2002 NSC Pairing System

The first 7 rounds (sessions 1 and 2) will be a Round Robin in groups of 8 players. Each group of 8 players will be chosen using the July 2002 ratings list. For example, if there are 96 players in your division, the first group will have 1, 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73 and 85, based on rating, where #1 is the highest-rated player (Note that player numbers, however, are based on alphabetic order, not rating order). We will post only those rounds pertinent to each session. Each group will play at the same four boards and two tables, since there will be two boards at each table. This will ensure a minimum of movement. Note that in all later sessions, the numbers below will represent the players' tournament standing among all the players in each division.

Subsequent sessions will be paired in groups of four (quads), and with each session these paired players will have win/loss records more similar than prior sessions. Also, define A= highest standing player in quad; B= 2nd highest in quad; C= 3rd highest; D= lowest.

Session 3 (Monday morning: 4 rds.) will pair from groups of 24, which means that the quads for the highest group of 24 will consist of (1, 7, 13, 19), (2, 8, 14, 20), (3, 9, 15, 21), (4, 10, 16, 22), (5, 11, 17, 23) and (6, 12, 18, 24), and so on for all quads of each group of 24 in each division. The fourth round in the morning will pair A vs A1, B vs B1, C vs C1 and D vs D1, etc, where A1 is the A player in the adjacent quad.

Session 4 (Monday afternoon: 3 rds.) will pair from groups of 20, which means that the quads for the highest group of 20 will consist of (1, 6, 11, 16), (2, 7, 12, 17), (3, 8, 13, 18), (4, 9, 14, 19) and (5, 10, 15, 20), etc., and so on for all quads in each group of 20 in each division.

Session 5 (Tuesday morning: 4 rds.) paired as Session 3 except that quads will be formed from groups 16: (1, 5, 9, 13), (2, 6, 10, 14), (3, 7, 11, 15) and (4, 8, 12, 16) etc.

Session 6 (Tuesday afternoon: 3 rds.) will be paired as Session 4 except that quads will be formed from groups of 12: (1, 4, 7, 10), (2, 5, 8, 11), (3, 6, 9, 12), etc., and repeats will be allowed.

Session 7 (Wednesday morning: 4 rds) will be paired as Session 5 except that quads will be formed from groups of 8: (1, 3, 5, 7), (2, 4, 6, 8) etc.

Session 8 (Wednesday afternoon: 3 rds.) will be paired as Session 6, except that quads will be formed form groups of 4: (1, 2, 3, 4) etc.

Because there will be no repeat pairings until Round 19 (Tuesday afternoon), the computer program will adjust the quad pairings accordingly, with minimum adjustments.

Session 9, rounds 29-31, players in positions 41-bottom will be paired in king-of-the-hill quads (41, 42, 43, 44) etc. so that they will know their opponents for all three rounds at the beginning of the morning. For players in the top 40 positions each of the last three rounds will be paired individually and will be king-of-the-hill, with threepeats allowed. However, for the top six players a modified pairing system will be used:

It will be determined if the player in the #5 spot has any legitimate chance to finish first by winning all his/her games (discounting spread). If so, then the top six will be paired 1 vs 4, 2 vs 5 and 3 vs 6 for Round 29. If #5 does not have a legitimate chance to finish first, then 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4, while 5 vs 6.

For round 30: 5 vs 6. If #3 has a legitimate chance to finish first (as determined using same method for previous rd for #5), then 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4. If #3 doesn't have a legitimate chance to finish first then all of the top 40 will be king-of-the-hill.

Round 31: Top 40 = king-of-the-hill.

If at any point late in the tourney, one player has locked up first place, no matter how many losses he later sustains, then that player will be taken out of the pairing lineup and paired with the top-positioned player who in the Division leader's opinion is the most likely not to finish in the top 15. This is commonly known as the "Gibson Rule." In that case, and for pairing purposes, the #2 player becomes the #1 player in the above description. Should the #2 position (or more) also be locked in, then the Gibson Rule shall be enforced for them as well.