[tournament-org] Things a Tournament Director hates

Tue Apr 11 10:25:41 BST 2023

Folks:

If GoDraw is under discussion, I would like to repeat a whinge which I have
been making for some years. If the draw is to be posted on a notice board,
it should be printed out in a much larger font. This would prevent the
bees-round-a honey-pot crush of people trying to see the small print, and
in particular would be a courtesy to people like myself whose eyesight is
deteriorating. Small print is difficult for me at the best of times. I do
not believe that modern IT technology is unequal to the task.

Regards,
Francis

Francis
Personal website: https://francisroads.co.uk

West Gallery Music website: https://rodingmusic.co.uk/
<https://www.rodingmusic.co.uk/>

On Thu, 6 Apr 2023 at 12:04, Geoff Kaniuk via tournament-org <
tournament-org at lists.britgo.org> wrote:

> To respond to Richard's complaint about the GoDraw Results box:
> Homo Sapiens has 5 fingers each hand. It might be conjectured  that for
> this reason the human brain is good at holding up to 5 pieces of
> information at a time.
>
> Spacing out lists in bunches of 5 makes reading easier as well.  In
> other pairing programs I have used, results input can be a long unbroken
> list with data entry entirely via mouse click. Much RSI!
>
> In GoDraw you can enter by mouse, but you can also enter by keystroke.
> The draw is printed in sections of 5.  In most cases you enter 0 or 1,
> but players often just circle the winner.
>
> Everybody likes to work differently, but here is what I do:
> 1. Wait till all results are in and recruit a helper.
> 2. Write the result on the draw sheet for B and W in the space indicated
> next to the name.
> 3. Helper reads out the sequence of 5 B results from the first batch.
> 4. I then type that sequence and press enter.
> 5. The display shows the next batch of 5 results.
> 6. Repeat at step 3 till all B results have been entered.
>
> Players get very annoyed if a result has been wrongly entered.  So I
> check the result entry:
>
> 1. Scroll back to board 1.
> 2. Read out the 5 W results.
> 3. Helper confirms.
> 4. Press PgDn
> 5. Repeat at step 2
>
> I claim that it will be difficult to find a faster or more accurate
> entry method.
>
> I hope this answers the question.  Would you like your own custom
> version of the program - I am making the source available.
>
> Geoff
>
> 33 Ashbury Close, Cambridge CB1 3RW 01223 710582
>
> On 06/04/2023 02:27, Richard Wheeldon via tournament-org wrote:
> > Agree with Gerry's comment.
> >
> > Specific dislikes:
> > 1. Those people who don't tell the TD they're turning up until right
> > before the round is due to start.
> > 2. Those who don't tell the TD that they're not turning up and leave
> > their opponent hanging around waiting.
> > 3. Cheats (thankfully very rare, but...)
> > 4. The inevitable faffing with printers
> >
> > Would like to see:
> > 1. More volunteers in general
> > 2. More ghosts in particular
> > 3. A bigger box on GoDraw for entering results (why only 5 ?)
> >
> > Richard
> >
> >> On 05/04/2023 22:04:49, Gerry Gavigan via tournament-org
> >> <tournament-org at lists.britgo.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> For me it's simple: the (many, one) problem.
> >>
> >> No matter how much information you supply: stuck on the walls, on the
> >> internet, tattooed to their ......g forehead, many are unable to self
> >> serve but would rather ask the TD. This reflects a basic failure to
> >> understand that TDs are generally busy with your next round while you
> >> are pondering if you have got time to nip out to Tesco.
> >>
> >> I think this dovetails with my reaction to Geoff's comment.
> >>
> >> While I appreciate a player might not want to play someone from the
> >> same club and it is admirable that GoDraw has a facility to prevent
> >> it, I suggest they suck it up and get stronger faster than their local
> >> opponent so it doesn't happen again.
> >>
> >> In London the problem is amplified by players affiliated to different
> >> clubs meeting each other fairly regularly and I do not know if GoDraw
> >> (or care, actually) can prevent that.
> >>
> >> TDs are not running a small business, players are not their customers,
> >> some Go players volunteer to provide tournaments for other Go players.
> >> Those other Go players should be more appreciative and accepting of
> >> the small inconveneiences.
> >>
> >> I for one cannot both organise and play, and spend more time than most
> >> organising tournaments. It's my choice but please do not expect me to
> >> rush round wiping your brow with a silk handkerchief
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > On 05/04/2023 22:41 BST Geoff Kaniuk via tournament-org wrote:
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Agreed re title. Ten things TD would like to see?
> >> >
> >> > GoDraw tries hard to pair players below the bar from different clubs
> >> The
> >> > player annoyance seems to get more intense the closer you get to the
> >> > bottom of the draw.
> >> >
> >> > The only alternative is to offer a handicap game instead of same club.
> >> > GoDraw has a handicap bar that the DM can set - its default value is
> >> 10k.
> >> >
> >> > It means that for grades below the handicap bar, players will be
> paired
> >> > with higher handicaps rather than same club where an even game+other
> >> > club is not possible.
> >> >
> >> > Once the draw is done GoDraw provides a comment on each pairing giving
> >> > the DM a change to try to modify the pairing if a same club game seems
> >> > to be unreasonable.
> >> >
> >> > Note that a player who enters as No Club will happily play any other
> >> > player even another No Club player.
> >> >
> >> > So although I agree that we prefer to play even, if the same club
> >> > pairing is an issue then in my experience forcing an even game can
> lead
> >> > to great unhappiness.
> >> >
> >> > Geoff
> >> >
> >> > 33 Ashbury Close, Cambridge CB1 3RW 01223 710582
> >> >
> >> > On 05/04/2023 18:30, Matt Marsh via tournament-org wrote:
> >> > > Colin,
> >> > >
> >> > > On Wed, 5 Apr 2023, at 13:49, Colin Williams via tournament-org
> wrote:
> >> > >>
> >> > >> For the next BGJ but one I’d like to write a short article about
> the
> >> > >> top ten things that a Tournament Director hates, with the
> >> intention to
> >> > >> help educate or remind people in order to make our life easier.
> >> > >>
> >> > >
> >> > > Education is always good - though I do hope it will be given a
> >> different
> >> > > title than "top ten things that a Tournament Director hates" - I'd
> >> > > "hate" it to come across as though all TDs are constantly
> >> miserable and
> >> > > disgruntled about all the attendee behaviour...
> >> > >
> >> > >> Please let me have any pet peeves you have around people entering
> or
> >> > >> attending tournaments and I’ll try and pull something together.
> >> > >>
> >> > >
> >> > > Not so much a "hate", but one thing I've noticed come up numerous
> >> times
> >> > > from players is an annoyance when they are paired against someone
> >> from
> >> > > their own club. Some education on why this happens wouldn't go a
> >> miss...
> >> > >
> >> > > I think the point to try and get across is that when they enter most
> >> > > normal UK tournaments, which might have 30-40 people, there aren't
> >> that
> >> > > many players around their strength to match them with. Pairing
> >> programs
> >> > > like GoDraw are primarily trying to pair people based on MMS (and
> >> making
> >> > > sure they don't play the same person twice!), and whilst they will
> >> try
> >> > > to avoid same-club matches, it's a lesser objective and often
> >> > > unavoidable to some extent. The alternative would be more handicap
> >> games
> >> > > - which seems like a worse alternative in general to me.
> >> > >
> >> > > Hope this helps,
> >> > > Matt
> >> > >
> >> > > --
> >> > > *Matt Marsh*
> >> > > matt at crazedbytes.net
> >> > > +44 (0)7795 297779
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > _______________________________________________
> >> > > tournament-org mailing list
> >> > > tournament-org at lists.britgo.org
> >> > > https://lists.britgo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tournament-org
> >> >
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> >>
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