Liverpool Quadrangular

[David G Congalton]

Its good to know everyone had such a good time, produced some good results & very well organised by David & his helpers.

I did very little in the way of organising as the majority of it had already been done by a number of others, including Robin. I simply went down to try and make sure that everything at the accommodation went okay (not entirely succesfully) and to run any errands that were required such as lunches, so that the juniors, parents, coaches and others could concentrate on the chess and making sure the kids were okay.

I'd be quite happy to take the credit but it's really due to all of the others who worked away quietly in the background making sure that everything went as smoothly as possible. Paul, Donald, Robin, Judy, Linda, all contributed immensely to the organisation pre-tournament and along with the coaches, accompanying adults and the young people made the weekend what it was.

If you are making comparisons you should also point out that for parent & child it was £218 this year where as last year, current managements first year it was £160 & prior to that £130. So on that basis one might expect it was better.

The cost of the event is certainly something that should be reviewed. There are advantages to how this year's event was organised but the downside is that it did cost more than last year (and obviously the year before that) for one adult and one junior. This was mainly down to the accommodation cost and for some this meant that they would pay around about the same as last year, where there was more than one junior or more than one adult in a room, if that makes sense.

To reduce the cost to around £65 per person would mean either finding really cheap, self-catering accommodation or subsidising the cost per person from the International budget. This is perhaps a strategy decision similar to the discussion elsewhere on what the adult budget should be spent on.

It's really a question of what is best for the young people involved and their families. Ideally, I would like to see this event or a similar one cost nothing to those attending (especially the players), as I would for all events where someone is selected for their country. However, with limited funds I'm not sure if this is possible. It is, though, one of my objectives for the future to somehow find the income to do this, on some sort of scale.