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</head><body><p><br></p><blockquote type="cite">On 01 October 2018 at 18:32 TobyManning via tournament-org <tournament-org@lists.britgo.org> wrote: <br> <br><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></blockquote><p>you say tomato I say tomato - a good tournament for all players is one tending to an even population and if stronger players can't be bothered to enter in a timely fashion we should make a good tournament for weaker players <br></p><blockquote type="cite"><p>I asked a similar question in October 2015 (see <a class="ox-da1e98c440-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></blockquote><p>Giving them the option is not telling them and reduces opportunities for moaning later or perhaps encourages them to recruit their opponents <br></p><p>By extension perhaps I should be allowed to play in the Challengers competition?<br></p><blockquote type="cite"><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></blockquote><p>I prefer not to do other people's thinking for them. <br></p><p><br></p><blockquote type="cite"></blockquote><p class="default-style"></p></body></html>