I am (happily) receiving my daily TLA mail.
Is there any way to get detailed information about tournaments announced in the TLA mail, in advance of their publication in Chess Life?
Not yet, but that’s something we’d like to do.
However, there are still some concerns as to what happens if the TLA information is changed during the editorial process but those changes are not back-ported to the file we would use to display that information online. (The editorial department uses Quark Express and we have no access to those files from the ISP.)
Similarly, what should we do if an event is cancelled or the TLA withdrawn from Chess Life after you’ve been notified of it?
We may just have to go with a strongly worded disclaimer that the information shown online is preliminary and is subject to change.
Besides visiting the organizing affiliate’s website?
Not all organizing affiliates have a website.
Your estimation of my stupidity is not appreciated…
Of course visiting the affiliate’s website is the first thing to do, but as Mike said, not all affiliates have websites, nor are the affiliates listed on the TLA announcement.
Forgive me – I haven’t gotten a lot of TLA e-mails. Are they just one-liners? If so, I apologize for my obtuseness.
Here’s an example that I’ve got…
2010-03-14 Sunday G/45 Open Rahway NJ 2010-03 CL
That’s it. No affiliate. No times. No details at all except the date, name of the tournament, and the city it is in.
Apology accepted… Thank you.
It also indicates that the TLA will be in the March 2010 issue of Chess Life.
I could probably add the sponsoring affiliate, but that information doesn’t appear in Chess Life and it may not help track down additional information on the event.
I’d be up for the sponsoring affiliate. At the least, it would give people a better chance to find what we’re looking for. Thanks!
OK, the sponsoring affiliate ID (and a link to their MSA page) has been added to TLA Mail, starting with tomorrow’s edition.
And who said the USCF wasn’t responsive to members’ requests? Thanks, Mike!
As of this morning, TLA Mail now includes a link to the details of the TLA from Chess LIfe or CL4K, even for TLAs that have not yet been published.
It does some formatting of the event information, starting a new line on each new bold-faced entry, but otherwise it should be the CL-encoded text. As an example, see uschess.org/tlas/4076.ctla
It is possible that the information in the TLA system could be out-of-date due to changes made during the editorial process, so there is a disclaimer:
TLA Mail will list events when the TLA is first available, which for TLAs in Chess Life or CL4K means when they are paid for or (for free TLAs) when the proof copy has been approved by the organizer, and will also list them two weeks before the event begins.
To sign up for TLA Mail, go to secure2.uschess.org/email/email-pref-update.php