19-02-2012, 12:46 PM
To be honest the main thrust of the discussion on this thread doesn't really affect me directly, interesting though it has been to read. I am not a strong enough player to be thinking of playing in a Stars Barred tournament and I don't expect I ever will be. Which is connected to the only point I did want to mention.
Often in these discussions there is a presumption that, as well as playing in congresses for the fun of it, everyone will also be seeking to play ever more challenging games, looking to be an ever stronger player. I think there are a fair few players like myself who enjoy the challenging games, enjoy the more even games and sometimes even enjoy the easy ones too. We would like to be stronger players but lack the time and/or energy to put in the amount of work needed. For us the tournament is primarily a fun weekend playing some chess, meeting old and new friends and with a bit of luck maybe even winning the odd prize. I think that a fair number of the entrants at any congress, and in most of the categories, will fall into this category but we don't ever get a mention in these discussions. I suppose that is because we will be there when we can regardless but it would be nice to get an occasional acknowledgement of our existence. ;P
My grade has actually started to slowly creep up the last couple of years but that is far less to do with the tournaments I've played in and far more to do with no longer being a shift worker.
I think all I wanted to say (and I wanted to say it in a less longwinded way, sorry about that) is that in discussing and planning the way events are run it is important not to lose sight of all those taking part, not just the strong and improving players. We plodders need attention too! =)
Often in these discussions there is a presumption that, as well as playing in congresses for the fun of it, everyone will also be seeking to play ever more challenging games, looking to be an ever stronger player. I think there are a fair few players like myself who enjoy the challenging games, enjoy the more even games and sometimes even enjoy the easy ones too. We would like to be stronger players but lack the time and/or energy to put in the amount of work needed. For us the tournament is primarily a fun weekend playing some chess, meeting old and new friends and with a bit of luck maybe even winning the odd prize. I think that a fair number of the entrants at any congress, and in most of the categories, will fall into this category but we don't ever get a mention in these discussions. I suppose that is because we will be there when we can regardless but it would be nice to get an occasional acknowledgement of our existence. ;P
My grade has actually started to slowly creep up the last couple of years but that is far less to do with the tournaments I've played in and far more to do with no longer being a shift worker.
I think all I wanted to say (and I wanted to say it in a less longwinded way, sorry about that) is that in discussing and planning the way events are run it is important not to lose sight of all those taking part, not just the strong and improving players. We plodders need attention too! =)