What should the ICU website do?

mikhail

sinbad68 wrote: »

Many tournament organisers have chosen to use ICU site for payment options, The problem, ICU site is geared towards ICU members, if Non-ICU members decided to enter for example Bray Rapid, they would have difficulty entering on line, their entry should also be facilitated .

Why?

sinbad68

mikhail wrote: »

Why?

Because Non-ICU players have as much right entering tournaments such as Bray Rapid as ICU members have, when ICU membership is Not a requirement. ICU should facilitate Non- members entering tournaments in line with it's own constitution Article 3 section 1.b.

To encourage, develop and promote the sport of Chess in Ireland.

My post was really directed at organisers whom we can assume would like to have highest number of entrants in their tournaments. Lack of on line facility inhibits entry of Non-ICU players whether resident or overseas players on holiday here, for an organiser their money is as good as one from an ICU member.

Ballynafeigh Chess

You can call me an ugly selfish self centred git if you must, hell I've been called far worse on many occasions but I don't think we should be discussing the Dalai Lama on a forum, so we'll move on. Could I ask for a login code or password for the ICU site just to have a nosey around for a bit of craic checking ratings and stuff?

mikhail

sinbad68 wrote: »

My post was really directed at organisers whom we can assume would like to have highest number of entrants in their tournaments. Lack of on line facility inhibits entry of Non-ICU players whether resident or overseas players on holiday here, for an organiser their money is as good as one from an ICU member.

I broadly agree, but TANSTAAFL. The tournaments should agree a small transaction fee with the ICU for such a service, which would allow these non-ICU members to support it.

sinbad68

mikhail wrote: »

I broadly agree, but TANSTAAFL.

May I assume by this acronym you mean " There ain't No such thing as a free lunch"?, by your statement I can tell that you are a new arrival to Ireland, so First, let me welcome you to the Emerald isle, Second, say that your statement could not be further from the truth! , because if you ask any of the 179,500 people on the latest unemployment list and those on benefit, politicians, pensioners, they will tell you, Not only there is a FREE lunch, there is Free breakfast, Free dinner, and also, FREE [ housing,clothing, fuel,doctor,travel pass, etc]! and if a young healthy adult who is living on benefit decides instead of looking for a job to support himself wants to engage in leisure activity and play chess and become an ICU member, he will find that his subscription is also subsidised by players who do work !, with The 15 Euro discount given by ICU to those claiming to be unemployed ---> buy a FREE LUNCH.

mikhail wrote: »

The tournaments should agree a small transaction fee with the ICU for such a service, which would allow these non-ICU members to support it.

I think ICU was trying to make life easier for it's members and organisers by providing a single platform for tournament entry but forgot/didn't care about Non-ICU players, Some organisers have declined the offer and prefer to look after their own finances, it's easy to set up a Paypal account and collect entry fees on line, remember Non- ICU players could one day become ICU members and should be encouraged and facilitated.

mikhail

sinbad68 wrote: »

remember Non- ICU players could one day become ICU members and should be encouraged and facilitated.

Why would they become members if we keep offering services for free to non-members?

reunion

mikhail wrote: »

Why would they become members if we keep offering services for free to non-members?

The ICU facilitates payment for ICU members primarily. This feature has only been implemented fairly recently.

The next step (if online payment works for both the ICU and the tournament organisers) is to facilitate non-ICU members (foreign players for instance) and charge a surcharge to individuals not currently a member of the ICU or an approved foreign federation.

mikhail

reunion wrote: »

The ICU facilitates payment for ICU members primarily. This feature has only been implemented fairly recently.

The next step (if online payment works for both the ICU and the tournament organisers) is to facilitate non-ICU members (foreign players for instance) and charge a surcharge to individuals not currently a member of the ICU or an approved foreign federation.

I'm all for that - I suggested it a few posts back - but I'm curious where you are getting this information from, reunion. Is this the official line from someone, or personal speculation or what?

reunion

mikhail wrote: »

I'm all for that - I suggested it a few posts back - but I'm curious where you are getting this information from, reunion. Is this the official line from someone, or personal speculation or what?

Personal speculation and experience.

With any new feature you have to get the basics working first prior to getting ambitious and making it complicated. I just think some of the discussion here needs a bit of perspective. This is a new feature in terms of paying for chess tournaments in Ireland. Once it works properly and is a success, then it's features can be broadened.

If you've organised a tournament before, getting money for the event is a big priority. If the ICU can't get payment to organisers in a reasonable time it doesn't matter if they accept non-ICU members or not; it just wouldn't be practical. The fact that the payment hasn't had any obvious hiccups is quite an achievement but something that will go unnoticed and unappreciated. This isn't the case of putting a link on the website and leaving it there. This would have had to have been an effort by a number of executive to make this work smoothly.

sinbad68

mikhail wrote: »

Why would they become members if we keep offering services for free to non-members?

The services are primarily provided by organisers and NOT the ICU and those players are paying an entry fee like anyone else.Bray Rapid is Not rated, so except collecting fees in this case ICU is not doing much else.


As I said, it is EASY for an organiser to set up a Paypal account and collect entry fees himself. It would be SILLY for an organiser to hand over control of fee collection to ICU who does Not cover Non-ICU players which could hit entry numbers.

As regarding entry fee surcharge for Non-ICU players

IMO, A resident player entering his/her first ever tournament should have NO additional fees imposed on him in order to encourage entry for First timers and if that player wants to enter further tournaments then ICU membership or a surcharge becomes a requirement, 15 Euro surcharge per tournament ( collected on behalf of ICU) for resident Non-ICU players is about right, so if you ( employed )enter more than two tournaments annually, It would be cheaper to become an ICU member.It would be steep to ask a player who only plays one tournament a year to pay 35 euro membership and entry fee.

As for foreign visitor on holiday here , you could have a debate whether its better (IMO) NOT to have a excess charges to encourage overseas visitors or there should be a charge.