I received this email from Richard Jones last month:
Sep 14
Michael, I was wondering if you or anyone you know has tried to register for the Georgia Senior Open. The online site only lets non-residents enter and there is no info about mailing in an entry. I guess I’ll just register on site. As usual, there doesn’t appear to be much effort to publicize or promote the tournament.
Rick
This was my reply:
Hey buddy! I, along with everyone I know, will not be playing. It is basically the same format as last year, when only 9 players came. I will have a post concerning the Ga, and the upcoming NC Senior later in the week. I must say that I find it uproariously funny that the only people who can enter are the players from out of state who will not be coming! Why should they? They are not eligible for the top prize and who in their right mind would pay $45 to play for, what, a little over a hundred bucks? Keep in mind GM Zapata is a Senior and he should win the stipend. I see the F.I.P.s have delayed the start of the first round in order for all those out of state players who will not come to drive in! It’s He-larry-us!!!
Richard replied: Thanks for the response. I missed it last year for some reason. I didn’t realize there were only 9 players! Maybe I’ll go up there and play, maybe not.
And I responded: Read my next two posts on the AW before you decide.
Upon checking the results I learned Richard had not only played, but won the U1800 section of the Georgia Senior! Any win, in any section, at any age, is a BIG win, but especially so when one becomes a Senior, for obvious reasons. I heard from Richard again yesterday, October 17, when he sent this disconcerting email:
Yes, there are problems with the GCA. I should have taken your advice and not played in the Senior. I thought it was strange that they wouldn’t pay prize money on site but were going to mail it instead. I wonder if they are really going to mail out prizes. It’s been almost three weeks. If $1800 is “chicken feed” to them, I would think they could afford the small prize money!
Rick
Richard should not have to wait three days, much less three weeks, or longer, to receive his prize check. It is well known that Bill Goichberg, as an example, has been known to sit long into the night making out prize checks for the winners of CCA tournaments. I have absolutely no idea who is responsible for this delay or if this is only a single, isolated case or if none of the checks have been mailed.
I urge someone, anyone, from the GCA board to leave a comment on this blog, or to send me an email which I will publish. Richard deserves to know why he has yet to be paid, as do all other members of the Georgia chess community.
Armchair Warrior 