Hawaii Chess Festival in March 2015

Did you get a chance to read about Hawaii Chess Festival that will be held March 2015? I saw a facebook post a week earlier when I came to know about it and went through the details in their web site - http://hawaiichessfestival.com/

Today I see a ChessBase article where there are details on this tournament - 

http://en.chessbase.com/post/hawaii-the-chess-vacation-of-a-lifetime

I have been looking forward to travel Hawaii for last few years. Its simply between the work load and chess tournaments, I could never manage it. But now as I can combine vacation and chess together, I will surely try to make this event.

What's your thoughts?

- Ashik Uzzaman

My Chess Blog: http://dragonbishop.blogspot.com/

Yeah, that will be exciting, Ashiquzzaman.....paricipate in the tournament......have confidence....you play Nice and you can be Successful.........

Thanks

Munir

@Munir, thank you

It's a nice idea for a tournament; I just wonder if the prize purse is too small. Even the National Open in Las Vegas had an $80k prize fund.

It'll be tough to recoup one's costs of traveling and booking lodging in Hawaii for any player. The prize fund MUST be more than $25k because of these issues.

Aloha Ashik and other commenters :)  We are very happy to see discussion about our event happening.  

rTist21 - with regard to the prize fund, we hope players will not look at the tournament as a chance to make a lot of money, but rather to combine some great chess with a beautiful vacation.  We are confident that the value of experiencing Hawaii, and being able to play chess on the side for some more-than-decent prizes will be well worth it for any chess player.

That said, the prize fund for the open event is based on 200 players and not out of line for a tournament of such a size.  The National open drew 609 players this year.  http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201406151572-13434254 If our tournament were to draw 600 players we would increase the prize fund proportionally (IE, it would be increased to $75,000).  So it's not too far off.  Also to be mentioned is that our advance entry fee will be under $200, which is lower than the National Open.

Would love to see further feedback on our event!   Please subscribe to our newsletter via the bottom of our site to stay in the know of our event.  Thanks again all and we hope to see some of you here on the beach!

Its not about the prize fund, its about chess, and having fun, and its in Hawaii!

Absolutely 

I would love to go, but will be in London during that month

I understand it's Hawaii; I've just been there many times before and am not as fascinated with the place as I have been in the past. Keep in mind I've played chess on the Waikiki beach tables area (near the police station), so I've some familiarity with that area.

Whenever national events, such as this one, come up, I always look to at least have the chance of breaking even on the trip. You have to remember that events like this are not inexpensive. Let me give you an idea of the kinds of expenses I'm talking about right now:

Entry Fee: $200 (I know hawaiichessfestival said it's less if you preregister, but until I receive/find an exact figure, I'll use this as a rough estimate).

Airfare from Alaska: keep in mind that, outside of actually being in Hawaii, I'm probably in the next best place as far as airfare is concerned. The cheapest fare I could find right now is $715.90.

Hotel fee: A real killer, this. If I arrive early to get acclimitized (say, on 3/17) and leave the day after the tournament ends (say, 3/23), the hotel fee at the Hilton Waikiki Beach will be, at least, $189/night. That's a six night stay and would cost $1134. There might be cheaper hotels in the area, but then you'd have other expenses to consider, like car rental for instance.

Add all three of these up, and you have a grand total of $2049.90. That doesn't include meals while on the island; food is more expensive in Hawaii and could easily be up to $150-$300, depending on quality of food. This could easily be more expensive than I'm giving it credit for.

If I were to play in the U2000 section, at best, I'd have to win or tie for first to recoup the costs of all of this. The first prize for that section is $2500. Sectional tournaments are notoriously difficult to win, for various reasons, and I can't assume that I'd win if I were to play. So, were I to enter this event, I'd be taking a loss unless I magically won the event.

That's tough to swallow for me. I imagine it'd be tough to swallow for a lot of people who might want to participate.

I love the idea of playing tournament chess in Hawaii; I just don't think the numbers add up well for me. I imagine that other people might be adding up their numbers and reaching a similar conclusion. Unless the numbers are better, it's a tough tournament to justify participation in, especially if you're just a class player like myself. Sorry, but I have to play on a budget, and this tournament feels like it'd blow most of my hard-earned money.

Thanks, I'd love to be there!

http://enjoychesslearning.wordpress.com/

This sounds so nice. I'd love to go and take my wife too! Chess on the beach anyone? Trip of a lifetime! Hope anyone who has the chance to get over there has a great time!

It's unfortunate for Southern California players this event happens to coincide with the 22nd annual Western Class Championships, which will be held that same weekend, in Agoura Hills, CA.

I'm from Southern California and I'd like to play in both events, which of course is impossible.  Thus, I may end up choosing the California event, since it's much more convenient.  Also, the prize structure seems better for the Western Class Championships:

CA event:  Under 2000 entry fee is $115 with a prize structure of $1400 - $700 - $400 - $200.

HI event:  Under 2000 entry fee is more than twice that of CA, ($249) but the prizes aren't twice that.  ($2,500 - $1,250 - $750)

This Hawaii Chess Festival does sound like a lot of fun, however.

Again, it's too bad the two event's weren't scheduled a week or more apart.

Ashik, were you able to make it out to Hawaii and if so, how was the tournament?

I like your Dragon Bishop Blog Ashik so I bookmarked it.

Did anyone go there:

Thank you NM Dale. Collins, I was not able to make it to Hawaii this year due to my project pressure in office. I hope to make it next year!