Australian Open in Mt Buller

[ChessGuru]

Start your planning NOW!

2005 Australian Open Championships
December 29 2004 - January 10 2005

Australian Junior Championships
January 13 - 23 2005

$20,000+ of prizes

Venue: Mercure Grand Chalet Mt Buller
- GM's, IM's and Internationals!
- Lucky-prize draws (value $5000+)
- Fantastic accommodation packages
- Daily activities (movies, GM lectures, social events)
- Events and activities for families, siblings and friends
- Non chess events
- Free chair-lift, swimming pool access, sports and much more!

Website coming soon...

Let's hear from everyone what they think of this event. Here is YOUR opportunity to make a differance! Suggestions made here will be able to be actually implemented...what will make this a better tournament??

Let the good ideas roll...

PS. If you answer NO in the poll please post WHY not. If you are STILL CONSIDERING please post what will sway your decision to YES!

[skip to my lou]

Still considering.

Depends how much it will set me back.

[peanbrain]

hey guru - I know how much you hate chess parents, so if I get good enough to qualify for the open I'll bring my 85 year old man along to meet you.

[skip to my lou]

You need to "qualify" for an "open" tournament?

[Kevin Bonham]

Venue: Mercure Grand Chalet Mt Buller

How iron-clad are arrangements with the venue? It will be something exciting and very different if it goes ahead (as I said last time) - but to build confidence and get the early player commitments flowing it would be good to know clearly that there isn't going to be a repeat of last time. I'm very keen for ACF to give unusual venues like this a go and find out more about what kinds of places players are enthusiastic to play in.

[chesslover]

What are the indicatative costs for accomadation and entry at the moment?

Also as it is an "open" champs, anyone can enter the title event?

[Kevin Bonham]

That's how the Open traditionally works. Sometimes there are undercard events for those who just want to play against run of the mill players, but everyone can go in the Open who wants to.

[arosar]

Chessguru -

Can you please tell me what touristy stuff I can do up on that mountain? Any wineries, clubs, pubs, fine restaurants? I understand this place is a winter resort, right? So is that place still alive a bit during this time of the year?

Sorry to bother you but I do expect a comprehensive list of all these things I need OK. It's just that I don't wanna be bored schitless just eating, sleeping and playing chess.

AR

[ChessGuru]

In answer to all posts so far:

Peanbrain - we will have plenty of things for old people to do, so please do bring him along! In real life I am very pleasant and charming towards parents, so he probably won’t even notice my deep, hidden agendas

You do not need to qualify for the Open. Anyone can play. There will also be a Minor event which will run for just one week and be limited to Under 1600 players.

Kevin – arrangements are clad in the finest glistening iron. Sponsorship is guaranteed, venue is definite. Should anything happen I’ll sue their pants off.

Chesslover – indicative costs. I will be putting together a variety of packages something along these lines:
Basic package - $660 includes 13 nights accommodation, full buffet breakfasts, use of all hotel facilities and entry to Australian Open and all subsidiary events/activities. This figure is be based on 3 players sharing a room, you can be in a room with players of your choice or enter and I’ll allocate you to a room.
Gold Entry package - $1790 Includes all above, but with just one player in a room so you can bring up to 3 others at no extra charge (family, friends etc) but with only 1 entry to the Events.

Players who are super-keen to play in the event but cannot on financial grounds may apply for a limited number of ‘assistance packages’ which may be available.

Arosar – other things to do on the mountain include;
Mountain bikes, hiking, bushwalking, chair-lift up and down the mountain, squash, basketball, heated pool, gym, sauna, bar in the hotel, no clubs/pubs on the mountain but 20 min drive there are townships with that sort of seedy possibility, also just off the mountain there is fishing, wineries and 4 wheel-driving stuff. There are a few restaurants to choose from, ranging from fine dining to $6 takeaway. Plus there is a supermarket and a few shops, but nothing really to talk about.
Plus the activities at the venue that I’ll be organising each day: movies (chess related and other – request them now!), GM lectures, blitz tournaments, social stuff, non-chess games (bridge, scrabble, Othello, backgammon, chinese chess etc) and lessons in non-chess stuff too.

If there is anything else you’d like please let me know. The majority of those activities will be free for competitors.

Within a week or so there will be a tournament website at www.mindsports.com.au This site will have all the details that you need!

Keep firing the questions and suggestions!

[arosar]

Thanks for your reply Chessguru. Not too sure if I'm keen on hiking or bushwalking. Maybe on the rest day I'll do this. I'm really into going out for drinks/partying/dancing after a hard day's chess. Your idea of movies sounds good.

Now can we stay at other, perhaps cheaper, accomodation or are we captive to Mercure? I've found some places on the net that offer rates as low as $15 during the off peak. Mate if you can pull off this $660 package (incl entry) that would be great. Though I'm not confident that you will. For someone like moi with an FT job - it seems reasonable. But what about juniors dude and others who normally get billeted? This is really expensive as it doesn't include things like airfares and food plus the cost of travel between Melb and Mt Buller. (How much does this last one cost btw?) I have a feeling that the junior participation rate will suffer.

Now I got a bit of a question. Was the Mt Buller proposal examined at length prior to its approval at the Conference meeting?

At this moment - not too sure yet of attending. All depends on money and things to do up on that hill. Being a bit of a social guy meself I really need plenty of social activities.

For the rest of youse, here's a link FYI http://www.mtbuller.com.au/

AR

[peanbrain]

Mate if you can pull off this $660 package (incl entry) that would be great. Though I'm not confident that you will. For someone like moi with an FT job - it seems reasonable. But what about juniors dude and others who normally get billeted? This is really expensive as it doesn't include things like airfares and food plus the cost of travel between Melb and Mt Buller. (How much does this last one cost btw?) I have a feeling that the junior participation rate will suffer.

Now I got a bit of a question. Was the Mt Buller proposal examined at length prior to its approval at the Conference meeting?


AR

Good point AR. Would be interesting to see how many (few) people turn up eventually. Personally I am not keen on going to these "resorts" and become captive audience for rip off prices. The 20 minute drive to the nearest town is a lot further than you think if you haven't got a car - or worse, can't drive!!

One thing is for sure, CL will have to take a gold package as we know he can't share bathrooms.

Guru - now that I've done my sums my old man will definately not be coming. While I can afford the prices you've mentioned plus transport and food etc, I don't think I get good value for my money at this event, so good luck to you. :-''

[Ian Rout]

I think we shouldn't be as pessimistic as peanbrain. The event will be the venue's off-season and the fact that they are reduced to doing deals with chess (and in other seasons doing renovations at this time of year) suggests that it may not be a real sellers' market. When we see the details it may be attractive. And accommodation in inner-city Sydney or Melbourne (or Brisbane or Canberra) isn't cheap either.

Last year I played at the Aust Teams. The combination of the deal that Kerry Corker had done with the venue and the fact that it was possible to comfortably get eight into a unit meant that it didn't need to be expensive. (Though the resort didn't help their public relations by shuffling people around to accommodate the Scottish Rugby Union team in a style somewhat out of proportion to its achievements.)

As arosar notes, the availability of no-frills accommodation either at the venue or nearby will make a difference to many players. One thing that this event will suffer from is the lack of a home crowd to bring up the numbers, but if this sort of venue isn't tried we'll never know if it works.

[Kevin Bonham]

Kevin – arrangements are clad in the finest glistening iron. Sponsorship is guaranteed, venue is definite. Should anything happen I’ll sue their pants off.

Fantastic. Hope I can be there.

[ChessGuru]

More replies:

Arosar – partying/dancing I will have to admit is going to be difficult to come by in Mt Buller. Drinking shouldn’t be a problem, but it will have to be with other geeky chess-types! Perhaps bring along a few other dancing/partying people and you can create your own environment? There will be movies every night plus other activities.

Of course you are free to stay anywhere you like, we cannot force you to stay in the Mercure Hotel! However when comparing accom. costs for the recently concluded Championships in Adelaide it added up as follows:
$40 per night for the cheapest student accommodation
$10 breakfast
$10 per day entry to tournament ($110 entry to tournament)
Total $60 per night
Compare this to the 4 ½ star accommodation at Buller for $50 per night ($660 / 13) with all you can eat breakfast and the tournament entry and it’s looking reasonably good. That is with 3 per room, and if you want more comfort (say 2 per room) it will only be about $70 per night. Billeting is much rarer than you might think, and there will be cheap options available, so I don’t think it will make much difference on the junior front.

Transport: Well, from Adelaide we have a bus going for about $140 return. From Melbourne it will be about $40. Haven’t worked out Sydney or further yet…

So, arosar, would you be interested in being on a social committee to get more social things going? I’d be happy to have the help!

In answer to your question about the examination of the event: a) it was the only proposal available so seemed better than nothing and b) a number of people spent a considerable amount of time considering it and there was extensive discussion at the National Conference and the Council. So in answer I would say “yes”.

Peanbrain – I don’t think you’ll be a captive audience as you might think. Remember this is just one hotel on the mountain, in winter the mountain sees 100,000 people so it is a bit different from a resort island where you literally have no choice!

What price would you suggest as “good value for money”?

Your old man could apply for some of the packages for financially disadvantaged chess players….

Ian – I agree the major factor that will hurt us is the lack of home crowd! But hopefully we can overcome this and get plenty of people travelling.

[Garvinator]

More replies:

Of course you are free to stay anywhere you like, we cannot force you to stay in the Mercure Hotel! However when comparing accom. costs for the recently concluded Championships in Adelaide it added up as follows:
$40 per night for the cheapest student accommodation
$10 breakfast
$10 per day entry to tournament ($110 entry to tournament)
Total $60 per night
Compare this to the 4 ½ star accommodation at Buller for $50 per night ($660 / 13) with all you can eat breakfast and the tournament entry and it’s looking reasonably good. That is with 3 per room, and if you want more comfort (say 2 per room) it will only be about $70 per night. Billeting is much rarer than you might think, and there will be cheap options available, so I don’t think it will make much difference on the junior front.

I think some of your figures are incorrect

there was single room accommodation for $26 per night and entry was $160 not $110