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Subject: Re: Participants WCCM 2000

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 05:29:01 08/19/00

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On August 19, 2000 at 00:56:54, Ed Schröder wrote:

>On August 18, 2000 at 23:43:07, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On August 17, 2000 at 12:12:20, Ernst A. Heinz wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Vincent,
>>>
>>>>My surprise was also big, but nevertheless i join!
>>>>Nothing wrong with joining a tournament that's
>>>>already under a lot of attack, or the tournament fades away!
>>>
>>>IMO, your story is quite different than ours because "Diep" is
>>>optimized for PCs and has always been so. Hence, you planned to
>>>attend from the beginning I suppose -- your surprise was only
>>>related to the fact that you must bring your own PC now.
>>>
>>>For us it was totally different -- we had no plans to attend
>>>_since last year_!
>>>
>>>>>The low number of participants is probably due to the fact that
>>>>>information flow regarding this tournament was almost non-existent
>>>>>until mid-July or so.
>>>
>>>I like to add something to my remark above.
>>>
>>>Now, everybody here should now that I am a strong supporter of
>>>the ICCA and do not intend to bash them or any of their volunteers'
>>>efforts to promote computer chess and related events.
>>>
>>>Nevertheless, I personally deem this year's participation fee of
>>>US-$ 100 for amateurs _prohibitively high_. This might be another
>>>reason for amateur programmers not to join the tournament.
>>>
>>>Just my humble opinion, of course ...
>>>
>>>=Ernst=
>>
>>
>>I agree.  In fact, since I can't go due to classes and the expense of going
>>to England, I get to pay 200 bucks to get crafty in.  I have _never_ paid an
>>entry fee in 25 years of ACM competition.  I don't see the reasoning behind
>>this myself...
>
>It is not so difficult. Let me explain. The ICCA is a non-profit organization
>to promote computer chess in its widest form. The new rules are just meant to
>make it more easy for chess programmers to join the tournament.
>
>Clap, clap clap.
>
>Ed (sarcastic)


:)

In my case, adding $100 to the cost of participating is just one more thing to
make me think hard about whether I want to go or not.

I had always suggested the following about entry fees:

1.  If a non-commercial (not-for-sale-anywhere) engine participates, no entry
fee.

2.  If a commercial program is entered as an "experimental" engine, and the
programmer/company agrees to not use the results on the front of the box or in
advertisements, no entry fee.

3.  If a company enters a program, and wants to use a good result for
advertising purposes, then charge them a fee if it is needed to hold the
tournament.

IE in this event, assuming there are 16 entries and all 16 are non-commercial
(not true of course) I can't believe that $1,600 (16 * 100 entry fee) would be
a 'make or break' condition for the event.  But it is likely that it would be
a 'make or break' for one or two of the competitors.

I think the events like the ICC tournament are going to be the future of these
competitions.  No fees.  No travel.



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