He had a point. There’s also some ego protection involved, as well as energy conservation, though I’m less inclined to accept that second point in weekend swisses; it’s more a strategy for week-long (and longer) events.

It could even be laziness. Why work any harder for the money than you absolutely have to?

Whatever it is, there’s more than one organizer who’s considering quitting because of it. If your name isn’t Goichburg or Cuchi, you’re not making much out of organizing events. Organizing is work, and as a reward for the effort it’s nice to see some good games. When there are just a few excellent players in an event, the opportunity for that is reduced considerably. When they decide not to play each other, the opportunity is completely eliminated, and the organizers begin to ask themselves “Why am I doing this?”

As both a player and an organizer, I can understand both points of view, better than those who just play, or just organize. I can’t find it in me to condemn either viewpoint, but something has to give or there won’t be many opportunities to play.