Partner Ratings

One of the great benefits of running member-only tournaments is that we can construct brackets with greater freedom than is typically enjoyed by public tournaments.  Most tournaments put in hard rating limits of 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, etc.  The plus side of this is that players know what skill level of player they should face. Yes, sometimes people sandbag to win a trinket. And sometimes people think they're better than their rating and play up, but this generally works pretty well.

But we have the flexibility to create brackets that fit the club's changing needs.  I (Brian) will not shy away from this feature; I'm leaning in. So just know going into any of our events that the brackets may be constructed slightly differently than if you played some other public event. There's never money on the line here, so I hope you'll relax and know that we're working hard to produce events that are as competitive and fun as possible.

Up In Skill, Down In Age

When choosing a bracket, USAP rules say that you can play:

• Up in skill: A 3.7 player would nominally play in the 3.5 bracket, but they could play up in the 4.0 bracket. They may not play down in the 3.0 bracket.

• Down in age:  A 50 year old can play in the 18+ bracket, but the 20 year-old cannot play in the 50+ bracket.

These tenets are common among other sports. While GPC doesn't have age brackets, the skill tenet still applies to our events.  If you have a high rating relative to the registered players, you're going to need to play in the higher skill bracket, regardless of who you partner with.

Skill Difference

For GPC fixed partner tournaments, team members must have ratings that are within 0.7 of each other.  This means a 3.7 can play with a 3.0, but cannot play with a 2.9, for example. Wide skill gaps between players don't make for strong teams. This is hard on both players on that team, and honestly doesn't produce a competitive game for the opponents.  In an effort to ensure that all participants have fun and competitive games, we are limiting the skill difference between players to 0.7.  Our recommendation is that players be closer than 0.5, but we will not allow partners more than 0.7 apart, with two exceptions:

1. If both players have ratings that would clearly put them in either Group A or Group B on their own, then they can play together. So if both players have ratings well below 3.4, then they would both play in Group B anyway and that will be allowed. Or if both players have ratings over 3.7, then they would both play in Group A anyway, so they can play together in Group A, even with a skill difference over 0.7.

2. If event details expressly note that this rule does not apply. In that case, everyone is aware before they register that this imbalance may exist.

To be clear, I still don't recommend choosing a partner with more that 0.5 difference, but it's your call.

Bracket Management

Club management will place teams in brackets based on their skill.  In most of our events, registration is open to 16 teams of any skill level. Here's how I split the 16 teams into two brackets.

• Sort by rating:  The team average DUPR is used as a first pass of sorting. The top half of teams would play in Group A, and the bottom half in Group B.

• Look for outliers:  If there is a 3.9 player who happens to partner with a lower rated player that would put them in the lower skilled group, the pair will be placed in the higher skilled group. Players can play up in skill; not down.

• Balance:  With an odd number of teams, the team "on the bubble" can often play in either group. I will use my judgement to decide where I think they should play, based on my knowledge of the players, their prior results, who else is in brackets, etc.  Sometimes I will ask the team which bracket they prefer, but not always. 

Other Random Points

• If  player's DUPR "reliability score" is <60 (or has no rating at all), then DUPR says their rating is "not reliable". The Tournament Director will use discression in consideration of this rating, relying on direct knowledge of a player's skill, results of league games, and discussion with the player and/or partner, to determine their skill level for bracket placement.

• If a player's DUPR changes dramatically between registration and game day, the Tournament Director may need to modify brackets.

Tournament Director Discretion

GPC retains the right to arbitrarily and capriciously place teams in the bracket the director deems most appropriate, regardless of rating or any other detail. It is our goal to create brackets that are fun for everyone, and sometimes that means exercising some discretion.