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BGonline.org Forums
Chicago ABT Finals
Posted By: Chuck Bower In Response To: Chicago ABT Finals (Keene)
Date: Tuesday, 1 June 2010, at 8:46 p.m.
I seem to have had a completely different experience than Phil. Let me start by reviewing the format:
FIVE starting times occurred in the qualifying: Saturday at 1 PM, 4 PM , and 7 PM. Sunday at 11 AM and 2 PM. (Main and Progressive Consolation began at 5 PM on Sunday.)
At each starting time, 8-player brackets were created for all players who signed up for the starting time. If there was not a multiple of 8, a bracket was formed and players filled in that bracket as they singed up.
If you won an 8-player bracket, you qualified for the Main. Everyone else qualified for the Consolation, regardless of how many times you tried to qualify (as long as you played one qualifier, of course).
As it turned out, 12 players made the finals.
1st starting time: qualifiers were CJC, Alan Grunwald, Ray Fogerlund, and Michael Flohr.
2nd starting time: Ed O'Laughlin and Michael Ginat.
3rd starting time: Perry Gartner and Stick Rice.
4th starting time: Paul Klein and Chuck Bower.
5th starting time: Larry Taylor and Tak Morioka.
(I may have a couple of these wrong, not the names but the actual starting times when they qualified.)
Note that some Giants failed to qualify: Bob Koca, Petko Kostadinov, and John O'Hagan come to mind. Obviously I'm not knocking these excellent players. What I'm emphasizing is that even the top players were able to make use of this format. It wasn't the case that the great players qualified early and the rebuys just let the chaff donk their way into the Main, undeservedly.
(12 brackets X 8 players/bracket) / 29 players = 3.3 entries (i.e. 2.3 rebuys) per participant. Not only do you cut down the number of players who enter later rounds due to their already qualifying, but not everyone can make every starting time since some brackets are still going on when the new start time arrives.
Besides all this excitement, there were the usual side events (Masters, Doubles, Seniors, Blitz, after-Ty-Ty, Junior tournament), THREE lectures by three of the games top teachers (Phil, Stick, Perry), nine catered meals, etc. Note that the second division (don't remember if it was called Intermediate or Advanced) had a similar format, with lower entry fees.
Just to use myself as an example, I played a lot of BG (only in the Open) in three days. My record: 9-point qualifiers 0-1, 2-1, 3-0; 9-point Main 0-1; 7-point Consolation 2-1; 5-point LC 0-1. 12 matches (all clocked, BTW -- my convention) in 48 hours.
I enjoyed this event and hope to be able to return next year.
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