Poll: How should the Sensory Boards be funded
You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
By Donation (individuals and congresses)
44.12%
15 44.12%
Increasing congress entry fees by £1 (going towards the costs)
23.53%
8 23.53%
Congresses using the boards paying a hire charge of £50
8.82%
3 8.82%
Congresses using the boards paying a hire charge of £75
2.94%
1 2.94%
Congresses using the boards paying an extra 5p per graded result
8.82%
3 8.82%
I do not think Chess Scotland should use such boards
11.76%
4 11.76%
Total 34 vote(s) 100%
* You voted for this item. [Show Results]

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Sensory Boards
#11
Andrew McHarg Wrote:We could get Kai or one of the other juniors to do a version for you. Big Grin Seriously though, you make a valid point. I think a lot of the players with lower grades would lose interest because they weren't understanding what was going on.

Absolutely! I played Kai once and played absolutely dreadfully in the opening and managed to swindle a win later on. I don't look forward to playing him next time as I'll get a beating.

Although I have my reservations about bidding for the use of the boards. It could be worth trialing to see what the uptake is.

Also, what is the target amount of money we are looking to raise? As we should get a running total going to show how close we are getting or how far away we are.
Growing old is compulsory, growing up is optional!
Reply
#12
One benefit of the sensory boards is that Scottish newspaper chess columnists will suddenly have some material from the Scottish tournament circuit from the PGN files generated. If you are writing up the results of an event you need a game or a tactical snippet and you need it NOW.

Since very few Scottish congresses prepare post event press releases that include games (only a few games are needed) most domestic events are ignored in favour of the much easier option of international tournaments which have readily available games. Scottish games do eventually appear in the downloads section but by that stage the immediate newsworthy aspect has gone and the event is often ignored.
Reply
#13
'master game' commentary was meant more to mean the sort of commentary of what a player was thinking about during the game itself rather than necessarily a GM level explanation of the moves played.

I do think that the sensory boards could be used for post-match analysis and I make this point having listened to some of the same on Chessbase.

Clearly any commentary or post-analysis must be pitched at the right level and allowing messaging enables those following to let the commentator know if more explanation is reqd.

It is another reason why having games from Major or Minor covered as clearly the explanation of what is and should be happening would be completely different from an Open game.

By adding commentary or analysis I think it also makes playing on a sensory board more attractive to players as well - they're getting training - and hence would help justify the extra entry fee charge or bid?
Reply
#14
I was one of those fortunate enough to play on one of the DGT boards in Round 4 of the weekend minor at the Scottish. Firstly, it was nice to get a feel of "how the other half live", so to speak, and I felt it was a good move on behalf of the organisers. Secondly, I found it took a bit of getting used to... being accustomed to green and white squares, and the plastic pieces meant I had to do a bit of visual readjusting in the early part of the game. Basically I was double checking straightforward moves in the opening just to "be sure". Funnily enough I remember having this problem in the English tournaments I attended last year, where they used the brown and white mats.

The second point is I guess not really relevant (workmen, tools etc springs to mind). As regards the first, while it felt special, would it help me improve my game? It is still, after all, a chessboard, albeit a darn sight more premium (100x?) than the green mat. If I played on the sensory board and got expert commentary on my game, I would be happy to pay an increase in my congress fee, but only if I played on the sensory board. IMHO it would be somewhat unfair to ask others who didn't receive such a benefit to pay for my "coaching"; this is why I think the bidding process may be the better option. But people need to perceive such a benefit as worth bidding for in the first place.
Reply
#15
What if I bid £50 to play on a sensory board and my opponent had bid nothing. Where would we play... I don't get it? ;|
Reply
#16
Mike, it is interesting to read the view of someone who has actually used the board. I am also going to borrow your readjustment argument as an excuse for my performances south of the border. It must be the brown and white squares. It makes sense now. 8)

Andrew McHarg Wrote:What if I bid £50 to play on a sensory board and my opponent had bid nothing. Where would we play... I don't get it? ;|

My concern is that:
As you say some people bid over the odds (ie £50) and thus other players cannot get them. Which coceivably could happen.
Or nobody bids for them. Big Grin
Or you bid for it and your opponent doesn't wish to play on it. Believe it or not this could happen...

With that said - lets trial it! Its got to be worth a go as we cant lose anything out of it. However, if its a bidding process all boards need to be available for bids. (IE. We cant have a situation where the top 3 boards in the Open have the boards as standard and everyone else has to bid. Its all or none.)
Growing old is compulsory, growing up is optional!
Reply
#17
Some good points being made.

The cost of the 8 boards is circa £6000. The idea of the fund-raising 'thermometer' to indicate amount raised was mentioned at the AGM. Might be worth trying. (And remember additional boards could be purchased.) Only problem would be that much of the fund raising will be from 'donations' of various sorts made at the Scottish so could not be included until after that event.

Douglas mentioned the media and for that reason some of the boards would need to be used to 'record' the games of those challenging for the main places. Perhaps our chess correspondents should approach their papers and ask for a donation towards the costs or they could bid for a game to be covered. Parents and spouses could also bid as a special present for a loved one. Indeed it is the ideal way to make sure your husband is where he says he is. ("Oh darling, we've got plenty of time - he's just entering the middle game".)
Reply
#18
There are so many wrong ways I can answer that posting. I think I will take the unusual step of saying nothing...
"How sad to see, what used to be, a model of decorum and tranquility become like any other sport, a battleground for rival ideologies to slug it out with glee"
Reply
#19
Sorry, are we seriously talking about the idea of running auctions for the right to appear on a live board in between rounds at weekend congresses? Doesn't this sound a bit like an absolute nightmare to organise?

Bearing in mind the point about recording games, board 1 of the Open (or indeed the Challengers/Major/Minor) is considerably more likely to be something people want to feature in their columns than board 9 of somewhere. Couldn't we just put the live boards at the top of each section (I said each section, see, I'm being all egalitarian here) and have the situation where having your games transmitted serves as a reward for doing well? Or as a punishment, if you play like I generally do on live boards.

In terms of funding, I really don't see the objections to sticking a quid on the entry fees. I mean, it's a quid. Less than half the price of a pint of beer. Make it 50p for the allegros if it seems too steep. I'm too lazy to work out the number of congress entries in Scotland each season, but I'm guessing that that would make up £6000 within a reasonably short space of time.

Edit: Loving the 'since you started writing' feature. I can see that coming in handy.
Reply
#20
Alex McFarlane Wrote:Indeed it is the ideal way to make sure your husband is where he says he is. ("Oh darling, we've got plenty of time - he's just entering the middle game".)

=o

lol!
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)