Correspondence Chess
Server Guidelines For
Tournament Directors and Organizers
Version date: 2006.05.08
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The Campbell Report
Correspondence Chess |
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Server Guidelines For |
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| ICCF Web Site http://www.iccf.com |
ICCF Server http://www.iccf-webchess.com/ |
| Tutorial Home Page http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/tutorial/ |
Manual for Tournament Directors http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/tutorial/appendix_i.htm |
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If you need help, email the ICCF Server Tables Coordinator:
Franklin Campbell
1. Introduction
The ICCF server (http://www.iccf-webchess.com/) is designed not only to allow playing cc games but also to provide administrative services. This guide is meant to help tournament directors and tournament organizers use the ICCF webserver with these administer functions, including the creation of new events. Postal and email events are now supported by the server and, in time, many additional features will be added. There are several references below to emailing questions to the server Helpdesk. However, if you have any problems or questions related to using the server for your administrative duties there is one person specifically assigned to helping you. Contact the ICCF Server Tables Coordinator at Franklin Campbell. Note that this document is being published now, even though some information below may be incomplete. Hopefully it will still be useful to you. Additional information will be added in the future. 1.1 Planning and announcing new events The current rules require certain details of a tournament to be announced before players commit to playing. Otherwise, the default settings will be used. Consider these details beforehand. For instance, you may wish to attract viewers to follow your invitational event on the server by showing games "live". Without prior announcement, though, the games cannot be shown "live" without getting the approval of every single player. Also, time limits can vary from the normal, but this must be specified before the event starts. So consider these details well and include them in your original tournament announcement and invitations. 1.2 "Live" display of games for server events Normally, it is not allowed to show games "live" without prior agreement by all the players or by including this information in the announcement/invitation. It is difficult to obtain unanimous consent from the players after the event is organized and the players have signed up to play. By far the best approach is to make the conditions of play very clear before the players enter the event. One of the attractive features of the ICCF server is the capability for the players and other viewers to follow the games as they are being played. However, if the games are not going to be displayed "live" it is suggested that this be clearly stated in the announcement/invitation. 1.3 Making complete games available for server events For server events, the server can easily make finished games available to the players and/or viewers. A PGN link is simply provided on the crosstable page ... a single click provides all the finished games. However, this link only becomes available after a specified number of games are finished. When the TO sets up the event on the server the number of games is specified. This should be decided by the organizer before making the announcement/invitation to the players. Otherwise, there are very strict and conservative guidelines that apply. See Arbiter Committee Manual for Tournament Directors (2005) http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/tutorial/appendix_i.htm#2.4.1.6.. 1.4 Importing of non-server events Using Eloquery data, non-server event tables were created on the server to allow for administration of these events. This will end the need for manually maintaining tables for these events and submitting the semi-annual rating reports. Of course, game scores for the games archive will still have to be processed manually, though a feature may be added to the server one day for entering the games there. TDs must now update the tables via the server for any results since 31.12.2005 and make other appropriate updates. Of course, there is no guarantee all events were imported into the server or that mistakes were not made. It would be advisable to check for accuracy in your tables. Since only results through 31.12.2005 were theoretically imported, the TD will need to enter any results reported since then. Instructions on how this is done are shown below. 1.5 You must be logged in to the server The most basic requirement is for the server to recognize who you are. This allows the server to provide the required features for your particular duties. The links provided are tailored to meet your specific needs. For instance, the "Event List" will only show your particular events as TD/TO, not a general list of events. This makes it very efficient for you to locate your specific events. Also, by providing links specific to those authorized for dealing with certain functions it provides security against unauthorized modifications. If you aren't currently a registered server user, send an email to the helpdesk (mailto:helpdesk@iccf-webchess.com) and ask for a password. Provide your ICCF ID# (if you know it) and the email address you wish the server to use for you. You must have an email address to register on the server. After you receive your "starter password" follow the instructions on the login tutorial page (http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/tutorial/login.htm) to log in using your ICCF ID# and password. The first time you log in you'll be asked to change your password. Choose a password meaningful to you and keep track of it for future logins. Note the option to log you in automatically in the future, a very useful feature. Once you are logged in the server will display information specifically for you, such as a list of the events you direct. 1.6 Server Updates Note that the server is continually being updated and improved. This document will be updated from time to time, but some specific details may become incomplete and some of the displays may be modified and features added. Also, the illustrations here may show links that won't be visible to you based on your level of duties. However, it is hoped that your questions will be answered. If you can't find the answers you need, send an email to the helpdesk (mailto:helpdesk@iccf-webchess.com) . 1.7 Arbiter Committee Manual for Tournament Directors The 2005 Congress approved a new Arbiter Committee Manual for Tournament Directors and published it as Appendix I of the 2005 Congress minutes. All tournament directors should read this document, which describes the responsibilities of tournament directors. However, you are cautioned that this document will undoubtedly require updating to reflect the realities of the server environment. For instance, the instructions about saving game scores for the Games Archive don't apply to the server and requiring players to properly number their moves clearly doesn't apply. However, the document is full of useful advice, and the listing of duties and normal approaches to the TD job are essential reading for all TDs. Some items will be reviewed and changed, no doubt, such as requirements for regular TD reports. The is a link to this manual at the top of this page labeled Manual for Tournament Directors (http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/tutorial/appendix_i.htm).
2. For the Tournament Director (TD) 2.1 List of events The server automatically detects all the events for a given tournament director and includes a link to each event in the Event list. Note: if you attempt to find an event you are directing and can't find it listed in your Event list, it is possible that you aren't properly registered as the TD for the event. In this case look up the event and check the tournament director listed (for how to find events see Finding events below). If you aren't properly listed, notify the Tables Coordinator Franklin Campbell and ask for a correction. The event won't be listed in your Event list if you aren't listed as the TD. Also, you must be registered at the server as a TD to get an event list for events you are directing. If you aren't registered as the TD or TO for any event or aren't registered as a TD at the server, then you won't even have an Event list link. Also, if you aren't logged in you won't get any of the Administration links. Click on Event list, as shown below. The second illustration shows a particular Event list.
This list shows two events for this TD. This first event listed shows a normal server event. The second event was a postal event that was imported into the server for administration purposes (note the "Imported" label in the "Status" column). To view or update this crosstable click on "Control".
If the server fails to list the events you direct, it is possible that the server doesn't have you properly recorded as the tournament director. In this case I recommend you look up the tournament (starting with the "Tables and results" link) and check to see if you are listed as the TD. More information is provided below under Finding Events. The following was displayed after clicking on "Control". Team Events will show a team crosstable and is described further below. See Team Events.
The crosstable display not only shows the current results and scores, but it also shows the additional links available to the TD and TO. These links allow you to enter results (click Edit results) and update some of the tournament information (click Edit event data), such as identity of the TD. Following each player at the far right is a link to allow adjustments to the player's Withdrawal status. Above the table are links for editing tournament information and results. Depending on your privileges at the server and the table you are viewing these links may or may not be available. In the above example click on "Edit event data" for the following display. 2.2 Edit event data
Depending on the specific situation of the event, information may or may not be changed. In the above example the form of transmission was fixed when this event was started and cannot now be changed. If the event was imported, you should be able to change between "Postal" and "Email" to correct a possible error during import. Therefore, the information "Postal" cannot be changed here and is displayed grayed out. A grayed out field is read-only and is provided for information only ... it cannot be changed. Of course, you are cautioned to be very careful about making changes. Be sure you really want to make the changes before clicking "OK". Nothing is actually changed till you click "OK". You can either click "Cancel" or simply go to another web page to avoid making the changes. If the event is a "Rated" event, you may have the choice to change it to an "International Title Tournament" (which adds the rating norms to the table display). Just click the link following the "Rating rule" entry.
2.3 Six different types of data The "Edit event" page shows six different categories of data as listed in the menu near the top of the page (see following image). In the above screen shot it shows the user about to select the "Size" category, below is the menu after the user has selected the "TD" category. Click on a category and then wait for the page to re-display with that category of information.
The above screen is for changing the ID of the TD. Either type in the ICCF ID# in the "ICCF Id of TD" field or click on "Browse", as in the above example. In this case the current list of available tournament directors is displayed in a popup window, also shown in this display. These popup windows usually show a limited number of items, but you can go to the next/previous page of listings.
To select a specific TD just click on the "Select" button. The popup window will close and the "Edit event" page will re-display showing the ICCF ID# of the selected TD. If the TD is not listed in the popup you can display the next/previous batch of names by clicking the "<" or ">" symbols. In the example the user is about to click for the next batch of TD names. 2.4 Edit results (non-server) Note that the method for setting results for server games is different. See 2.6 Edit result/Adjust time for a game (Server-only) below.
To edit results (add results, correct previous entries) click on "Edit results", as shown above. This will bring up the Set result page as shown below. Note: any time you want to return to the table just click "Cancel".
Setting/correcting a result is a two step operation. First you select the two players, next you select the desired result. In the above page you would select the players from the two dropdown lists. Click on the name displayed (or the down arrow next to it) and a list of all participants will be displayed. In the next example the second player is selected as "White" by clicking on his name.
Click on the name, repeat the process for the Black player, and click on "OK". Then you'll get the following display.
In this case the result was already recorded, but you can modify the result if you wish. Note the warning in red that the result was already set previous (and the date it was set is shown as read-only). Note: if you change a result that has already been rated the server will automatically notify the Ratings Commissioner ... otherwise the ratings calculations would be wrong. Following is an example where the result had not previously been entered ... a new result.
Here the result is listed as "Ongoing", meaning the game hasn't been recorded as finished. Here the user has click on the result dropdown list to display the options. He is about to selected "Draw" as the result by clicking on "Draw" in the list. After clicking on "Draw" the following is displayed.
Note that the date field has been filled in automatically with today's date. However, you may change it to the date the game was reported, if it is different from this default setting. The server does not allow you to specify a date in the future or a date before the beginning of the current rating period (January 1 or July 1, as applies). The server should make an exception for this for a few days after a new rating period begins, to allow a TD a few days grace to get the results input into the server. It is suggested that results at the end of a rating period be input into the server as soon as possible during this period to avoid possible problems. As with all date fields in the server, you may either type in the date is the specified format (mm=month 1-12, dd=day 1-31, yyyy=year) or click on "Select", which brings up a calendar in a popup window. Click on the date in the calendar and this page will redisplay with the date field filled in properly. After checking to be sure the result is filled in properly and the date is correct, click on "OK" to enter the result into the crosstable. This will return to the crosstable display ("Cancel" also returns to the crosstable). If you have another result to enter, or you want to correct a result entered incorrectly, just click "Edit results" again and repeat this process. Note: if you entered the White/Black names in the wrong order, the server will still display the game properly with the correct names for White and Black if the server did the original pairings or if a result had previously been entered for this game. In the case of a game that was imported into the server or that was created manually, as is done for new email and postal events, the server does not know which player is White or Black. Therefore, you must be careful when entering the result to specify the colors correctly. Note: In doublerounded tournaments the selection of colors is meaningful to differentiate between rounds. 2.5 Email players/adjust clocks/record leave (Server-only) There are some features only available for events played on the server. Above the crosstable of an event you are directing you will see these links:
"Edit event data" is explained in 2.2 Edit event data above. "Add time to all clocks" provides a method of adding time for all participants. You can use this to compensate for unusual events, such as the server becoming unavailable for a lengthy period of time or for some natural disaster or special event. This is used at the discretion of the tournament director. "Email all players" is a mailto link that addresses all players in the event. The TD may use this to send announcements to all participants. To the right of the crosstable, following each player's tournament information in the crosstable, are these links, one set per player:
"Email" is used to email a single player. Note that the players do not have access to actual email addresses but can only send messages to opponents via the message box when they send a move. This is a privacy issue, so these email addresses should not be shared with other people without permission. "Withdraw" is used to withdraw a player from the entire event. Click on this link and you'll get the following display:
Select the type of withdrawal from the list of radio buttons (only one may be selected) and click "OK" to register the withdrawal, or click "Cancel" to cancel this operation. "Leave" is used to register a player's leave, both regular leave and special leave. Note that normally players can just enter their own personal leave, but the TD may do this for the player. Special leave can only be entered by the TD, though. Click "Leave" and you'll see:
In this screen shot above I have filled in the dates for start/finish of special leave. Note that normally special leave is restricted to 30 days in one year, but the TD may, if there are very special circumstances, grant additional special leave, but this should not normally be done. Click "Grant special leave" to finish the operation. The special leave will be marked on the calendar in red, while regular leave is shown in green. The TD may also remove special leave by entering the dates which should be removed and clicking "Remove leave". If the leave being registered is regular leave (not special leave) then click on the "Take leave" button. NOTE: special leave cannot be granted for dates in the past. If you attempt to do this any dates not in the future will be ignored and only dates in the future will be marked in red on the calendar. If you wanted to credit the player with special leave for dates not in the future the only thing you can do is to add days to the player's time to compensate. This is certainly not ideal (and it may be changed in the future), and you'll have to do it game by game (see 2.6 Edit result/Adjust time for a game (Server-only) below). It is suggested that you notify any affected opponents in an email message to explain the additional time added to the player's time. 2.6 Edit result/Adjust time for a game (Server-only) Don't forget that the server has an extensive set of Help files. Above the crosstable for a server event you'll see this message:
The two help links will give you detailed information on how to set a result or add/remove time. Go to the game page for a specific game and you'll see a TD menu link above the game diagram. Move the cursor over the TD link.
Select "Stop game" if you wish to stop a game pending a decision. If a game is stopped, you can restart the game by going to the same TD menu. Now the "Stop game" link will have been replaced with a "Restart game" link.
Select "Set result" to end the game with a result. Or you can add time to either the white clock or black clock by clicking the appropriate link. 2.7 Withdrawing/Replacing a player To withdraw a player, click on the link "Withdraw" for the player at the right side of the crosstable.
On the resulting page select the kind of withdrawal.
Click on "OK". If the player has actually finished a game by play (not due to withdrawals) you won't be able to substitute another player. Instead, you'll get the following message and choice to adjudicate the remaining games or to cancel your action to withdraw the player.
If the withdrawn player hasn't finished any games you will be allowed to replace her/him. If this is a non-server event the server can't be sure that games haven't been finished and you will see the following message
You can still cancel the whole operation by clicking "Cancel". If you wish to go ahead and withdraw the player, you have a choice between cancelling the remaining games or substituting a replacement player. Click "Replace player" and you will see the following:
Either enter the new player's ICCF ID# or click "Lookup" to search for the player's name. If you use the Lookup feature it will fill in the ICCF id field. Then click "OK" to continue or "Cancel" to cancel the entire operation. After clicking "OK" you'll see the following.
If the player isn't listed in the rating list for the start date of this event you are not allowed to make this substitution. You will have to ask the Ratings Commissioner to add the player to the proper rating list and wait till that is done to make this replacement. Either change the ID# to another player or click "Cancel" and make the replacement later, after the Ratings Commissioner updates the rating list. If the player is in the proper rating list you'll get the following screen.
You can still cancel the whole thing by clicking on "Cancel". Click on "Commit" to make the final replacement of one player with the other. The crosstable will now display with the replacement made. 2.8 Adding a Player
2.9 Team Events Team events have an extra table for the team standings and additional information the TD must keep updated. Here is a sample table from the Champions League, a team event on four boards.
There is a link just above the table to allow the TD to email all the team captains. Note: this requires that the team captains have been identified to the server. To the far right each team has a link "Edit team" which allows editing the team captains and other team information. In the illustration above the cursor is on the "Edit team" link. Click it to get the following page.
The TD may enter/change the name of the team, country and the team captain. For team captain enter the ICCF ID# or look up this information by clicking on the "Lookup" button. Clicking on "Lookup" causes the following popup window to appear to allow searching for the team captain by name. If you don't enter the team captain ID# the links to email the team captain(s) won't work.
Here I have typed in the name "campbell" (upper/lower case doesn't matter). Note that the name may include "wild card" symbols. * = any number of unspecified characters. ? = exactly one unspecified character. These wildcard characters make searching much easier. Suppose you wanted to search for "Lüers". You could try "Luers" or "Lueers". The characters with diacritical markings can cause confusion. Instead you can search for "L*ers", which would find any of these spellings. Click "Find" and you'll get the following display. Note: clicking "Return" on your keyboard will not work in this case unless you first click the "Tab" key to move the cursor to the "Find" button.
If you didn't get the results you expected, you may enter another name and click "Find" again. As with Choose TD above, if the list of names found by the search is lengthy you will get "<" and ">" symbols at the bottom to allow paging to the remaining names in the list. Find the name of the team captain, click the "Select" button next to the name, and this popup window will close. Wait a moment and the "Edit team" page will re-display with the selected person's ICCF ID# in the "Captain" field. Click the "OK" button to make the changes or the "Cancel" button to leave the previous information intact. Note: events that have been imported from Eloquery will be missing the team information. The TD must fill in this information using these edit features. In some cases you may have a guide ... Eloquery may include team names "Team 1", "Team 2", etc. Be sure to replace these team names with the correct team names and also to provide the team captain for each team. At the bottom of the team table are links to the individual board tables.
These tables are like the non-team tables. Here you will find all the links described in the section above under Edit event data. Note: when you change event data for one board, it affects only that one board. I.e., change the name of the event or TD and it will only modify the table page for that one board, not any other board or the team table. You will have to make the changes on every board, and it appears that the event name and TD displayed on the team page cannot be modified at this time. This will probably be changed in the future by adding an edit link to the team table.
2.10 Finding Events If you wish to find an event not listed under your Event list there are a couple ways to do this. You can find the event under the Tables and results link or locate a player participating in the event. To find a non-server tournament using the Tables and results listing click on the "Tables and results" link.
In the resulting list of events click on "Non Server Tournaments"
This will give you a listing of current non server events available to administer on the server. Note that the listing shows headers that will take you to the specific listings for events. Select the general category of events and click on the link.
For instance, after clicking on "National Tournaments" you will get a list of non-server events organized by national federations. Click on the country and you'll see a link of the events by that country. These listings are only for non-server events. For instance, if you click on "ChampionsLeague" you will find only the non-server groups. The groups that were organized as server events are listed elsewhere in the Tables and results page under their own listing, in this case under "ICCF Champions League (CL)". Note: these Tables and results listings are subject to change. They will very likely be re-organized from time to time.
3. For the Tournament Organizer (TO) The TO can create new tournaments on the server, either server-based or email/postal. The TO may also perform some of the duties described for the TD above. Following are descriptions of the TO activities that are not already described in the TD activities under 2. For the Tournament Director (TD) above. The following descriptions are for non-server tournaments, but most of the instructions apply to server events as well. 3.1 Create Event To create a new tournament click on the Create Event link under Administration.
Now you can choose between using the normal server default values or copying the values from an existing event, which make things easier if you are creating a whole series of events that are similar. For instance, if you are setting up tables for the Champions League you may choose to use the server defaults for the first group, then use this first group as a model for all additional groups. The example below starts with default settings. More will be given below using the "copy of an existing event".
Click on Create new event with default settings.
Enter the full name of the event and choose the method of transmission. You are able to create a table for an email or postal event by choosing the appropriate item in the Transmission dropdown. Click the dropdown box and you'll get your choices.
Here the cursor is sitting at the "Email" choice. Click it to choose an email event (or another choice if appropriate). There is also a dropdown list for "Header". This is the header to list the event under on the "Tables and results" page. "Insert at root" means to put it in the listing without putting it under a header. This will list the event in the small list at the bottom of the "Tables and results" page. Most events should be organized under an appropriate heading on that page to keep the listing as simple and logical as possible. For instance, the USA championship would be listed under the "National Federation events" header and there under the "USA events" subheader and, if it is one a several preliminary sections, under the further subheader for all preliminary crosstables for that event. Currently, all email/postal events are listed under the "Non Server Tournaments" header and then under the appropriate subheader there. In this example, the subheader under "Non Server Tournaments" was "Jubilee Tournaments". This is the proper choice for the "Header" field in this example, since it is the lowest level leader for the event. Note that "Non Server Tournaments" would not have been the correct choice, since under that header is a subheader for this event "Jubilee Tournaments". You only want to choose the header your event should be listed immediately under. An administrator should have previously added your header name so that it will appear in the dropdown list for "Header".
After filling in the "Header" field, choose the sponsor from the choices in the dropdown list (if there is a sponsor). You may have the "Create" link after the sponsor field, but that won't be covered here at this time. Check the appropriate checkboxes if this is a team event or a thematic event. Note: additional information will be required for a team event. The description of this information is delayed till the section below 3.4 Adding a Team Event. Check "Ladies only" to limit the player list to women only. These checkboxes are toggles, so clicking them turns them on, then off, then on, etc. Next choose the "Rating rule" from the dropdown. "Unrated" and "Rated" are pretty clear. "InternationalTitleTournament" means the event is rated and title norms can be awarded to the players. If you choose "InternationalTitleTournament" the appropriate title norms will be automatically calculated by the server and displayed in the crosstable. For example:
The first example shows a rated event with title norms available, the second example shows an event that is rated but where title norms are not available. Note: an event can be changed later from a "Rated" event to an "InternationalTitleTournament" event. Note: do not choose "InternationalTitleTournament" unless your are sure the event qualifies. For instance, an event where most players are from a single country wouldn't qualify. If you are in doubt consult the World Tournament Director. You can always set up the event as "Rated" and change to "InternationalTitleTournament" later after verifying that this event qualifies. Note: if you choose unrated, the "Provisional rating" field is meaningless and you won't be allowed to enter a rating. If you specify "Rated" or "InternationalTitleTournament" then you are required to enter a Provisional rating. This is the rating assigned to players in the event who do not have a published ICCF rating or an appropriate FIDE rating and is used for calculating norms and rating changes. Note: if you change the "Rating rule" the whole page will be re-displayed to make the "Provisional rating" field available or not, as appropriate. Following are guidelines for the appropriate "provisional rating" to choose for your tournament.
For a national tournament, calculate the average rating of the ICCF-rated players in the event and insert this rating in the "Provisional rating" field.
Here the "Next" button was clicked without entering a provisional rating. The page remained in place with a red warning message about the missing provisional rating. If this happens, just fill in provisional rating and click "Next". The next page only requires that you enter the number of players in this specific event.
Enter the number and click "Next" and you'll get the following page.
Here the start date has been filled in. If you click the checkbox for "Tournament has end date" the page will re-display allowing you to enter the "End date". Note that if you haven't checked "Tournament has end date" then you aren't allowed to enter an end date, but if you have then the end date is required. In the following example, I simple clicked anywhere on the page to complete the Start date entry. The page re-displayed choosing the appropriate "Rating list".
The connection between startdate and assigned rating list is fixed. The default for rating list should never be changed by the TO. Note that "2006/1" indicates the first rating list published in 2006 while the 2nd rating list published in 2006 would be labeled "2006/2". Now click "Next" to go to the next page.
Now you may specify the TD for the event by typing in the ICCF ID#. In the example above the ID# was not known, so instead the "Browse" button was clicked. This opens a popup window listing the available TDs. Go down the list and selected the required TD by clicking the "Select" button next to the name. Note: If the individual specified in the "Id of TD" field is not registered as a TD on the server, she/he will be rejected with an error message "You must enter an ICCF Id that corresponds to a TD." If you wish to appoint an individual as the TD who isn't on this list, ask the WTD to approve this person and add them to the official TD list on the server.
In this case the main page will re-display with the selected TD ICCF ID# filled in. Click "Next" to get the next display.
Select the various rules that will apply to this event: time limit, pairing rule, and the rest. Note that some fields are not available. Viewing rules only apply to server events (not postal or email). Be sure the time limit is the one intended for your event. Click "Next".
The page above allows the TO to specify how players may register for the event. I have clicked "National Delegate" to indicate players may enter through their national federation. "Direct Entry" may become available soon. In some cases players may enter in another way, by contacting someone in person via email or via the web server. One or more of these methods may be specified. If there is an announcement published on the server already, you may identify it here by its server message number. Check the link to the message, or right click on the message itself and click "Properties" to see the URL of the message. The message number is identified in the message. Currently, this field is rarely used. Following are the URL displays of a message that would be identified as "89", the first from the browser display when you mouse-over the link to the message and the second from the "right click/Properties" method.
The "Qualification Requirements" text box can be used only if the event has not yet been started. Click "Finish". The event is now created and ready for players to be assigned. The next display shown is of your "Event list", same as if you clicked the "Event list" link. Note: if the TO already has the list of players that will participate in the tournament, then all "Event registration" options should be left unchecked. 3.2 Allocate Players to event
If an event has been created but not yet started, the link "Allocate players" is shown for the event in your "Event list". Once the event is started the link changes to "Control". An event cannot be started till the proper number of players have been entered for the event. Click "Allocate players" when you are ready.
The "Player allocation" page displays a running account of the players you have assigned to the event. Here the first player is being assigned by entering his ICCF ID# and clicking "Add Player". If you don't know the player's ID# click "Lookup" and find the player's name on the popup window. The next screen shot shows the situation after having added five players. A sixth is about to be added by clicking "Add player".
This information is pulled in from the on-line rating list. You can check the players to be sure there wasn't a mistake entering the ID#'s. Note that the order of the names is not necessarily the same as the order of your entry. Names are currently listed in order of ICCF ID#. If you make a mistake and assign an incorrect player, just click the "Remove" button at the far right and the name will be removed. The status list shows if a player is registered on the server (can log in). It also shows which players don't have a recorded email address. For email events an email address will have to be entered for every player before you can start the event. For server events all players will have to be registered. If you see a "Details" link at the far left you will be able to enter the player' email address. If a provisional rating is needed for the player you'll see a link in the "Provisional rating" column.
Click on "Enter"
This allows you to look up the player's FIDE rating (uses a facility at the FIDE web site) and manually transfer it to the "FIDE Elo as Provisional Rating" box for this event. Otherwise, the provisional rating for the event (specified earlier) will be used for this player. Continue to enter players till they are all listed. Note that the stats on the event will be updated for each player added or deleted. After entering the 13 players required for this event the top of the display shows the following.
3.3 Start the event You are now ready to start the tournament. If you wish, you may take a break at any time. Just go to your "Event list" again and click on the "Allocate players" link to continue. Following is the display after clicking "Start", but with some players without email addresses (all players in an email event must have email addresses specified to the server).
Note that you would also get an error message if the wrong number of players were listed. Your list can contain too many or too few players until you start the event, but at that time the number of players must exactly match the number specified when the tournament was created.
Here is the bottom of the player list after all players with "No Email" status has been corrected by entering their email addresses. The player shown at the top of this illustration shows a player with status "Offline". This player now has an email address specified but still isn't registered on the server. However, registration is not required for players in email events. Click on "Details" for the last player without an email address to take you to the update page.
Here two changes have been made to the player details. The country has been identified and the email address has been entered (note, for this illustration the real email address was not used). Note: do not make any other changes to the player information. Click "Save changes" and a green confirmation message will appear on the display "Your settings were updated."
Now click the "Event list" link in the left column and click on "Allocate players" to get back to the allocate players page.
After all the players have email addresses assign you can finally start the tournament. Click on "Start".
The server asks you to confirm that you really want to start the tournament. You may click "Cancel" if you have changed your mind, or you may click "Commit" to really start the event. The crosstable will then become available and will be listed in the "Tables and results" area of the server. Also, all the participants in an email event will receive an email notification from the server that the event has been started. If the players also receive a standard email notification with start information from the TD you may want to warn them about this server notification, to avoid confusion. 3.4 Adding a Team Event When creating an event as described above (3.1 Create Event) you may select to create a team events by checking the appropriate checkbox before clicking "Next".
You will then be asked to enter both the number of teams and the number of boards (players per team). Enter these two numbers (3 teams and 2 players per team in this example) and click "Next".
Enter the start date and, if desired, end date, as in section 3.1 Create Event above. Then go through the "Choose TD", "Rules selection" and "Event registration" as above. In the Rules Selection be sure to specify a team selection in the "Pairing rule" dropdown and "Team" in the "Substitution rule" dropdown. For the sake of illustration, in this example the "Pairing rule" was set to standard and the "Substitution rule" was set to "Standard". You'll see the error messages that will be displayed further down when you attempt to start the event with bad (non-team) settings. After clicking "Finish" on the "Event registration" page the event page list will show the event followed by a link to "Allocate teams". (instead of "Allocate players", as with non-team events).
Click on "Allocate teams" to get to the "Team allocation" page.
Note it displays the number of teams to be added, in this example 3 teams. Also note the "Edit event" links, which allows you to go back and change details previously entered. You cannot change this to a non-team event at this point, but you can change some other details, such as the number of teams and the number of boards (players per team). Click "Add Team" and start entering the team information.
Enter the team name, the country (using the dropdown list select a country), and the ICCF ID# of the team captain. If you only have the TC's name, click on the "Lookup" button and search for the name, then click on "Select" next to the name. The page will be redisplayed with the ID# filled in. Click "OK". The display will go back to the "Team allocation" page now, but with the team(s) already set up displayed. You may also start allocating players for the team(s) already set up, but I recommend that you enter all the team info (name, country, TC) first to streamline the process.
Click on the "Add Team" link to add another team. You may click on "Allocate players" for a given board number, but you can only enter player information for the teams already added. You may also click "Remove" to delete a team already entered or "Edit" to change the information you supplied for the team. Note, you can "Remove" a team even if you have already assigned players to the team. In the example below all three teams have been entered. Note the top line includes the information about how many teams need to be defined.
After entering all the teams you are ready to enter the players for each team. You do this one board at a time. In the example below the players for board 1 (for all teams) are about to be selected. Click on "Allocate players" next to the board number.
On the "Player allocation" page the top line tells you which board for which you are assigning players. In this example it specifies Board 1. Enter the player ID# (or use the "Lookup" button to search for the player) and use the team dropdown list to specify the team for the player. I recommend that you systematically assign the players from the first team in the list downward. If you accidentally attempt to assign a second player to the same team the server won't accept it but will display an error message "You can enter only one player per team and board."
In this example a second player was entered for the team "Team Uno" and "Add player" was clicked. You could simply select a different team name from the Team dropdown list and click "Add Player" again, if you wish. The players already selected for this board number are displayed at the top of the page with their team so you keep track of your progress. If the player in the list had been entered for the wrong team you'll have to delete the entry by clicking "Remove" for this player and re-enter the player with the correct team assignment. Note: if you are interrupted and cannot complete the assignments, just come back later and click your "Event list" link. Click on "Allocate teams" for this event and you can resume your work where you left off.
Note: Once you have finished entering the players for this board, click the "Go to team allocation" link to return to the "Team allocation" page. Even if you have finished adding teams, you need to return to the Team allocation" page to continue work. On that page you can click "Allocate players" for the next board or, if you are finished adding all players to all teams, you can click "Start".
If you click "Start" in this example you will get an error message. Note the "Allocated" column above. It shows no players allocated for board 2, so the event is not ready to start. Click "Start" and you will see the following:
In this example the event rule was set to to "Single round robin" when it was created. This isn't allowed, so this error message is displayed. This can be corrected by going to the top of the page and clicking on "Edit event". Click on the "Rules" tab along the top and change the dropdown list for "Pairing rule" to "Team Championship". The "Substitutions rule" dropdown list must also be set to "Team". Then click "OK". On the "Team allocation" page click "Start" again.
Now you see another error message telling you that you haven't allocated the correct number of players. In fact, the display shows zero players have been assigned to board 2. Click on "Allocate players" and assign a player to each of the three teams, then you can start the event. After you start it the players will receive their assignments by email. But be careful, once you have started the tournament you will not be allowed to change many of the selections you have made setting up the event.
Before starting the event you'll be asked if you want to randomize pairings. Check the box if you do, then click "Commit" to start the event and send the participants the start information. If you wish to make the pairings and mail them to the participants yourself, then leave the checkbox unchecked before you click "Commit". |
© 2006 J. Franklin Campbell. All rights reserved.
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31.08.2006 
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