FIRST USA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

[stratego]

Hello USA Warriors ,

after all the discussion about a first national championship i discussed this topic last weekend with spion. the plan is to offer a tourney which is played under the same condition like the national championships in germany, the netherlands or belgium.

of course we cannot travel to usa and i think most of the players will have trouble to join, because of the long distances and time. so all we must do is to create a virtual place, followed by separated single game rooms (in real: the tables)

IMPORTANT: this has nothing to do with a normal gravon tourney. the conditions of a national championship are:

- all games are played within one day – seven rounds with swiss perfect for pairings.

- the players meet at 10:00 am in the tourney room and get the pairings for the first round. The tourney starts at 10:30 am.

- all games must be used with Bronstein modus. (thinking time is important) we would take the same modus like here: you get 5 min. for setup / 50 min. for the hole game and 4 sec. free each move. Thinking time for the player is 12:00 min. of course we can discuss this, but then its difficult to claim a “slow moving” and we cannot use more than 50 min. for one round. After the 50 min. the games end in a draw, no matter what happens on the board.

- after each round the server takes the results and we post a new pairing. all players MUST be exact in time for the next round at their table.

- we will have a rest of 10 min. between a normal round, after the first 2 rounds and the 5th round round we will have a break for lunch. (one hour at lunch time and 30 min in the afternoon.

- after all rounds the players see the standings, the new pairings with room number and opponent. all games are rated with 6 points/win – 3 points/draw – 1 point/loss.

- the player with the best score (if equal – buchholz – if equal m-buchholz) is the first (virtual) american national champ. so all is done exact to the isf rules.

- if any problems happends, some arbiters will be around and help – the same situation we have here at board games. the only difference will be that everyone plays at home.

- the rooms will be special one. only the players and arbiters are allowed to enter, also there will be no whispering. all games are without watching and without ranking.

please remember:
the hole tourney is done within one day – all play 7 games - so its very important , that all players, who like to join, can play under any condition from 10:00 am to 20:00 pm.

i think its best to choose a saturday for the event. also we will not accept any new players after this posting. all players will be checked if they are really from USA. and be sure if someone tries to cheat we will be prepared and the punishment will be one of the hardest we ever did. also only players with a ranking can join. if players are banned for any reasons at this time (i.e. the x-files), they cannot participate.

because this is an official USA event, gravon will follow any new ideas. so feel free to discuss the day, the time schedule or anything else. of course not the isf game or tourney rules.

the event is planned for any weekend around end of jan/feb. for a start lets say:
Saturday 11.feb.2006

The time schedule could be:

10:00 am players meet in the info room lets say room nr. 9999 and get the first pairing
10:30 am - 11:20 am first round
11:20 am - 11:30 am break – new pairings – standings after first round
11:30 am - 12:20 pm 2nd round
12:20 pm - 13:20 pm break 60 min - lunch time
13:20 pm - 13:30 pm players meet in room 9999 –new pairings - standings
13:30 pm - 14:20 pm 3rd round
14:20 pm - 14:30 pm break – new pairings – standings
14:30 pm - 15:20 pm 4th round
15:20 pm - 15:30 pm break – new pairings – standings
15:30 pm - 16:20 pm 5th round
16:20 pm - 16:50 pm break 30 min
16:50 pm - 17:00 pm players meet in room 9999 – pairings – standings
17:00 pm - 17:50 pm 6th round
17:50 pm - 18:00 pm break – new pairings – standings
18:00 pm - 18:50 pm 7th round
18:50 pm - 19:00 pm break
19:00 pm - last standings and party for the winner

because a lot can happens during a tourney day all players must have an addional hour up to 20:00 pm. if we are in time all is done up to 19:00 pm, if not we need maybe the extra hour.

also it’s a must that all players follow strictly the time schedule and read all infos in room 9999 during the tourney. it’s a hard day for all – also for the arbiters and organizers. The arbiters will not play and all will have a lot of experience with tourneys at national championships. of course their decisions are final during the day. in the end all must work for a success.

but its up to you now – in the moment its nothing more than an idea – feel free to discuss the hole story and let us know what you think.

greetings
Stratego

[skywalker]

hi stratego,

first of all... nice idea!
i think many american players are very excited because of your idea


my questions are the following:

1. you talk about a certain time schedule, but in which time zone to you want to play?
i think the best is EST because most of the american gravonians live at the east coast

and 2.
to you think it's possible that i could join the tourney?
because of many reasons...
a)
in germany i never had/have the possibility to play such a tournament (because of the distance to my hometown)
b)
because i stay here for 5 month till march
c)
i have a state of illinois id card
and d)
for example art can't believe that i'm NOT an american

think about mf

cu
luke
_________________
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you" Mithrandir

[stratego]

hi luke,

the questions can only be discussed by the us players.

if you visit germany, you are allowed to play. we dont have the rule, that you must have a german passport. you live here and in this year you can`t play any other championship.

the time schedule will be eastern (i hope !!!) its hard enough for the german organizers. but if the players choose another one, we will follow.

let the players give you the answeres.

stratego

[esquire]

Sounds great, Stratego, count me in as a participant...

And Saturdays would be the best day I think.

[OGETARTS]

Excellent idea, Stratego!! I will definitely join and I hope many others will join as well. We will have to spread the word to Darth and Warhero because we can't have a USA tourney without them.

I think it's great that this will get completed in 1 day. Will there be an arbitrator in each room when two players are playing a match? Also, when is the deadline for signing up for this event?

Thanks,

OGE

[OGETARTS]

One more thing.... Saturday does work for me as long as I know 3-4 weeks in advance. I can play at any time. I live in central time zone, but we have many players that live in California and they are pacific time, which is 3 hours behind eastern.

OGE

[stratego]

hi oge,

i think its the best if the players try to work out the idea. please find and inform all players who are known. about all your questions the players should find the answeres, because this is your personal championship. gravon will stay beside with all the power we have, but outside isf questions i would like to get the answers from the players. if we have 1 or 2 points, which doesnt fit with the organisation, we will have time enough to discuss a solution. so maybe the first step should be to find a lot of us warriors and start with the discussion of all ideas you have in mind.

greetings
stratego

[jerry]

Oge,

If 3 hours is a problem mate, you have a problem in yr time zone..You can allways send a e-mail to the NFL to change their game schedule from 1.00pm Eastern, thats 5.00am here Monday thanks to day light saveings.
At least they have Sunday night and Monday night Football, This only promotes intrest from around the world to meet their Fans around the world.

Get behind it Oge, I,m sure you can handle games with out 3-4 weeks notice.

Great promotion Idea from Stratego, I get tired of sending pics of Kangaroo's and Wallabies when I come on line, late in Germany for him, who forgets about what they look like

Cheers Jerry.

[art]

I petition for Sky in the tournament. We Americans do not exclude anyone from our country. Heck 70% of us descended from Western Europe. lol

10am is rough on tableplay etc, I think we should start it at 1pm and go until 11 pm eastern. Splitting it up to two 5 hour days would be peachy fine by me, but I see no negotiating on that.

Yes I did call Luke an American based on his characteristics.

Ride 'em Cowboy.

Would someone please decipher Jerry's remarks about Panda's and Stratego. I'm lost. Watch sportscenter and in 1 hour you get all the hilites.