Rules Update For Round 3 Feedback Request

[MaximKI]

Hello everyone,

Round 2 is wrapping up and we're gearing up for the next phase - Round 3: The Semi-Finals.

Since we are ahead of schedule with the tournament overall we have thought of offering players the opportunity, for the next round, to play mirrored matches, so that everyone gets the chance to play as either side. This means instead of single elimination, the two players who get the highest cumulative score in their two games will be deemed the winners and go to the Grand Finals, while the remaining two will go to the Small Finals.

We'd like to pose the question to the contestants - would you be interested in such a modification to the rules?

You're not obliged to accept this new setup. If some players want to go through with this new setup, while others don't - we will accommodate to ensure all players are playing in a setup they're most comfortable with.

Also, for any contestants considering playing mirrored matches, if you choose to accept, this means you'll have two games running instead of just one and we understand that that may be a significant time commitment and that our standard 5 weeks might not be enough. As such we were thinking of adding an extra week or two for players who choose to play mirrored games in the upcoming round. Is this additional time needed? Is it sufficient?

Please use this forum thread to respond to the above ideas.

Ultimately, the tournament judge, Joel, will make the final call on how to proceed based on contestant feedback.

Stay tuned for further updates as we prepare for the next round!

- The Matrix team

[Joel Billings]

The 4 players advancing to round 3 create the following match-ups:

821Bobo vs k62

Joch1955 vs beamslam

So these are the 4 players we'd like to get feedback from. Congrats to the 4 of you for advancing to round 3.

[821Bobo]

Thanks Joel.

I agree to play both sides in the next round.

[beamslam]

I think that is an interesting idea with the mirrored matches.
One week extra would be nice, and if not all are ready by then, maybe another week could be added.

[Joch1955]

Hi, personally agree that mirrored matches would be a good idea. Having played two rounds as Russian, it feels like a tougher slog for the German player, mirrored matches would even things out.

Also agree with longer time limits, preferably two weeks. We probably won't need them, but less pressure that way. I am usually good for one turn a day, not sure I could do two a day consistently.

[K62_]

I like it but it doubles the remaining time commitment for the tournament and I have a few other things happening right now, so two weeks extra would definitely be helpful!

Also good players can figure out a lot about someone's strategy by observing the same turn in the mirrored game. This would be an unfair advantage for the slow mover, possibly enough to decide an otherwise close match. Would you consider adding a tournament rule around no peeking at the opponent's turn before finishing your own?!

[Joel Billings]

Thanks for the quick responses. We were planning on leaving it up to each pairing to determine the rules under which they would play their 2 game match. They could play one game and then switch sides, or they could play them simultaneously. If they wanted to agree to stay synced and not view the other game until they completed the turn they are working on, that's fine with us. We could not enforce this, so it would have to be an honor system rule. If all 4 players agree to playing two games for round 3, the next question is the timing. We started with the idea of 30 days to each round, and ended up at 35 days. How about going to a 45 day limit. Would that work for all? I suggest you email you opponent for round 3 and see if you can agree to how you wish to play the two games. Based on that agreement, please than answer if you are ok with 45 days or want to adjust it slightly. If everybody continues to respond as quickly as you did today, we should be able to get this started within the next day or two, certainly by Friday. At this point, whatever is agreed to is just for round 3 games, but hopefully we can use the same or very similar for the final round.

[beamslam]

Joch1955 and I agreed on a simultaneous round.
45 days sound fine.

[Joch1955]

Hi, 45 days sounds good to me.