I am planning of hosting my first open to adult tournament. So this will be the first time I have to worry about money prizes.
There will be 2 adult sections (Open and U1500). I would like to guarantee disbursement of 80% of adult entry fees.
I am thinking of the following announcement:
"80% of Adult EF’s Guaranteed for disbursement. Open: 1st 30%, 2nd 20%. U1500: 1st 20%, 2nd 10%. "
Any opinion? Or is it best to separate prize fund for each section?
I will appreciate any input.
You haven’t listed your entry fees, but suppose you have the following entry fees and turnout:
Open Section: $20 entry fee, 50 players, total entry fees $1000
Under 1500 Section: $10 entry fee, 10 players, total entry fees $100
You have $1100 in entry fees, and you plan to distribute 80% of that, or $880.
Using your fixed percentages formula the total prize fund in the Open Section would be $550, and the total prize fund in the Under 1500 Section would be $330.
BTW, be sure to register your affiliate for the TD/Affiliate Support Area so you can have an online TLA.
Looks legal, honest, ethical, and all that. You could simplify the language: “80% of EFs returned as prizes: 1st 30%” etc.
When we had the Chicago Chess Club on Lunt Avenue, we did something like that every once in a while. Our experience was that such tournaments don’t draw very well. Apparently, players don’t like to try to convert percents to dollars, and are much more likely to show up if dollar amounts are specified.
You could, instead, try a plus-score format (see some of the older threads on this topic) which guarantees prizes by score instead of place, with a low risk to the organizer.
Bill Smythe
I personally like to see more class prizes. (In your case, a player in the 1600-1900 rating has basically no chances).
What size turnout do you anticipate?
What is the cost of your site?
I really don’t anticipate a very big turn-out. If you look at any tournament in Mississippi or even those in Memphis, TN (my location is about 15 miles south of Memphis) most tournament average to about 20-30 participants. And top players in the Open at average rating of 1800-1900.
I am planning to run the Adult in conjuction with an scholastic tournament. So the site is basically paid for by the income from the scholastic event. I know Adult players don’t like playing in the same room with kids (scholastic players gets loud), so I managed to get a deal to have an smaller room (40-50 capacity) segregated from the kids at basically no additional cost.
I just like to set up a payout that will be appealing for local players to try to come and play.
Here in Peoria, Illinois we have similar turnouts for our tournaments.
We also have no to little overhead for our tournament sight, etc.
We guarantee 75% of the total of the entry fees as a prize fund.
We advertise prizes as a set percentage also.
For more info check out our website at gpcf.net
Wayne has the exact percentages if you’re interested. You can email him for more info on that if you wish. There is a “contact info” link at the bottom right hand corner of the main page for his email address.