What is the maximum number of rounds multiple schedules should stay separate? For example, if you have a 6 round tournament with 2 schedules that stay separate for 4 rounds, that seems like too many rounds for the two schedules to stay separate, especially if one of the schedules happens to be a lot weaker then the other.
Joe Sparks once ran a 5 round tournament in which the schedules stayed separate for 4 rounds! (Or it might have been a 6 round tournament in which the schedules stayed separate for 5 rounds.)
I have always thought that the seperate schedules should merge ASAP. However, that is not what is usually done. I remember playing in a Goichberg tournament where for the 3-day rounds were 7pm, 1pm-6pm, 10-4 and the 2-day had rounds at 9am-1pm and then merged at 6pm with the 3-day. I never understood why if the first round of the 2-day would end by noon that the merge did not occur in round 2.
Larry S. Cohen
What’s the point of one-round separate schedules, or even two-round separate schedules?
I know (certain) people hate Hate HATE ‘rules of thumb’, but a good rule of thumb is probably that the event should be merged with at least 1/3 of the rounds in the post-merge schedule (and a minimum of two rounds). 1/2 (and a minimum of 3 rounds) would be better mathematically.
Personally, I think having a multiple schedule event with less than 7 rounds is unnecessary.
The National Open has six rounds and both a three-day schedule and a two-day one (for those who can’t get there for the Friday rounds).
The old Chicagoland Master Challenge tournaments were five rounds with a three-day schedule (Friday night) and a two-day one (either Saturday morning and merging in round two, or two quicker games during the 3-day Saturday round one). That accommodated people who couldn’t make it Friday night while still giving people the opportunity for five games at a longer time control.
The 7-round Chicago Open two-day schedule doesn’t merge until round five (separate for four of the seven rounds).
Wasn’t there one US Closed that had totally seperate halves until the winners of those halves played in the finals?
Not the same thing as a multiple-schedule event, since only the winners made it into the finals. That’s more like the American and National Leagues before playoffs, where only the league winners made it to post-season play, ie, the World Series. (And, yes, sometimes the two or even three best teams in baseball in any given year were from the same league.)
Some Seattle Chess Club tournaments are run with a 3-day schedule with one round on Friday night and two rounds on Saturday and Sunday and a 2-day schedule with round 1 at a faster time control on Saturday morning before merging with the 3-day in round 2. I think the 2-day schedule is done to accommedate players who can’t make it on Friday night or are coming from out of town and thus avoids having to pay for a hotel for an extra night, which I think is the main purpose of having multiple schedules.
The point of multiple schedules is simply that some players like to start on Friday night and play at a leisurely pace, while others don’t like Fridays and are willing to play a little faster in their initial games.
I think having the last 3 rounds constitute the merged rounds is about right. That would be either 3 out of 5, or 3 out of 7.
Bill Smythe