Tournament ideas and suggestions

Ok, I'm getting lots of questions from players about a chess tournament here on che55.com. I better explain the ideas I've been working on; and also a few questions I'd like to ask players as well.

My current plan is this:

A main tournament will start on the 1st day of each month at midnight GMT. Players can signup 15 days before this start date and must have an established Elo rating to join the tournament. (Finished 15 games or more.) Elo ratings will not matter to join these main tournaments, anyone will be welcome. A minimum number of participants will be required of course, say 16.

Perhaps smaller tournaments could be started in the month with elo rating brackets for players, for example (1000-1200) and (1200-1400) elo bands? I will probably just see how the main tournament works out first before starting these.

Now the difficult part, the actual tourament. These are only suggestions mind:

Lets say 50 members join up to play. Split the 50 members into groups of 4 or 5, at random. They then play 1 game against each other in their group. 1 point for win, half for draw and 0 for a lose. The winner of the group moves onto the next round. And so forth until we get to a winner.

I suppose a 1 day or 2 day timer will have to be done or else the tournament would go on for ages.

On a different idea I particular like the double-elimination tournament idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament It gives everyone a second chance before being knocked out. But not sure what to do about games that are drawn? Any suggestions anyone?

I've also got the problem if players in a tournament set a holiday flag and delay the tournament round for ages. Which could be annoying.

Any suggestions or comments on my ideas anyone?

I think that the idea is ok, however I do question the numbers involved, even numbers gives
equal b/w,so you decide to play both, say 5 = 10 games .
Some players join the site for a short time only, what I call fad players, so maybe players that have signed up over 3months ago wil not put a group in trouble. It doesn't take long
to finish off 15 games,!! What decides the winner of a tied group if no elo is involved?

These comments are only ment to stimulate some sort of a reaction from members!!

hi woody,

your idea sounds good. but what about those player who just joined the site??? its unfair for us if you will only allow those who have signed up for the past 3 months or more. Is it better to give chance to the new members to enjoy the wonderful previledge on this site?? correct me if im wrong.. thank you

I'm sure that nobody is going to be denied the opportunity of playing in the tournaments, it's
only an idea to try and prevent the more casual player "pulling out" halfway through,
however well intended and committed at the start.
The one thing that I think should happen is that players should play each other b/w as it
would not be fair with odd numbered tables.
It's good that we have this forum, as a mix of ideas will give Andy the kind of tournament
that we will be happy to partake in, so I urge members to express themselves. The quicker
we react the quicker it'll get started.

Yes I see your point about casual players pulling out. That would be annoying. But I feel that 3 months is a bit excessive.

How about only players with an established rating (completed 15 games or over) being allowed to join?

Been doing a bit more research and discovered the Swiss Tournament System.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_system_tournament

Anyone ever played in one of those?

I agree Andy75180 the swiss system is the solution to most of the problems introduced. But a one day time control will be unsatisfactory for a players, like me, those who cant find the way to the internet connection always or there connection is bad. The swiss system is a kind of multiple-elimination tournament where the losers play each others( the player plays with those who have the same points) and no one leave the tournament.

So if we can get over the problem of a one day time control, will the majority of players be
happy with the swiss system?? I'm in!! Any others??

there is also another idea, to make the rounds faster, we can begin a next round even when the previous one is not all finished. This can be achieved by giving a result ( a draw say or by computer evaluation) for every unfinished games only for the purpose of writing the Competition schedule for the next round.Then the real result can be corrected later after finishing the games. There for we can put a schedule to the all rounds of the tournament by giving a time limit to each round. But in all cases don't hop for a tournament of less than eighteen months !

It might be an idea to consider tournaments at different time controls. I would like to participate in tournaments but because of my circumstances I cannot guarantee to play at anything faster than 15 days per move. This would obviously not suit everyone but there may be other players like me who would welcome tournaments in the leisurely lane.

Just a thought.

Best wishes,
Steve

If players wish to play at different speeds, then maybe a system can be set up to
accommodate all by having all 15 dayers in one group, all 5 dayers in another, and so on.
Players can then elect to enter which ever one takes there fancy.

Hello all,
Seems like there could be a number of issues to think through first but I reckon the tournament is a great idea and I hope it goes ahead even if it takes a few efforts to get it right. The only real failure is not to try in the first place and I thibk Andy should be commended for puting so much effort into the site for our enjoyment.
Best wishes to all,
Aky

Here,Here!! Well said that man.

Tournaments sound like a fantastic idea. One point Andy, 1-2 days might be inpractical with players at different time zones subject to different work pressures, I would suggest 5 days. Another option is to have say 2, 5, 10 and 15 day tournaments where all the players selecting one tournament each only would be subject to their particular time constraint. I would also look at have tournament strata based on rating bands to speed things up. Also, a rule must be any holiday breaks are banned and attempts will lead to disqualification. If you set various parameters for a number of different tournaments, then you should be able to have them take place simultaneously and coming to a conclusion reletively quickly. I think the trick is to develop quite strict rules for various simultaneous tournaments, which players must comply with if they want to take part. Regards Mamba

I say, that's a bit strong, no holidays, everybody takes holidays, planned or unforeseen, and
nobody can predict what's round the corner.
I think that Rabea has the right idea when he says DONT HOP FOR A TOURNAMENT OF LESS THEN 18 MONTHS. We seem to be hell bent on trying to get results as fast as we can!
I think Andy will sit back and see the common ground achieved thus far.
Are we going for the Swiss System?
Are we having 2,5,10,15 time zones?
Lets get these questions done and dusted, and then move on, and I still say we should take
a vote, which Andy might find difficult to arrange.
When Andy has time to collect his thoughts on these matters he will enlighten us all.

Vote to answer all of these questions is the best idea to finish our conversation and start playing we may made mistakes but at least we move from the first square! best regards to all .