When performing a Cross Section Pairing, does MUIR require withdrawing the lower rated player from the higher section after his cross section game? Or does MUIR require giving byes to the lower rated player for future rounds in the higher section after his cross section game? Which method does MUIR validate for tournament submission? I would like to withdraw the player.
MUIR requires the games played to be in the rating report. I rather doubt it even has an indicator for whether or not a player was withdrawn.
To avoid incorrectly pairing a player, your pairing program will require the out-of-section player to be either withdrawn from that other section or to be given subsequent zero point byes in that other section. MUIR wouldnât care.
Note that tie-breaks (for trophies) are affected by using a cross-section game versus an extra games section. For cross-sectional games a winning player originally in the gameâs section will get tie-break credit for playing somebody who scored a half-point in each of the remaining games. For an extra game section both players get tie-break credit for playing somebody scoring zero points.
That may seem like a moot point since players with a bye are usually not in the running for trophies, but there are still three times where it is significant. The first is for class awards where players in the bottom class or classes may be in the running even with final round byes. The second is for team awards in individual/team (or medley) events where the top three or four individual scores on the team count for the team score and even a low scoring player can make a difference. The third is in a strict class section where the bottom rated player getting the first round bye may still be legitimately competitive enough to be in the running for the top awards. An unrated player might be strong enough to be legitimately competitive for the top prizes but unrated players are not supposed to get byes unless there are no other candidates in the bottom score group (by which time the unrated player is no longer competitive for those top prizes).
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US Chess requires cross-section games to be rated, but it does not specify which section they must appear, they could appear in one of the sections (but obviously not in both) or in an extra games section.
Is it possible to require 2 Éyed players in different sections to play a cross section game? One of the 2 players involved might not want to play the higher rated player because he will get to keep his bye regardless. On the other hand, does it work in the TDâs favor to require the cross section game because the lower rated player gets to keep his bye?
Both players keep their full point bye regardless of playing an optional, not required, extra game.
Mike. . .I am talking about a cross section game, not an extra rated game.
Okay, but itâs the same difference. Players arenât required to play a one-off game in another section.
Mike,
A cross-section pairing per 28M3 as a bye alternative is only a bye for the player in the lower section; itâs a normal game for the player in the high section.
28M3. Cross-section pairings.
In a tournament with multiple sections, there may be more than one section with a bye for a particular round. In this case, a cross-section pairing may be more desirable than a cross-round pairing, as the game can begin immediately.The player in the lower of the two sections involved retains the bye, but is added to the pairings and wall chart of the higher section for a rated game. The player in the higher section has a game that counts for both score and rating purposes, rather than a bye. Such a player should not subsequently be assigned a full point bye or a bye alternative.
Ulmont. . .I am not sure if I asked you this in the past: does a cross section pairing give the higher rated player a 4th game for bonus purposes in a 4 round event?
Thanks Ulmont. Whatâs the procedure then? Both players are paired out so how do you then add the lower rated player to the higher section, and then pair with the correct player? I just tried this in SwissSys. When I registered the lower player into the section, he got a U because pairings already exist so heâs eligible in round N+1. I found the "R"eplacement players list but couldnât drag/drop players by name as help says.
As far as the 4 game requirement to get a publishable rating is concerned, it does not matter if all 4 games are in the same event, in the same section for that player, in the section for the cross-section player or in an extra games section,
It can affect bonus calculations and norms, but only established ratings are eligible for bonuses and first time players arenât very likely to score high enough to get a norm, so thatâs seldom a consideration.
I donât know if Iâve ever done a cross-section pairing, so I wasnât aware of any requirements for it.
Whenever a player is offered a game despite receiving a full point bye, the player has the option to decline that offered game, whether itâs a cross-round pairing, a cross-section pairing, or just an extra game against a house player.
When I played in the 1988 US Open, I had two rounds where my opponent was a no-show. That messed with my pairings for subsequent rounds, but I did manage to win a small share of a Class C prize, I think my check was for about $8.50.
If you think about an event like the World Open, if your opponent is a no-show, youâve basically paid something like $75 to sit there for an hour.
There was an organizer who used to refund a portion of the entry fee to players who got either a full point bye due to being the odd player or had a no-show opponent.
Mike. . .I understand the extra rated game is optional for the 2 byed players, but the cross section pairing game is a requirement for the higher rated player to play the game isnât it? The higher rated player is required to play for the point, but the lower rated player gets to keep his bye is how I look at it.
A cross section pairing is not something that can be forced. Many bye players in the higher section are there because they played up to face strong competition and they do not want to play somebody from a lower section (making it difficult when the U2000 bye will play somebody from U2200 but not U1800 and every bye player has the same preference to only play a higher rated player). And sometimes lower section players are there because they did not want to play the higher rated players. Then there is the practical issue of somebody receiving a bye (or even âsee TDâ) will simply leave and thus keep the bye without ever having to talk to a TD to defend that position.
Jeff. . .then what is the point of having cross section pairings if they are not enforceable? If there are extra rated games to play, what need is there for cross section pairings?
I doubt the rulebook explicitly addresses your question, but my gut feeling is that if the âlowerâ section didnât exist, the player in the upper section would have received a full-point bye, so the opportunity to play a game is still optional.
Cross-section, cross-round or just house player games are to give the player(s) who would have otherwise received a bye the opportunity to play a rated game instead, so itâs for their benefit, which is why it is optional rather than mandatory.
Mike. . .if that is true about it being optional for the higher rated player, isnât having cross round pairings redundant procedure?
Two bonuses of cross-section:
The game will actually count in the tournament standings for one of the sections so at least one of the players will take it more seriously.
The results will be on the standings for the section and will be readily visible during the tournament for review and potential error catching. Results reported in extra game sections seem to be more than 100 times as likely to have errors reported only after the tournament has been rated (i.e 1 extra rated section game in 30 instead of one normal section game in 3,000). Most of those reports are inaccurate but it is much more difficult to resolve issues after a tournament is over even when no actual error was made.
Jeff. . .so is it satisfactory if in a 4 round event that only 2 of the 4 byed players in the Open section opted to play a cross section game against a lower sectionâs players?
Satisfactory is subjective but the players are entitled to make that decision.
One way around this would be to check with the lower sectionâs bye player before ever pairing the higher section and putting the lower section player in as a house player. Then the upper section never has a bye/please wait/see TD even showing up on the pairings.
I guess with all previous input considered it is better to use extra rated games instead of cross section pairings because it isnât equal between all higher rated players if any of them opt(s) not to play the cross section game(s). It isnât fair to the ones who played for a full point while another gets his full point through keeping his bye.