If you think you might be missing some, check newspaper web sites in the area. They'll usually have good community event calendars. There's a small chess club here in Hannibal that is not affiliated with USCF and hosts non-rated tournaments once in awhile, and before I moved here I found out about them through the newspaper.
US players - How do you find tournaments?
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Everywhere I've played, you can easily find tournaments by Google searching *insert state name here* chess, going to their website, and looking on there. Some directors will send out invites / advertisements to everyone involved in chess in the local area. The website is the best place to look, though.
Nov 11, 2010
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#4
I use state affiliation sites (MO, KS, OK, and AR), online TLAs, and another local affiliate site to find tournaments in my area.
When I run events, I use the free TLAs, post to the local site I run, have used chess.com for the last 3 events, and e-mail people that have attended previous tournaments. I have also submitted the events to the state affiliate site too.
I haven't made it to posting in Chess Life yet, as I haven't thought it would increase attendance enough to make up the cost. I also don't always get events planned out far enough in advance to make it effective either. My biggest problem is finding a good, inexpensive (or free) locations that allows low enough entry fees to maximize attendance.
Nov 11, 2010
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#5
This sounds like a job for . . . Super-Chess.com Man! Or Chess.com at least.
Become the go-to page for local/national/international tournament information. Aggregate the information for free.
A really nice format is here: http://commweb.fullerton.edu/jbruschke/web/Index.aspx
That format/subject matter is for local/national college debate tournaments but the information fields is analogous.
Nov 11, 2010
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#6
I still want a Chess.com tournament in Houston... 2-day event or something.
Nov 11, 2010
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#7
rdecredico wrote:
Most of the organizers I know are more interested in being the Duke of their little fiefdom than they are in actually expanding and growing their little administrative plot. Sure, some of them talk up a storm about doing new things and bringing new blood into the fold, but their behaviors belie their true call of duty, which is making themselves feel better by being in charge of something. When it comes right down to it, they will not take advantage of things that would help grow their events. They shy away from anything that might end up with their displacement as head of their serfdom.
I am sure there are some exceptions, but not many.
The only people that do seem to be an exception to this are those that are trying to earn some real capital. These people take advantage of every opportunity to grow their events because more people can often equal more money.
The rest just seem to be administrators and bureaucrats that ran for city council and lost and have now found a way to control some people around them until they can get an appointment on their local HOA or some other unnecessary bureacratic gig.
Is how I find tournaments that are worth going to. Almost all other venues are run by penny-ante wannabees that aren't worth the energy it takes to become one of their serfs.
Man, that's harsh. Not necessarily untrue, but harsh.
You would definitely find my tournaments to be penny ante. On the other hand, I definitely would welcome anything that would end up with me no longer being the head of my serfdom. I actually got into being a TD because there were very few, if any, tournaments that were the sort I wanted to attend, so I decided to hold them myself. I figured playing Chess really shouldn't be any more expensive than going to a movie. Pretty soon, I'll try and encourage a player or two to become a TD instead. That way I can play instead of direct.
I do think the explanation for why people don't advertise more, including in the free spots, is that they are stuck in a rut. If the only place they advertise is on the web site of the state affiliate of the USCF, then only people who check that web site see their ad, and then they declare that "everyone" looks at that site anyway so why bother putting announcements anywhere else? Of course "everyone" means everyone who showed up at their tournament, and since only people who visited that site could have possibly known about it, they are fooling themselves thinking no one ever reads anything else. It becomes self fulfilling.
I am certain that some people have seen, and chose to attend my events, based on my chess.com ads, or my in magazine TLAs. (I used different email addresses in different ads, so I could track where people saw the ads.)
Nov 11, 2010
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#8
jhbchess wrote:
This sounds like a job for . . . Super-Chess.com Man! Or Chess.com at least.
Become the go-to page for local/national/international tournament information. Aggregate the information for free.
A really nice format is here: http://commweb.fullerton.edu/jbruschke/web/Index.aspx
That format/subject matter is for local/national college debate tournaments but the information fields is analogous.
I thought it would be that easy, so I invented this page: http://gamesinmichigan.com.
It was severely underutilized, and I'm afraid I go through periods of neglect on that site. I haven't updated anything except Chess tournaments there for a while, and I'm falling a bit behind on that.
Nov 12, 2010
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#9
Martin_Stahl wrote:
.
I haven't made it to posting in Chess Life yet, as I haven't thought it would increase attendance enough to make up the cost. I also don't always get events planned out far enough in advance to make it effective either. My biggest problem is finding a good, inexpensive (or free) locations that allows low enough entry fees to maximize attendance.
It's pretty cheap. My add (to appear in the January issue) cost 12 bucks, but I could have gotten by with 8 if I had wanted to be ultra cheap.
It is required to plan ahead, though. I just barely made the deadline for my Jan. 22 event.
Most of the ads in Chess Life are for the big events, and I think that intimidates a lot of us "penny ante" types. Some people might feel like they have to provide as much detail as those other people do. My Chess Life ad just consists of a few comments and a reference to a web site for more details. I decided to "splurge" (spend an extra four dollars) on two extra lines to mention things that make my tournament a little bit different from every other tournament, hoping to catch an eye or two. (Some of those things: Bughouse. Other games. Skittles room. $10.00) If I get two additional players, it pays for itself, and if i don't, it still only cost me 12 bucks.
I hear you about sites. That is, indeed, the huge problem in trying to organize a tournament.
Nov 12, 2010
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#10
Meadmaker wrote:
You would definitely find my tournaments to be penny ante. On the other hand, I definitely would welcome anything that would end up with me no longer being the head of my serfdom. I actually got into being a TD because there were very few, if any, tournaments that were the sort I wanted to attend, so I decided to hold them myself. I figured playing Chess really shouldn't be any more expensive than going to a movie. Pretty soon, I'll try and encourage a player or two to become a TD instead. That way I can play instead of direct.
I'm in a similar boat. The person running events in our area left and no one else wanted to run anything; or at least no one else attempted to step up and do it. So I have tried running things since then. I would welcome other TDs in the area to come in and run events.
I just put in a TLA to appear in Chess Life. When doing it, something struck me. Almost no one does that except for really big events. We have lots of local events in Michigan. They never have TLAs (except mine).
TLAs are cheap. Mine cost 12 bucks.
Obviously, most directors don't figure it's worth their time or money, but, why not? it costs very little of either. A lot of tournaments don't even have the free on line tlas.
It also led me to a question. How do you find your tournaments?
Here in Michigan, the MCA maintains a web site and it is probably the most important source for tournament information. I assume other locales have something similar? Do most states have state branches with their tournament lists, and is that where people go to find out about events?
I also note that almost no tournaments are advertised on chess.com, despite the fact it is free. I always advertise on chess.com, and get a few people as a result. I wonder why more TDs don't make use of such resources.