Rules Questions - Timers in Tournaments templar72 - Mar 24, 2009 - 06:44 AM Post subject: Timers in Tournaments
Do most tournaments use timers? If so, is it enforced and how long is allowed? I am just curious. In our last season we used a 6 minute timer (we had a lot of new players) instead of the rules stated 4.
We play our games on a league night at a shop that has a closing time and we try to wrap things up.
About 1/2 of the players ignored the timers and just played. In the next season I would like to enforce 4 minute turns. Just wondering what the norm was at tournaments.
Thanks,
EdSpazzfist - Mar 24, 2009 - 06:55 AM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
There are a few tournaments in this part of Canada that are starting to use timers, and they are somewhat stricvtly enforced. A few people will even be so disciplined as to sacrafice the remainder of their turn if their timer runs out!
Personally, I love it. As a player and as a T.O. it makes a real difference in running your tournament smoothly and on time.SolarFlare - Mar 24, 2009 - 10:52 AM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
Personally, I hate timers. I have trained myself, out of courtesy for my opponent, to play quick enough to get games done in a 2-hour time limit - which is a standard tourney time.
However, sometimes a turn will take longer, and I don't want to sit there and stress because the ball has bounced 17 times after I knocked it out of the other player's hands.
I have never seen a timer used at a tournament, and I would not go to one that did. Most of the time, having the tournament organizer walk around once every 20-30 minutes and letting people know how far along the game should be works just fine.
I also recommend extending tournament games by 10 or 15 minutes. It gives players a chance to greet each other and set up before the game in a more relaxed manner.PubBowler - Mar 24, 2009 - 12:13 PM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
Never seen a timer at a tournie, most UK ones say in the rules pack that the 4min guideline will not be used.
However the 2hr limit is strictly enforced to enable the tournie to run to time.Lycos - Mar 24, 2009 - 12:33 PM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
In my 70 odd tournaments I saw one guy use one for a bit of laugh/gimmik and that was very recently so in general Templar72, they are hardly ever, if never, used.templar72 - Mar 24, 2009 - 01:17 PM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
Interesting feedback. Personally I play both ways, but if you havent used a timer it really changes the way the game plays. You should give it a try.
Thanks for the feedback.
Edsmeborg - Mar 24, 2009 - 01:33 PM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
Personally, I would welcome timers at tournaments, as some of my worst memories of tournaments involve opponents taking ages over turns (and I mean, say, 10-15 minutes).
As a minimum, I suggest timers should be introduced after one or two rounds for coaches who have been identified as slow.
However, there is a major problem with timing a game, which is that the non-moving player can do things during your turn. Sidestepping or pass blocking for example (but also deciding whether or not to use many skills). Now my favourite memory in this regard was an opponent who took 75 seconds to make a sidestep and then expected to ping me when the 4 minutes expired. I told him in plain English what I thought and carried on moving until I had finished my turn. But this anecdote highlights a problem - do you allow pausing of the clock for such things, because if not, you will not keep the turns to 4 minutes.
My ideal (not tested yet) would be to use a chess clock with (say) 25 or 30 minutes per player per half, and to put all time on the clock, including set-ups for a drive (this can be a big consumer of time in a tournament). So when your opponent has a decision to make during your turn, then he has to do it on his time. If you used 25 minutes (very workable in my view) you would get a game finished, including pre-match, post-match and the recording and handing in of results, reliably completed within 2 hours. And wise players would have plenty of time available for the crunch turns.
The advantage of a chess clock is that it has easy buttons and 3 time settings: coach A's time running, coach B's time running, and paused (no-one's time running). Paused would be for such things as resolving a bouncing ball after a turnover, or (more rarely) rules disputes. Chess clocks could presumably be borrowed from a friendly chess club.
Hope this helps.Cramy - Mar 24, 2009 - 09:04 PM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
I play in the same tournaments as Spazz plays. If the ball goes out of bounds or if the opponent coach has to make a decision, we stop the timer. So those turns last more than 4 minutes. We use the timer to try to keep on time, not to screw your opponent because of bouncing balls and opponents taking 75 seconds to side step.
In some cases, coaches who know that they play quickly will not bother with the timer, and the TO is usually OK with that. There are a few players in the circuit that tend to be slow, and we like to force them to use timers.
The problem that we had was that there was often one or more game that took 30 minutes to an hour more than other games. And that was not fun for the people who had to wait. And having an overall timer can mean that the coach that is facing the slow player could get screwed if the TO calls the game and the game is not finished.
We thought about the chess clock, but we haven't tried that yet, partly because we don't have any chess clocks available. Smeborg, if you try that, let us know how it works-out.Doubleskulls - Mar 25, 2009 - 04:41 AM Post subject: RE: Timers in Tournaments
Only ever seen a clock used at a tournament once, and that I believe was because the person was deliberately trying to upset his opponents.
Smeborg's idea of chess clocks is a good one - but I think impractical for many tournaments.
At my tournament this year there is a projector, so I'll have a big count down clock running to remind people of the time left.SolarFlare - Mar 25, 2009 - 05:45 AM Post subject: Re: RE: Timers in Tournaments
Doubleskulls wrote:
At my tournament this year there is a projector, so I'll have a big count down clock running to remind people of the time left.
good idea!smeborg - Mar 25, 2009 - 02:23 PM Post subject: RE: Re: RE: Timers in Tournaments
I may see if I can try out a chess clock in a friendly league game tonight. Depends on having a willing victim, though.
