The introduction of Medal tournaments in early 2011 was a great success! It seems there are many players who would prefer to play for a permanent memento of their triumph, rather than play for cash, which disappears all too quickly. Also, the timing of the tournament proved popular, giving members something new to start halfway through the traditional season.
So, it has been decided to continue with them and start some new tournaments in late
February/early March.
Just as last year, there will be BCCA Medal Tournaments in Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Last year, we had definite splits according to rating but this produced imbalances in tournaments (11 in the webserver Gold, 7 in the webserver Silver, and 9 in the webserver Bronze), so this year I would like players to be more flexible. For example if 27 players apply for webserver, I will put 9 in each tournament according to rating/playing strength so the tournaments will all be balanced. The only exceptions will be the Silver & Bronze Medal winners of last year who will definitely move up one tournament providing it is feasible.
Players New to BCCA, ungraded players, or N120 graded players, will be assessed by the Tournament Organisers as to their actual playing strength and then placed in the section where they truly belong. If in doubt, they will be placed in the Silver Tournament.
Remember these tournaments are different to anything else BCCA offers! Players will be matched with players of approximately equal strength so this should result in enjoyable chess all round. Only the Winner will receive the Medal!
Tournaments will again be offered on a Postal and Webserver basis. Players can enter both if they wish. Postal Tournaments will cost £4; Webserver Tournaments will cost £6 (a slight increase on last year reflecting the increased fee BCCA are being charged to use the ICCF server).
Postal tournaments should consist of 5 or 6 players (playing each opponent twice, 8 or 10 games) – it is not viable with less. Webserver tournaments should consist of 7 to 11 players (playing each other once). I ask players to be as flexible as possible so I can try and make sure everyone gets to play.
Peter Hulse will be the new Tournament Controller for the Medal tournaments so I would like to thank him for volunteering for this role.
The 2012 Tournaments are now closed.
Neil Limbert