The Future of Tournament Chess in Michigan
By Norman E. Browne
Sunday afternoon, prior to the start of the final round of the 10th U.S. Amateur Championship North, Pete Nixon announced that the event would not be run by the MCA at the present location. The MCA, according to Nixon, lost $700 promoting the event, Editor's Note: Bob Ciaffone, MCA President, sends us this note "(From Pete Nixon's actual financial report on the event) The MCA lost a total of $474.10." and to make matters worse, at the 11th hour, the free site was nearly lost, and is in question for the future.
The tournament itself was an enjoyable event, featuring no money prizes, but a host of merchandise, and plaque awards for winners in many classes, as well as upset winners in each round. Dr. Paul Grams brought an enthusiastic and skilled group of scholastic players from Detroit, most of whom played well above their USCF ratings.
I spoke to both Peter Nixon and Paul Grams after an early fifth round loss left me with time to spare. I related my surprise at the low turnout, especially with the abundance of prizes, and reasonable entry fee ($30/$20 for Jrs.). Pete Nixon related that his 40 plus junior players were not there, since he was no longer supplying transportation. My reaction was, where are the parents? A couple of decades ago, I was a high school track coach and spent my summers with Motor City Track club. We fielded teams in the hundreds to locations all over Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, as well as National events. We who coached did provide some transportation, but could not have run the club without parental involvement, especially in transportation.
Dr. Grams runs some low key, inexpensive tournaments at Finney High School, located at Cadieux and Warren, Detroit. These are either quads, or mini SS held on weekends during the school year. Entry fees are $10, $5 for U19 or plus 50. He can be reached by phone at 313-371-0671. What an opportunity to compete in rated tournament competition? In my never to be humble opinion, more of this sort of tournament ought to be organized! Large sites are not required, and there are not massive organizational demands on a tournament director. They can be held on regular meeting nights of local chess clubs, or in conjunction with scholastic events. This may encourage parents to play. If they do, the kids have transportation. They probably taught the child in the first place, but may not wish to contribute $50 to provide a large prize fund for the experts and masters, or may fear that level of competition.
Unless tournament chess is marketed toward new players, whether youth and scholastic players, or adults who enjoy the game, but only play among their circle of friends, the tournament scene will have only the "regular suspects" show up. That demands more low entry fee events, novice events (unrated/no memberships required) and events played in 100 to 200 point-rating ranges. The prize money isn’t particularly relevant to players at this level, and participation would be more likely with modest entry fees. Plaques or even paper certificates, as awards would suffice.
We can lament that Michigan Chess is not on the level of east coast chess, but I can see no reason for that being the case, other than not effectively marketing our product. There is nothing in the air or water outside of our area, which breeds chess players. The regional popularity and participation in any game usually has a lot to do with the way it is promoted, but what works in one region may not in another.
At this moment, I can almost hear organizers criticizing this newcomer to the scene, for being such a know-it-all. I’ve been out of competitive chess for thirty years, and have no idea of what has been tried in Michigan, and what hasn’t. I do know from decades of business experience, that if your present marketing strategy isn’t performing as desired, continuing it generally doesn’t change anything. [It has become commonplace for politicians to blame the voters and businessmen to blame uninformed consumers. Wrong! The consumer is the final judge, and people are smart. If they aren’t buying, you either have the wrong product, or are not selling it correctly.] This article isn’t meant to criticize organizers, but is an attempt to give them a different perspective, and perhaps stimulate some new ideas to promote and grow tournament chess in Michigan. Comments from both tournament directors and players are welcomed.
Email Norm [email protected]