Pairing Question

#21 August 4th 03, 05:41 AM

Subject: Pairing Question
From: "sandirhodes"
Date: 8/3/2003 10:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

--

"John Fernandez" wrote in message

It seems to be a "I spent decades doing pairings by hand" vs. "I'm used to
the
computer doing them."

I tend to look at the group as a whole, versus top-down, when possible. In
this
case, we have a 5 (6 with the lower group) player group, and it's easy to
look
at the group as a whole.

Well, maybe it is a 5 (*4* after the drop) player group instead.

Yeah, but if you drop the odd man FIRST and follow the rules for that, you get
the pairing I got, which I guess is wrong.

John Fernandez

#22 August 5th 03, 01:32 PM

In article ,
eepmeep (John Fernandez) wrote:

As far as my general dislike of detailed USCF pairings, this seems to be a
case
where the rules are very very detailed, and then the major issue of determining
natural pairings seems to be completely overlooked. I guess it's supposed to be
a "common sense thing", but that doesn't jive with how the rest of the section
is written.

Solving difficult pairing problems is perhaps more art than rule. The trouble
with the art approach is how do you demonstrate to the players that 1. you are
being fair and 2. that any given solution is the best (from whose point of
view) ? It is almost a given if not an always that when you change a pairing,
you are making it easier for one player at the expense of another.

Part of the art concept is the importance given to color alternation and
equalization. As you've noted, some pairing programs give it high priority. The
rule book sets rating limits for both alternation and equalization issues. How
bad is getting 3 of the same color in a 4 round event? My POV is that it often
is not possible to avoid without pairing outside the scoregroup so tend to be
conservative in making too many and too violent (large rating difference or
many spots in the order) changes. Having an odd score group increases the
opportunity to make changes for color reasons. There is no stated preference
for many of the options. If it fixes a color (or 2 ) problems, it better to
drop A. the 2nd lowest in a group or B. to drop the lowest to the 2nd highest
in the lower group? Does the ratings make a difference? If we decide that one
is preferable as a general case, at what point would having a larger rating
difference if the general case is used suggest you use case 2?

My personal philosophy is not to go far out of my way to make changes,
especially for alternation. Too many times early in my career as a TD, I would
do this and have the wrong damned players lose and make the next round pairings
even more difficult. Next time a player complains, tell them that if they had
lost the previous round as they should have, they would not have a color
problem. :-)
Regards, Ernie
Ernest W. Schlich

#23 August 5th 03, 01:32 PM

In article ,
eepmeep (John Fernandez) wrote:

Yeah, but if you drop the odd man FIRST and follow the rules for that, you
get
the pairing I got, which I guess is wrong.

I learned when pairing a score group, drop the proper player, check the
pairings and change the drop if a good idea. You might then find when pairing
the next lower group, you may decide to change the drop again. The process is
interactive.
Regards, Ernie
Ernest W. Schlich

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