Well, what is interesting is that I tried to find expiration data on Andrew Ackerman (in NC) and the MUIR rating look up did not show it, but Chessnut was able to produce it from somewhere. I wonder where? It isn’t rating information, so where did it come from? Or is the expiration date of a new USCF member shown somewhere on the same day as the membership was purchased?
Yeah, that’s a data transfer issue that we’re still working to resolve. It’s just as big a pain for the office as it is for TDs.
The legacy MSA site may have more up-to-date membership information even if doesn’t have current published ratings, the transfer protocol it uses is apparently less subject to failure, though it still does happen. (There are ways to help ensure that syncs take place and fix them when they don’t but don’t get me started on that issue!)
Well, if people argue that a TD doesn’t have to choose the published rating source to be legal with the rule book, should they always add the announcement of the deviation in the TLA?
Read that section of the rulebook—carefully. Then look for other sections that may also apply.
Many, perhaps most organizers do put it in the TLA, but probably less than 25% of the events rated by US Chess have a print TLA these days. (MUIR stopped asking TDs that question, so we have no good tracking mechanism, unless someone wants to spend hours going through a year’s worth of Chess Life and the list of rated events.)
We’re hoping to make online TLAs more visible and useful.
Wilmington Chess Club puts a TLA in the tournament web page. In fact take a look at the link below. . .
We could add deviations in this TLA.
Did you actually try to update ratings from the web site? My WinTD still does it just fine. You cannot do a big file at one time. Estima says you can only do 100 a minute. How big are your tournaments?
The newest g version only gets expiration date from the USCF/update from web.
When the monthly ratings are published you download the TSV and make it your official ratings source and then WinTD uses that for lookups/refreshes from database. As Mike has mentioned at least 10x the APIs for MUIR are meant for the UI and not for general queries – use at your own risk and they had to put in a governor to prevent folks from hammering the system.
That explains it. My WinTD refuses to install the last two updates.
I had the issue where it would not update to the f level, too.
I did not report it – I installed it manually from the link I had in an old email and that got the f level installed – when it was time to get the g level the normal update process worked.
I’m using the Mac version. The f version had a bug and left out the command to import the tab delimited file. It’s been fixed in version g. So now it’s possible again for me to update the ratings. But the process is less convenient using MUIR.
When buying WinTD, does it usually get free updates to the system program? Is that what “f” and “g” are about? And is WinTD just as good as SwissSys?
Both have offered free updates for bugs & minor enhancements. Major enhancements perhaps every 3-5 years cost you about 40% of the list price.
f & g versions are just the suffixes wintd put on the version of the software.
both clients do the basic job of pairings so which is better is much more subjective than objective
o Which UI do you like better? They are both a bit dated to an old client style - but does it really matter if it gets the job done efficiently.
o Like most software the average consumer probably does not use 90% of the features.
o Folks do not all follow the same workflow and may even prefer a less efficient one. i know folks who use WinTD for small tournaments & manually enter registration info & then when they rate it they manually copy the results into MUIR (they also write the pairings on a white board).
o What do others use that you might find yourself needing to know how to use? I first got Swiss-Sys since it was what the local organizer used. A few years later I was asked to help with a state scholastic which the chief TD was a WinTD shop so I bought WinTD. Most local folks use Swiss-Sys so that is what I use now.
o The one feature I really like in Swiss-Sys is the smart print/print preview control so I can quickly maximize the print layout.
o One feature I really like in WinTD is decelerated pairings.
o From experience I have seen Swiss-Sys make mistakes in pairings. Never noticed one (or heard from others on one) from wintd.
o Historically Swiss-sys seems to have had more errors that needed corrections - go to the website and see what they fixed in each release.
o Swiss-Sys has a way to do automatic regi$tration if that feature matters to you. My tournaments are cash and small so email registration & pay on checkin & only pair checked in folks works for me.
Yes, both get free updates or at least have to date. f and g being the latest versions of WinTD 5.10.
The two biggest differences in my opinion:
- WinTD (ironically) has an Apple version.
- SwissSys is the only one approved to send in tournament results to US Chess for FIDE rating.
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Do WinTD and SwissSys both have free start out programs which accurately reflect the functions of their pay programs? Can either be used on Android? Using them on a cell phone would be good, like Chessnut can be.
Yes for free trials (wintd for two weeks, swisssys for two rounds, if I recall). No to phones.
Can one WinTD or SwissSys tournament be synced between 2 TDs using 2 computers or do 2 TDs have to use 1 computer to run 1 tournament?
Can SwissSys do accelerated pairings-adjusted rating method (rule 28R2)?. WinTD says it can do something similar to rule 28R2. (Pairing System: Accelerated Pairings).
Actually 30 days (full featured) for WinTD
We’re expecting that WinTD will be approved for FIDE in this round.
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