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NASPA Club #3 Administrative Notes

If you’re reading this web page, it’s probably because you’ve agreed to help run the club one night. Thank you!

This document describes the five jobs that need to be done on a weekly basis at the club. The registrar position is usually filled by Denis Farbstein; the pairings officer, emcee and director of record are most often John Chew. If you have offered to act as a substitute director, you should read the following and be ready to do all three of John's jobs. The data entry person varies from week to week, and whoever does it gets free club entry that week.

Registrar Procedures

Before you leave for the club, print out the following:

Look at:

and copy the twoonie prize winners’ names to the sign-in sheet.

Arrive no later than 6:15 P.M. Bring with you the deck of preprinted result slips that are updated each week, and are usually carried either by John or Denis. When you arrive, take several blank result slips for newcomers out of the club box.

Make sure there are enough tables and chairs set out for 36 players.

Check supplies on the following items and tell John or Lisa if we are running low:

Tell any players who have arrived before you that registration is open, and make sure that they come check in.

To register a returning player, accept their entry fee as indicated on the sign-in sheet, check off their name, see if they are owed a twoonie prize (if so, pay it and check it off), find their slip and pass it to the pairings officer.

To register a new player, give them a blank result slip, ask them to print their name clearly on the front and their phone number and/or e-mail address on the back. If they have a tournament rating, fill it in as their provisional club rating. If they don't, record a rating of zero and refer them to any club member willing to introduce them to club members. Write their name at the bottom of the sign-in sheet and their amount paid.

The pairings officer may have a list of players who have called to say that they will be arriving too late to register (after 6:15) but early enough to play in the first round (by 6:55). Give him a slip for each player, and circle each player's checkbox.

Regular members pay $5, seniors and students pay $4, players from clubs outside of commuting distance are free. Brantford is within commuting distance, Kingston is not. Players playing fewer than three games in one night pay full price.

If time permits, check to make sure that the number of slips passed, names checked and players present are equal. Don’t forget to include the director and yourself.

Pairings Officer Procedures

Before you leave for the club, print the following documents:

You should plan on arriving no later than 6:15 P.M.

Sit down on the Registrar’s right. Take the score slips that he passes you, sort them by rating and divide them into groups of eight. If there are leftover players, make a group of more than eight players in the middle. If there are leftover players and an even number of groups, make the oversize group be the one the higher-rated of the two middle groups. (A good quick way to do this is to count out the bottom eight players, then the top eight players, then eight more from the bottom, then eight more from the top.) There cannot be more than two newcomers in any group; if there are more than two newcomers, start adding them to higher groups but warn them as to what is happening, and try to add the players who think they are stronger to the higher groups.

Within each group, the easiest good way to do the pairings is Swiss: 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8. A better way to do it if you have time is to refer to the pairings recommendations table and choose opponents from the first list beside each active player's name while avoiding opponents from the second.

At 6:15, take $10 from the entry fees for each group except the middle one (even if the middle one has exactly eight players) and hand it to one of the players who have volunteered to be group leaders: Anna, Denis, Fern, Glenn M, John C, Lisa K, Mad, Lynda, Tony L and possibly others. Most group leaders prefer to run the group that they are in; Mad is good at running the bottom group. Make sure that group leaders initial their player slips and/or keep a list of who their players are.

If the remaining group is odd, consult the SOP (Sit Out Priority) number on each score slip in the group and get ready to tell the player in the group whose name appears highest on the list to sit out the first round. Players who sit out may ask for a $2 refund. Out-of-town players, newcomers and players who are not playing all three games in an evening do not sit out. Pair the remaining players and hand out their slips. Take $10 for prizes if there are 8 or 9 players, otherwise $20.

If a player arrives unannounced after 6:15 P.M. and the remaining group is odd, he plays the person who was supposed to sit out. If the group is even, he sits out. If the remaining group reaches 16 players, split it into two groups of 8 and hand one group off to a group leader with an $10 prize.

After the first round, check to see if any players have arrived to play in the second round, or left and will not be playing in the second round. Make sure latecomers pay their entry fee to the registrar.

If you need to adjust groups because of such mid-session roster changes, here are the criteria you need to consider in decreasing priority:

  1. Do not put the club in a position of having to pay out more than one $10 prize per eight players. If you move a player from one group to another to replace a departing player, replace $10 contenders with $10 contenders, and noncontenders with noncontenders.
  2. Do not have more than one sit-out per round. If groups A, B, C, D and E start off with 8, 8, 10, 8 and 8 players, but one player leaves from each of A and E, then move one player each from C to B, B to A, C to D and D to E to end up with groups of sizes 8, 8, 8, 8 and 8.
  3. Players should not (except on very quiet nights) have to play players rated more than 400 points apart from them. If you move a player up one group, pick the highest rated among (non)contender to move; if moving down, pick the lowest.
  4. Do not move players between groups unnecessarily. If the total number of players is odd, move enough players to reduce the number of odd groups to one, but do not try to make any particular group the odd one. Consult SOPs (Sit Out Priority numbers on score slips) to choose which player sits out, but only pick from players not in contention for the $10 prize, and those who have played in every round so far. (And as before, do not pick out-of-town players or newcomers.)

In the second round, for the middle group, pair winners against winners, in order of spread but ensuring that opponents are within 400 ratings points. If the number of winners is odd, pair the low winner with the highest available loser. If the number of players is odd, remember not to have a contender sit out.

In the third round, for the middle group, pair double-winners against double-winners, in order of spread but ensuring that opponents are within 400 ratings points. If the number of WW players is odd, allow one WW-WL pairing. Give the $10 prize money with the score slips to any WW games. If the number of players is odd, remember not to have a contender sit out.

Emcee Procedures

Before you leave for the club, print the following documents:

You should plan on arriving no later than 6:15 P.M. Post the standings on the wall.

At 6:40 P.M., make the announcements. Don't forget to draw for the weekly bingo letters, and invite the club to nominate the weekly challenge.

Director of Record Procedures

You have two equally important jobs. One is to keep the club running on time, the other is to adjudicate any disputes that may arise. Arrive no later than 6:15 P.M., and bring a copy of the NASPA Tournament Rules.

Round 1 starts at 6:45, Round 2 at 7:45, Round 3 at 8:45. If players have not arrived to play by 6:55 (or 7:55 or 8:55), start their clocks. (If a player phones to say that they will be arriving late and then never shows up at all, without calling again before pairings time to let you know, let John know. They will no longer be allowed to phone ahead to say they will be arriving late. The list of such people currently consists of: Charles H, Jacob Z.) If there are games in progress at 7:50, warn people that their games will be ended at 7:55, and likewise for 8:50, 8:55, 9:50 and 9:55. At 9:45, ask people to help put away furniture. At 9:50, strongly encourage people to leave the room, which closes at 10:00. If there is a spoiler game, make sure any $10 prizes that go unclaimed as a result of a spoiler win go back into the evening’s proceeds, if you still have them, or hold them to give to Lisa next week if not.

When making adjudications, follow the NASPA tournament rules but in the many ambiguous cases, err on the side of leniency because of the club environment, while stating what penalties might be enforced in a tournament. In general, try to act as a mediator rather than a jurist, making sure that both parties are satisfied with how the dispute is settled, and even asking them to suggest solutions when the subject is far beyond what is covered in the rules.

If there are newcomers present, it's a good idea to keep an eye on them and make sure they are enjoying and behaving themselves. In particular, if a newcomer is having severe time management problems, suggest that they make the best play they have found after two minutes.

If Lisa Kessler is present, make sure she gets the collected cash and sign-in sheet. If not, take it home to give to her next week.

At the end of the evening, make sure that a data entry person takes home the score slips. If no data entry person is available, take legible photographs of the score slips in batches of eight and email them to John Chew if you can; otherwise, take the slips home and bring them back to the club the following week (or ask someone to do so).

Pairing Group Leader Procedures

At the beginning of the evening, the Pairing Officer will give you an $10 prize for your group and eight score slips in pairing order. Hold onto the $10, write your initials on the top left corner of each score slip, make a list of your players on the back of your own score slip, and distribute the slips to players as quickly as possible. The top two play each other, then the next two, etc.

Each round should start no later than :45 past the hour. Regardless of whether or not it does, it must end no later than :40 past the next hour, so that we can leave the room at the end of the evening before our permit expires. If a game is still in progress at about :38 past the hour, tell the players that you will come back at :40 to end the game and collect the slips, then do so. In a prematurely ended game, both players deduct the value of their own tiles (making sure first that each rack has been replenished), without doubling.

For the second round, list the four winners in order of their scores, and pair 1-2 3-4. List the four losers in order of their ratings, and pair them 1-2 3-4. Count a tie as a loss for pairing purposes. If you have an odd number of winners, include the loser with the highest score with them for pairing, but do not pair them with their previous opponent (if this would happen, pair 1-3 2-4 instead).

For the third round, pair the two double winners and give them the $10 that will go to a triple winner (in the event of a tie, it comes back to the club), pair the two double losers. List the four 1-1 players in order of rating, and try to pair them 1-2 3-4, 1-3 2-4 or 1-4 2-3 (in that order), whichever avoids repeat pairings. Treat ties as in the previous round.

If you have a dropout that leaves your group odd, contact the Pairing Officer to see if there is another odd group and an adjustment can be made to even up the groups. When making adjustments, be sure to move people in a way that minimizes prize payouts. For example, if two adjacent groups have one double winner each, have them play each other. If two adjacent groups are each missing a non-contender, promote the highest rated non-contender from the lower group.

If you are forced to pair a double winner with someone who is not a double winner, remind them that the player who is not a double winner is a spoiler, and that the $10 should come back to the club (to Denis, John or Lisa) if the spoiler wins.

Data Entry Procedures

  1. Take the slips home at the end of the night. Keep them until this whole procedure is complete, in case of dispute.
  2. Update the club roster if necessary.
  3. As soon as possible, and no later than Sunday night, enter the scores into the data entry system. If you don't have a password, email John Chew to ask him to assign you one. As you are entering the scores, check the bottoms of the slips for weekly prize candidates and keep a running record of them by division (A/B/C) in a separate window or on a sheet of paper.
  4. No later than Monday night, post the theme prize candidate words (without identifying who played them) by division on the club Facebook page for club members to vote on them. If you don't have posting privileges, message the page or email John Chew to have an admin give you Editor privileges.
  5. No later than Tuesday night (but at least 24 hours after the previous step), tally the vote and post the theme prizewinners, as well as the bingo letter prizewinners to the club news system . Email John Chew if you do not have access to this system.

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