Category Archives: 1 Game/Day Tournaments

More Monsters-Volume 1

I used some exercises in a training session I gave earlier today in the morning

selected games(exercises 2-4)

Exercise 4A

(Note that Exercise 4 is after 12..Bb7 earlier in the game). The position later in the game is also of some interest

 

Grivas-Klimis

Bogo-Indian

Athens 2017

After 17..Ne4(Diagram)

Black seems to be solid and has just activated his Ne4 to control the centre

What do you recommend for White?

After 17..Ne4

 

Budapest RR Prices(1 Game/Day) Non-Norm Tournaments

Budapest offers a wide variety of RR tournaments to choose from for non-norm seekers. The prices are quite close together for non-monthly tournaments. These are good value and are the ones I seek out to play in.

First Saturday has a long runnning a monthly series priced at a premium rate.

Budapest at night

Budapest(Non-Monthly) [See-Hungarian Chess Federation Tournament Listing-chess.hu]
Finding these tournaments is not obvious for foreign players, but now I have the hang of it. The trick is to find the general tournament listing of the Hungarian Chess Federation and follow the breadcrumbs to the indvidual advertisement(usually in Hungarian) and then decipher them. The cheap prices make it worth the effort.

I played in all the following this past year. The Amator Cup was held in the downtown Hungarian Federation builiding. I liked this one best of all. It was a strange feeling to be the only foreign player, but I had the consolation of being the top-rated player.
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Rounds Prizes Entry Fee(FIDE 2000+)
HUF EUR USD CAN 2012
Round Robin
Amator Cup 9 Yes 5,000 17.8 23.1 22.9 November
Torokves A RR 9 Yes 5,500 19.4 25 25 April
Frech Karolyi 9 Yes 4,000 14 17.67 18 June
Torokves A RR 9 Yes 5,500 19.4 25 25 Sept

First Saturday(Monthly)
First Saturday(FS) programme 2012-13 First Saturday 2012-13
FS contact and other info see First Saturday

These are the most well-known and offer no prizes. Non-norm tournaments run beside IM and GM norm tournaments. The non-norm tournaments are classified as FM tournaments with various subcategories. Prices are summarized from their 2012-13 programme as follows.

[Exchange rates were from xe.com]

Exchange Rate EUR Rate USD Rate CAN Rate
3/12/2012 282.7 1.30547 1.29875

FM-A(FIDE 2000+)
I played in this type of group in 2009 several times.
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Rating HUF EUR USD CAN
Low High
Unrated 56,540 200 261.09 259.75
1800 1900 50,886 180 234.98 233.78
1901 2000 45,232 160 208.88 207.80
2001 2100 39,578 140 182.77 181.83
2101 2200 33,924 120 156.66 155.85
2200 2250 28,270 100 130.55 129.88

FM-B(FIDE 1600-1800)
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Rating EUR USD CAN
Low High
Unrated 56,540 200 261.09 259.75
1500 1700 50,886 180 234.98 233.78
1701 1800 45,232 160 208.88 207.80
1801 1850 39,578 140 182.77 181.83
1851 1900 33,924 120 156.66 155.85
1901 2000 28,270 100 130.55 129.88

FM-C(FIDE under 1600)
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Rating EUR USD CAN
Low High
Unrated 56,540 200 261.09 259.75
1200 1400 50,886 180 234.98 233.78
1401 1500 45,232 160 208.88 207.80
1501 1600 39,578 140 182.77 181.83
1601 1700 33,924 120 156.66 155.85
1700 Any 28,270 100 130.55 129.88

Local Player Rates
Hungarian players pay a standard unadvertised entry fee of 12,000HUF which is still very expensive by local standards(a monthly transit pass is 9,800HUF).

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HUF EUR USD CAN
12,000 42.45 55.41 55.13


Foreign players living in the city who know this rate also get this rate. Incoming foreign player tourists are usually unaware of this pricing practive. It took me a year to find out this key piece of information in late 2009.  Also note that FS prices are negotiable at all levels, you just have to know this in advance.

Conclusions
Usually for RR tournaments I expect to be paying in the 20EUR(25CAD/25USD) range and always for prizes(which are quite modest). FS falls far outside of this range and offer no prizes so I don’t play in their events.

There are many bargain level tournaments in all formats(RRs, opens and weekenders)  in Budapest. The key is to know where to look.