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<p>Geoff's example is not a tournament with a sparse entry (compare
Gerry's Cork example, which had 13 entrants between 2d and 20 kyu,
which was sparse, and hence run as a pure handicap tournament.)
Geoff's example is a tournament with an outlier.</p>
<p>I asked a similar question in October 2015 (see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.britgo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/gotalk/2015-October/000427.html">http://lists.britgo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/gotalk/2015-October/000427.html</a>
- "Should there be handicap games above the bar?). None of the
people responding who were likely to be affected was in favour of
handicap games.</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that many players - particularly the stronger
ones, I am afraid - tend to enter tournaments late, which means
that it can be difficult to consult with the putative 5 dan. And
disastrous if one suggests they do not play - then one gets two 3
dans entering "on the day".</p>
<p>I recollect Matthew Macfadyen playing in (and winning) the Welsh
Open (Barmouth) for a number of years - he had a large number of
wins (50?) with no losses, and only stopped playing when he
actually lost a game. Did he consider he was "shooting fish in a
barrel?" I think not.</p>
<p>Toby.<br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 01/10/2018 17:55, Gerry Gavigan via
tournament-org wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:1488086394.844526.1538412922908@email.1and1.co.uk">
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</p>
<blockquote type="cite">On 01 October 2018 at 17:35 Alison
Bexfield via tournament-org <<a
href="mailto:tournament-org@lists.britgo.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">tournament-org@lists.britgo.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
There is an outside chance the five Dan will not win all their
games so <br>
there must be some open even games at the top. </blockquote>
<p>the rating system combined with handicapping is surely designed
to achieve 50-50ish not "an outside chance" (I'm guessing 8-1,
16-1 on four stones difference) <br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite">We do not know whether the five Dan is a
genunine five Dan. </blockquote>
<p>I think this is extending the domain of the problem beyond its
range <br>
</p>
<p>We could equally argue we do not know the others are genuine
either, and a simple extension would be to ignore ratings
altogether <br>
</p>
<p>The problem is that it is a sparse tournament not where to set
the bar. </p>
<p>That is why in., e.g., the London Open we encourage
pre-registration and maintain a date stamped list of attendees,
to minimise sp<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite">As a one Dan I have no problem playing a
five Dan on evens. I relish the <br>
opportunity knowing I have nothing to lose and everything to
gain. </blockquote>
<p>I am not sure it is possible to extract a general principle
from a specific preference<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite">I generally would be upset to turn up and
find what was advertised as one <br>
thing had turned into a handicap event without any notice of it.</blockquote>
<p>A well managed tournament would manage expectations. It might
be an optimising solution to suggest to the 5 dan that they were
wasting their time (or for the insecure, and since we are
discussing chance, that their current rating is in play in an
asymmetric bet) <br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite">If there was s difference of say eight
grades between top player and <br>
next ranking player it would be a courtesy for the organisers to
let the <br>
top player know in advance.</blockquote>
<p>It would similarly be showing respect to the weaker players not
to treat them as cannon fodder - they are the ones funding the
event <br>
</p>
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</p>
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