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Topic: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tourney (Read 7879 times) |
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Adanac
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Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tourney
« on: Mar 6th, 2012, 3:57pm » |
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Here is more information for the match tournament I’m planning to run from May to December. If you’re considering joining the tournament please let me know [preferably by personal message, or here in the forum] so that I will know how many divisions to create. You don’t have to commit to anything yet, I’m just trying to research the level of interest for the tournament. Also, if you’d like an extra division, for example if you want an Under-1700 division, then please let me know that as well. Tentatively there are 2 divisions: Open and Under-2000 but I’ll modify that based upon the ratings and number of players who express interest in joining, and the feedback I receive. The official sign-up page will come in a few weeks time.
In case there’s an Arimaa World League this summer, I’ll encourage players not to play their games on the weekends listed in the section, “Dates to Avoid”. Keep in mind that there is no guarantee there will even be an Arimaa World League as Joel Thomas (megajester) is quite busy and isn’t sure yet about the AWL in 2012.
Based upon Omar’s suggestions I’ve reduced some of the flexibility for players to schedule games. It’s much more efficient to run the scheduler rather than have the players negotiate dates & times on their own. However, players will still have the option to take 2 vacation weeks per round plus the option to schedule multiple games per week, thus freeing other weeks for additional vacation time.
I don’t know what to call this tournament. Maybe “2012 Divisional Match Tournament” but if anyone has a cooler suggestion I’m all ears 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event
This is a three-round tournament featuring best-of-seven matches amongst the 4-8 players in each division. To earn a Division Championship, a player must win the final-round match in the Championship Section. Divisions will be split by rating to make the matches more competitive.
Time Commitment
Everyone will participate in every round for a total of 12 to 21 games between April 24 and December 31*. A typical game will last 1-2 hours. Players may take 2 vacation weeks per round to assist with flexibility. In addition, players may take 3 vacation weeks per round in some situations, as described below in the “Vacation Days & Scheduling” section and “4-Player Division”.
* exception: if a division has only four players then that division will have an abbreviated schedule running until December 3. See “Matches” and “4-Player Division” sections below.
Registration Deadline
The registration period will end on April 17, 2012 at 23:59 GMT. The Tournament Director reserves the right to extend the registration period for an additional 1-4 days if more players are needed to fill up certain divisions. The first round begins on April 24.
Entry Fee
To discourage players from dropping out of the event, there will be a registration cost for all participants. The entry fee is 3000 Arimaa Points ($30 U.S.), of which 1500 AP is a refundable deposit. The remaining 1500 AP will be added to the prize fund (see “Distribution of Prize Funds” below). Seven days prior to the start of the event (April 17 or earlier), registered players may withdraw with a full refund. Beyond that date, players that withdraw will receive no refund.
Time Controls
The time control for all games will be 48s/8m/100/0/4h/5m. The 48s/move time control will be unique to this event and should make it easier for spectators to distinguish event games from practice games amongst participants.
Player Ratings
WHRX ratings will be used as follows, based upon April 1st ratings. A player’s WHRX rating is their WHRE rating if it is based upon at least 5 games, otherwise their WHR rating if it is based upon at least 5 games, otherwise their gameroom rating. The WHRX rating will be used to determine division eligibility and seeding within each division.
Divisions
Tentatively there will be an Open Division and an Under-2000 division. Additional divisions may be created by the Tournament Director based upon the number of interested players. Once the tournament begins players cannot switch divisions. However, any time prior to the start of the tournament players may transfer to another eligible division, space permitting.
Sections
Each division will have two sections.
Championship Section: All players begin in the Championship Section and the winner of the final-round match will earn the division title. Everyone in this section receives full credit for all victories with respect to prize payouts. After losing a match, players will drop down to the Consolation Section.
Consolation Section: All players that have lost one or more previous matches will compete in the Consolation Section. Under certain circumstances it may be possible to return to the Championship Section (see “6-Player Divisions”, below). Players in this section will earn 50% credit for victories with respect to prize payout. Otherwise, all the same rules will apply to both sections.
Matches
Players will compete head-to-head in best-of-seven matches (or best-of-nine in a 4-player division: see below). As soon as one player wins more than half the games the match is over. Players may choose to play the remaining games for fun but they will not count in the standings, will not count towards the prize fund and will not be included as an Event Game.
Matches officially begin and end on the dates listed below, always at 23:59 GMT on the respective day. Players must submit vacation weeks and pre-scheduled game times before the official start of the match.
Six or Eight Players
Round 1: April 24 – July 16
Round 2: July 17 – October 8
Round 3: October 9 – December 31
Four Players
Round 1: April 24 – August 12
Round 2: August 13 – December 3
Dates to Avoid
In order to avoid possible conflicts with the Arimaa World League these dates will receive the lowest priorities for scheduling:
July 14, 15, 28, 29
August 11, 12, 25, 26
September 8, 9, 22, 23
October 6, 7, 20, 21
November 3, 4, 17, 18
December 1, 2, 15, 16, 29, 30
If a player gets double-booked for two events, defined as being scheduled for two games beginning within 4 hours of one another, then this tournament game will be re-scheduled. It will be the players’ responsibility to agree to a new date & time.
Pairings
Players in the same division & section will be paired together. Everyone will be re-seeded at the beginning of each round in the following way:
1. By tournament performance rating (TBD: either best W-L percentage or performance rating)
2. By initial seed, see “Player Ratings” section, above.
The top-seeded player will be paired against the lowest-seeded player, unless that would be a repeat pairing. In that case move up the list to find an appropriate opponent for the top-seeded player. The next highest-seeded player is then matched against the remaining lowest-seeded player, again avoiding repeating pairings, etc. If this algorithm results in any repeat pairings, the pairings will be re-determined by the Tournament Director subject to (i) avoiding repeat pairings and (ii) maximizing the sum of squares of the differential in player seeds (current seed, not initial seed).
Vacation Days & Scheduling
Each player may take up to 2 vacation weeks in every round, with vacations running from Tuesday to Monday of the selected week. The players may agree to each take up to 3 vacation weeks but only if they agree to play two games in the same week at least once during the match. They must agree upon exact dates and times for both games (in GMT) before the start of the match. The two games must be scheduled a minimum of 4 hours apart.
All vacations must be declared before the start of the match. Once all players have submitted their vacation preferences the Tournament Director will announce which weeks games will occur for each match, subject to, in order of importance: (i) avoiding vacation weeks, (ii) not running the scheduler during weeks that already contain agreed upon game times, (iii) avoiding overlap with other events (see “Dates to Avoid”, below), and (iv) giving higher preference to earlier weeks and lower preference to later weeks.
If a player unexpectedly needs an additional vacation week during the match, he/she will need approval from his/her opponent. Solutions include making use of empty weeks later in the match or agreeing to play multiple games in some future week.
Example: Before the start of the 2nd round, Player A contacts Player B requesting to play two games on August 11th at 13:00 and 17:00 GMT, thus giving both players three vacation weeks rather than two. Player B counter-offers with the same times on August 18th to avoid conflict with the Arimaa World League schedule. Player A agrees and then both players confirm the dates and times with the Tournament Director & submit their 3 preferred vacation weeks prior to the start of the match. The other 5 games will be determined by the Tournament Scheduler (next section). During the match Player A unexpectedly needs a fourth vacation week but there are no empty weeks left in the schedule. He will require approval from Player B and they will need to again agree upon exact dates & times for the future week in which they intend play twice.
Tournament Scheduler
A weekly scheduler program will be run every Monday for all matches that require it. Similar to the World Championship, there will be a 2nd run on Tuesday so that players will have a 24-hour period to re-negotiate the game time. After the game has been scheduled on the Tuesday, the game time becomes official and should not be changed. Optionally, the players may then agree upon additional game times during the same week, so long as the start times are at least 4 hours apart.
Postponing Games
Games should not be postponed once they have already been scheduled. However, if there is an emergency, or some other unforeseen event, the players may agree to re-schedule the game at a future date. The Tournament Director will need to approve the postponement. If the players need to play two games in some future week to accommodate the postponement then both dates & times must be negotiated and agreed upon before the original game can be postponed. If a player misses a scheduled game then the result is a forfeit and he/she may not retroactively request a postponement. See “Forfeit” section, below.
Color Assignment
Players will alternate between gold & silver every game during the match. The player with the lower percentage of gold games during the previous tournament games will have the gold pieces in the 1st game. If both players have the same percentage of gold games then colors for the 1st game of the match will be assigned randomly by the Tournament Director.
Location of games
All games will be played in the Arimaa gameroom over the Internet. The players are responsible for providing their own reliable computer and Internet connection. No appeal will be considered if a player loses a game due to problems with their computer or Internet connection or even the game client program. However, if there is a problem with the game server, the Tournament Director will consider re-scheduling the game.
Forfeits
If a player does not show up for the game within 15 minutes after the scheduled start time then that player will lose by forfeit. To claim the forfeit the player that showed up just needs to exit the game window after the 15 minutes are over. However, the player can choose to give the opponent more time by keeping the window open. A player losing by forfeit may not appeal the loss regardless of the reason for being late.
Withdrawing
Players are strongly discouraged from withdrawing from the tournament. Any player who does so will forfeit their entire 1500 Arimaa Point deposit. In order to maintain an even number of players in the tournament, the Tournament Director may attempt to recruit a replacement player of appropriate rating for the remaining rounds. The replacement player will be able to collect prizes according to the normal tournament rules, and will need to pay a 1500 AP deposit, but will not be required to pay the other 1500 AP entry fee.
Distribution of Prize Funds
Each division will have a prize fund based equal to the non-refundable entry fees plus donations. At the end of each round the prize funds will be distributed based upon the game results. Each division will have its own separate prize fund and each of those prize funds will be divided equally amongst all the rounds. Shares are not cumulative and do not carry over to the following rounds.
1. Each win is worth one share, including forfeit victories.
2. If a match does not require the maximum number of games then both players receive 0.5 shares for each unplayed game.
3. Each forfeit loss transfers 0.5 shares from the forfeit loser to the winner, down to a minimum of 0 shares for the losing player.
4. All shares in the Consolation section are divided by two.
5. The total number of shares in each division are added up and then prizes are divided amongst the players proportional to their shares.
Return of Deposits
At the end of the tournament each player will have their deposits returned, minus penalties. Players that withdraw from the tournament will receive no refund. A player’s first forfeit will not impact the refundable deposit but each additional forfeit during the tournament will deduct 500 Arimaa Points from the player’s balance. All forfeited Arimaa Points will be donated equally between next year’s World Championship and Computer Championship.
8-Player Division
Eight players is the target number for each division and all standard rules will apply.
6-Player Division
With exactly 6 players in a division, one player will get a “Second Chance” in the 2nd round. In order to ensure that there are an even number of players in both the Championship and Consolation Sections, the losing player from the 1st round with the higher performance rating will get a Second Chance and will be returned to the Championship Section for the 2nd round. All privileges of participating in the Championship Section will apply to the Second Chance player, including full credit victories for the prize fund and the opportunity to claim the division title. There is one exception however: repeat pairings are not allowed. Therefore, if the Second Chance player wins in the 2nd round and would be competing for the division title in a repeat pairing then he/she will be returned to the Consolation Section. A new “Second Chance” player will be selected such that: (i) no pairings are repeated (ii) the new Second Chance player will have the best tournament performance rating to date amongst the remaining Consolation players.
4-Player Division
Each pairing will involve a best-of-nine rather than the best-of-seven match used in the other scenarios. The 2nd round will have one Championship match and one Consolation match. Players will have 3 vacation weeks in both rounds. Otherwise, the same tournament rules apply as described above.
Other Scenarios
If fewer than 4 players sign up for a division, that division will be removed from the tournament. The players may (i) transfer to another eligible division, space permitting, or (ii) have their entry fees & deposits refunded.
If there are an odd number of players the tournament director should make every effort possible to encourage an even number of players in all divisions. If this cannot be accomplished, the last person to join an odd-numbered division will be dropped, with a full refund, or transferred to another eligible odd-numbered division.
Notes
- The games must be played in one sitting and cannot be adjourned.
- A player will not be allowed to take back a move once it has been submitted.
- The games will contribute to the players' GMR, WHR and WHRE ratings.
- Players are forbidden from using advice or suggestions from others or programs while playing the games. Any player doing so will be eliminated from the tournament and will receive no share of any remaining prize funds.
- The Tournament Director will carry out the tournament in compliance with the stated rules and does not make any decisions that will affect the course of the tournament. A player may serve as the TD.
- The Tournament Director will serve as the arbitrator in case of disputes. Should a dispute arise about the outcome of a game, the TD will review the game and decide if the game should be replayed. If a game involving the Tournament Director is in dispute then an assistant Tournament Director, or independent arbiter, will have the final decision.
- All decisions made by the TD shall be considered final and binding by all parties. The director does not need to look at previous similar cases for precedence and nor does the decision of the director set a precedence for future cases. However, the director is expected to be consistent between rulings and completely unbiased.
- If the Tournament Director is unavailable during a dispute, any Assistant Tournament Director(s) may make a decision in his absence.
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ginrunner
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #1 on: Mar 6th, 2012, 7:59pm » |
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I am interested. I have never been a fan of the entry fee since money is a terrible motivator (see dan pink science of motivation) but $15 isn't bad.
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Nombril
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #2 on: Mar 6th, 2012, 8:50pm » |
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I'll probably play, thanks for organizing this!
Names: Some tie in to a marathon or ironplayer theme?
on Mar 6th, 2012, 3:57pm, Adanac wrote:Time Controls
The time control for all games will be 48s/8m/100/0/4h/5m. The 48s/move time control will be unique to this event and should make it easier for spectators to distinguish event games from practice games amongst participants.
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I'm OK with trying a different time control - but am a little hesitant trying something new for an 8 month commitment. Is this a normal time control in the chess world?
I'll want to practice a bit at that time control, so I'm not sure that looking at time control will be a way to distinguish event games.
I know the "Event Games" page will display the event games, so it will be possible to find the games there. If there is interest in picking out event games from the other game listings, maybe it would be easy to include that designation?
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Eltripas
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #3 on: Mar 6th, 2012, 10:21pm » |
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The rating for the divisions is going to be the WHR, right?
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chessandgo
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #4 on: Mar 7th, 2012, 5:14am » |
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I'm interested as well!
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Adanac
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #5 on: Mar 7th, 2012, 7:54am » |
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on Mar 6th, 2012, 10:21pm, Eltripas wrote:| The rating for the divisions is going to be the WHR, right? |
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If you have 5 or more event games then it's WHRE:
http://home.scarlet.be/~woh/whr/whre.htm
If not, then it's WHR:
http://home.scarlet.be/~woh/whr/whrh.htm
You'd qualify for Under-2000 either way.
on Mar 6th, 2012, 8:50pm, Nombril wrote:
Names: Some tie in to a marathon or ironplayer theme?
I'm OK with trying a different time control - but am a little hesitant trying something new for an 8 month commitment. Is this a normal time control in the chess world?
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It's very similar to a 45s game, but with a few minutes of initial time and three extra seconds per move. We could use a standard 45s time control if people prefer. I remember the confusion in the chat room, though, in the past whenever two WC players tried a practice game before their real game. I like the idea of a time control that's unique. But you're right, I hadn't thought of the fact that people might practice at the 48s time control days before their actual games.  Yes, there's a label for event games but people don't often check that.
Another possibility is a standard 60s/move time control. But I'd be worried about burnout from the players if there are too many long games. If a typical player might play 16 games over a 36 week period, with each game lasting about 75 minutes, then that seems pretty manageable to me.
I like the name suggestion. I'm now leaning towards “2012 Ironman Tournament”.
on Mar 6th, 2012, 7:59pm, ginrunner wrote:| I am interested. I have never been a fan of the entry fee since money is a terrible motivator (see dan pink science of motivation) but $15 isn't bad. |
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I don't mind running a free tournament. And maybe instead of money, I could offer prizes such as Arimaa boards/books, etc.? But I'd be really nervous about running a long tournament without any commitment from the players. It's really important that we have no withdrawals and an even number of players throughout the tournament, because byes would last for 12 weeks! If Dan Pink has a good motivation strategy that doesn't involve money I would definitely consider it though. WWDPD?  One advantage is that everyone who has expressed interest so far are players with great track records for commitment to events.
Yes, it will be a pain for some players to transfer money to PayPal and then convert that to Arimaa Points. But on the bright side, nearly everyone will make a small profit if they play the whole tournament without forfeits. And then those Arimaa Points can be rolled into the 2013 WC.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 7th, 2012, 7:57am by Adanac » |
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Nombril
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #6 on: Mar 7th, 2012, 7:30pm » |
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Time control: Personally, I lean towards the longer games (60s or more), but I understand if that gets to be too long for others.
And if we really want to use 48s as a "filter" I supposed I could restrain myself to just practice with the 45s time control.
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mistre
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #7 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 8:37am » |
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I am very interested in this tournament, but as it was with the Arimaa World League or any other tournaments (except for postal), the use of the scheduler just doesn't work for me.
If there ever was a tournament with relaxed scheduling, then I would participate. This is how I think it could work:
Players give a general idea of when they are most available to play (for example - evenings between 9 and 11, weekends during the day, etc.) They also let each other know of any known vacation times.
During a round, players will play their best of 7 matches at the times most convenient for them. Matches could take place at any time, all that is required is that both players be logged into the game room at the same time and agree to play each other. One player will invite the other and notify them that this is a match game (If the 48s special time is used, then this is a good way to identify that it is an actual match game).
In order that your opponent knows you want to play your match game at that time, you could turn your invite flag on or keep it on for an extended time in case he shows up while you are on.
If during the round, games are not being played at a decent pace, then the tournament director can step in and find out why and attempt to help the two players to complete their matches. Also in order that players don't play their matches too fast, limit it to only 2 matches every two weeks.
Just my 2 cents.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 8th, 2012, 8:56am by mistre » |
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Hippo
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #8 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 8:44am » |
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on Mar 8th, 2012, 8:37am, mistre wrote:I am very interested in this tournament, but as it was with the Arimaa World League or any other tournaments (except for postal), the use of the scheduler just doesn't work for me.
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My 2 cents as well. On the contrary I understand the turnament organizers that this would be difficult to organize and to solve "conflicts".
Seems we are limited to play mob-like games  .
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mistre
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #9 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 8:58am » |
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Don't dismiss my idea too quick.... I think with match play (since you have the same opponent over the course of a potential 7 week period), that a more relaxed scheduling system could work.
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Adanac
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #10 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 9:36am » |
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on Mar 8th, 2012, 8:58am, mistre wrote:| Don't dismiss my idea too quick.... I think with match play (since you have the same opponent over the course of a potential 7 week period), that a more relaxed scheduling system could work. |
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This is actually the system I had in mind originally. The great advantage of a match tournament over a Swiss or Floating-Elimination tournament is that there are no fixed weekly games and players can basically play whenever they want over a 12-week period. I envisioned something like "Want to play 4 games this weekend? Then I'd like to take a 4-week vacation after that". Then the opponent could make counter-offers and hopefully reach an agreement. The scheduling program was intended to be a backup system in case players couldn't agree on game times.
However, Omar recommended that it's much easier & more efficient for players to get their ideal game time through a scheduler rather than mutual agreement. He also mentioned that it probably wouldn't even be possible to run the event with the Tournament Management Tool under my original idea. I'm taking his advice and simplifying the scheduling procedure.
So now each player will have 2 vacation weeks per round and the games will be scheduled by the program. It's still fairly flexible and there's a 12th week at the end that generally won't be used. That final week will help in case a game needs to be postponed for unexpected/emergency reasons.
Omar's recommendations will save me from one potential headache. Originally I was expecting some players to announce all 7 games in advance. Like Game 1 on May 1st @ 13:00 GMT, Game 2 on May 18th @ 15:00 GMT, etc. Then I'd manually add all 7 games into the "Scheduled Game" section, which I wouldn't mind doing once. But if the players need to postpone game 2, for example, back to the final game of the match, then I'd have to re-schedule the original games 3-7 with all the gold/silver assignments reversed. So while most of the flexibility is gone, I can see completely understand how using the TMT will result in a much more streamlined & efficient tournament.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 8th, 2012, 9:42am by Adanac » |
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Nombril
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #11 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 9:44am » |
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I'd like to point out that using the scheduler doesn't preclude scheduling in advance with your opponent. If you agree to some general times with good availability in advance, you don't need to have a full 60 hours actually available. (Just fill in the rest with 5's) In the WC, I actually had a number of games that we picked the exact hour ahead of time so both of us would have that as first preference when the scheduler was run.
It does require being able to plan ahead by about a week, though, so that is sometimes the tricky part
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mistre
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #12 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 10:25am » |
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on Mar 8th, 2012, 9:36am, Adanac wrote:
However, Omar recommended that it's much easier & more efficient for players to get their ideal game time through a scheduler rather than mutual agreement. |
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The problem is I have no set ideal game time - it is whenever I have time which is not predictable and always varies. And I can't schedule that in advance. Oh well, I realize I am probably in the minority here.
Good luck with the tournament.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 8th, 2012, 10:25am by mistre » |
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ginrunner
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #13 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 12:05pm » |
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An idea I had but didn't end up posting because I didn't feel like organizing it would be similar to what mistre said but with a slight difference. You could have a "48 hour tournament" in which players have the ability to log on whenever they would like and play. We use the scoring system of 1 point for a loss and 3 for a win (or whatever just as long as losing sores too) and tally up the points at the end. Just so there isn't any cheating you could make it so 2 players can only play each other twice (separate colors each game). It gives people with large rating gaps incentive to play each other (something lacking in all of the tournaments thus far, especially with money on the line).
I would be interested to see the activity spike, if there is one, generated over a weekend with something like this. No monetary prize needed, instead if someone felt inclined there could be a unique forum banner made saying "winner of this and that" to provide intrinsic incentive.
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Adanac
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Re: Gauging Level of Interest: May-Dec Match Tour
« Reply #14 on: Mar 8th, 2012, 12:58pm » |
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on Mar 8th, 2012, 12:05pm, ginrunner wrote:An idea I had but didn't end up posting because I didn't feel like organizing it would be similar to what mistre said but with a slight difference. You could have a "48 hour tournament" in which players have the ability to log on whenever they would like and play. We use the scoring system of 1 point for a loss and 3 for a win (or whatever just as long as losing sores too) and tally up the points at the end. Just so there isn't any cheating you could make it so 2 players can only play each other twice (separate colors each game). It gives people with large rating gaps incentive to play each other (something lacking in all of the tournaments thus far, especially with money on the line).
I would be interested to see the activity spike, if there is one, generated over a weekend with something like this. No monetary prize needed, instead if someone felt inclined there could be a unique forum banner made saying "winner of this and that" to provide intrinsic incentive. |
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You should go ahead and organize the event. Pick a weekend, announce a time control and then add up the scores at the end. It sounds easy, although if you want a running tally of the scores throughout the tournament, that would be more difficult. Omar might have a program already built for that because there used to be a Player of the Month contest similar to what you're describing.
http://arimaa.com/arimaa/potm/rules.html
The incentive to gain more points for a longer game works well. Otherwise someone could "win" the tournament by resigning every game on move 3 and playing dozens of games that way.
One unintended consequence of the POTM contest was that new players would log onto the site being unaware of the contest but everyone would want to play them to build their score. Naturally, high ratings intimidate newer players and so there was an incentive to sandbag one's rating, thus making it less scary. And somebody won the contest almost every month doing exactly that. Since your contest has no official prize it's less likely to encourage sandbagging.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 8th, 2012, 1:12pm by Adanac » |
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