Tournament Director's Zapper 2012 Announcement!
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 3:47 pm
Saturday, September 15, 2012.
“... (15) The rules may be changed to help the tournament proceed more smoothly.”
Such a nice rule, isn't it?
And that's going to be the rule that saves this year's Zapper Memorial Tournament! And, despite server issues, computer viruses, my vision problems, Brian's own troubles, Chris's departure, and player withdrawals, this Zapper WILL be played to a conclusion!
First, a quick summary of the last two months:
– The final games of Round One ended in mid-August. Indeed, by that stage, they made no difference to which team would be eliminated, so according to the rules, Round Two COULD have started. However, my final cataract operation was the third week in August, and I (erroneously, as Fate had it) thought I'd be back online by then also. I chose to wait, exercising Rule 11;
“...(11) If only several games remain in a previous rounds and standings for the next round are NOT affected, the next round MAY begin at the discretion of the Tournament Director.”
So far, so good. No rules broken there, agreed?
– I posted the final Round One scores in the tournament, noting that The Beerdrinkers had finished last and were eliminated from Round Two, and the players would go into the Standby Pool,as noted in rule 6;
“...(6) At the end of Round One, the lowest scoring team will be eliminated. Those players will be on standby to fill in for vacant spots, should remaining players drop out. The replacements will be as close to the departed players in rating as is possible.”
– Chris (Cmulligan, Captain of What's Sportsmanship?) mentioned in the forum that he was taking some time off, so Johnb was asked to re-enter the tournament, taking Chris's place. Chris had a rating of 2254, and John had a rating of 2249* – a mere five point difference. So again, the rule 6 was followed precisely!
(*Note: John's rating currently is 2315. Sometimes a month can make a big difference!)
– On August 21, I sent emails to Josh (Iamachessstudent), Jan (Jpost), Brian (Islanderfan), and Henry (Hgrayson) with the lineups to post for Round Two in their various boards.Board Three was posted that day, and began August 25. Board Five was posted by Henry on August 2, and began September 5. Also Board Two was posted that day, and is still waiting for Krambambuli and Dmitryogoblin to join. Brian posted an incorrect Board Four Lineup on September 8, reposted the correct lineup on September13, and the board is now in play. A second email has been sent to Josh yesterday, as still no word has been heard from him, so Board One remains unposted.
So that pretty much brings us up to date, I think. Jan (Jvanmechelen) and Gerald (Gkthomas) will possibly be asked to rejoin the Tournament, replacing Krambambuli and Dmitryogoblin if they don't join by September 20, which will be fifteen days after Jpost posted the Board challenge. This is in accordance with the new rule 14(c), and Board One will be dropped from the event if not posted by September 25, under the new rule 14(b). The new rule 14(d) will probably not come into play here, as I doubt sufficient players will remain in the pool.
So, Rule 14 now reads:
“...(14) (a) If by March 24, insufficient players have entered for six teams, the Zapper 2012 will go with five teams. The fifth place team will be eliminated in Round One, and the remaining teams will play two-games vs each other board player in Round Two.. Round Two will be the medal round, and the tournament will be a two-round event.”
“(14) (b) Board(s) not posted within three weeks after the start of the final round will be dropped, and only those boards played shall be counted towards team scores. Prior to a board being dropped however, the TD shall make three attempts at contacting the appropriate player responsible for posting it.”
“(14) (c) Players not joining a posted Board challenge within ten days shall be considered to have withdrawn from the tournament, and replaced from the Alternate Pool.”
(14) (d) If sufficient players remain in the Alternate Pool, an entire Board may be replaced, but priority will be given to partially filled lineups first.”
So, with three little amendments to Rule 14, the 2012 Zapper will be in play no later than ten days to a month, by my reasoning. And it was that simple little Rule 15 that made it work! Greg was a genius to include that in the rules for the Open.
------------------------------------------------------
Seriously speaking, I'm somewhat disappointed in this year's Zapper. It started out so well, and I was just really getting into the reporting end of it. Perhaps I lacked some of Eugene's flair, but then again, it was early on in the event. The 2012 Zapper began about the first or second week of April, and by the third week I was offline. Not much of a chance to really warm up, eh?
All that notwithstanding, Round One did come off without a hitch. All Boards began and finished, Capacuba replaced Langelli before the round started, all players finished the round, and as far as I know, there was not a single time-out. Also, as you can see from the above, all the rules were followed precisely. They worked. The first round also contained some good games, some excellently analyzed by Josh. Lack of response proved too annoying/depressing for him, though, and he dropped the topic in the forum.
For that reason and more, I'm certain that Josh isn't abandoning this year's Zapper. I believe he's still going to University, and probably has had a lot to do recently. Hence, he likely has not had the time to post his Board, or answer emails. Because of that, we'll wait until September 26, rather than September 20 before dropping Board One. Any players who haven't joined Board Two by September 20 will be replaced from the Alternate Pool, who are all willing to rejoin.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed that everyone joins and all the boards are running instead though
Okay?
– Cliff.
(p.S. We had the “Classic Zapper” in 2010, “Zapper Madness” in 2011, and I think the 2012 event should be called the “Rule 15 Zapper!”)
“... (15) The rules may be changed to help the tournament proceed more smoothly.”
Such a nice rule, isn't it?
And that's going to be the rule that saves this year's Zapper Memorial Tournament! And, despite server issues, computer viruses, my vision problems, Brian's own troubles, Chris's departure, and player withdrawals, this Zapper WILL be played to a conclusion!
First, a quick summary of the last two months:
– The final games of Round One ended in mid-August. Indeed, by that stage, they made no difference to which team would be eliminated, so according to the rules, Round Two COULD have started. However, my final cataract operation was the third week in August, and I (erroneously, as Fate had it) thought I'd be back online by then also. I chose to wait, exercising Rule 11;
“...(11) If only several games remain in a previous rounds and standings for the next round are NOT affected, the next round MAY begin at the discretion of the Tournament Director.”
So far, so good. No rules broken there, agreed?
– I posted the final Round One scores in the tournament, noting that The Beerdrinkers had finished last and were eliminated from Round Two, and the players would go into the Standby Pool,as noted in rule 6;
“...(6) At the end of Round One, the lowest scoring team will be eliminated. Those players will be on standby to fill in for vacant spots, should remaining players drop out. The replacements will be as close to the departed players in rating as is possible.”
– Chris (Cmulligan, Captain of What's Sportsmanship?) mentioned in the forum that he was taking some time off, so Johnb was asked to re-enter the tournament, taking Chris's place. Chris had a rating of 2254, and John had a rating of 2249* – a mere five point difference. So again, the rule 6 was followed precisely!
(*Note: John's rating currently is 2315. Sometimes a month can make a big difference!)
– On August 21, I sent emails to Josh (Iamachessstudent), Jan (Jpost), Brian (Islanderfan), and Henry (Hgrayson) with the lineups to post for Round Two in their various boards.Board Three was posted that day, and began August 25. Board Five was posted by Henry on August 2, and began September 5. Also Board Two was posted that day, and is still waiting for Krambambuli and Dmitryogoblin to join. Brian posted an incorrect Board Four Lineup on September 8, reposted the correct lineup on September13, and the board is now in play. A second email has been sent to Josh yesterday, as still no word has been heard from him, so Board One remains unposted.
So that pretty much brings us up to date, I think. Jan (Jvanmechelen) and Gerald (Gkthomas) will possibly be asked to rejoin the Tournament, replacing Krambambuli and Dmitryogoblin if they don't join by September 20, which will be fifteen days after Jpost posted the Board challenge. This is in accordance with the new rule 14(c), and Board One will be dropped from the event if not posted by September 25, under the new rule 14(b). The new rule 14(d) will probably not come into play here, as I doubt sufficient players will remain in the pool.
So, Rule 14 now reads:
“...(14) (a) If by March 24, insufficient players have entered for six teams, the Zapper 2012 will go with five teams. The fifth place team will be eliminated in Round One, and the remaining teams will play two-games vs each other board player in Round Two.. Round Two will be the medal round, and the tournament will be a two-round event.”
“(14) (b) Board(s) not posted within three weeks after the start of the final round will be dropped, and only those boards played shall be counted towards team scores. Prior to a board being dropped however, the TD shall make three attempts at contacting the appropriate player responsible for posting it.”
“(14) (c) Players not joining a posted Board challenge within ten days shall be considered to have withdrawn from the tournament, and replaced from the Alternate Pool.”
(14) (d) If sufficient players remain in the Alternate Pool, an entire Board may be replaced, but priority will be given to partially filled lineups first.”
So, with three little amendments to Rule 14, the 2012 Zapper will be in play no later than ten days to a month, by my reasoning. And it was that simple little Rule 15 that made it work! Greg was a genius to include that in the rules for the Open.
------------------------------------------------------
Seriously speaking, I'm somewhat disappointed in this year's Zapper. It started out so well, and I was just really getting into the reporting end of it. Perhaps I lacked some of Eugene's flair, but then again, it was early on in the event. The 2012 Zapper began about the first or second week of April, and by the third week I was offline. Not much of a chance to really warm up, eh?
All that notwithstanding, Round One did come off without a hitch. All Boards began and finished, Capacuba replaced Langelli before the round started, all players finished the round, and as far as I know, there was not a single time-out. Also, as you can see from the above, all the rules were followed precisely. They worked. The first round also contained some good games, some excellently analyzed by Josh. Lack of response proved too annoying/depressing for him, though, and he dropped the topic in the forum.
For that reason and more, I'm certain that Josh isn't abandoning this year's Zapper. I believe he's still going to University, and probably has had a lot to do recently. Hence, he likely has not had the time to post his Board, or answer emails. Because of that, we'll wait until September 26, rather than September 20 before dropping Board One. Any players who haven't joined Board Two by September 20 will be replaced from the Alternate Pool, who are all willing to rejoin.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed that everyone joins and all the boards are running instead though
Okay?
– Cliff.
(p.S. We had the “Classic Zapper” in 2010, “Zapper Madness” in 2011, and I think the 2012 event should be called the “Rule 15 Zapper!”)