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Tournament Format General There will be two phases to the tournament. The Preliminary Phase will consist of a set number of Swiss rounds, depending upon the number of entrants: four if there are 17-32 entrants, five if there are 33-64 entrants, six if there are 65-128 entrants, and so on. The top six qualifiers at the conclusion of the Swiss phase will advance to the Elimination Phase: #3 plays #6 and #4 plays #5 in the quarterfinals, with #1 and #2 playing the lower-ranked and higher-ranked player remaining, respectively, in the semifinals. (For background information about what a Swiss tournament format entails, click here.) [Added note: in the event of a tie in an Elimination Phase match, the player with the better Preliminary Phase record will be declared the winner.] Participation All BPA members for 2007 are eligible to enter the tournament; non-BPA members for 2007 must join the BPA at least Associate level of membership (see above). The GM will ask all players to re-register their intent to participate at the start of every Swiss round during the Preliminary Phase. Players must have internet access and a valid e-mail address. Important: Changes in your e-mail address must be forwarded to the GM, or you may miss out on important notifications (including the call to participate in the next Swiss round).
Schedule/Time Limits The first Swiss round began on 1 April 2007. Each Swiss Round and elimination game will last for 11-12 weeks, the intention being that each new round should begin exactly three months after the preceding round began. Players who cannot commit to this pace of play should not ask to participate in the tournament. The schedule is as follows:
Pairings The GM will be responsible for determining all matchups at the start of each Swiss round in the Preliminary Phase. In the event that there are an odd number players with a particular point total in the tournament standings, determination of who will play someone the next highest or lowest point total will be made randomly. The first two rounds will not begin without an even number of players. Thereafter, while the GM will endeavor to accommodate all willing participants, if necessary a player with 0 points will be asked to sit out a given round.
Side Selection/Bidding The GM will create a game in ACTS for each pairing. The first player drawn in each pairing will be assigned the US side in the ACTS game; that does not mean he will necessarily be the US player in the game, but rather that he is responsible for naming his preferred side (US or USSR) first. The second player then has two choices: he can accept the opposite side (at which point the game begins), or he can choose to bid for his opponent’s preferred side. Bidding is conducted in increments of Influence points you are willing to let your opponent place at the start of the game above and beyond the initial amounts listed in rules 3.2 and 3.3, subject to the following restrictions: · Extra Influence points resulting from the bidding process are placed after all other Influence points for that country have been placed. · Such extra Influence may only be placed in countries where friendly Influence already exists. · Influence that would exceed the amount required to gain control a country may not be placed. (For example, the US player could not begin the game with more than 3 Influence in South Korea.) Bidding continues, alternating between each player in increments of one or more Influence points per new bid, until one player accepts the other’s bid by agreeing to play his non-preferred side with the extra at-start Influence.
As soon as the final bid is determined, someone in each game should take responsibility for e-mailing the GM with the final bid and side selection. The GM will then modify the ACTS game if necessary to switch the US and USSR players around – as soon as the sides in ACTS are correct, the game may begin.
Scoring/Tiebreaks During the Preliminary Phase, players are awarded tournament points per game as follows: · If a game is won through an Automatic Victory (10.3.1) for whatever reason – reaching ±20 VPs, Control of Europe, DEFCON = 1, Wargames, etc. – before Final Scoring, or if the final VP count at the end of Final Scoring is ≥20 or ≤-20, the winner will score 10 points and the loser 0 points. · If a game is won through an End Game Victory (10.3.2), and the VP count at the end of Final Scoring is between 20 and -20, the winner will score 9 points and the loser 1 point. · If the VP count at the end of Final Scoring is 0 and the game ends in a draw, each player will score 5 points. In the event of a tie game during the Elimination Phase, the US player will be awarded the victory for all tournament purposes. At the conclusion of the Preliminary Phase, the six players with the most points will qualify for the Elimination Phase and be seeded accordingly. Ties will be broken according to the following priorities: 1) Strength of schedule (calculated for each player by adding up all of the points earned by his opponents and then dividing by the number of games they played) 2) Head-to-head results. 3) Most wins as the US. 4) Most games played as the US. 5) Random determination.
End-of-Game Reporting: At the conclusion of each game, one player from each game is required to e-mail the GM with the following information: · Who won · Method of victory (Final Scoring or type of Automatic Victory: reaching ±20 VPs, Control of Europe, DEFCON = 1, Wargames, etc.) · Turn in which the game ended (or confirmation that the game ended with Final Scoring, i.e. that there was no Automatic Victory) · Final VP count (at the moment of victory determination) · Tournament points to be awarded to each player (10/0, 9/1 or 5/5)
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Quick Links Standings · GM and AGMs · Method of Play · Rules and Rules Disputes · PBEM Considerations (important!) · Slow Play/Adjudication (important!) · Prizes |
