Today was setup day for the Championships. at the time of writing we have 154 in the open section and another 60 odd in the juniors. What is really pleasing is the numbers from other shores. If you are reading this, welcome to Scotland!
9am, I arrive at the venue and we begin the task of setting up for 160 determined chess players. It isn't as simple as 80 boards and sets. God I wish it was. W e have 8 wireless and 35 wired DGT boards available to us and getting all that working is a mammoth task. To give an idea (and maybe dispel a few myths that it is easy to do this!) We have 5 computers driving the boards with a desktop driving the wireless displays. It feels like there is about 2 miles of cable and 38 connectors each having to be tested lest it brings down that particular string of boards.
Here is what the playing venue looks like at the start of the day
Nice and easy :D
When I arrived, I did a scan of the wireless frequencies to work out what channel to put the wireless boards on. Here is what I am faced with!
The channels are Zigbee channels which use the same 2.4GHz as wireless. Someone want to tell me where in the name of Iris I am supposed to put the boards?? I did a waterfall scan for an hour and worked out 15 was the least congested and improvised an aerial!
We have 5 arbiters this year. 2 from Scotland, 1 who is joint English / Scottish, 1 from Australia and 1 from India. Jamie (from Australia) is complaining it is too cold, and there is Alex and I sweating in the heat!!!
We needed to be clear by 5, here is how it looks at the moment
There is a mass of cables I need to tieup on Monday before play starts. Last thing we need is people tripping and damaging the boards, I mean hurting themselves. Will be in at 7am.
As always will be doing a daily blog with my usual twisted sense of humour so tune in.
Hope you all enjoy the coverage and will "speak" to you during the week :D
Looks a disgrace of a venue for such a great and prestigious event. Horrible exterior, with a run down gym hall. Hopefully the chess will be better!
ReplyDeleteIt's not that bad, we have all played in worse venues. I agree from the photo it could be better and give a better impressions, but then we all know we are a rather under resourced chess association in all regards. If you don't have the resources, what can we expect? Can't bash the few volunteers we have who I know give their all. As the title of the blog goes, "Who'd be a chess volunteer" - not me!
ReplyDeleteAh, but we do have the resources. 25k over 3y donation, and a lottery grant on top. Compared to previous venues, this is not good, especially considering this is the Commonwealth and not just some local congress. I know of others who say they are "embarrassed" given this was our chance as a nation to shine. of course no-one wants to say this publicly for fear of reprisals. I would love some detailed accounts of the spending to be released, but that will not happen. For what it's worth, really appreciate what Andy is doing with the live boards, and don't blame him at all. However, there needs to be a review as to how this and future events are run.
ReplyDeleteAnd the number of people coming forward to assist Alex / Andy and the others. Let me guess, if we were to ask them they would be able to count on a single hand. So from the above, you are suggesting you want them to put on a world class event for as little as 18K. Get real! The lack of sponsorship or interest from the Government has been depressing, how do you expect them to do any better given the numbers coming and the little funds they have? Get real!
ReplyDeleteFor what it is worth, I have helped with organisation in the past. What I stand by though, is surely we could have found a better venue for the money we had. We managed to previously, and even had less funds, so I am being realistic. I don't expect the Ritz, but something a bit better than this was surely possible. I would honestly love to know how the money has been spent this year.
ReplyDeleteThis is the reason I am posting this as anon though. Unfortunately criticism is not allowed of any kind against CS.
Have you actually been in the venue? I've not seen it yet, only from the outside when I checked the other day where it was for Monday. I'm looking forward to playing in it. Doesn't seem that bad to me. The Dilapidated building is the one to the left by the way. As for your last comment, don't make me laugh. Seems like the last 10 years have been constant criticism of Chess Scotland so that blows away the credibility of the rest of your comments straight away
ReplyDeleteOpinions are like arseholes and by god we have one here!
ReplyDeleteSo there is no sponsorship. What has the Marketing Director been doing then? Seems to be able to get sponsorship for his own events but can't get one for an international one.
ReplyDeleteSeriously guys, take a time out. I am close to disabling comments on the blog if this keeps up.
ReplyDeleteSadly I am inclined to agree with the OP regarding the venue. Glasgow has a rich culture of architectural innovation and it is a real shame that this won't be exemplified in what is to be Scottish chess's greatest hour. It's disheartening to see a netball court being used for the Commonwealth Games (chess) and not the netball! A chess event of this magnitude, I'd be amazed if MSPs/Glasgow Commonwealth Games organisers wouldn't have helped find a more deserving venue. Clearly there has been some ineptitude in terms of liaising with the wider Culture & Sport community in the organisation process of this event. Whether this organiser or the marketing director is accountable for this is another matter. I don't know the details of the figures being floated around, but if the £25k figure is anywhere near the real figure then I refuse to believe that a more appropriate venue was not available. Factor in the 100+ entries at 80ish pounds a head and you have yourselves a fat wallet. @Andy Howie, please don't disable the comments. Good discussion and debate is a positive thing. Sanctioning criticism (constructive or otherwise) is exactly the sort of reason why would-be volunteers and organisers are reluctant to come forward. In spite of the perplexity over the venue choice, let's hope our fellow Scots can do us proud and get us a few great scalps. Who knows, maybe one of our elite players will take home the Commonwealth crown!
ReplyDeleteYours,
A chess nut
Suffering one of my annoying bouts of insomnia tonight so morning all :D
ReplyDelete@sparticus, I'm not so worried about people making comments, it is when it results in insults like we have seen today that I get really annoyed and wonder if I really can be bothered continuing with this. Good discussion and debate are a good thing. If I didn't think that I would have simply deleted the comments!
To answer a few of your points. I personally spoke to the Games organisers and was essentially threatened that they would sue us for having an event so close to the main games. That ruled out a joint venture with them! As Hamish will testify, we have been to the highest level of government trying to get support for this event. We could get nowhere. We have had meetings with ministers & I spoke with my local MSP. I Personally contacted over 40 Scottish Companies but could not get any interest. I know of many other chess players who have spoken to where they work to try and get sponsorship, again, no interest. I believe Hamish contacted Glasgow Council to try and get a civic reception organised...
I was interviewed by the Times (not the Evening Times) a couple of months ago, I still have the paper here, again, no interest. I have contacted media no interest. Seeing a pattern here?? So are you saying that I am inept?? I personally have spent a great deal of time in the last year and that amount is multiplied several fold with Alex, Hamish and others.
On the finance, we have to supply entry, accommodation and for 1 male, 1 female and I believe 1 disabled person for each country attending in each category (main event, U18, U16, U14, U12, U10), factor this into the quoted figure of £25K and the "fat wallet" of 100 entries (which if true would only generate a further 8K!) and there is not a great deal left. A budget of £25K would give a good Scottish as there are no accommodation overheads to think about. What happens next year??? If we can't get a sponsor for the Commonwealth, how can we possibly get one for the Scottish?
I totally agree with your final comments. Will be really good to see one of the Scottish Players lift the title. A real bonus would be for one of our norm chasers to have a good tournament and get a norm. That would be a really successful tournament for me!
Thanks for the detailed reply Andy, and not blocking the posts. I am still curious over the finances of this event though. Is it possible to know how much the venue costed this year, the sorts of options considered, and how it compares to the venues of a few years back, which were much nicer?
ReplyDeleteIt feels very much like something somewhere has gone wrong that we have ended up with the current arrangements. While I accept that some people have tried their best, perhaps the wrong strategy was in place. The passion on both sides show that people do care which has to be good: perhaps there is a possibility to involve a wider organisation committee for next year, with more shared ideas and approaches? I for one would be keen.
Even if you have the desired finance, it still doesn't buy you human time, you can't buy volunteers! (unless you have so much available finance you can pay someone, then they are an employee). I still don't disagree the venue could be better, but can only imagine the time, effort it takes into organising venues and the obstacles that are faced in this regard. The big achievement was just securing the Commonwealth hosting, it was always going to be a case of doing the best we could do and accepting we would have liked it to have been better. Do I think those involved in the organising have given 100% and are full heartedly and passionately doing their best - YES, YES and YES. To the OP and others sharing their views, if you feel that strongly (a) get more involved in these events (i.e. volunteer your time) or (b) donate some finance.
ReplyDelete"To the OP and others sharing their views, if you feel that strongly (a) get more involved in these events (i.e. volunteer your time) or (b) donate some finance". Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteNo seriously, you expect Chess players to get up of their own backsides and help when there is more fun sitting at the sidelines and complaining?
"perhaps there is a possibility to involve a wider organisation committee for next year, with more shared ideas and approaches? I for one would be keen."
ReplyDeleteSeems to be someone wanting to volunteer to me. Maybe try encouraging rather than having a go?
For the benefit of the OP and anyone else who isn't aware of it, gymnasia and sports/games halls are pretty normal venues for large open tournaments the world over.
ReplyDelete