Please join us for many spectacular events and lots of fun:
- The Susan Polgar World Open Chess Championship for Girls June 6-7
The Susan Polgar World Open Chess Championship for Boys June 6-7- Scholarships to Texas Tech will be awarded based in part on performance in these events.
- The Susan Polgar International Chess Camp (for all ages) June 4
- The Susan Polgar World Open Chess Puzzle Solving Contest for Girls and Boys June 5
- Free lecture by Susan Polgar for all players, as well as accompanying parents and coaches June 5
- A Tandem Simul by Susan Polgar against up to 70 players June 5
- The Susan Polgar World Open Blitz Chess Championship for Girls and Boys June 6
- Breakfast with Susan June 7
In compliance with the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act all non-gaming areas of the South Point Hotel, including the Convention Center and restaurants, are NON-SMOKING.
http://www.vegaschessfestival.com/polgar/
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I just don’t understand why on earth this tournament is now on the first weekend of June. Most schools out here on the west coast go through the second week of June. Older kids have final exams to study for while the little kids will miss end of the year activities. This will have a significant negative impact on both the National Open and Susan Polgar events.
The National Open used to be in mid June and in the past 3 years it has inched forward from the 3rd weekend to the 2nd and now the 1st. I can safely say that scholastic and junior attendance will be greatly impacted by this change. I know I would bring 10-15 kids to the National Open if it wasn’t the weekend before their final exams. As it is, I won’t even bother coming to Las Vegas and will instead attend another tournament.
Michael, you know why. You know that Susan has nothing to do with choosing the dates. The dates are set by the organizers of the National Open. Why not write to them and let them know your feeling?
The organizers know. Their response to my questions last year was to move this year’s dates *up* even further. I’m disappointed that I won’t attend one of my favorite tournaments, but there are enough other events around the country to choose from.
Ultimately, the only thing that matters is whether the loss of scholastic and junior entries is enough to impact the bottom line. I would guess this change costs National Open about 150 entries and costs Susan Polgar’s events a possible extra 50% in attendance. Those numbers are based on the heavy youth turnout at other big west coast tournaments.
But why blame Susan? She has no say about it.
Say or no say, Susan Polgar endorses the National Open and publicizes it. At minimum, her word matters more to the organizers than mine. 🙂
I am not blaming her. Instead, I’m asking her to use her role in this event to encourage the festival organizers to schedule it the way it used to be in the mid 2000s.