A new format
Thursday 21 March 2024: our first spring tournament. 22 players, 6 tables, one new format. Every match a single game. Warming up? Strictly forbidden.
How fast it went
First round: equal groups — three of 4, two of 5. 38 matches in half an hour.
The top two per group went on to two groups of 5 (A1, A2). The rest to two groups of 6 (B1, B2). 50 matches, 45 minutes.
Add it up:
| In numbers | |
|---|---|
| Matches | 88 |
| Tables | 6 |
| Time | 75 minutes |
| Per match | 5.1 minutes |
Including player changes. And the odd pause while the schedule caught up.
No warm-up turned out to be refreshing. It creates real momentum. If we did this in the league — or capped warm-ups at one minute, and scrapped the endless coaching — the whole duo competition would be redundant. Everyone done on time. :-)
The finals
After the second round: the cross-finals. Number 2 against number 1 from the other group. One game again, so everyone stayed to watch.
Stephanos beat Bas in the B-final. Paul beat Sander in the A-final. Both regular Thursday players. Coincidence? ;-)
Paul is our first spring champion.
And the rest
Good vibe, wonderfully dynamic, nice and fast. With food and drinks before and after: a great success. Or so I thought. Also discovered: a Hanging Harry makes a very tasty beer. :-)
On to the autumn tournament.