5min+5s may be an easier time control, allowing that little bit of extra time to think and play endgames.
Time controls for Monday get-togethers
We should do a different one every Monday until we find out everyone's preferences
I would prefer 15 minutes with a ten second increment
I would also be happy with 5min, if there is an increment. Shorter than that is too hard for my brain!
Anna
5m 5 seconds it is! The long time controls will have to be Thursdays.
I think we should mix up the event style on Mondays (it should not always be Arena). We should at least alternate between Swiss and Arena. After playing a few of the events, in my opinion, the format disadvantages lower rated players and even more so when they play slower than others and even more so when the numbers in the event are low (approx. 12). I have found myself waiting many, many minutes to even get a game when I am a low ranked player in an Arena event with not many entrants.
Well Jasan, since you took the time to put up an opinion - let's do a 10min Swiss 6 rd on monday - I don't think there's any perfect way = Arenas with fast games tend to go well in terms of playing a variety of players, Swiss is good but if the time goes above 10m or has an increment, it's too long: the whole tournament can only be 6 round max (2hrs). Do you think we'll get people committing to 2 hrs on a monday?
Hi Rob,
Our last 6 round swiss got 19 players and this was a 10 + 3. Admittedly, this was a Thursday.
https://www.chess.com/tournament/live/thursday-10m-3s-6rd-1181538
Our last three arenas on a Monday have had 14, 12 and 13 entrants. I guess if the Swiss event bombs as far as numbers go then we know not to do it again. Would you rather run the Arena format every Monday? If you would prefer it, that's ok - I apologise if I came across as whining in my previous post.
I would be happy to try a Swiss format on Monday - certainly prefer 10 min games to 5 min ones!!
Anna
I like Swiss too - and no apology required! I am sincerely happy that you put in an opinion, as it helps decide what to do the next week! Let's keep experimenting and if we find one or two time formats we like, we can repeat them.
I would prefer the Swiss format above the Arena stuff. 10 minutes plus a few secs/move is my favourite, because it gives you (even me) enough time to play reasonable chess, rather than a battle against the clock when shorter times are involved.
As last Monday was a 10m Swiss without increment that ran for 2 hours, this Monday we'll go a 5m+3s Arena - actually a little more time with the increment, for an easy 90 minutes.
Perhaps we can alternate between Swiss and Arena every second Monday? What do you think?
I like to support Rob's idea to alternate Swiss and Arena, and try different time controls. Having said that, I favor the Swiss options, because the pairings are regulated, with the final standing reflecting the form of the players on the night. The pairings of the Arena format is random and it depends solely on who happens to be available.
I don't see why we need Swiss 6 rounders. Lets do 5 rounds, instead. Like the Country Vic. Championships. 10 minutes without increments would be 1h- 40m in total. One could probably add 5-10 secs increment to stay within a total of 2 hours per event.
5m+3s is an absolute minimum to give me any chance to enjoy playing. Try 5m+10s tomorrow, or in 2 weeks?
Hi!
Just canvassing for what kind of time controls people would like for future Monday tournaments...
If you have a preference put a word up here and let us know
I know Anna and Kevin like the slower games, around 10 mins minimum, but if you have a favourite or even least favourite....?
Cheers
Rob