A Plea For Tournament Civility

 

The South Suburban Chess Club’s Hoopla Blitz on June 17th was a well-organized and well-run event. However, I am compelled to mention a couple curiosities.

During pre-tournament announcements of organizer Wayne Ellice, there was significant chatter and even some chess piece movement.

Wayne, ever the gentleman, remained calm, and tried to continue his announcements despite the background noise.

Sitting in front of Wayne, I attempted to be respectful and attentive during these announcements. As a tournament organizer myself -- and having had this happen to me on several occasions -- I was sympathetic.

After what seemed like an eternity, one of Wayne’s assistant directors mustered up the courage and asked the crowd to be respectful during the announcements. This plea had to be repeated once or twice more before the announcements were completed.

Apparently, emboldened by this statement, Illinois chess-legend Fred Gruenberg took the initiative and asked the players to please give Wayne a hand for his efforts in sponsoring the event. Wayne’s applause was well-deserved!

Now, the second oddity:  Almost immediately after the applause, an announcement was made that because this was special event, the sponsors would be providing free pizza from Aurelio’s as well as free soft drinks, apples and a variety of snack and performance bars!

The room fell silent.

Finally, I broke the silence and uttered a “Thank you!"

This was met with a few “chuckles and laughs” but I do not recall hearing any applause or "seconding" of my motion.

Overall, all the players were orderly and well-behaved.  But I hope by submitting this write-up to the ICA website, I might prevent future occurances like this.

The overwhelming majority of organizers care about the players and are not trying to get rich by holding chess tournaments. We basically ask only for a little appreciation, respect,and courtesy for our efforts.

Next time, please pay attention to the announcements -- they may prevent awkwardness later -- and usually the announcements go quicker if the audience is listening.

Again, congratulations to Wayne for a successful and player-focused tournament!