Tourney: 2013 UK Championsips and Euro Qualifiers 2013/06/01-02

Draws are a legitimate result if neither team is better than the other (longer games and allowing draws would be ideal for example).

This probably isn't the thread for this, but I'd have thought 3 rounds of swiss and then the removal of the best and last team after each subsequent round would have given a fairer top 9, John can probably pass on more info.

Looking at Podium: the tie break scores for the teams that secured 5th to 12th (compared to those teams outside the top 12) seems to indicate that some teams had an easier ride than others (could be wrong here).

The system was equally unfair to all teams if that makes you feel any better, but we could definitely improve it if the UK/Euro combination tourney is to continue.

Well, with 29 teams, you need 5 rounds to mathematically sort the list. After 3 rounds you could have teams in the wrong positions, based on the opponents they've been drawn against, rather than their ability. Though of course you could argue if you've lost 3 games, you are unlikely to win the next two. That's not to say it's not an option though.

But we also had dual priorities, we had to produce a sorted list for the elim the next day, so I'm not sure I'd be comfortable removing teams. Also it wouldn't have really gained us that much, you'd have to more aggressively remove teams than the rate you'd suggested.

Given the hours and courts we had, I think this was the best compromise. Anything that isn't pure round robin is always going to less accurate, but we don't have unlimited courts and time. I calculated 8 as the biggest number we could have in the round robin, if we could have had 10 or 12 that would have been even better.

I think that the facility would allow for 3 big courts (if you rotate them 90 degrees), and that would have allowed for another round of swiss, and more in the round robin. But you'd also loose some of the atmosphere, as all the spectators would be outside. But it's also something to consider, if Cambridge, or a similar location do it next time.

We are also (as far as I am aware), one of the few countries, or regions who do anything other than a standard swiss + double elim tournament for qualifying. We can of course consider that as an option, and we could do a few extra rounds of swiss.

France and Germany have separate qualifiers, and do round robin. In Germany they only let teams with a realistic chance play, and in France, they have two qualifying tournaments, with the top teams being prequalified. Again those are options, and are both superior from an accuracy point of view, but have their own downsides (separate tournaments, subjective elitism etc.)