Last Round Byes

[Bob Armstrong]

At Scarborough Chess Club, in club tournaments, a player requesting not to play in a last round is treated as "Withdrawing" (There is not even any talk of "byes" of any kind).

Bob A

[Halldor P. Palsson]

I run six weekend chess tournaments for the Eastern Ontario Chess Association at the RA Center in Ottawa each year.

I allow three 1/2 point byes in the first four rounds of my tournaments with a zero point bye in the last round. Your score in games played and byes counts for prizes.

If an IM wants a 1/2 point bye in round 1 and cannot play in round 5, I am delighted to have him in my tournament. I have told several masters carrying heavy loads from work and/or family to take 1-2 or 3 byes and get in 2-3 or 4 games over a weekend is a better choice than to stay inactive. You cannot wait for years to play in tournaments until your schedule allows it.

It is still very special to me to have a GM, an IM and a WIM playing in an Ottawa event.

[Roger Patterson]

A USCF player asked me about taking a half point bye in the last round of one of our tournaments, declared on registration.
I was wondering what the common practice is in other CFC tournaments. We normally only allow zero point byes in the last round.

The topic has been well discussed on ChessTalk before. By and large, opinions and arguments pro/con have not changed.

You might want to review the following threads (there might be more, I just did a quick search):

https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...eeds/3560-byes

https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...he-final-round

https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...lay-last-round

[Neil Frarey]

I run six weekend chess tournaments for the Eastern Ontario Chess Association at the RA Center in Ottawa each year.

.

Effin BEAST.

;)

[Ian Findlay]

At Scarborough Chess Club, in club tournaments, a player requesting not to play in a last round is treated as "Withdrawing" (There is not even any talk of "byes" of any kind).

Bob A

Even if he asks for a last round bye when entering the tournament? I just got an entry today for a tournament, where the player needs to do school prep on the Sunday night which is the last round. With a zero point bye, his chance for a prize is slim, but I would not deny him a prize if he happened to win one.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Ian - The answer is still the same at SCC.

Now we have no cash prizes - the only prizes for the top 3 finishers in each of our 4 sections at our Thursday night rated tournaments are the choice of a chess book from the SCC library.

So I acknowledge that there may be an argument as you have made, where there has been an entry fee, and there are cash prizes (I prefer the last round zero pt. bye).

But you are saying in the last round, with a request at the start of the tournament for a last round bye, you give is a zero pt. bye, yes? Seems fine to me .......it is just that I feel players who have won by the penultimate round often don't play then to protect their ratings. This then alters the pairings for the possible 2nd place player, because the strongest player was taken out of the top playing pool.

I disagree totally with the system of giving a 1/2 pt. bye for the final round, rather than a zero point bye. That could allow the player, undeservedly, to tie with someone who has played all rounds, no (gets a free 1/2 pt. with no work)?

Bob

[Bob Armstrong]

I have had another question - If a player has won sole first by the finish of the penultimate round (Or he is in a tie at that time for sole first), and he requested a last round bye "before the penultimate round", should there be any penalty imposed of some kind, for failing to finish the tournament (No matter how legitimate might be the excuse)?

What I am thinking is whether the first and second place prize money should be pooled, and the winner have to share in the pool with all second place finishers?

Bob A

[Ian Findlay]

I have had another question - If a player has won sole first by the finish of the penultimate round (Or he is in a tie at that time for sole first), and he requested a last round bye "before the penultimate round", should there be any penalty imposed of some kind, for failing to finish the tournament (No matter how legitimate might be the excuse)?

What I am thinking is whether the first and second place prize money should be pooled, and the winner have to share in the pool with all second place finishers?

Bob A

Honestly, I think we are over analysing this, but I would not think he should share in the pool. Most last round byes are for a legitimate reason. Most tournaments, you have to request a last round bye, 2 or 3 rounds before the last round and it is a zero point bye. So the fact that you won all your games and now you have to go your son's wedding or whatever, why should you be punished. Seems absurd to me.

[Fred Harvey]

Honestly, I think we are over analysing this.....

LOL! On chesstalk? Say it ain't so.....

[Serge Archambault]

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[Hugh Brodie]

Another fine exemple (it's not a first in Quebec, as Hugh correctly pointed out: https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/pa...omnal-ahuntsic) of a player taking a 0-point last round bye, sharing first place and being denied any part of the prize fund. http://www.jrboutin.inter-systeme.com/Standings.html . It seems it used to be an old FQE rule (not sure if it still exists). However, I'm not sure it should apply in the case the tournament is CFC + FIDE rated. From what I understand, it looks like there is a huge difference, for some arbiters, if a player asks for it before the tournament starts or during the event.

Before reading this - I had just posted a message on the quebecechecs board asking the same questions.

[Hugh Brodie]

Both the USCF and FQE have rules that state that a player who withdraws cannot claim a prize. So it all comes down to whether a zero-point bye in the last round is considered to be a withdrawl or not. According to the TD of the Quebec Carnival tournament where this happened, the player would have received a prize if he had requested the zero-point last-round bye before the tournament. He requested it after being tired from his second-to-last game, and thus was denied the prize. I don't know if the player objected or not, but the prize would have been in the $500 range. Neither organization's rules seem to mention anything about zero-point (or last-round) byes. An Appeals Committee might have fun with this one.

[Don Parakin]

He requested (the zero point bye) after being tired from his second-to-last game, and thus was denied the prize.

So, if instead he "played" the last round game but resigned after a couple of moves, he would have received prize money. His opponent would have been cheated of a real game (a rip off unless he was happy to get the easy rating points) and would likely have received prize money too for "winning" that last game (not fair to those who had to fight for prize money). What behaviour should be encouraged? Taking a zero point bye or playing a fake game just to qualify for prizes? In my mind, if someone scores well enough in the early rounds to be in the prizes, he/she deserves it.