Twixt lends itself well to turn based in depth analysis. But real time play can be much more intense and exciting. Game Center does not have automated tournaments, but it does have a rating system, a variety of time controls to choose from, a handicapping option, and some chat capabilities. The main thing it lacks would be Twixt players.
Little Golem, I notice, has an abundance of Twixt players. So, I wonder if anyone else here shares my interest in real time play? Maybe we could have an informal tournament some time. For example, if four people show up at the same time, they could play a three round "quad." Depending on the time control, this might take less than half an hour or over three hours. Considering how quickly Twixt games often finish, I would hazard a prediction that three rounds played using 20 minutes + 20 sec. increment per player could finish in under 90 minutes. If from five to seven people show up, we could have a three round swiss system. If eight or more show up, they could be broken into two or more sections based on the players' LG ratings. So everything would take just three rounds. Another possibility would be an unrated handicap tournament.
Very good idea. I was always at the wrong time online there, so the only thing I did was teach other players, hopefully some of them play here now ;-) I would have time sunday or monday 14:00 MEZ+ but I prefer 20:00+ (GMT 19:00 I think but not sure)
a real-time tournament would probably not work for me (can't commit a lot of time at once). i can and do try to hang out on game center and look for twixt games sometimes, however. if more of us did this, it would work better :-).
Well as things stand now, this will be very informal, so whoever shows up can play, and if other players show up later, they can play. The format could be described as "attempted round robin." It would help if you can say ahead of time when you are likely to show up, even to play only one game. So maybe the "tournament" will be strung out over a few days. I will try to have a Twixt game open whenever I am online this weekend. Sunday 15 Aug at 1900 GMT is 3 p.m. for me, so I will be online then for sure.
I like a time control like 20 min with 20 sec increment, but we could go with something faster, or slower. What would you like?
I have been discussing with Arty the possibility of automated tournaments. Here is an excerpt from our discussion. I asked the question and Arty answered.
> How does the pairing software decide when the games start? Does it ask the players before the first round when would be convenient?
"Each player will have a tool to define their weekly availability. They will be able to set up something like: Mon 8am-9am, Mon 5pm-11pm, ... Sat 8am-11pm and so on. Actually, they get a grid of 7x24 cells where they can put "V" or "X". For participating in tournaments they need to put at least 50% (or even 60%) of "V"s in that grid, otherwise the system won't allow them to join any tournament.
Using this information the system schedules all games. I.e. each player will tell in advance when he is available and the system will take that into account."
Auto tourneys are not likely to show up for several more months. But it's nice to hear that they are in the pipeline :-)
I had difficulty logging on to quakenet. How about freenode instead? I started a channel #twixt there. The current topic is: "Real time Twixt tournament on igGameCenter this Sunday around 1900 GMT = 3 p.m. EDT" My registered nick is twixter.
If you have no igGC Twixt rating or your rating there is provisional, it would help if you could provide your LG Twixt rating when you show up, or at least your LG handle, so I can look it up.
Instead of everyone trying to play everyone else, how about we break the players up into "quads" or groups of 4. The groups will be based partly on rating and partly on who is available. The lowest rated group might be 4, 5, 6, or 7 players. If more than 4, I will provide pairings for a 3 round Swiss system. So, everyone plays just 3 rounds. If you finish your 3 games, you could of course play another available player from another section if you want. We need as many rated Twixt games played as we can, to establish reliable ratings there.
Please voice your objection if you prefer another way!
Little Golem