Hello, aside from my many other many goals in life, I find that I like the idea of running a tournament quite a lot. It seems like it would be a fun way for me to spend all of my free time, and all that. But you see I've run into a bit of a problem. It's hard to garner interest in a tournament in which players wouldn't be playing for anything but pride. Due to my financial situation, I think offering money rewards is out of the picture, and if someone outside of the US wins, it could lead to even more headaches. It also doesn't help that I'm a rather obscure person, and not really known.

And like I said, nobody would be attracted to this tournament. There's no incentive, no real drive to win, and no real reason to participate. However, I would still love to run a tournament, even a casual tournament, just to get a feel for what it's like. I've ran tournaments at my own house before, and it seems like a fun thing to do.

Currently, I'm just trying to get perhaps eight people who would be interested in playing in a tournament just for the fun of it. Perhaps I could create a really nice virtual title or something.

So, would anyone be interested? (ha....yeah....doubt it, but thought I'd give it a shot)

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Slava Ukraini!

I think you have got it all wrong. I was never motivated by prizes at a tournament. In fact, I still to this day disapprove of tournaments with prizes. The satisfaction of winning was the only thing which ever motivated me.

Now I know that not all share that opinion, but I bet there are enough out there who do for you to be able to run a tournament. Beware, though, that running a tournament is not easy. I have run many in my life, both in real life and online, and they are hard work.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

I'm prepared for the work. I've always wanted to do something like this. I just never really had something to build a tournament off of.

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Slava Ukraini!

Many who don't disapprove of prizes simply don't care much about them. The majority of the tournaments I have gone to have had prizes that were basically splitting up the entry fees minus the cost of the pizza everyone ate for lunch.

Down here in the kyu section prizes would tend to be scant in an case...

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Occupy Babel!

I suppose that's true. I can only do it online though, because there is no active Go community around here anymore. It's like I'm marooned on an island watching paradise take place from afar. Okay, maybe that analogy is a bit too....strong, but yeah, it's a very slow area where I live. The only way I'd be able to host one is online. But then....I have to find participants hidden under rocks, it seems. <<

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Slava Ukraini!

Ask a small entry fee (through paypal or whatever), then use the entry fee to pay for prizes. Personally, I think cash prizes aren't much fun. Instead, you could buy the winner a pro lesson, or a go book, or something like that.

Although an entry fee puts up a little bit of a barrier to participation, it also ensures that the participants are serious about playing. Someone who has payed a few dollars for it is much more likely to play all rounds.

If you want to give all players equal chances at winning the price, you'll have to play with full handicap. But many players don't care much about the prize anyway, and may prefer to play even games. Either way, make sure the players know the tournament format in advance, and are comfortable with it.

I know all of these things. As a matter of fact, a few months ago I posted a tournament with everything laid out, clear as day. The problem is, it just sat there for days and days with no comment, so I decided to take it down. The real problem is getting people interested. I'll try and post another one up here and see how it goes....but I don't have much hope for it. As for an entry fee, if I ask for that, people will laugh. It'd probably be better to keep it free.

Basically, all I have to do is get some interested players.

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Slava Ukraini!

For many people, something that is free is therefore worthless. After all, how can something that costs nothing have any value?

People that laugh at the idea to pay for something that is fun and interesting, and may even win them a prize, are people that are not worth having in your tournament.

That is not to say that free events cannot be a success. Just look at the Life in 19x19 title tournament, after all. Just don't dismiss the idea of an entry fee out of hand.

If I'm inferring correctly from your post, you live in the US? There are probably more go players within a couple of hours drive of you than you would imagine - it would be worth doing a search on the AGA website to see how many members they have in neighbouring states. I think many players are willing to travel to play a tournament across the board and I would think it would be a considerably more rewarding experience to run even a small real life tournament than an online one. You must be prepared to work at it for a few years to establish your tournament, but if you do a good job of organising it will grow. I agree with the posters above that prizes are not really a big issue, but that you should have at least a small entry fee. I don't go to tournament for prizes, I go because I expect to be able to spend a day or a weekend playing serious games, and go for a drink and some food with my opponents afterward. There are plenty here who can give you advice - Herman certainly has lots of experience and I believee the tournament he runs in Delft is very successful.

I consider this highly insulting. It is also a very sorry indictment of humankind if it is true. To be motivated purely by monetary concerns is, perhaps, one of the reasons society these days is devolving so rapidly.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

I think there were two points in here:

1) People shouldn't ever laugh at the idea of paying money for something they intend on getting something enjoyable out of
2) The prizes that can often arise due to having to pay are an additional incentive

I agree with you on 2), it's never been a motivation for me and I'd be disappointed repeatedly if I just went to tournaments hoping for prizes ... I think 1) is a very good point however, people I think do respect something they've had to pay for more than something that is free, and I think charging a nominal entry fee is important to respect the effort the organiser has to go to just to get in kit, sort the venue, deal with all the signups, and make sure it runs smoothly on the day. That's no small effort, and can often involve cost when venues / equipment are required to be paid for.

Sure. I expect to pay my share of the costs of putting on a tournament. But I don't want to pay any extra just so that prize can be given.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

How are people that are willing to pay for something fun and interesting in any way "motivated purely by monetary concerns"? I'd think they'd be quite the opposite.

Well, at one time there was actually a website for people in my area, and it had a few semi-active members running around. The problem is, that site was shut down not long ago. I live in Norfolk, VA, and that's far from where the events take place in northern VA. And I don't really have a car that I could use to go all the way from where I live to Fairfax.

The only way I can play people is online. And the best place to run a tournament would be online because of that. I'll at least try it, and see how it goes. But can I really ask for an entry fee on an online tournament?

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Slava Ukraini!

yes you can.