Best tournament you've ever been to

Lucena

Hi all !

Just been to two poorish tournaments in the last three weeks, in terms of playing conditions, atmosphere, state of the toilets etc and got me thinking about the opposite, that is well-run tournaments with nice atmosphere, friendly people, nice drink, food, scenery etc.
What is the best tournament you’ve played in and most importantly why? I’m hoping to steal your experiences as my next destination.

LiamMc

I prefer the brighter summer months in Ireland
And two games a day in a relaxed environment.

In no particular order
Drogheda, Boyne Valley Hotel, June Bank Holiday weekend
Drogheda CC run a 6-player Round-robin.
http://droghedachessclub.wordpress.com/drogheda-june-congress-2013/

Malahide Millenium/Leinster Championship, May Bank Holiday Weekend
http://www.malahidechessclub.ie/index.php/malahidemilleniumtournament

e2e4 Dublin Easter Tournament. For the past two years, English-based company runs a FIDE rated tournament on the Easter Weekend.
http://www.e2e4.org.uk/dublin/Apr2013/index.htm
Previously the Leinster Champs was on this weekend but to their credit it appears the LCU gave over this global weekend to add another quality tournament to the Irish Calendar.

Lucena

LiamMc wrote: »

e2e4 Dublin Easter Tournament. For the past two years, English-based company runs a FIDE rated tournament on the Easter Weekend.
http://www.e2e4.org.uk/dublin/Apr2013/index.htm
Previously the Leinster Champs was on this weekend but to their credit it appears the LCU gave over this global weekend to add another quality tournament to the Irish Calendar.

Forget to mention my own favourite, e2e4 Brighton in February. 9 rounds Fide-rated over five days, 30 seconds from the beach, tons of reasonably-priced pubs and restaurants.
Great playing conditions, lots of room, class playing-hall.
There are other e2e4 events throughout the year, but as most of them are in hotels at the edge of a town somewhere, there’s obviously less choice in the pub/restaurant stakes.

cdeb

Really depends on what you're looking for in a tournament. Weekender/full length tournament? Ireland/England or further afield? Are the extra-curricular activities important or are you happy spending all the time playing chess?

The Schwarzach Open is in a nice part of Austria, has a game a day in the evening and arranges walks and sports during the rest of the day; quite good from that point of view. Only downside is that the u-2000 section isn't FIDE-rated, if that matters. Many European week-long tournaments are very nice and relaxed; Pula, Barcelona and Andorra are three good ones I've played.

Closer to home, here's an article I wrote a couple of months ago on why I reckon Bunratty is the best tournament anywhere.

TheKeenMachine

In Ireland, it has to be Kilkenny for me. Great atmosphere, great range of playing abilities, good location and great chess. Bunratty is very good as well, probably the highest standard of tournament I've played in but a big minus for me is that it is essentially in the middle of nowhere. Only one shop/petrol station nearby and a few pubs and that's about it. Good tournament otherwise though, and the Masters section consistently brings world class players along.

Chessrookie

For a tournament in Ireland, Bunratty has to be tops. The whole hotel is taken over by chess players and the lower sections were I play have big fields with some very strong players. There is a great buzz to the place all weekend long
Kilkenny is also very good, but the hotel reminds me of Faulty Towers...you will know what I mean if you play there.
Galway has a good crowd as well, although there are usually weddings on each night.
Gonzaga is full of juniors and is a great competition for juniors v parents. Once you accept it is played in the school gym, it is also a very enjoyable weekend.
My experiences are based in the lower graded sections, so it depends on the type of opposition you want. I would consider Gonzaga to be the best starter tournament for first timers in Dublin.
I look for a good junior/novice competition with a good field when I am planning a weekend away, so I can't comment on the higher sections

Pete Morriss

Chessrookie wrote: »

Galway has a good crowd as well, although there are usually weddings on each night.

For just this reason we have moved hotels for this year, so you can all have a guaranteed wedding-free chess weekend. Further information will be on our web-site (www.galwaychess.com) soon; the dates will be 4th to 6th October. Hope to see many of you there.

RQ_ennis_chess

The most enjoyable tournaments I have played in have nearly all been abroad. We don't really 'do' proper 9 round one game a day FIDE rated tournaments in Ireland. The chess community here is simply too small. Having said that, there are some great weekenders but 3 games in a day can be punishing especially if you like to have a few pints while you are playing.

Sparks

RQ_ennis_chess wrote: »

if you like to have a few pints while you are playing.

:pac:

mikhail

Pete Morriss wrote: »

... so you can all have a guaranteed wedding-free chess weekend...

Yeah, some of these weekenders can be crazy. You go to Kilkenny for a few games of chess and wind up hitched. :P

Sparks

mikhail wrote: »

You go to Kilkenny for a few games of chess and wind up hitched. :P

On the other hand, if you marry a Kilkenny woman, you can take her home to see family for a weekend and vanish off to play chess both guilt-free and with brownie points for doing the driving

mikhail

Sparks wrote: »

On the other hand, if you marry a Kilkenny woman, you can take her home to see family for a weekend and vanish off to play chess both guilt-free and with brownie points for doing the driving

Yeah, but you'll have to pretend to like hurling.

Sparks

mikhail wrote: »

Yeah, but you'll have to pretend to like hurling.

Not if you're from Kerry, they just "understand"

Pete Morriss

mikhail wrote: »

Yeah, some of these weekenders can be crazy. You go to Kilkenny for a few games of chess and wind up hitched. :P

On a somewhat related theme, see the 1925 Russian short "Chess Fever", starring Capablanca, which I've just stumbled across and thoroughly enjoyed. It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN6m711ddZk

Whilst I'm at it, a reminder of the Galway Rapidplay on Saturday ... Info at http://www.galwaychess.com.

bigtoe7

@ pete morris galway is too far away for me , any chance you can compromise and bring the venue closer to dublin say tullamore or athlone ? thanks

RQ_ennis_chess

Well done to Yury Rochev aka Brian Cowen :-) for winning the Galway rapidplay
http://www.galwaychess.com/rapidplay2013/

Lucena

RQ_ennis_chess wrote: »

Well done to Yury Rochev aka Brian Cowen :-) for winning the Galway rapidplay
http://www.galwaychess.com/rapidplay2013/

:eek:

hinault

Chessrookie wrote: »

For a tournament in Ireland, Bunratty has to be tops. The whole hotel is taken over by chess players and the lower sections were I play have big fields with some very strong players. There is a great buzz to the place all weekend long
Kilkenny is also very good, but the hotel reminds me of Faulty Towers...you will know what I mean if you play there.
Galway has a good crowd as well, although there are usually weddings on each night.
Gonzaga is full of juniors and is a great competition for juniors v parents. Once you accept it is played in the school gym, it is also a very enjoyable weekend.
My experiences are based in the lower graded sections, so it depends on the type of opposition you want. I would consider Gonzaga to be the best starter tournament for first timers in Dublin.
I look for a good junior/novice competition with a good field when I am planning a weekend away, so I can't comment on the higher sections

Bunratty and Kilkenny are both excellently organised tournaments and venues.

On the international side, I was fortunate to visit the Linares tournament several times in the 1990's.