30-01-2014, 05:46 PM
Matthew Turner Wrote:Phil,
I think your last point possibly slightly misses the point (or at least the one I was trying to make). How 'big' were the congresses that have been lost since 2006/7 and how big are their replacements. Whilst the total number of congresses may have stayed the same, it may mask changes in the size of those events.
I always had the impression that Scottish Congresses had very good prize money compared to their English counterparts. I don't get that same impression today. Of course people might perceive that to only be of interest to a small minority of players, but I think it maybe flags up other trends. 'Local' organisers with contacts may have been better at securing sponsorship. Perhaps this ties into Andy Howie's observation.
Matthew,
totally agree with your comments.
Extracting that data from lists of graded congresses over the last few years and summaring onto the notice board would only take a few hours.
My own intuitive anticipation of the results of such a study is that the demise of a congress does not correlate highly with its size or with changes in its size. I suspect congesses tend to stop when the organiser loses motivation or moves out of area or, more rarely, loses access to a cheap venue.
It would be rather interesting to compare the sizes of congresses in their first year. Is geographical location really as important as people think? I recall crowded (but comfortable) playing conditions at the first Inverness event last September.
That paragraph above is all very speculative. For tonight, at least, I leave the interrogation of the data to others - league match tonight & I need to prepare (= hungry
)