Good luck to you=we needmorre ofyour kind
Millionaire Chess 2!!
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>MC need to dramatically increase this number if they are to be a viable company.<
A dramatic increase on 550 tournament entry players is...what? A thousand? Someone here said they wanted to see 2000.
Reality Check: THERE IS NO MARKET TO SUPPORT THOSE NUMBERS.
I hate to keep beating this sullen drum, but this is not a question of grabbing people off the street, seducing them with big money prizes, and having them come party with the MC gang in Vegas.
You have to be a USCF member to play. (we won't count European and Asian players at this point...although more on that later).
This uncool fact keeps getting unmentioned...or even forgotten. And while it's easy and usually correct to point to the USCF as a singularly bone-headed organization when it comes to promoting their game to the USA, the fact is that chess as a market is already saturated. The ICC is mature. USCF memberships are steady and have been for years.
MC has to know this, so maybe they are assuming that most USCF players simply aren't enticed by the Joys of Goichbergia, and need the razzle-dazzle of Las Vegas and a monstro prize pot to stop playing computer chess in their parents' basement.
Well, maybe. But it's a large assumption that there is a big, untapped market of active USCF members who don't go to the usual Opens, and have thousands of dollars to burn on entry fees, travel and lodging for MC.
I would argue that it's a ludicrous assumption, which is why I predicted 250 players for this one. As for the aformentioned players from Europe and Asia...it's very likely that if MC is to survive at all, it will be as an exclusive tournament for a small group of US players and then hordes of continental GMs who can't compete in Europe but could come to America and happily pound on our huge patzerdom.
That's kind of already what is happening. Take a look at the winners list, and note where they are coming from.
>the more likely the masses would be interested in it. <
People who refer to other people as "the masses" need to be sent home without a cookie.
Well, I heard it was a fun experience. It would be cooler to have it in New York though.
>Well, I heard it was a fun experience<
Dude, anything held in a Las Vegas hotel is fun. They could bring tree-climbing "to the masses" (by speeding it up of course), erect huge fake trees in some Vegas convention room, and pay out $100,000 to whomever gets to the top of the most the fastest...and yes, it would all be one grand lark. Millionaire Trees.
When you are surrounded by casinos, cocktail waitresses, exotic dancers, and a lot of drunk people, you are going to have a good time, even after you hand over your $1000 entry fee to a pack of offshore grandmasters.
Don't get me wrong, I think MC is a great idea, they are just going about it all wrong and I've stated why.<
Um, if something is being done all wrong, it's not a great idea.
maskedbishop wrote:
>Well, I heard it was a fun experience<
Dude, anything held in a Las Vegas hotel is fun. They could bring tree-climbing "to the masses" (by speeding it up of course), erect huge fake trees in some Vegas convention room, and pay out $100,000 to whomever gets to the top of the most the fastest...and yes, it would all be one grand lark. Millionaire Trees.
When you are surrounded by casinos, cocktail waitresses, exotic dancers, and a lot of drunk people, you are going to have a good time, even after you hand over your $1000 entry fee to a pack of offshore grandmasters.
I agree with that. I've never been to Las Vegas but have done similar things with cocktail waitresses, exotic dancers, etc. in South Florida, NYC, Paris, London (well no strippers in London actually), and it was "fun".
aww-rats wrote:
Since MC is reading this, I'll say it again why I am not playing....I have the time off, I have the $880, I even have the $2000 at the door...
It's the rapid playoffs.
Totally wrong. You don't speed up standard time controls, they ruin chess. Since all the sections except the open received 0 media coverage as they unfolded, there is no need for a playoff.
Maurice wants them because he doesn't like ties. The players don't want them because of the security a last round draw offers.
Players will refuse to enter because of the playoffs, they won't refuse to play for lack thereof.
This policy is in my estimation costing MC at least 100 entries. That's $100,000 of Amy Lee's money.
Cricket has gone through similar changes on faster time / speed. It was 5 days test cricket frist. Then came one day cricket that goes from morning till evening. And now the popular one is Twenty-twenty cricket which finishes in couple of hours.
Also faster time control will reduce the chances of draws because both sides will make more mistakes than usual. Anti-draw opinions are not only favorite of GM Ashley but from other professional chess players too. For example here is one -
http://en.chessbase.com/post/kasimdzhanov-open-letter-to-fide-with-a-proposal
Jan 5, 2015
0
#70
Both sides wll make more mistakes than usual. So we want to promote a style of chess where we make more mistakes? Hey, we already do that, blitz and bullet! Hikaru is probably best in the world at bullet, but not at slow chess.
Hey, maybe the future of chess is chess960, Maybe it's fast time controls. All I know is a rapid format keeps me out of MC, and I'm not alone. MC2 may not lose as much a MC1, and they have said they hope by 3-5 it turns a profit. Amy Lee has the money, it just seems wrong to try so many changes in the regular standard time control format. you said you hope they get 750 entries, maybe they will. however, even if they can build it up, remember what i said. without 1500+ players each event, or corporate sponsorship for the prizes, it's doomed.
aww-rats wrote:
Both sides wll make more mistakes than usual. So we want to promote a style of chess where we make more mistakes? Hey, we already do that, blitz and bullet! Hikaru is probably best in the world at bullet, but not at slow chess.
Hey, maybe the future of chess is chess960, Maybe it's fast time controls. All I know is a rapid format keeps me out of MC, and I'm not alone. MC2 may not lose as much a MC1, and they have said they hope by 3-5 it turns a profit. Amy Lee has the money, it just seems wrong to try so many changes in the regular standard time control format. you said you hope they get 750 entries, maybe they will. however, even if they can build it up, remember what i said. without 1500+ players each event, or corporate sponsorship for the prizes, it's doomed.
Agreed. And I think... although it won't be easy or quick... both of the things you said in your last sentence will happen.
>Since MC is reading this,<
Well, that's lightly pathetic.
>Amy Lee has the money,<
Yeah, but how much? How many hundreds of thousands of dollars is anyone willing to throw to players like Wesley So to beat on fish? Eventually there comes a point where even the most pie-eyed supported of our boring game is going to back off.
MC appears to believe that Las Vegas is the ultimate destination. Granted, many of their serious entrants are foreigners so perhaps you need the sketchy lure of Vegas to get them to buy a flight, but still...
For families, It's about the worst possible place you could pick. Clearly MC doesn't see players bringing the kiddies along. I'm surprised LA, Chicago, or NYC aren't in the running...or why not Orlando?
The repeat attempt at Las Vegas just affirms the garish cash-obsession with the whole enterprise. I've harped on that from day one. The oft-proclaimed values of bringing chess "to the masses" and to "the next level" become nothing more than lip service - the grotty worship of the dollar is the principal marketing point of this tournament.
Orlando sucks brah. Take that as a Florida native.
Well at this point, there is no announced hotel. Kind of interesting, to plunk down almost a grand for a chess tournament, start pricing your flights, and still have no idea where you are staying or playing. I'm not sure THAT has happened before.
maskedbishop wrote:
>the more likely the masses would be interested in it. <
People who refer to other people as "the masses" need to be sent home without a cookie.
Why? It just means the people collectively as opposed to an individual. I agree with you on Millionaire Chess however, it's too expensive and resources are better spent to actually encourage more play more often and not just scholastic chess.
"It will be as an exclusive tournament for a small group of US players and then hordes of continental GMs who can't compete in Europe but could come to America and happily pound on our huge patzerdom."
If only more Americans took endgames and studying the classics seriously. If Russians do consistent things and those things yield results why not emulate that?
Emulating the Russians is generally not a good idea. And, incidentally, they lost the WC sometime ago and I doubt they'll get it back anytime soon.
Havana, Cuba would be awesome bra
>it is exactly the Vegas package that they are trying to sell. <
An excellent point. Chess players, especially upper level ones, are not exactly a bacchanalian bunch. This tournament gives them an excuse to actually go to Las Vegas and be surrounded by the comfortable secuirty of hundreds of other nerds. They can play chess and then take their little walk on the wild side.
Granted, it will still be a tame walk...unless someone has actually seen Wesley So at the Spearmint Rhino with a dollar bill on his forehead...
Don't get me wrong, I think MC is a great idea, they are just going about it all wrong and I've stated why. MC#1 lost by my estimates $800,000. Amy Lee is in this to make a profit, and she won't see a dime unless:
1) More than 1500 play
2) Corporate sponsors fund the prizes.
I don't think either will happen. I'm already down for reasons in the old topic for saying they will get between 200-300 entries for MC #2. As noted, when March 31st entries are tallied, you will probably see close to the final number of participants.