Millionaire Chess 2!!

Class sections are always a crapshoot for any TD. You're trying to get people to come and play, and feel they have a chance of winning. If everyone was in the Open then it would be a true grandmaster harvest of patzer entry fees. Class sections are there to spread the wealth.

BUT - they are prone to sandbagging and set arbitrary sections. Anyone paying $1000 plus hotel and travel to participate in this shivaree should be a decent enough player to not require a section.  MC should simply run an Open and a Reserve, something like under 2000. If you're 1500 and "want a chance to win big," then get better at chess. 

But then - that's one of the principal problems with MC - huge payouts to low-level chess players, so they come to win money, not win games. It's a lottery more than a tournament. 

How many are surprised MC3 has been announced? After losing big bucks twice they are going for a third try. I think there exists the possibility that with a few improvements they can cut their losses (In their mind). Still lose big time but it would be cheaper than pulling out of their contract agreed apon for 3 years. Some here say nonsense, that a contract can be broken with no damages recovered when shown the tournament lost money. I somehow think there is more to it than meets everybody's eye.

For example, A bond was placed into an account, nonrefundable, if MC choose to bail out? A lawsuit would be unnecessary to recover damages.

Doggy ?....where in the he!! have you been hon ?

Maybe he was busy Doggy_Style ?

Apparently rating floors resulted from MC2 tournament are now removed. http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201510125682.1-15206964 This is at least 3^rd time USCF has changed its mind on this issue.

I don’t want to say that all of the prize winners are much stronger than their section, or are sandbaggers, but some of them are indeed sanbagging:

 Check out id#15206964 for example. The guy had a fantastic tournament, strong enough to win 3000+ dollars in the under 1600 section. A week later he comes to some cheap tournament and throws games to sub 1100 players. Now his is eligible to play U/1400 again.LOL

I think that the MC prize structure has distorted the USCF rating system.  The USCF never envisioned someone finishing low in the pack (he tied for 6th through 15th place) winning more than $2000.

In MC2, this particular player's rating went from 1355 to 1459.  Is it really appropriate that he have a rating floor of 1600 because he won $2440?

I imagine that some players will appeal their rating floor, and the USCF will grant the appeal.

I don't quite understand all the hate for Millionaire Chess. There are small local chess tournaments with basically no prizes. And there are bigger tournaments with more significant prizes. Millionaire Chess simply takes this latter category to an extreme (the World Open is another event that falls in this subgroup). There are some players who prefer small tournaments with no prizes, and there are other players who only play in big, national tournaments with large prizes. MC fills the need for this second group of players. Why hate on MC just because you don't fall into this second group?? The event generates positive publicity for chess that it doesn't usually get from the mainstream audience and media. And it draws amateurs who have not played for years or even decades back to the game. Overall, I believe it's good for chess. Yes, sandbagging was a problem for some sections, but sandbaggers are at EVERY tournament, and most tournaments have it worse (since they don't have the strict rules against sandbagging that MC does)! I don't see people calling attention to suspected sandbaggers at tournaments such as the World Open or North American Open, even though they surely exist.

This player won 2940

https://millionairechess.com/prizes-millionaire-chess-2

and his rating floor is 1200, not 1600. Now he is gonna come back to the U/1400 section. LOL!

Why is pointing out the negative aspects of MC being hateful?  MC may fill a need for people wanting a high-stakes tournament, but there aren't enough of them to pay the  tournament's bills.  The publicity about MC is short lived, and I haven't seen a big surge in USCF membership.   Participation in the MC Open will drop as players realize their chance of winning a prize is small.  I don't think that any tournament has had the blatant sandbagging that occurred in MC2.

These are all problems that MC has to overcome.   Pretending that they don't exist will result in the demise of MC.

 Maybe I'm looking at the wrong player, but the prize list for U1600 6th through 15th says $2440.  

The player's rating floor after the tournament has varied, but shortly after the tournament, it was 1600 (It has since been revised to 1200).*  My comment was a generalization.  Based on the player's performance in MC2, his rating floor would have been 1200.  But, because he won $2440 ($2940?), USCF policy will give him a rating floor of 1600.  Is this appropriate when the tournament prizes are extravagant relative to other tournaments?

*His published February rating is 1600.  There's an inconsistency somewhere.

->woton

1.You are correct about $2440, but did notice $500 top senior prize, thus 2440+500 = $2940.

2.My point was not about fairness of rating floors  (which is a topic for another discussion) for $2000+ winners. The tournament prizes were indeed extravagant relative to other tournaments.

My point was about obvious sandbagging committed by one particular player, who was throwing games to sub 1100 players, right after doing so well at MC.

Oktagon

I just noticed that the USCF has once again changed the rating floors for several U1600 winners.  Looks as if they decided to waive the >$2000 policy for MC2.

woton

Yes this is what I've noticed and posted, I don't know what to make of it yet.

Correction on this guys winnings: 2440+500+ yet another 375 Tiebreak Consolation prize = $3315 total.

Oktagon

Strange that they gave the guy three prizes.  Most tournaments limit you to the largest prize that you won and the next-in-line get the others.  But, it's their tournament, and the awarding of prizes is at their discretion.

As to the guy sandbagging, I don't know.  I'm a senior and my rating has ranged from 1200-1400 for years.  I've drawn games with 1900s and lost to 900s (I once lost to a 300.  That was embarrassing).

richie_and_oprah

I think that the MC staff were inept and didn't pay attention to detail.  Not good qualities for someone running a high-stakes tournament.

Could be, but hucksters generally come up with schemes that make money.

woton wrote:

richie_and_oprah

I think that the MC staff were inept and didn't pay attention to detail.  Not good qualities for someone running a high-stakes tournament.

Speculation can range from total naivety to out right fraud on behalf of the organizers. One thing is obvious, this was their 2nd go of it and not only repeated mistakes but actually made more serious ones. Their bottom line is seen as getting as many entries as possible, regardless of players backgrounds. From a "comman sense" perspective the tournament is a scam. Proof? Not forth coming. This is my opinion. Now MC3 is scheduled. Why after 2 losing events and poor management?

I bet you never played in high stakes events such as World Open.