CHESS TOURNAMENT FOR THE COMMON MAN Wollongong NSW 28th-29th June 2003 DOP Matthew Sweeney Chess tournaments are creatures that fall into a number of types; weekenders, rapids, email, week-night XYZ Championships et cetera - even Tranfer! There truly is something for everyone. One thing about most events is their near uniformity in prize money structure. The structure follows a tradition - large Open prize and a number of small rating division prises. With the Common Man, I have tried to break with that tradition. I felt that the traditional manner of dividing the pot was unfair. Most low end players rarely get to play a 2000+ player who is likely to benefit from a traditional prize structure. In hundreds of games in opens, I recall playing only one 2000+ in a first round belting. It is nearly certain that I will never have the bitter-sweet experience of playing an IM of GM who did not even pay an entry fee. With this in mind, the Common Man had a prize structure that ensured a more equitable distribution of the players entry fees. Three rating divisions of equal numerical size with equal prize money. There was room in the budget for two junior prizes and an adults only prize. Division 1 (1915-1655) 13 players 1st $200 David Castor 6/7 (1812) 2nd $100 Duncan Peters 5.5/7 (1837) Division 2 (1651-1375) 13 players 1st $200 Alex Mendes Da Costa 5.5/7 (1432) 2nd $100 Scott Nicholson 4.5/7 (1561) Division 3 (1344-672) 12 players 1st $200 Vaness Reid 4.5/7 (1274 & Junior 14 years) on count-back 2nd $100 Adrian Miranda 4/7 (1305 & junior 10 years) Open Junior 1st $50 S Guo-Yuthok 4.5/7 (1379 & 12 years) on count-back Local Junior 1st $50 Michael Hellyer 2.5/7 (1283 & 15 years) Adult Open (virtual Division 3 3rd for the upper end) 1st $50 Jeffrey Boardman 5/7 (1672) Largest Up-Set by Rating Difference (for lower end adults) 1st $50 Lindsay Went (1212) beat Jeffrey Boardman (1672) The advertised prizes was the greater of $1000 or 100% of entry fees. Entry fee receipts were: 17 Adult @ $40, 7 Juniors @ $20, 14 Cardholders @ $20. Total fees $1080 from 38 entrants. Total Prizes $1100. Prizes exceeded entry fees by $20 10 out of 38 entrants (= quarter) went home with $50 to $200 (1.25 to 5 times their entry fee). No prizes were spit between those on equal scores. Count-back was by sum of opponents' scores". This is not a usual procedure however, and I took this decision because I feel that, for example, collecting $20 on a 5 way split of $100 diminishes a players efforts. There was no bye because I entered myself as a player. Bottom end players do not deserve draws just because they are bottom end - they pay their entry, they get their games. I took this action to the detriment of my own rating - due to the obvious reduction in attention I could give to a game while attending to DOP duties. Positive and Negative observations. 1. Several people were concerned at the very small time interval between rounds. In two cases there was only a few minutes. Despite the 9:30am starts the short gaps were required so that we would vacate the hall by 6:00pm. Apparently the management was worried that we might disturb the Lyons club meeting in the adjacent hall with rowdy behaviour. Suffice to say, I will be able to negotiate a later finish next time on the Saturday, thus give us a real lunch break. 2. The playing conditions were spacious - only two or one board per table. The air conditioning was set at 25C. there was no noise from other club activities. 3. We had no "free" coffee. It is my subjective observation that it is a relatively small minority of players who guzzle the caffeine. Unless I can haggle free coffee, I think that most players would rather have their fees returned as prizes than hot brown water. 4. The tournament director/DOP (Matthew Sweeney) planned for 30 to 35 entrants. 38 eventual entries was peachy. 5. The DOP was free! 6. No players over 2000 entered. Perhaps the pickings were to thin south of Sydney. Perhaps together with the other Under 2000 event to the north of Sydney a NSW Under 2000 circuit could be begun, to rival the traditional opens with large open prizes. 7. I will have a box of pens next time rather than see players using Keno pencils from the bar. 8. A list of various accommodations should be made available to players. 9. Players came from as far as Newcastle and Canberra, (notwithstanding travellers from Norway, New Zealand and Tasmania) 10. The free beer (my shout) at the end of the prize giving was taken up by about 10 thirsty people. I hope that such a climax will become a regular feature of all tournaments. 11. Pressure is being exerted for another Chess Tournament for the Common Man to be held later this year. Players are encourage to suggest other improvements for the next Common Man. Place Name Feder Rtg Loc Score Rtg Sum Wins M-Buch. 1 Castor, David 1812 6 0 6 22.0 2-3 Peters, Duncan 1837 5.5 0 5 22.0 Mendes Da Costa, Alex 1430 5.5 0 5 21.0 4-5 Boardman, Jeffrey 1672 5 0 5 16.0 Reif, Josef 1915 5 0 4 18.5 6-12 Erkan, Mustafa 1840 4.5 0 4 23.0 Vagle, Ray 1655 4.5 0 4 20.5 Reid, Vaness 1274 4.5 0 4 17.0 Sloper, Chris 1655 4.5 0 3 22.0 Mcgregor, Allan 1707 4.5 0 3 21.0 Nicholson, Scott 1561 4.5 0 3 18.0 Guo-Yuthak, S 1379 4.5 0 3 16.0 13-15 Kreznovic, Mirko 1839 4 0 4 20.5 Cox, Barry 1789 4 0 4 18.5 Miranda, Adrian 1305 4 0 3 16.5 16-23 Korbe, Henrich 1496 3.5 0 3 19.5 Keuning, Anthony 1550 3.5 0 3 18.5 Lindsay, Karl 1300 3.5 0 3 18.5 Clark, Dominic 1608 3.5 0 3 16.5 Vujic, Radovan 1220 3.5 0 3 13.0 Kanostrevac, Zeljko 1781 3.5 0 2 19.0 Harris, Ben 1344 3.5 0 2 18.0 Mazzieri, John 1752 3.5 0 1 19.5 24-29 Stojkovski, Ljube 1678 3 0 3 21.5 Barakat, Martin 1651 3 0 3 16.5 Muhuamed, Buza 1635 3 0 3 16.0 Losh, Garry 1395 3 0 3 13.5 Slidziunas, John 1650 3 0 2 18.5 Gulaboski, Mile 1500 3 0 2 16.5 30-32 Bisson, Danny 1401 2.5 0 2 17.0 Hellyer, Michael 1238 2.5 0 2 17.0 Went, Lindsay 1212 2.5 0 1 18.0 33-35 Wilms, Darcy 1375 2 0 2 14.5 Sweeney, Matthew 1204 2 0 2 13.0 Parker, Trent 1168 2 0 2 12.5 36-38 Chiddy, Lance 672 1 0 1 13.0 Kentwell, Bren 1162 1 0 1 11.5 Guo, E 403 1 0 1 11.0 No Name Feder Rtg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Reif, Josef 19:W 10:L 20:W 9 18 16:W 2:W 2. Erkan, Mustafa 22:W 15:W 5:L 30 7:W 12:W 1:L 3. Kreznovic, Mirko 24:W 16:W 6:W 4:L 10:W 5:L 11:L 4. Peters, Duncan 25:W 17:W 23:W 3:W 5:W 9 22:L 5. Castor, David 27:W 18:W 2:W 13:W 4:L 3:W 9:W 6. Cox, Barry 28:W 20:W 3:L 15:W 9:L 22:L 16:W 7. Kanostrevac, Zeljko 29 33 19:W 16:W 2:L 18 25:L 8. Mazzieri, John 30:W 23:L 25 28 20:+ 19 18:L 9. Mcgregor, Allan 31:W 21 10:W 1 6:W 4 5:L 10. Stojkovski, Ljube 32:W 1:W 9:L 33:W 3:L 11:L 30:L 11. Boardman, Jeffrey 33:L 12:L 35:W 24:W 21:W 10:W 3:W 12. Sloper, Chris 13 11:W 33 22 30:W 2:L 29:W 13. Vagle, Ray 12 29:W 21:W 5:L 22:L 27:W 19:W 14. Barakat, Martin 23:L 30:L 36:W 32:W 25:L 26:W 28:L 15. Slidziunas, John 35:W 2:L 24:W 6:L 27 25 17:L 16. Muhuamed, Buza 36:W 3:L 26:W 7:L 23:W 1:L 6:L 17. Clark, Dominic 37:W 4:L 27 21:L 24:W 29:L 15:W 18. Nicholson, Scott 38:W 5:L 28 23:W 1 7 8:W 19. Keuning, Anthony 1:L 32:W 7:L 26:W 28:W 8 13:L 20. Gulaboski, Mile :W 6:L 1:L 34:W 8:- 28:L 26:W 21. Korbe, Henrich 26:W 9 13:L 17:W 11:L 30:L 31:W 22. Mendes Da Costa, Alex 2:L 31:W 29:W 12 13:W 6:W 4:W 23. Bisson, Danny 14:W 8:W 4:L 18:L 16:L 33 32:L 24. Losh, Garry 3:L 36:W 15:L 11:L 17:L 35:W 37:W 25. Guo-Yuthak, S 4:L 34:W 8 27 14:W 15 7:W 26. Wilms, Darcy 21:L 35:W 16:L 19:L 34:W 14:L 20:L 27. Harris, Ben 5:L 38:W 17 25 15 13:L 33:W 28. Miranda, Adrian 6:L 37:W 18 8 19:L 20:W 14:W 29. Lindsay, Karl 7 13:L 22:L 35:W 33:W 17:W 12:L 30. Reid, Vaness 8:L 14:W 31:W 2 12:L 21:W 10:W 31. Hellyer, Michael 9:L 22:L 30:L 38:W 32 36:W 21:L 32. Vujic, Radovan 10:L 19:L 37:W 14:L 31 34:W 23:W 33. Went, Lindsay 11:W 7 12 10:L 29:L 23 27:L 34. Sweeney, Matthew : 25:L 38:W 20:L 26:L 32:L 36:W 35. Parker, Trent 15:L 26:L 11:L 29:L 37:W 24:L 38:W 36. Kentwell, Bren 16:L 24:L 14:L 37:W 38:L 31:L 34:L 37. Chiddy, Lance 17:L 28:L 32:L 36:L 35:L 38:W 24:L 38. Guo, E 18:L 27:L 34:L 31:L 36:W 37:L 35:L