comfortdiner

high stakes tournament update

2008-04-29T18:14:00Z

We've hit 20!

The tournament is ON!

The list of entrants can be found here

http://www.cross-tables.com/entrants.php?u=462&flyer=

More details will follow shortly.

Ira

and update and request for more feedback

2008-04-05T12:23:07Z

I'm very commited to making the tournament described in my previous post come to fruition.

I'm also going to be actively recruiting housing hosts for out of towners.

In fact I'm hoping to raise the number of players from 16 to 20. If so, the new prize structure would likely be

1st - $7,000 2nd - $3,500 3rd - $1,750 4th - $1,250 5th - $1,000

This would leave $500 for my expenses. The Saturday dinner would therefore be eliminated from the included meals (but everyone would be MORE than welcome to stay and eat on their own!)

This would also mean 2 brackets of 10 playing a 9 game round robin prior to the semifinals. Schedule now becomes an issue. I'd love feedback on the following proposals, especially from those out of towners that would consider travelling to this tournament.

A. 3 games on Friday (starting at approximately 8:00 PM
     8 games on Saturday (starting at approximately 10:00 AM
     5 games on Sunday (staring at about 9:30 AM)

under this plan the finalists MAY NOT be determined until after the first game on Sunday (unless one or both of the semifinals were 2-0 sweeps.) If that were so, the finalist who swept would also gain the advantage of extra sleep.

Under plans B and C the finalist WOULD be set by the end of day 2 but would require a longer day either Friday or Sat.

B. 4 games on Friday (starting at around 7:30)
     8 games on Friday (starting at around 10)

C. 3 games on Friday (starting at about 8:00)
     9 games on Saturday (starting at about 9:30) and with an extra short coffee break thrown in after game 7.

as always, your feedback is appreciated.

Ira

High stakes Scrabble tournament format proposal

2008-04-03T17:09:37Z

After posting a high stakes Scrabble tournament idea as an April Fools joke, it turned out the joke was on me. It seems there was actually enough interest to move forward with the idea. After talking it over with a few expert rated players, this is what I've come up with as the working plan. I'm looking for feedback, particularly from players who would seriously consider attending.

Fully rated 14 game tournament, limited to 16 players.
Dates: Friday, Aug. 22nd - Sunday, Aug. 24th

I'm limiting it to 16 players so that I can host the event at the 23rd St. Comfort Diner. It will be held on the mezzanine level. It should be noted that while this is a private area of the restaurant, it is NOT soundproof. The restaurant will still be open on the main level. The noise level SHOULDN'T be an issue, but if you prefer playing in a cone of silence, this might not be for you.

Entry fee: $750
Prizes: 1st - $6,000 2nd - $3,000 3rd - $1,500 4th - $750

Format:

The first half would have the players divided into 2 brackets of 8 according to rating. Bracket A would have rated players 1,4,5,8,9,12,13 and 16. Bracket B would have rated players 2,3,6,7,10,11,14 and 15.

Each bracket would play a 7 game round robin. The top two finishers in each bracket would advance to the semifinals (all others would still be eligible for 3rd and 4th place as you'll see.) Bracket A 1st place player would play bracket B 2nd place finisher and vice versa in a best of 3 game series. The winner of each would then face off in a best of 5 game series for the top two prizes.

Meanwhile, the other players would continue to play. This is the proposed schedule for those games. Player numbers in this case are determined by standings rather than seedings.

For games 8-10 there will be 3 groups of 4.

Group 1 would be players Group 2 would be players Group 3 would be players
A3 B4 B5 A6 B3 A4 A5 B6 A7 A8 B7 B8

Those groups would play a 3 game round robin.

After those 3 games are complete (and the finalists are determined) the losers of the semifinal matches would be returned to the larger pool of players to vie for 3rd and 4th place. There are two options if one or both of the semifinal matches end up 2-0. One thought would be to give the losing a bye win, thus rewarding them for having reached teh semis (and rewarding the finalist with a break from playing as well) OR having them play the eighth place finisher from the opposite bracket (while the finalist would play the 7th place finisher). This is an area I'd REALLY like some feedback on.

The final four rounds would also be paired according to standings with the final round or two being KOH rounds.

The proposed schedule looks like this:

Friday:
7:00 PM registraion and dinner
8:15 PM round robin games 1-3

Saturday:
8:30 AM breakfast
9:30 AM round robin games 4-7
1:30 PM lunch
2:30 PM Semifinal series plus round robin games for 3 groups of 4
5:30 PM dinner

Sunday:
8:30 AM breakfast
9:30 AM finals games 1-4 plus consolation group games 11-14
1:30 PM lunch
2:30 PM finals game 5 (if neccessary)

I'd love to hear feedback before I finalize the tournament. I'd most like to hear what you feel should happen if a semifinalist loses in a 2 game sweep. Should they be given a bye as a reward for making it to the semifinals (and protecting them from the possibility of falling too far behind in the standings) or should they have to play a game against someone in the consolation brackets in order to more fully "earn" 3rd or 4th place?

Thank you in advance for your comments,
Ira