I will admit to being shocked, SHOCKED!, upon reading on the USCF website that 70 players had entered this year's US Senior. The article, Senior Open Underway in Houston, states: "The 71 players, so far, easily surpassed last year’s attendance of 49." (http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11306/636/)
Then I recalled the last minute addition of a 3-day schedule whereby players could play 3 one hour games at 10am, 12:30pm, 3pm, then merge with the one game a day players for a 'classical' game at the more traditional time control of 40/2, G1. This is happening as I write. Twenty players chose the much shorter time limit. In a few hours those burned-out players will try to complete their FOURTH game of the day! Good luck with that...
The sad fact is that there were no more players at the US Senior this year than last. I find it rather sad that 20 players opted for the 4 rounds in one day format because to play is a way of voting for the format. Future organizers will look at this and see it as a way of 'enhancing' the turnout and opt for more of it. It is a crying shame that someone, anyone, in USCF does not have the BALLS to just say no to these organizers who foist trumped-up games on Seniors!
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These quick games are a way to artificially boost attendance. There is a interesting post on the NC blog by Walter High titled How Big Is Big? http://nc-chess.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-big-is-big.html
He has made a list of the top 100 tournaments of the past year. He writes that, 'I have noticed in every case so far, the numbers from 2011 are smaller than those in 2010.'
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