FIDE rip off

sodacat11

http://en.chessbase.com/post/seniors-the-bill-please
Is the purpose of FIDE the promotion of chess or the ripping off of its members?

Tychoo

FIDE, FIFA all the same. I wonder if the new president of FIFA has met the aliens yet?

Tim Harding

sodacat11 wrote: »

http://en.chessbase.com/post/seniors-the-bill-please
Is the purpose of FIDE the promotion of chess or the ripping off of its members?

As pointed out in replies further on in that article, the complaint was inaccurate and it's not likely that FIDE are getting any more money than usual from this event or that the Czech organisers are profiteering. The recent World Senior Teams was very well run and the cost was very reasonable for the standard of hotel.

The fee payable in advance to hotels at Marianske Lazne for the 2016 World Senior individual championships is only a deposit and is allowed for when the final bill is paid. All the fees are exactly in line with the conditions for the 2015 event and do not exceed the fees in 2014 when the balance of the hotel bill had to be paid early in the stay.

There are other things to complain about in the arrangements this year - the 65+ is at a different venue from the 50+ and women's events (and the 50+ is actually split between two hotels, one having the live boards and the other the remaining boards).

It is true that some competitors would prefer cheaper board and lodging but personally I prefer accommodation and playing hall to be in the same place and to take meals socially with all the other competitors rather than find that one's friends are staying somewhere else so you hardly see them.

Last year there was a bigger choice of hotels and prices but some of them were a very long walk from the playing hotel.

I have more details of upcoming senior events and anyone thinking of playing at Marianske Lazne or in next year's team or individual events is welcome to PM or email me.

sodacat11

Tim Harding wrote: »

As pointed out in replies further on in that article, the complaint was inaccurate and it's not likely that FIDE are getting any more money than usual from this event or that the Czech organisers are profiteering. The recent World Senior Teams was very well run and the cost was very reasonable for the standard of hotel.

The fee payable in advance to hotels at Marianske Lazne for the 2016 World Senior individual championships is only a deposit and is allowed for when the final bill is paid. All the fees are exactly in line with the conditions for the 2015 event and do not exceed the fees in 2014 when the balance of the hotel bill had to be paid early in the stay.

There are other things to complain about in the arrangements this year - the 65+ is at a different venue from the 50+ and women's events (and the 50+ is actually split between two hotels, one having the live boards and the other the remaining boards).

It is true that some competitors would prefer cheaper board and lodging but personally I prefer accommodation and playing hall to be in the same place and to take meals socially with all the other competitors rather than find that one's friends are staying somewhere else so you hardly see them.

Last year there was a bigger choice of hotels and prices but some of them were a very long walk from the playing hotel.

I have more details of upcoming senior events and anyone thinking of playing at Marianske Lazne or in next year's team or individual events is welcome to PM or email me.

I know Marienbad (Marianske Lazne) very well and have a friend living there who puts me up for free whenever I stay there so it is extremely annoying to be told that I must stay in some hotel of the organiser's choosing.I also know the average cost of accommodation in Marienbad and it is well below the seventy euro per night that is being quoted.
As it happens, I also know the organisers quite well so I have written to them for clarification. I cannot help but wonder what happens when someone who actually lives in Marienbad wants to enter the event? Are they supposed to move into a hotel for eleven days????

Tim Harding

@sodacat11, yes we did discuss this in person earlier this year and hope that the organisers will come to some accommodation with you. I think local players usually get to play without having to stay in a hotel (at least that was the case with the World Teams. However for an overseas entrant that could be exceptional and I think you need your friends to put in a word for you, if you maybe offer to pay a nominal sum towards Congress expenses?

The general problem, however, is that the 65+ players may rarely get to meet the 50+ and vice versa.

On another point, do you think it will be cold in Marienbad in the second half of November?
Somebody told me a typical daytime temperature then could be 0 Celsius, which could make an Open tournament somewhere warmer more attractive.

mikhail

Tim Harding wrote: »

On another point, do you think it will be cold in Marienbad in the second half of November?

Typically 0-6, says here: http://www.worldweatheronline.com/marienbad-weather-averages/karlovarsky-kraj/cz.aspx

sodacat11

Marienbad is a VERY quiet spa town mainly frequented by aged German and Russian tourists who go there for health reasons. It has very few eating places and not a lot to do in winter apart from skiing. It is the kind of place where two chess games a day would be better than one just to fill in the long hours.

Tim Harding

sodacat11 wrote: »

Marienbad is a VERY quiet spa town mainly frequented by aged German and Russian tourists who go there for health reasons. It has very few eating places and not a lot to do in winter apart from skiing. It is the kind of place where two chess games a day would be better than one just to fill in the long hours.

For somebody like me, taking full board in the tournament hotel, that could be fine (except the cold perhaps). I would not want to play two games per day in a FIDE-rated event. (I tried it in the second week of Gibraltar and it was too much at my age).

I see that there is now an online registration form which you can complete without sending any money yet:
http://www.wscc2016.net/information/registration/

You have until the registration in person on 18 November to pay the advance fees, I think.

Under Accommodation you can select "I do not need" and there is a box where you can enter some text. Then see what they reply to you about this?

sodacat11

Since there are very few Irish tournaments left that interest me these days I have decided to play in Marienbad. Are you going Tim? Anyone else from here considering playing?

Tim Harding

sodacat11 wrote: »

Since there are very few Irish tournaments left that interest me these days I have decided to play in Marienbad. Are you going Tim? Anyone else from here considering playing?

I have not yet decided but I probably will enter eventually. I circulated the details to all the people who played in the Invitational last week, but Ray Byrne told me he is going to the EU Club Cup again on the Gonzaga team. Jim Murray and Patrick Daly said they (and perhaps some others) will probably go to Benidorm which starts on 1 December:

http://www.ajedrezenelbali.com/INGIndex.html

Of course there are many other people who might go to Marienbad, but I cannot speak for them. If you want to discuss this further we can do it by email or PM.