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A Tale of Two Cities
"...the superlative degree of comparison..." by NM Leland Fuerstman “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” Charles Dickens ------------------------------------ On January 7, 2012, I
was escorted by my second, "Wild" Bill Connell, to Asheboro, N.C. in
order to participate in Asheboro 77. Though we paid the $25
entry at the site, organizer and Chief Tournament Director, Tom
Hales graciously provided me with a $5
"organizer's discount!" (I
give ACC players discounts at the CCC!)
As luck would have it, I finished clear 1st Place with 2.5-.5
and won $160!
This event is located at an easy-to-find shopping mall in Asheboro. With direct parking, a choice of restaurants and all of the necessary amenities, participants are routinely challenged by strong competition from all parts of the state! The winners have always been rewarded with a hefty payout, which after expenses, generally left the benevolent organizer with little, if any, profit at all. According to USCF requirements, and for the past 40 years in North Carolina, that is, prior to the current NCCA administration, the standard policy has always been that "a prize fund of at least 75% of the entry fees collected was returned to the players." The other 25% was applied to tournament expenses, ie. site fee, rating fee, food, gas, misc, and if there were any money left, profit!? However, on this particular day, a total of 27 players participated (NM Josh Mu received a FREE entry). When questioned about a financial statement of the event, Hales promptly recited the total amount of money received, which was $645. When asked about the prize fund, he reluctantly explained that, "...possibly due to the new high blood pressure medicine he was taking," he got a bit confused and mistakenly calculated the payback based on 29 paid entries!? In fact, he paid out $600! And, according to his final calculations, he actually lost a few dollars?! Additionally, he offered to show a $70 receipt for the use of the playing room. But, Tom will be the first one to tell you that he doesn't do it for the money; he does it for the camaraderie; and to "help promote chess and bring new members into the North Carolina chess arena." Possibly unintentionally, this time, Hales actually paid out 100% of the entry fees collected! Accordingly, during my 40 years of organizing and directing hundreds of weekend tournaments, I have never paid out less than 75%. After all, tournaments should be designed to accommodate the needs and concerns of the players... not to make the organizer rich!? "The
superlative degree of comparison"
On January
14, 2012, I participated in Reverse Angle 25 held at the Cone Center on the UNCC campus in Charlotte. The
entry fee at the site was $25, which I
paid in cash. I won my first round with the Black
pieces. But, since most players don't have an ID card
for the cafeteria, nor do they wish to eat their lunch
out of a snack machine, many end up snarled in the
traffic around the college looking for a fast food
joint. But, on this day, when I returned for Rd:2, because of a
huge number of fans who arrived to watch the 49er
basketball game, I was diverted by the campus police
to the 3rd level of the West parking wing, which was a
good half mile from the chess area? Upon completing
the tiresome trek and arriving a few minutes late, I
discovered that I had the Black pieces "again," this
time against top player NM Klaus Pohl (2207) to whom I
lost. I promptly reported to the Director, Peter Gianattos,
that I was withdrawing and left without incident. A couple of days later, the crosstable was published and I noticed that there were 62 players at the event and that the Chief Tournament Director was Gary Newsom? I found that to be somewhat curious since Gary actually played all 3 rounds of the tournament, and, save for collecting money at registration, rarely, if at all, addressed any tournament issues? Furthermore, according to USCF rules, the Chief Tournament Director may NOT participate as a player in any event with more than 50 players, period. (But, who cares about rules?) However, Peter Gianattos appeared to be in charge even though his name wasn't even listed on the crosstable as an Assistant? When I inquired about the total payback in an E-mail to NCCA VP Dr. Walter High, his response was, "The Reverse Angle was a private tournament put on by the Queen City Chess Association." --- But, wait a minute. The dictionary defines the word "association" to be: "1. an organization of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure." --- The definition of "association" does not include a system whereby one person seizes total control, makes all of the decisions and takes all of the profits at the expense of his members?! It was reported that the Queen City Chess Association was "privatized" a few months ago and became the personal property of Gary Newsom. (...But, hark, what is that faint sound of music I hear in the distance?!...why, it's the ghosts of inspired Charlotte area chess players all singing "cum bah ya" and touting their "new age chess club?!" "All for one, and one for all" they shouted with glee... All of their new "ex-CCC" members were promised special discounts, seminars, equal volunteer participation and responsibilities, democratic decision making in club affairs, the right to hold office and the right to vote! Pleeease?!) Unfortunately, on the day the QCCA was privatized, since their constitution was abolished, each member lost all of their rights. In addition, it had been reported on the QCCA website that the balance of their treasury was over $3,500, and the revenues from two subsequent Reverse Angles had not even been included, pushing the amount to as much as $5,000!? Since no formal report was made, one can only speculate that all of the money was kept by the person who privatized the club... But, in my humble opinion, if one decides to shut down his chess club one week and take everyone's rights away, and then restart it the following week, each member should have received an equal share of that treasury. After a year or so of success, their numbers have now fallen off significantly. Catering chiefly to scholastic players, many of the stronger adult players in the Charlotte area no longer participate at the QCCA and prefer the alternative Charlotte Chess Club! The reasons are varied. But, why not? Skyland is a great place to dine, socialize and play one rated game of chess at 7:45pm each Wednesday evening! And, all of our results are posted the following morning! Now, back to the Reverse Angle. One can only estimate the actual figures since, to my knowledge, no official balance sheet of any of his events has been posted (but, I'm not positive about this one since my computer would not open the weird file which they have linked on the NCCA website?) Yet, even though they had more than double the number of players than Asheboro, the clear winner of the Top Section, Dominique Myers, only received $125? which was $35 LESS than I won in Asheboro?! That makes little sense. There were a total of 62 players who each paid an entry fee of between $20-25. Assuming that 22 players paid an early entry fee of $20, and the remaining 40 players paid an EF of $25, the estimated total amount received would be $440 + $1,000 = $1440! But, rather than basing the prizes on a certain number of players per section, Newsom decided to unconditionally guarantee the prizes!? The total amount guaranteed was $765. That leaves a profit of approximately $675 and a payback quotient of only 55%? (before expenses; but, I am told that he pays UNCC nothing for the use of the room). Now, herein lies the problem. Prior to the QCCA's being "privatized," a statement on their tournament flyer indicated something to the effect of, "all prizes unconditionally guaranteed, more money will be added if entries substantiate it..." That statement has conveniently been removed from their current flyer, and it is my understanding that only the guaranteed amount was paid?! For years in North Carolina, before these "creative" tournament designs were employed, a more equitable system which guaranteed a 75% payback was to have 10 man sections and pay the same amount in each section. The "crafty organizers trick" of guaranteeing a fixed prize fund for a "local tournament" does little to serve the best interests of North Carolina chess players and, in this case, resulted in a substantial profit for the owner of the QCCA, NCCA President Gary Newsom. Now, I am certain that some will proclaim that not all of his events have been as profitable as this one, and that it averages out, but that further substantiates the practicality of using the "10 man section" system. This way, with a flat $20 entry fee, the winners of each section would win a total of $150 and the organizer would earn $50 from each section. In the case of this event, that would have yielded a total profit of a little over $300, which would have been a fair and equitable split. Until the Reverse Angle tournament is readjusted to pay back at least 75% of the entry fees, I do not intend to participate in the event again. Furthermore, considering the need for a local chess tournament with a "fixed entry fee" of $20 and a fair payback, I am currently seeking a new location for Saturday 3 rounders sponsored by the Charlotte Chess Club; where every member still has the right to vote... NM Leland Fuerstman |