26-01-2017, 06:11 PM
Thanks Ian for replying to the points. I just want to make a few suggestions on how I think it could work, although obviously there is room for improvement:
1. Team lists submitted before midnight the night before play, swapped to opposing captain.
I know the issue of people pulling out has been raised, but how many teams ever have people pulling out between midnight and 10am the next day and then find strong replacements? Just allow replacements to be found anyway, but on the board that pulls out only (even if that puts the team out of grading order). The probability is these replacements won't be as strong as the intended player, so the opposing team won't mind too much. Or even better, like in 4NCL have nominated reserves, who can step in on any board should problems arise, again out of grading order. Swapping 1hr before play or whatever would cause problems with any team needing to travel, so just make it midnight, or 10pm the previous day, like a FIDE tournament gets drawn.
2. Away team gets white on odd boards.
I don't really see why this isn't a thing? Every other team event from SNCL, local league, 4NCL, whatever knows the colours in advance. The home and away sides are random anyway, so why further randomise who gets what colour? It immediately halves the stuff people need to worry about.
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Playing in strict order is better than nothing, but team lists in advance is better still. Further if it is a FIDE event, surely it should be in FIDE order? Of course, these sort of steps do favour people wanting to prepare, but surely we should be moving towards a more level playing field if the event is to be a serious FIDE rated one? I can see that not wanting board colours made in advance is a way to randomise who gets what, take away any preparation, but then if that is what people want, it is not a serious FIDE event, and shouldn't be graded as one.
1. Team lists submitted before midnight the night before play, swapped to opposing captain.
I know the issue of people pulling out has been raised, but how many teams ever have people pulling out between midnight and 10am the next day and then find strong replacements? Just allow replacements to be found anyway, but on the board that pulls out only (even if that puts the team out of grading order). The probability is these replacements won't be as strong as the intended player, so the opposing team won't mind too much. Or even better, like in 4NCL have nominated reserves, who can step in on any board should problems arise, again out of grading order. Swapping 1hr before play or whatever would cause problems with any team needing to travel, so just make it midnight, or 10pm the previous day, like a FIDE tournament gets drawn.
2. Away team gets white on odd boards.
I don't really see why this isn't a thing? Every other team event from SNCL, local league, 4NCL, whatever knows the colours in advance. The home and away sides are random anyway, so why further randomise who gets what colour? It immediately halves the stuff people need to worry about.
--
Playing in strict order is better than nothing, but team lists in advance is better still. Further if it is a FIDE event, surely it should be in FIDE order? Of course, these sort of steps do favour people wanting to prepare, but surely we should be moving towards a more level playing field if the event is to be a serious FIDE rated one? I can see that not wanting board colours made in advance is a way to randomise who gets what, take away any preparation, but then if that is what people want, it is not a serious FIDE event, and shouldn't be graded as one.