(RSHaas) writes:

"If I like it, I would automatically assume that Dr. Sloan would not. But
anything can be modeled and tested.... (SBD)
=============
Well, ol Doc Sloan originally posted that the Metro Distict (Mensa scheme)
stuff was "byzantine" and that the money involved would be "chump change"
compared to what could be raised around HOOVER.
...

False. But, why am I surprised.

--
Kenneth Sloan
Computer and Information Sciences (205) 934-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX (205) 934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/info/faculty/sloan/

"For example, I liked the Vulcan Open last weekend, held at UAB. The TD staff
was first rate, and the players WHO SHOWED UP had a fine time." (Ken Sloan)
==============
Hey, I played in a long ago Vulcan Open and a Rocket City Open in
Huntsville. How'd the Vulcan do this year.. up, down, 'bout the same as
usual? Who or what is the Vulcan's financial backer?

RSHaas

Subject: Second Longest Running Adult Chess Event to be Cancelled in
Nebraska.
From: (Bruce Draney)
Date: 11/03/2003 2:14 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

"On a related note, a tournament held this weekend in Lincoln lost the
principal organizer over $200.00 as the turnout was only 10." (Bruce
Draney)
==============
10 players... is that a Frankenswiss in Nebraska?

RSHaas

You'll laugh but this was actually three tournaments that drew a
total of 10 players. One was the Lincoln City Championship which drew
4 players and the other was the Class and Amateur championships which
drew the other 6.

The organizer made some mistakes in anticipating the turnout. He's
a friend of mine, but unfortunately he's very generous and probably
didn't realize just how bad turnout would be. It didn't help that NU
was playing Texas on network TV on that day, I'm sure.

All of these things are just symptoms of dying adult chess in
Nebraska. Not all of this is USCF's fault, but USCF is mostly
responsible for starving the locals to feed its own insatiable greed
and wasteful spending.

Unrated chess is moving in the opposite direction. Unrated events
now draw over 100. No extra fees to send to New Windsor to waste.
Trophies primarily, low entry fees, no pressure to play for deflated
rating points.

USCF is now mostly irrelevant to all but the children around here.
Don't think of it as a bad thing though, just think of it as a new
business opportunity for Bill Goichberg.

When I visited Des Moines in 1999 looking at hotels, I did Omaha on the same
trip, but wound up scheduling in Des Moines only because the hotel situation
there was much better.

The "opportunity" of helping to keep chess alive in Des Moines has lost money
each year since 2000, though this year with the turnout jumping up to 140 we
nearly broke even. The Fort Des Moines Hotel is a great location for chess and
I'm hopeful that some day we can draw 200.

The only tournament I ever organized in Omaha was in 1975. That one was quite
successful and actually made some money with about 100 players, because in
those days you could get a good turnout with nothing but TLAs, while now it's
essential to do mailings as well, and each Des Moines tournament spends about
$2000 on postage and printing.

CCA will probably not consider running anything in Omaha in the next few years,
but I am convinced that with a good and inexpensive site, a well publicized
USCF-rated event there would do well. If any local organizer is interested, I
am willing to provide without charge: advice on site, scheduling, tournament
structure and publicity, and a guarantee against loss.

If no one in Omaha is interested, I would consider a similar arrangement for
another metro area of at least 500,000 which is deficient in USCF-rated
tournaments. Anyone interested should contact me at .

Bill Goichberg


Best Regards,

Bruce

The "opportunity" of helping to keep chess alive in Des Moines has lost
money
each year since 2000, though this year with the turnout jumping up to 140 we
nearly broke even. The Fort Des Moines Hotel is a great location for chess and
I'm hopeful that some day we can draw 200.

Not with adult USCF dues this damn low. Raise the dues if you want 200; It's
the only way to teach these so-called farm-belt chessplayers to value USCF.
$149 would be about right!

If no one in Omaha is interested, I would consider a similar arrangement for
another metro area of at least 500,000 which is deficient in USCF-rated
tournaments. Anyone interested should contact me at .

Well, Bill, you're heart is in the right place. I do appreciate you bringing a
tournament to Bakersfield this summer but it was a shadow of the numbers that
the Bakersfield-Visalia-Fresno area would have drawn as recently as five years
ago. The $49 adult rate killed adult chess from Bakersfield to Stockton.

The current USCF adult dues structure has killed adult chess outside of the
very largest metro areas.

"If no one in Omaha is interested, I would consider a similar arrangement for
another metro area of at least 500,000 which is deficient in USCF-rated
tournaments. Anyone interested should contact me at .
(Bill Goichberg)
================
Despite having just posted that the deep South is a bit iffy regarding big
chess, I wonder if the following might be worth a looksee by CCA:
Chattanooga might be a hidden gem. It actually had a decent community of
players at one time... and it is surrounded by good sized towns not too far
away. Nashville to the n/west, Huntsville and Birmingham to the s/west,
Atlanta to the south, and Knoxville to the n/east. I'd guess the hotel
situation is not as crazy as Atlanta's.
Biloxi, Mississippi... the Las Vegas of the South and close to New Orleans,
Mobile, Montgomery, and Jackson. Must be some hotel deals there.
Athens, Georgia... recently emerged as the Berkeley of the South, 50+ miles
east of Atlanta and not out of reach from Greenville and Charlotte to the east.
Very visible local coffeehouse chess culture and some recent history of USCF
rated activity.

RSHaas

Dr. "Sympathy" Sloan brayed:

For example, I liked the Vulcan Open last weekend, held at UAB. The
TD staff was first rate, and the players WHO SHOWED UP had a fine time.

Wow, I am not sure if that is one or two of the famous terse Sloan insults in
one sentence.

What about the players WHO WERE TOO SICK to play, you unthinking, uncaring
jerk?

Jackasses like you have driven more people out of chess than I can count,
including perhaps, your own son?

SBD

In article ,
says...

You'll laugh but this was actually three tournaments that drew a
total of 10 players. One was the Lincoln City Championship which drew
4 players and the other was the Class and Amateur championships which
drew the other 6.

The organizer made some mistakes in anticipating the turnout. He's
a friend of mine, but unfortunately he's very generous and probably
didn't realize just how bad turnout would be. It didn't help that NU
was playing Texas on network TV on that day, I'm sure.

All of these things are just symptoms of dying adult chess in
Nebraska. Not all of this is USCF's fault, but USCF is mostly
responsible for starving the locals to feed its own insatiable greed
and wasteful spending.

Unrated chess is moving in the opposite direction. Unrated events
now draw over 100. No extra fees to send to New Windsor to waste.
Trophies primarily, low entry fees, no pressure to play for deflated
rating points.

USCF is now mostly irrelevant to all but the children around here.
Don't think of it as a bad thing though, just think of it as a new
business opportunity for Bill Goichberg.

Best Regards,

Bruce

Sorry to hear that chess is dying in Nebraska. (I was born in Lincoln.)

You say that the USCF is now mostly irrelevant to all but the children....

I'm puzzled by that. I choose to work in and support scholastic events
because in scholastics the USCF is irrelevant! The kids don't care about
USCF membership. Our scholastic events in Washington State draw huge
crowds. So much so that it's "pre-registration only" anymore. I don't
know anyone who is doing same-day registrations anymore. Just too many
players!

Our scholastic events are WSRS (Washington State Rating System) rated. Not
necessarily USCF rated. So no problem with kids not being USCF members.
Also, we don't require the kids to be Washington State Federation members
either.
--
Chris Kantack
http://home.earthlink.net/~kantack/lcdchess/home.htm
(remove the "nospampls" from my email address if replying by email)

I think that attendance at Chess events across the nations has been
devastated this month. Any event organizer who relied on putting a
Tournament Life Announcement (TLA) into Chess Life was done a serious
disservice by the USCF decision to cut the length of the Chess Life
Novemeber Issue down to a couple of dozen pages. It was probably so
thin that many did not recognize it as the monthly magazine, and did
not bother to open it. Thus, they would not have seen the TLA in the
back of the magazine. Even worse was the silly decision to create a
"Retro" designed cover. So, not only did the item that was received in
the mail not feel like a magazine, it did not even LOOK like a Chess
Life Magazine!







Bruce Draney wrote in message ...
The second longest running adult chess event in the state of Nebraska
will not be held this year. The reason given is apparently cost. The
annual Polar Bear which was run consecutively since 1973 will not be
held for the first time in 30 years.

Lincoln no longer has a free playing site available, and the director
cited costs as the primary factor in deciding to chuck it. This event
was one of Nebraska's most colorful, run by a man who wore shorts no
matter the time of year, he turned it into a fun event where anyone who
wore shorts in the late Fall throughout the tournament would be eligible
for special prizes and a partial refund on the entry fee. We had a very
nice free playing site in Lincoln until last year. Now we do not have a
nice free playing site in Lincoln. I will not elaborate on the reasons
why we no longer have a free playing site in Lincoln, as that has been
brought up before.

In 2001, the third longest running adult chess event in the state was
permanently cancelled in North Platte, Nebraska, due to declining
support of players, the costs of continuing to secure playing sites and
the jacking up of the TLA prices over 500% by George DeFeis and Tim
Redman.

On a related note, a tournament held this weekend in Lincoln lost the
principal organizer over $200.00 as the turnout was only 10. There were
more trophies than there were players. This person can ill afford to
lose $200.00 and I suspect this may be his last attempt to organize
adult chess events as well.

This coming weekend an unrated team tournament in Kearney, Nebraska is
expected to draw over 100 players. Let's see, USCF rated tournament
draws 10 and unrated team event in Kearney is expected to draw over
100. Is there a message here about the value of USCF membership? Forty
nine dollars is a killer in this part of the country. What the hell
though, no one gives a rat's anyhow.

Best Regards,

Bruce

(HAASpittle) wrote in message ...
"On a related note, a tournament held this weekend in Lincoln lost the
principal organizer over $200.00 as the turnout was only 10. There were more
trophies than there were players. This person can ill afford to lose $200.00
and I suspect this may be his last attempt to organize
adult chess events as well." (Bruce Draney)
=============
Bruce, Bruce, Bruce,.. don't worry about a thing, lad. Kevin Bachler
assures us the capitalist model is the way to promote chess.
Hey, what's 200 bucks to a chess capitalist, huh? I hear rumors that at
least 75 chess capitalists are gathered in western Iowa just waiting to rush
into Nebraska with fists full of money for chess. It's the 'Merican way. You
know, chess capitalists are really gonna drive adult OTB far in this country.
In a few years chess capitalist will have driven adult chess all the way to
within a 50 mile radius of New York City.

RSHaas

Something is missing from this discussion. Nobody has said that this
"chess capitalist" ever derived profits from his tournament organizing
in Nebraska.

David Ames