Re: [pbmserv-dev] tournaments

["David J Bush" <twixt@cstone.net>]

I think it's FANTASTIC that tournament automation will come to PBMserv!

| 2) I like the Little Golem championships, but I don't like the fact that
| you have to play in every tournament to stay in the top division. I think
| we should have championship like tournaments, that is 10 player round
| robins, but the divisions should be decided purely on (established?)
| ratings (of the players that sign up). That would also simplify, actually
| eliminate, the demotion and promotion decisions.

Sort of combining the status of an LG championship with the grouping method
of an LG rating tourney. Will there be a maximum or minimum number of
players in each group? Will you use SON as a tiebreak, the same as on LG?
Also I hope there will be just one game between each pair of players in
a tournament.

| 3) I think they should be scheduled only twice a year. But different games
| starting at different times. This would encourage people to play more
| types of games. It would also make winning a tournament more "valuable".

All well and good, but what would really help improve the popularity of
PBMserv would be more more more tournaments! Eventually I hope monthly
championships will be implemented: The first five who sign up are
immediately grouped into a tourney. When all the first level championships
are done, the winners play in 2nd tier championships, with some maximum and
minimum number of players. (Unless one player wins all the first level
tourneys of course!) The final tourney might have just two players. OR,
maybe just call them queue tourneys, the first five to sign up play,
with no second level.

Maybe the time spacing between championship rounds could depend to some
extent on the game, and how long it takes to complete. The PBMserv time
limit is even more lax than Little Golem's. I would imagine a 19x19 Go
game might take over a year to finish here. Would you want the next cycle
to start before the previous one has ended? Maybe tournament games would
use a faster time control?

| 4) There should certainly also be a web interface for signing up and most
| importantly there should be a "permanent" record of who won what and when.
| Again that would make it valuable to win a tournament.

Excellent! I believe it is the ease with which you can start playing in
tournaments on LG that contributes to its popularity.