of having to play numerous games, which means I can’t attend workshops or play a side event on Friday.
The other thing I like about a time control like G/60 is you can play 4 rounds in one day, and then have the other day to do other things. This past weekend we had the NYS Woman’s and Senior’s Championships at the Marshall Chess Club. The tournaments were 4 rounds with two rounds each day. It was the first nice weekend in ages and I was inside playing chess. I would have rather played 4 games on one day. G/60 would have worked, or have a 1 day schedule option for Sunday.