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BGonline.org Forums
"World Championship" -- Demographics (partial) and Ideas
Posted By: Joe Russell In Response To: "World Championship" -- Demographics (partial) and Ideas (Bill Riles)
Date: Tuesday, 20 July 2010, at 12:55 p.m.
I think Bill has proposed some very interesting and sound changes that could make for a larger, a more exciting, and a more heavily publicized and followed world championship.
I love the idea of rotating cities. I went to Monte Carlo five times and while I enjoyed myself each time, I have not been back in the last 18 years, mainly because I feel I have been there and done that. Three or four times in that time period I planned to attend and had to cancel for various reasons, including this year. But, I am sure I would have been back several times if the venue had rotated. I would always attend if it were in the U.S. and would often attend if it were in a city I had not already spent so much time in. I would love to see new venues. I think rotating it would encourage more people to attend. People, even backgammon players, like to travel and see different cities and cultures.
The idea of seeding is one I also like. Not in the awarding of byes, that is way too extreme. But the format Bill suggests would very slightly increase the better players chances of winning because of seeding. After all, an average player would be guaranteed that no more than two of the top ranked players would be in his field. In a random draw that would be the expected number anyway and he could get either lucky with fewer or unlucky with more. Bill's format would increase the better players chances of advancing because of the round robin format.
I think I have an idea for a slight modification to Bill's group play scenario that would make all matches meaningful. After the qualifying round, the eliminated players would play a consolation event. Assume the field of 256 Bill mentioned. There would be 192 non-qualifiers. After the first round of the consolation you would want to be down to a field of 128. 64 players would get a first round bye, 128 would play. Byes would be awarded based on a lottery draw. Each player would get a ticket for each of his wins in the qualifying round. A player with 3 wins gets 3 tickets and a player with no wins gets 0 tickets.
While I am for keeping entry fees low in national and regional events, I think the entry fee for the World Championship should be raised to 1500 euros, since this is a small increase when considering the overall cost of attending the tournament and it would add more prestige to the event and foster more publicity. To keep interest in the consolation, I think a significant percentage of the prize money should go towards it. If there were 384,000 Euros in prize money, perhaps 96,000 should go to the 32 championship qualifiers-the return of their entry fee. Of the other 288,000, I would split it up 163,000 in the championship pool, 100,000 in the consolation pool and 25,000 for the last chance pool, which would be anyone eliminated from the consolation in the first two rounds.
The championship pool would pay four places: 100,000 for first; 35,000 for second; and 14,000 each for third and fourth.
The consolation would pay 16 places: 40,000 for first; 16,000 for second; 8000 each for 3rd and fourth; 4000 each for 5th through 8th; and 1500 each for 9th through 16th.
The last chance would pay four places: 13000 for first; and 6000 for second; and 3000 each for 3rd and fourth. Byes in the last chance would be determined by lottery as they were in the consolation, based on the qualifying records of the participants.
Everyone would play at least nine matches and a total of 52 people would get payouts and be encouraged to attend future events.
I very much like the idea of satellites being held year-round for the World Championship. This gives many people a chance to participate without having to cough up large sums.
Regional qualifying is another idea that should be considered.
I find Bill's ideas very refreshing and would love to hear other thoughts from fellow BGO' ers.
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