topazg wrote:Partly because the creation of a separate closed tournament to the congress has no momentum at the moment. Instead, the proposals seem to be adjusting the nature of the congress itself to try and be a genuine open at the same time as a closed tournament for Europeans...
Same time or not, the Open will still stay Open, and I have seen no suggestions to the contrary. This seems to be what we all agree on.
And as long as the prizes are there, the Koreans will come, I understand. Isn't that what breakfast said?
So, in the worst case, some of the top European players will have a dilemma: play in the Open or play in the Closed.
For the rest of us, the only change will be that we'll have a better chance of actually playing against these top Asian players. Good good...
Where is the sabotage??
The only possible casualty I can see is that kibitzers might lose the opportunity to admire the top Asians clobbering the top Europeans.
But since the conservatives seem to be saying that they want to see the strong Asians play more than they want to see the strong Europeans, no harm here either.
So, from what I see - organize a Closed EC, concurrently with the Congress or not, and everybody's a winner.
The only issue - finding the funding.
