A Chess Injustice ?

I played in a small local event recently and the Open section had only 9 players entered . The Reserve section ( below 1600 ) had an odd number also .  One of the TDs decided to ask one of the reserve players to " play up " so that byes wouldnt be necessary in either section . He did this by starting with the highest rated in the Reserve section and asking them directly if they would play in the Open . After a few declined one accepted and said he would play up . This player had a chance to win money in the Reserve section and now has no chance to win anything in the Open and he promptly loses 3 games and manages one draw . To add insult to injury this player is assigned 3 blacks and one white during the 4 round event .  (  I detest events with an even number of rounds because of this possibility )  I think this was an injustice and wont be surprised if he never comes back to our local tourney ....  what do you think ? 

I think he was probably tickled with that draw.

If he's a regular tournament player, then it probably isn't a big deal as he would be aware of what he was agreeing to up front. 

If he's not a regular tournament player, then it should have been explained to him in detail what he could reasonably expect. 

In either case, I've always been of the opinion that a player changing their section at the request of the organizers (which isn't that uncommon in small tournaments) should have their entry fee wavied. They are basically functioning as a house-man, and in my club, house-men play free.  

I think the TD should not have asked - just said to the" highest either you are in the tournament and play up or you are out."

That's absolutely an abuse of the TD's authority. I would not attend any tournament where the TD arbitrarily forced people to register in sections they did not wish to register in on penalty of removing them from the tournament. 

in denmark we are not in rating based groups and it is entirely up to the TD. we don't have rating floors or something similiar. you don't know what group you are entering. it depends on the number of people entlisting.

Ah, but the question here is specifically about sections based on rating. 

And in section tournaments, there are prizes within those sections as well.  

I think there is nothing wrong with what he did.  He tried to make both sections even by "Voluntarily" moving to the upper section.  If nobody agrees to do it, you deal with the byes.  You don't force the issue.

Another solution with small 1-day tournaments would be not to do sections of "Open" and "U1600", but rather, charge $20, return 75%, and do 10-man sections for $100 and $50 for 1st and 2nd with the bottom section being 6 to 12 players with proportionate payout.  If the remainder is 4, you take the second from the bottom section and shift it to 8, and make the bottom 6, and they play for $80-$40 and $60-$30 respectively.

At that point, it's strictly based on rating.  If you have 28 players, sort them in order by rating, 1 to 10 make up the top section, 11 to 20 make up the middle section, 21 to 28 make up the bottom section.