[tournament-org] WhereIsTheBar

[Jenny Rofe-Radcliffe]

Hi Geoff,

Ooh, an interesting challenge. I am just going to write a couple of lines
of filler so other people can hopefully avoid reading my answer before they
write their own, as well as avoiding reading the handbook.

My short answer is: it depends. In an ideal world, eight is the perfect
number above the bar for a three round tournament, because (if jigo is
disallowed) that guarantees a single unique winner.

However, there are two problems with that: eight players would mean
differentiating the 3k players somehow, and it would also involve the
possibility of a hilariously uneven game between the 5d and whichever 3k
was above the bar. There are circumstances in which I might go ahead with
this anyway - if the GoR of the two 3ks is widely spaced, *and* it's a
reasonably informal and friendly tournament in which I have sole authority
to make this kind of decision[1] *and* the 5d is a nice friendly person who
doesn't mind rapidly and politely mashing a 3k and then giving them a
teaching review until other players are done[2], *and* the stronger 3k is
going to enjoy and benefit from such a beating. If this is what I do, I at
least consider re-randomising a few times if the first round does draw the
3k against the 5d.

I really don't want to have an odd number above the bar, so if the criteria
don't apply with the 3ks, I look to see if I can split the 2ks instead, on
the same model. And if that doesn't work, maybe I do it with the 1ks.

Clearly if it's a more formal tournament or one in which I don't have sole
decision-making power, I will see whether there are official rules or other
organisers with strong opinions.

If I don't know the 5d well enough to make any judgement of how they will
handle the situation, I might well err on the side of splitting the 1ks on
GoR.

I probably default to splitting the 2ks on GoR, in the absence of
information about all these permutations. And I simultaneously swear at and
bless the 1d who has shown up at the last minute to hopefully make the 5d's
tournament a bit more interesting.

Note that this all sounds quite convoluted but actually, I have probably
done some version of all this thinking *before* the last minute. Because I
have met dan players before and I know there's always a good chance of a
last minute entry or a no-show.

Cheers,

Jenny


[1] It's my tournament and I'll make people cry if I want to ...
[2] It wasn't a 5d and a 3k, but my game against Paul Christie in the
Scottish Open of 2009 is my benchmark here. He didn't try to take every
stone off the board, he just calmly and reasonably beat me, and then
explained how he'd done it. It was great. Perfect example of how to handle
this sort of situation. And then he went on to get more interesting games.

On Mon, 1 Oct 2018 at 11:45, Geoff Kaniuk via tournament-org <
tournament-org at lists.britgo.org> wrote:

> You have just registered your last player who happens to be 1d and
> people are waiting impatiently,  wanting to get on with your 3 round
> McMahon tournament.
>
> You are now faced with with the problem of where to set the the bar.
> Suppose in this tournament the top players are:
>
> 5d 1d 1d 1k 1k 2k 2k 3k 3k 4k 4k 5k .....
>
> Assuming all players enter at a realistic grade, where would you set the
> bar?
>
> It would be interesting to see your instinctive answer, rather than
> consulting the Tournament Organiser's Handbook.
>
> --
> Geoff
>
> 33 Ashbury Close, Cambridge CB1 3RW 01223 710582
>
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> tournament-org at lists.britgo.org
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>
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