Hi everyone; can’t remember the last time I posted here (probably a decade or so).
Curious if there has been anything put out that I missed about tournaments being interrupted by COVID-19.
I was halfway through a 4 round Swiss that was being played one round each week at our local chess club. The library shut down, so we lost our playing site. Original plan was to just continue once everything reopened; that was before we realized how long this was going to last.
Wondering if there has been any official guidance on if it is OK for me to just hold this rated event in limbo indefinitely, or if I should just submit the 2 rounds as a ‘complete’ event now. Obviously rated games have been played so I have to at least get those in the system.
Generally in multi-week events that go over about six weeks, you’re supposed to submit the completed rounds monthly. Obviously this is a special case, but you should send your games in now, and send the rest of the tournament in on an if/when it is completed basis.
I think the enough time has passed that the games already played should be submitted, with the remainder being submitted when they happen.
My next question has no necessarily correct answer, and is asked for discussion only. If the event is cut short, how should the prize fund be distributed?
If a half-done four-round plus score event advertises prizes for scoring 4, 3.5, 3 or 2.5 points then nothing will get paid out, but that might not be seen as being kosher because the organizer would keep everything. If they were advertised as +4, +3, +2 and +1 then the total pay-out for the +2 and +1 scores will be the same as if all the games in the last two rounds were drawn, and draws help lower the pay-out in plus score events (assuming recommended plus score prize determination methodology). Paying exactly as advertised may not be particularly well received. Kind of like how a based on prize fund does not need to increase the prize fund if the based on is exceeded but many players will look askance at an organizer that does not increase the payout if the based on is significantly exceeded.
A friendly club may have everybody preferring to just redo the tournament at a later time with any entry fee waived for players that already started (and entry fee refunds to players that cannot start anew).
The easy ones are clubs that play tournaments without prizes.
I hadn’t thought of plus score formats, so that’s a very good example.
When the MetroWest Chess Club had to end its March event (five rounds) after two rounds, we just submitted the games for rating, paid out no prizes, and gave everyone in the tournament a credit for a free entry for a future event. (All our events have the same structure – monthly tournament, one round every Tuesday, same prizes and entry fees whether the month has four or five Tuesdays.)
Let’s say it is a 20 player 5 round event that has to be stopped after round 2.
The odds are pretty good that the players that would ultimately be the top several players are going to be 2-0, but so will some other players they’d probably have knocked off in the rounds not played.
Any top player who tried the Swiss Gambit, ie, took a half-point bye or had an early draw, is probably out of the money.
Another option worth considering is to declare no joy and return the entry fees.
If it is a Grand Prix event, then there are Grand Prix points to consider.
You’re assuming the Grand Prix itself won’t be cancelled. It may make sense to modify it and simply roll points earned into 2021, assuming we’re back to whatever the new normal will be by then.
The counterargument is that the announced conditions of contest were not met. Does the field not deserve some compensation for the lack of opportunity to catch up, or fewer games than advertised?
And someone else brought up plus score events.
I’d elect to pay out as advertised, but I’m not so sure an outright refund or hybrid approach isn’t defensible.
I don’t think individual organizers can or should make decisions about their Grand Prix events based on what they think the office MIGHT do with the 2020 competition.