Philadelphia tournament a scam??

But, hey! now women can fight and die right along with the men in the U.S. Military!

Big step!

*minor thread hijack* "Disinterested" in the sense of "having no interest" has been in use since at least 1647 according to the Oxford English Dictionary.  And there is no "official language" for English/American English, although, the OED is about as canonical (cough) as you can get.  Different publishers of dictionaries use different criteria for determining what words gain entry to their publications. */minor thread hijack*

Like, if I bought 51% shares of private Chess.com stock from Eric, I'd have a controlling "interest".

A 'vested interest'.

Some skin in the game.

Therefore, if I did an "unbiased review" of the top chess sites on the web, it wouldn't exactly be written by a disinterested party.

Make sense?

Fair enough, Canonical. The sources I used for the meaning of that word were admittedly... less professional than yours ;)

I guess it would depend a bit on the particular dictionary.

The tournament is not a scam. The rating limit above the current section limit is indeed designed to protect against sandbaggers. The tournament states what amount of cash will be returned as prizes based on how many entries. If less people attend than planned then these tournaments will generally guarantee what % of the prizes is guaranteed and how it will be figured based on how many entries.This part is enforcable by law.t does not mean that some tournaments are held at a loss, but someone else is paying for the loss, the entity which guaranteed the prize money. The tournaments are not thrown for free and so that is baked into the prize fee. The entree fee may seem high but if you want to see GM and IM games live then that is the cost. As mentioned, I could play in alot of other tournaments for less. There is also alot less potential for gains, to include rating points, norms...etc. If I have the money, I prefer to play in these tournaments where the entree fee is higher. I do not expect to win anything, but if I do that is a bonus. I find the experience of these events to be enriching in itself. I can play more good players if I am doing well than I will find at other tournaments. Also, in these events the entree fee is higher in the open section. The lower sections have a lower entree fee than the open. Those of us in the U.S. that play in these tournaments are aware of how they work and they are not a scam. Deserving tournament participants will get the rest of that money the sandbagger did not get. All the prize money or the appropriate % gets paid out.

Love Goichberg.