Shikshin, Mero and Hora qualify for SAWMG

[Hsiang]

Sport Accord preliminary: only 200 euro per person
Tickets&hotel must be paid by players

Sport Accord Main Event in China: 500 euro, plus free ticket, plus free hotel.

Only partially correct information. The preliminary is an EGF event, it has nothing to do with SportAccord, so I cannot comment. But for the SportAccord World Mind Games, we will cover travel, lodging, and food. In addition (using men as example), each man entry is guaranteed USD 1,000 (finish 13-16, at the bottom) or USD 2,000 (next group, 9-12) and so on. In addition, the three EGF reps will each get half of the pair go prize of USD 1,000 if they finish at the bottom (7, 8) or USD 2,000 in the next group (5, 6). Remember, for the pairs there are 4 western entries out of the total of 8, so it is not unfeasible to get to 5th place!

So, if you win the representation right to SAWMG, the minimum prize money would be USD 1,500. And if you do half-way decent, you may get USD 3,000. That should cover your prelim cost and then some, no? Unless, of course, you don't think you will win the prelim.

[RobertJasiek]

According to Stiassny, French Rules are being used. Great! (Matti Siivola chose the rules of play, after asking for my opinion.)

Tiebreakers: I still do not know which are used.

[breakfast]

So, if you win the representation right to SAWMG, the minimum prize money would be USD 1,500. And if you do half-way decent, you may get USD 3,000. That should cover your prelim cost and then some, no? Unless, of course, you don't think you will win the prelim.

Thx, but my info is correct. EGF decided to give players 500 Euro only and use the rest of money for preliminary stage. What do you think about this decision? As a result top European players, except Ilya Shikshin decided to stay home.

[Hsiang]

Thx, but my info is correct. EGF decided to give players 500 Euro only and use the rest of money for preliminary stage. What do you think about this decision? As a result top European players, except Ilya Shikshin decided to stay home.

I see. EGF sets its own policy, it is not for me to comment. But please check to be sure that EGF is indeed following the same policy from last year, even though the total players' take will be higher in 2012.

[Javaness2]

"I feel this setup is unacceptable. You keep expecting us to lose money and accept very low money
prizes instead of finding a way to select players that doesn't cost money"
from the letter of Catalin Taranu to EGF.

Personally I feel it was much better to play preliminary online, or send players by rating

I would guess that the EGF decided to place the qualifier within the WMSG to help boost numbers at the event, (did they succeed?) It used to be the case that some additional event at the European Congress decided who was invited to such international events - but this policy was abandoned.
It is nice to have a qualifier, but the schedules, or availability of the players must be taken into account when organising a qualifier.

[Hsiang]

The latest news from SportAccord is that, through the effort of IGF officials, there will be a very substantial increase in all prizes for the SportAccord Mind Sport tournaments in 2012.

The main tournament will see a 75% to 100% increase in prize from 2011 to 2012; while the online tournament will see a very substantial increase in prizes as well. See elsewhere in "announcements" on this forum.

For EGF, in all likelihood, because of the cost of running a selection tournament is fixed, the doubling of prize fund would mean multi-fold increase in the winning of the players.

We want to see large, enthusiastic participation in the events we hold. That in turn increases our ability to raise fund. It is really a win-win situation if we choose to make it. On the other hand, if the players choose to be cynical and critical (as they have the right to be), then not only is our development effort negated, it also hits their pocketbooks directly. It is rare that we see this very simple dynamic manifested so vividly.

[shapenaji]

The latest news from SportAccord is that, through the effort of IGF officials, there will be a very substantial increase in all prizes for the SportAccord Mind Sport tournaments in 2012.

The main tournament will see a 75% to 100% increase in prize from 2011 to 2012; while the online tournament will see a very substantial increase in prizes as well. See elsewhere in "announcements" on this forum.

For EGF, in all likelihood, because of the cost of running a selection tournament is fixed, the doubling of prize fund would mean multi-fold increase in the winning of the players.

We want to see large, enthusiastic participation in the events we hold. That in turn increases our ability to raise fund. It is really a win-win situation if we choose to make it. On the other hand, if the players choose to be cynical and critical (as they have the right to be), then not only is our development effort negated, it also hits their pocketbooks directly. It is rare that we see this very simple dynamic manifested so vividly.

This is great news, it's wonderful to hear that people are taking these seriously.

As an aside, given the impact of live streams on the E-sports community, I wonder if the AGA might be able to encourage some top level players to stream regularly via some sponsorship options. Andy Liu, for example, it would be wonderful to see him commenting his thought process while playing on Tygem, etc...