Various ways to support me as Tournament Director and 90m+30s Club owner

Dear my beloved 90m+30s Club members,

It's been almost 3 years (since April 2022) that our classical 90m+30s chess club is founded.

You can find the history of our club, all activity of past, current, and future events here at

https://www.chess.com/blog/fhunfi/reasons-to-join-90m-30s-chess-com-online-chess-club

We have currently 3 Classical Swiss tourneys with 3 different time control:

(1) 90m+30s time control (1 Round/ game every 2 weeks)

for total duration 3 months (6 Round) / as our main tourney

(2) 45m+45s time control (1 Round/ game every 2 weeks)

for total duration 3 months (6 Round) / Added to fulfill the request from most of you.

(3) 60m+30s time control (1 Round/ game every 1 month)

for total tourney duration 1 year (12 round) / a new recent companion tourney.

I have run and will keep running those 3 tourneys simultaneously (in parallel), without any single pause / delay between the end of 1 season / cycle and start of new season / cycle.

I decide the timeframe between rounds as 2 weeks and (1 month for the new companion Swiss 60m+30s) for few reasons:

* A serious classical game can take (if both players used all time on their clock)

Total 3 - 4 hours (for 90m+30s)

Total 2 - 3 hours (for 60m+30s)

Total 1.5 - 2.5 hours (for 45m+45s)

* Even if you are joining all my 3 tourneys, you can be assured that you will have at least 1 game per week (but not more than 2 games per week). As I myself also the tournament participants and occasionally play 1 OTB (Over the board) game during weekend - I feel it and motivate me to create as humanly condition as possible tournaments in between our busy life (family, work).

* Some are (can be) joining all of 3, or 2 of them or joining 1 of them only. All depend on their need and availability.

Organizing online chess tournaments takes time, passion, and dedication. Behind every smooth event is someone working hard to make it happen.

I volunteer to create fair, competitive, and fun chess experiences for players around the world. Your support helps me continue doing what I love — for the love of the game.

* If some of you are willing to support my voluntarily work,

you can help me with 3 ways:

(it is welcomed but not required - it will be very helpful but it's not an obligation)

(A) To write / add some brief review on tournament page review

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/clubs-and-teams/if-1-of-your-new-years-resolution-is-to-play-more-serious-games-at-slow-time-controls (it's been 6 pages of all positive reviews).

It will help to let more people know our classical chess club and bring more participants for even more competitive tourneys ahead

(B) Helping me while helping yourself / we help each other

by trying my unique (no other ones had it before) successful training program

"Daily Lesson by email"

You can try for a full one month, and there is no obligation to continue to 2nd month if you don't like it or find it not helpful at the end of a month, so you have nothing to lose (zero risk) to try.

Link for detail explanation & all of review of "Daily Lesson by email" is at:
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-lessons/interactive-q-a-daily-course-by-email

if you are interested, all you need to do is message me 1 of your email address, then I will start email you the 1st test as example and continue with 2nd test once 1st test is done etc.

I will try my best to help you with this program. I give all my passion and energy in creating the Tests (problems) and in communicating back & forth by email from day to day.

(C) Any small donations are welcomed but not an obligation

Paypal support to https://paypal.me/LucieChien

ko-fi to https://ko-fi.com/fhunfi

Thanks again ... so much ... for your all support, commitment, and loyalty to the Club. I will return the favor by giving my best (care/ passion/ commitment/ responsibility) in organizing the tournaments as smooth as possible.

Sincerely

from your friend and partner in pursuing whatever goal / dream in your classical chess passion

Chien aka @fhunfi

Thanks for everything you do and letting us know how to support your efforts!

Congrats for all this chess satisfaction you offer us with these tournament formats all these years Chen . May the Goddess Kaissa keep you well .

I am following your e mail courses sonce summer and I am more that satisfied. My perpective of a game and the deeper vision of the positions has obviously improved since then

Sakis

http://90m30s.org/

is one stop portal that will update / recap all classical tourneys that I and other managing in various chess platform from time to time.

Excellent contribution you make, Mr. Fhunfi. There are very few who hold this type of tournament in online format.

Personally, I think that those who enjoy playing in Funfi's tournaments and can afford to do so, might consider paying voluntary club dues. I do. Let me explain why.

For many years, I've been paying something like $250 a year to keep in good standing as a member of a local OTB (over the board) chess club. Yet, I’ve played exactly one game there since March 2020, when the club temporarily closed for COVID. I also pay annual dues to the USCF, to remain in good standing with them, though I’ve played exactly one rated OTB game (the same game) since Mar’ch 2020. In both instances, I feel supporting chess, at least to that extent, is something I should do if I can.

By comparison, I must be playing 40-50 games per year within this 90m+30s online club initiated by @fhunfi. If this online club did not exist, I’m not even sure what I’d do since, 

a) I don’t think speed chess is really chess and in any event, I don’t enjoy it

and

b) there seem to be very few alternatives online clubs on this platform that use classic time controls. 

I suppose I’d have to seriously consider again playing in my local OTB chess club, but there are reasons I now play exclusively on-line, chiefly including that I can play where and when I like, depending on my opponent’s situation. If I played at my local OTB club, I’d either have to give up weekends in the country or play right after work during the weekdays. The short of it is, I very much want this 90m+30s online club to succeed, as it obviously has succeeded.

So, I've been paying voluntary dues for some months now, via PayPal. Yet, very frankly, I feel that I’ve been getting a tremendous bargain, so much so that I really think that some of the other club members who regularly play in these tournaments and feel that they can afford to do so might also consider making monetary contributions of whatever amounts they feel comfortable with, either monthly or on occasion 

The reality is that the club doesn’t run itself. @fhunfi runs it, at a great investment of his time, and with a great deal of effort and expertise. I, for one, do not want to lose the opportunity to play in the club's tournaments and feel that, for me at least, the payments are the least I can do in appreciation and that, in the end, they are actually in my own interest. Again, that's just my view, and it obviously depends on one's personal finances. But for those who feel the same way, it's something you may wish to consider.

Brian

Thanks all for your kindly support

I started to run this 90m+30s online club on Apr 2022, at first so that I can regular classic game, as I often waited too long for finding classical game in Seek Board (eg. seek for minimum 45m+15s / 60m+10s that will consume maximum 2 hours and a little bit more if both sides use all their time) and often get paired with not serious opponent after all

So by running this online club I help myself while helping others. I started exclusively with 90m+30s time control that surprisingly has many serious and fanatic fans, then after a while I added 45m+45s popular time control tournament, and since few months ago I added one more with 60m+30s time control, all run in Swiss system.

* Club history, current running tourneys and archive of all past tourney can be found here: 
https://www.chess.com/blog/fhunfi/reasons-to-join-90m-30s-chess-com-online-chess-club

Since Apr 2022, there was not any single week paused for running tourneys, the club has become my babies that consume my time, focus & energy on daily base (at least as much as my regular main job as chess teacher onsite & online), but it is all done with fun & passion and I enjoy every minute of it.

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart." - Elizabeth Andrew 

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Mahatma Gandhi 

Hi Fhunfi,

I have been looking for longer time control games to improve my game. finally after a long search found your club and I enjoy it.

yours is simply cool, simple directions and instructions. no hassle and fuss.

the players decide their games and complete in 2 weeks. I cant ask more. I am more busy in life now.

It also makes me to play periodically at my comfort.

keep doing the good work.

Hi Fhunfi,

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the tournaments you run. The long time controls, clear communication, and flexible scheduling make your events truly stand out. It’s rare to find a club that offers both structure and convenience — especially for players with busy lives.

Being part of your club has helped me stay engaged with chess in a way that actually fits my schedule, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed the experience.

Thank you for all the effort you put into making this possible. 

Best regards,
@chekmet2