Tournament Flyer			Tournament Overview			Starting Times			Division Breakdown
Pairing Schemes				Best-of-Four Finals				Prizes

Tournament Flyer

Click here for the Tournament Flyer. If you wish to submit your entry via this form, please print the page and fill out the box at the bottom. Remit with payment to:

Dave Wiegand
3104 NE Fremont St.
Portland, OR 97212

More options are available on our Registration Page.

Tournament Overview

Early Bird (May 4, 2012)

5 Rounds, beginning at 12 noon
One OPEN TWL Division
One OPEN CSW Division
Entry Fee -- $30

Main Event (May 4-May 6, 2012)

15 Rounds: 4 on Friday, 8 on Saturday, 3 on Sunday PLUS Best-of-Four Finals for the top two finishers after Round 15 (TILE and CSW divisions only)
Three Divisions:
- TILE (Open Division)
- LITE (Rating less than 1300 as of 5/4/2012)
- CSW (Open Collins Division)
Entry Fee

TILE -- $130
LITE -- $80
CSW -- $150

Late Bird (May 6, 2012)

4 Rounds beginning at 2pm
One OPEN TWL Division
One OPEN CSW Division
Entry Fee -- $20

Collins events will use the 10 points (per word) challenge rule.

For Students under 21 years of age, there is a $30 discount for the TILE and CSW divisions ($20 discount for the LITE division). There is no discount for the Early Bird or Late Bird Events.

Starting Times

Day	Round	Time
Friday, May 4	EARLY BIRD Registration and Check-In	11:00-11:50 am
Friday, May 4	EARLY BIRD Rounds 1-5	12 noon
Friday, May 4	MAIN EVENT Check-In (Pre-Registration Required)	5:00-6:20 pm
Friday, May 4	MAIN EVENT Rounds 1-4	6:30 pm
Saturday, May 5	MAIN EVENT Rounds 5-7	9:00 am
Saturday, May 5	MAIN EVENT Rounds 8-10	1:30 pm
Saturday, May 5	Hospitality Break	4:20-4:40 pm¹
Saturday, May 5	MAIN EVENT Rounds 11-12	4:40 pm¹
Sunday, May 6	MAIN EVENT Rounds 13-15	9:00 am
Sunday, May 6	Awards Ceremony Early Bird and Main Event (except finalists)	12:30 pm¹
Sunday, May 6	LATE BIRD Registration and Check-In	1:00-1:50 pm
Sunday, May 6	MAIN EVENT FINALS² Rounds 1-3 (and 4 if necessary)	2:00 pm
Sunday, May 6	LATE BIRD Rounds 1-4	2:00 pm
Sunday, May 6	Awards Ceremony Finals and Late Bird	6:00 pm¹

¹ These start times are tentative.
² TILE and CSW divisions only, top two players after Rnd. 15

Division Breakdown

Early Bird: One OPEN TWL Division and One CSW Division
Anyone, regardless of rating may enter either Early Bird event. Note: This will be NOT be a NAST Satellite Event.

Main Event:
TILE: OPEN Division
Anyone, regardless of rating may enter the TILE division. The early rounds will be paired by seeding equivalent to rating. The Director may use his discretion to assign a seed to unrated players for the purpose of early-round pairings.

LITE: Limited Division (<1300)
Players with a rating of 1299 or less (as of 5/13/2011) may enter the LITE division. The early rounds will be paired by seeding equivalent to rating. The Director may use his discretion to assign a seed to unrated players for the purpose of early-round pairings.

CSW: Collins Division
Anyone, regardless of rating may enter the CSW division. The early round pairings will be seeded by NASPA SOWPODS ratings if available.

Late Bird: One OPEN TWL Division and One CSW Division
Anyone, regardless of rating may enter either Late Bird event. These will be played concurrently with the Finals of the TILE and CSW Divisions.

Pairing Scheme

We will be using John Chew’s fine “tsh” program for pairing the event.

Early Bird:

Rounds 1-4: same as the pairing scheme to be used for the Tile Division (see below).
Round 5 will be straight King-of-the-Hill with no repeats.

Main Event:
TILE: OPEN Division

Rounds 1-3

The field will be broken into four quadrants (top n players in quadrant one, next n in quadrant two, etc.). The field will be divided into groups of four with one player from each quadrant. For each group ...
In Round 1, the quadrant one player plays the quadrant four player (and two plays three).
In Round 2, the quadrant one player plays the quadrant three player (and two plays four).
In Round 3, the quadrant one player plays the quadrant two player (and three plays four).

Rounds 4-13

These rounds will be paired using the Portland Swiss (Fontes) Pairing, based on Round X-2 (or X-1 following a session break). That is, Round 4 will be using the results of Round 2, Round 5 uses the Results of Round 4, etc.
No repeats will be allowed in Rounds 1-10.

Rounds 14-15

For players in contention for a berth in the finals, a special pairing scheme will be used (similar to a format used at previous NSCs). The scheme will allow these players to play among themselves as they vie for a place at the final table. The list of players deemed “in contention” will be evaluated after each round for the next round's pairings.
Also, for players in contention, a “two-place” Gibson rule will be in effect for a player guaranteed a place in the finals. (If one player has guaranteed a place in the finals, (s)he will play a person in the standings that is not in contention for prize money. If two people have clinched a berth in the finals, they play each other.)
For players who are not in contention for a berth in the finals (although they may be in contention for prize money), a Swiss pairing format will be used, followed by King-of-the-Hill in the last round.

Best-of-Four Finals

Please note that the starting time for the finals is concurrent with the Late Bird.

The top two players in the standings after Round 15 will play a best-of-four finals for first and second place.
See below

CSW: Collins Division

The CSW Division will use a similar pairing system to that of the TILE Division.

Exact details to be determined based on the number of players.

LITE: Limited Division (<1300)

Pairing scheme will depend on the number of players. Round Robin / Swiss with minimum repeats.
The Gibson rule will be in effect for Round 15 only.
There will NOT be a best-of-four finals in the LITE division.

Late Bird

Round 1 will split the entrants into two halves. Each player will be randomly matched with another player in the same half.
Rounds 2-4 will be straight King-of-the-Hill with no repeats.

Best-of-Four Finals

On Sunday, May 6, 2012, the top two players in the TILE (Open) Division after Round 15 will square off in a head-to-head final match. This match is a best-of-four match. If the match is even at 2 games apiece, spread will be the deciding factor. If the two finalists manage to play to a 2-2, 0 spread tie, the player who was in first after Round 16 will be declared the victor.

The top two players in the CSW (Collins) Division will also play a best-of-four final match.

The player with the higher position after Round 15 has the option of going first or second in Round 1 of the Finals; firsts/seconds alternate thereafter.

The two finalists will play in a sequestered area with annotators. We will be broadcasting the finals live over the Internet.

If either of the top two players declines to play in the finals, (s)he may elect to leave with 2nd place prize money. Then, an alternate finalist (or finalists) will be selected from the remaining players, invitations going to players according to their order of finish (beginning with the 3rd place player and on down the list), until 2 finalists are found. In this case, the alternate finalist(s) will receive the prize for their original placing, and the final match will be contested for the difference between 1st and 2nd place (projected to be $1,100). Each of the original top-two players is always guaranteed at least 2nd place prize money.

The remaining TILE, LITE and CSW players are invited to play in the TWL and CSW Late Birds that run concurrently with the finals in the main ballroom.

Prizes

As in previous years, we plan to award as prizes all monies remaining after expenses. The payout should be at least 70% for all events. Since we will allocate expenses equally among all participants, the payout percentage for the TILE and CSW divisions will be higher (over 80%), due to the higher entry fees. 2011 prize figures are printed here for reference. Prizes for CSW events to be determined based on the number of players.

Early Bird		TILE		LITE		Late Bird
Place	Prize	Place	Prize	Place	Prize	Place	Prize
1st	$300	1st	$2,100 + Board	1st	$200 + Board	1st	$120
2nd	$200	2nd	$1,000	2nd	$150	2nd	$80
3rd	$160	3rd	$600	3rd	$120	3rd	$60
4th	$120	4th	$400	4th	$90	4th	$40
5th	$100	5th	$250	5th	$70	---	---
---	---	1st in B¹	$200	1st in B³	$60	---	---
---	---	2nd in B¹	$140	---	---	---	---
---	---	1st in C²	$120	---	---	---	---
High Game	$10	High Game	$20	High Game	$20	High Game	$10
High Word	$10	High Word	$20	High Word	$20	High Word	$10
High Loss	$10	High Loss	$20	High Loss	$20	High Loss	$10
---	---	Low Win	-$1	---	---	---	---

¹ TILE B: Rating < 1600
² TILE C: Rating < 1300
³ LITE B: Rating < 900