Who are Go Tournaments for?

[xed_over]

Are go tournaments for the players? For the Fans? For the Sponsors?

What are their purpose?

Does it make a difference if there are prizes or not? Does it matter if they are amateur or professional?

Whoever you think tournaments are for, are those needs being met? Why or why not?

edit: I suppose I should have done a poll, but I don't really like polls

[Kirby]

For the first part, I don't think that go tournaments need to be for only one group of people. They're fun for both fans and sponsors alike. Of course, different tournaments may have different aims or formats.

I think that every tournament I have gone to has been an enjoyable experience (Except for when I lose games. I really hate that.).

[Chew Terr]

Pro tournaments are for the fans, amateur tournaments are for the players.

Pro tournaments should have prizes, because pros need to eat to live.

Amateur tournaments need prizes less, though it seems like they would make things more interesting.

Amatuer tournaments teach and entertain players (in my little experience, plus what I've seen people say on the boards), so I'd say they accomplish their goal.

I don't know anything about professional tournaments.

Also, add Mortons to everything I say. I've only been to one tournament.

[xed_over]

I don't think that go tournaments need to be for only one group of people.

yeah, sorry. I didn't intend to phrase my questions such that I thought serving the needs of one would necessarily exclude the needs of any others.

Its just that I've seen the needs of some being excluded (though prehaps not intentionally), and I think its really sad that they seemed to have focused on the wrong group.

[schultz]

I don't think that go tournaments need to be for only one group of people.

yeah, sorry. I didn't intend to phrase my questions such that I thought serving the needs of one would necessarily exclude the needs of any others.

Its just that I've seen the needs of some being excluded (though prehaps not intentionally), and I think its really sad that they seemed to have focused on the wrong group.

Do you have some examples? I'm just curious what you've seen.

I actually haven't ever been to a Go tournament, but I would really like to be able to participate in one. A reason the Go Congress is very tempting.

Pro tournaments are for the fans, amateur tournaments are for the players.

Pro tournaments should have prizes, because pros need to eat to live.

Amateur tournaments need prizes less, though it seems like they would make things more interesting.

Amatuer tournaments teach and entertain players (in my little experience, plus what I've seen people say on the boards), so I'd say they accomplish their goal.

I don't know anything about professional tournaments.

Also, add Mortons to everything I say. I've only been to one tournament.

I agree. Definitely different focuses when the play is at different levels. I think prizes are really nice at whatever level. When you have them in Amateur tournaments, you help encourage more people to play. I'd expect the prizes to be much smaller than professional winnings, but you've already addressed that they need to eat to live.

[Solomon]

Pro tournaments are for the fans, amateur tournaments are for the players.

Pro tournaments should have prizes, because pros need to eat to live.

Amateur tournaments need prizes less, though it seems like they would make things more interesting.

Amatuer tournaments teach and entertain players (in my little experience, plus what I've seen people say on the boards), so I'd say they accomplish their goal.

I don't know anything about professional tournaments.

Also, add Mortons to everything I say. I've only been to one tournament.

I've been to roughly 50 tournaments and agree with this sentiment.

[freegame]

I agree with Chew Terr

But besides that there is another big reason for me (and i think a lot of other people) to go to a tournament. That is to meet new people and friends who i would normally not see that often.

[xed_over]

Do you have some examples? I'm just curious what you've seen.

yes, I do have one particular tournament in mind... the recent SPOT1 tournament.

but not all tournaments are the same, nor serve the same purpose, so I tried to leave my questions a little open ended -- but maybe I was too vague.

In my opinion, the SPOT1 tournament, for example, should be as much for, if not more for the fans than for the players, in spite of the prize money and bragging rights of being the Strongest Player in North America.

But it was almost held in secret -- except for the initial invitation to join. Little to no communication with Server admins to help advertise the games to the fans. And having the games in the EGR made them extremely difficult to find. This particular event was limited to 32 high dan players, so for the rest of us, we can only be fans, but I think, as fans, that we were left out.

And it was not so easy on the players either... TD's showing up late, or not at all. Some players starting their games early (not just 5-10mins early, but an hour early), without a TD present. There were lots of other issues that I won't go into now, but I'd love to hear from both players and fans on their reactions to this event and compare with other events, both good and bad.

The thing is, I want to be a fan of American Go, to root for these kids who are growing up here and becoming strong players -- strong enough to compete in the international scene. By catering also to the fans, I think it can help inspire even more kids to get involved and become strong American players. I think the AGA is failing in its mission here.

Local, in-person tournaments are slightly different. There's usually not so many fans, because they're all playing in the event themselves. But the E-Journal staff has been getting more involved there too by broadcasting top board to the rest of us.

[mdobbins]

I have b=never been to a pro tournament, but I used amateur tournaments simply as a way to measure my rating in a consistent competitive environment. Now that I don't really care about my rating anymore, I rarely attend tournaments. If I attend a tournament today, it would be more to meet and hang out with people than anything else.

[schultz]

Do you have some examples? I'm just curious what you've seen.

yes, I do have one particular tournament in mind... the recent SPOT1 tournament.

but not all tournaments are the same, nor serve the same purpose, so I tried to leave my questions a little open ended -- but maybe I was too vague.

In my opinion, the SPOT1 tournament, for example, should be as much for, if not more for the fans than for the players, in spite of the prize money and bragging rights of being the Strongest Player in North America.

But it was almost held in secret -- except for the initial invitation to join. Little to no communication with Server admins to help advertise the games to the fans. And having the games in the EGR made them extremely difficult to find. This particular event was limited to 32 high dan players, so for the rest of us, we can only be fans, but I think, as fans, that we were left out.

And it was not so easy on the players either... TD's showing up late, or not at all. Some players starting their games early (not just 5-10mins early, but an hour early), without a TD present. There were lots of other issues that I won't go into now, but I'd love to hear from both players and fans on their reactions to this event and compare with other events, both good and bad.

The thing is, I want to be a fan of American Go, to root for these kids who are growing up here and becoming strong players -- strong enough to compete in the international scene. By catering also to the fans, I think it can help inspire even more kids to get involved and become strong American players. I think the AGA is failing in its mission here.

Local, in-person tournaments are slightly different. There's usually not so many fans, because they're all playing in the event themselves. But the E-Journal staff has been getting more involved there too by broadcasting top board to the rest of us.

That makes a lot of sense. I've never felt really "connected" to the community (tournaments, etc.) so I guess I just don't follow it as much. Or maybe I don't follow it as much because I'm not as connected...

It would be nice to see the AGA work on stuff like this.