So there has been talk (including some before the tournament started) about having a knockout phase afterwards. We would take the top (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, your # here) from the round robin phase and have them play against each other in some way in a second round to determine the tournament winner.
Advantages:
* makes the tournament more interesting for most players, as if it becomes clear you are not going to win the tournament (either because
ajmiam somebody is dominating and/or you've lost a bunch of games early) you still have something tangible to play for besides pride
* a couple blundered games won't preclude you from winning the tournament
Disadvantages:
* makes the tournament even longer
* complete domination in the opening round can be wiped out by a single mistake in the playoff round
IF we are going to do something like this, here are some possible formats that have been thrown around: (each playoff match would presumably be a best of 2 games, white and black for each side, or they could just be single games with white going to whoever finished better in the round robin)
A* Top 2 make the playoff round, with 1 vs. 2 in the final (obviously
)
B* Top 3 make the playoff round, with 2 vs. 3 and then the winner of that match playing 1 in the final
C* Top 4 make the playoff round, with 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3, and the two winners of those matches playing in the final
D* Top 4 make the playoff round, with 4 vs. 3, the winner of that match vs. 2, the winner of THAT match vs. 1 in the final
E* Top 5 make the playoff round, with 4 vs. 5 to start, and then proceed as in suggestion C (with 1 facing the 4v5 winner)
F* Top 5 make the playoff round, same idea as suggestions B and D (5v4, winner plays 3, etc.)
G* Top 6 make the playoff round, with 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 to start, and then 1 vs. the highest #'d winner and 2 vs. the lowest #'d winner, then those two winners in the final
H* Top 8 make the playoff round, with 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5 to start, then (highest #'d winner) vs. (lowest #'d winner) and (3rd winner) vs (4th winner), and then those two winners in the final
I* Your format here
My vote goes to G. Domination in the round robin phase is rewarded by automatically progressing to the second playoff phase, and there is more excitement in general because players have two "cut lines" to chase: those near the top of the round robin standings can chase for the top 2 spots so they don't have to risk elimination in the first playoff round; and those nearer the bottom can chase for the 6th position to get in the playoff round period. I also think 6 is ideal in terms of allowing maximum entertainment (it's more fun for players to proceed onwards) without making the first round entirely pointless. It doesn't really matter to me, though, as long as we iron out what's going to happen (or NOT happen) as soon as possible.
(it's 946 now LOL)
"We are after all in the future, where the past is king and the paste is ming." -raocow
