Galway Congress is back: 22-24 March 2019

sodacat11 wrote: »

Is there a list of entrants anywhere?
I note with some amusement the comment of the Galway Congress website about the increment in the Masters being 15 seconds "at the ICU's insistence" (compared to 10 seconds in the other sections) as if this was a bad thing. I think that the vast majority of players would prefer 15 (30) second increments to 10. It is also mentioned that this depends on there being enough clocks available. Are less clocks required for a ten second increment than for fifteen? IF there are to be no increments due to a clock shortage will the time limit be changed from 90 minutes to 100 or 105 ? Galway is always an excellent tournament and I look forward to playing there this year but not if we end up with some sort of elongated rapid time limit such as 90 minutes for all moves with no increment.

‘Struth, you do make life difficult for us poor organizers.

The list of entrants will be put up on the Galway Chess Club website. At present there are too few entrants for it to be meaningful information, so we haven’t done it yet. Unfortunately, few people seem to want to enter at the first opportunity; most leave it until much later.

On the size of the increment. When we first introduced increments some ten years ago we chose ten seconds. We have never had any negative feedback and so we have stuck with it. We heard a few years ago, from another tournament organizer, that the ICU had informed him that it wouldn’t rate his top section unless the increment was 15 seconds, and so we changed to comply with that. Having a longer increment means that players will have a shorter time between rounds and a later finish in the evening, which some might not like. Like most organizational decisions, some people would prefer one and some another, and yet it has to be the same for all. To get het up about the difference between 10 seconds and 15 seconds seems to be complaining for the sake of it; I expect that most players don't notice the difference. And remember, just a few years ago both you and I were quite happily playing ICU-rated games at weekend tournaments at 90 minutes plus no increment at all.

The sentence about what would happen if not enough clocks were available applies to the time limit in general, not the Masters specifically. Like all tournaments, we have to source clocks well in advance, based on a guess of how many entrants we will have. If we end up with more entries than we have digital clocks for (which is unlikely), the boards at the bottom of the Minor section will have to play with our old analogue clocks. Unless you lose more than 1000 rating points this month (which is unlikely, I would think) that won’t affect you.

Any more questions?

reunion wrote: »

Paypal is also a method of payment I haven't really seen since the 90's

A strange and ignorant comment: PayPal didn’t start until 1999; it reported its 2017 revenue as $13 billion, an increase of 20% on the previous year. So rather a large number of people around the world seem to be willing to use it.

If anybody is not happy using PayPal (and you may be wise for all I know), you can enter by post, as explained on our website, using any method of payment that suits you and is legally valid. Or you can pay me in cash in Bunratty if you don’t trust the post either.

reunion wrote: »

I also like seeing my name appear on the list after I enter.

Why? We respond personally to confirm acceptance of entry within 24 hours (usually a lot less) after I have had a chance to check the entrant's details and confirm they have entered for the correct section (not all people do). We have always believed in the personal touch in Galway, and not automated replies: it's more effort for us, but we think you're worth it. (Though I think you will get an automated reply from PayPal anyway). I guarantee that when you enter, reunion, you will see your name on our website within 24 hours if that would make you happy: we aim to make people happy.

reunion wrote: »

Personally I would like to see a list of entries on the website even if it is small

You will see a list of entries soon.

pawntof4 wrote: »

This is totally understandable as the majority of Irish tournaments take advantage of the ICU offering this service for free to tournament organizers. Nobody likes change or things to be different... human nature I'm afraid

People seem to have short memories: the ICU payment system has only been in operation for three years. Galway has never used it, and neither has Bunratty. Strangely, nobody seems to be complaining here about Bunratty not using it. The ICU system is less than ideal for a number of reasons which is why we and Bunratty have chosen not to use it even at some inconvenience to ourselves. Our system has been shown to work well and we are loathe to abandon it. If people are really averse to change they are very welcome to enter by putting a cheque in the post, as everybody did in the 1990s and well into the 2010s. Details of the address to send it to are here.

sodacat11 wrote: »

In the past I often ended up playing Baburin in Galway. Looking at the entry for this year's Masters (Only Baburin) I guess that there is a good chance that I will be playing him again.

Well, you wanted a strong opponent! We are also currently negotiating with two more players rated over 2300, but they have asked for time to make up their minds.

sodacat11 wrote: »

How many players do you need for the 250 Euro grading prizes to be realistic? Last time I won a "200 euro" grading prize and got a cheque for 50 quid

It depends how many entries there are in each section, how many entries there are overall, and how much income those entries bring in (given that there are five different levels of entry fee). If there are only half a dozen people playing for a prize, they can hardly expect the prize to come to more than their total entry fee, given that entry fees are our only source of income and that we have to pay a considerable amount to hire the venue. Last time the Masters section produced entry fees of €300, and the prizes paid for that section came to €950, so there can't be much complaint there. Like most tournaments, we say explicitly that the prizes are subject to the number of entrants; in 2011 and 2013 we had more entries than we had expected, and so paid out more in prizes than we had advertized; that's the way it goes. So if you want high prizes, encourage as many people as possible to enter!

If anybody is intending to stay in the Galway Chess Congress' venue hotel (the Menlo Park) and hasn't yet booked a room, they should do so NOW: there are only five rooms left of those reserved for chess players, which the hotel will only hold until Sunday (10th March), and the hotel seems to be otherwise fully booked. You can find information about the rates we have negotiated, and how to book at them, here (scroll down to the bottom and look under "Accommodation").

This is just a final reminder that on-line entries for the Galway Congress will close on Thursday (21st March). If you haven't yet entered, you can do so here. If you miss the Thursday deadline but decide when you wake up on Friday that you really have to play in the Congress, you can still enter by arriving early at the venue - the Menlo Park Hotel, Galway - and entering and paying in person, but there will be an additional charge for doing that as if too many people do so it can delay the start of the first round, which would inconvenience everybody, so we don't want to encourage it. Otherwise, if you have entered in advance, all you need to do is arrive before 8 p.m. on Friday, which is when the first round will start; first round pairings will be posted at 7.30. The tournament entry is looking good (you can see the entries so far on our website), but it will be even better with you playing in it!

An additional attraction, hitherto not yet announced, is that International Master Vladimir Sveshnikov invites you to sample the delights of Dice Chess, starting at about 10.30 p.m., after round 4 has finished, on the Saturday evening. Vladimir will give a presentation on this interesting chess variant, and thereafter you will be able to play some sample games, over some traditional Latvian sweets and beverages which Vladimir is kindly providing. For those interested in preparing for this event, Vladimir has submitted a brief outline of dice chess, which you can read by clicking on the link here.

We're looking forward to seeing you on Friday.