Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

Oops! I was indeed unaware of that rule. But I'm going to claim a draw
myself at next move if Carlos repeats the position, since my only
voluntary retreat from perpetual check would be a loss. (Or would that be
unethical from me now? Please, don't comment on the position itself.)

I do not mind playing as Black in my two remaining games, especially
considering the fact that Michael Howe's withdrawal has spared me the
obligation to play a game I do not like (Cavalier Chess - sorry, Fergus)
against a good player.

I think the real issue is to alert the players to the fact that a drawn
game has in fact been achieved so the game can be concluded and the final
round started.

It is evident that both players were suffering from the same misperception
of the PMC draw rules. Carlos had earlier posted an inquiry to the PM page
about a perpetual check draw. I answered him that the rule was the same as
in FIDE--perpetual check is not a draw per se, but always leads to triple
repetion or the fifty-move rule (virtaully always the former).

It is self evident that Carlos intended to achieve a draw--Antoine has a
won game absent the perpetual check--therefor he must have been unaware
that he has done so.

In the last two rounds, the privilege of moving first was given evenly, so
that you would have it as many times as you didn't have it. Since there
are a total of 11 games to play for those of us who played Michael Howe,
we can't all play equally as many games as the first player as the
second. So, in the last round, here is how who moves first will be
decided:

1) The player with the lower total score so far will move first.

2) When players have equal scores, whoever has moved first in fewer games
will move first. For these purposes, any game automatically won against
Michael Howe without actually playing against him will count as a game in
which you moved first.

3) If there is still a tie, the other tiebreaking methods will be used in
the same order they would be for deciding the winner. Whoever loses the
tiebreak would go first. [No ties were left unresolved by the prior
rule.]

4) Exceptions will be made to make sure that no one moves first in fewer
than five games and in more than seven. An average of five to six would
have been enforced, but counting any unplayed game against Michael Howe as
a game in which you moved first raises the total number of games in which
each remaining person in the contest moved first.

With these conditions in mind, here is who will play whom in each game,
with the first player listed first:

Alice Chess

Fergus Duniho vs. Antoine Fourriere
Tony Quintanilla vs. Michael Madsen
Mark Thompson vs. Thomas McElmurry

Anti-King Chess II

Carlos Carlos vs. Fergus Duniho
Roberto Lavieri vs. Antoine Fourriere
Mark Thompson vs. Ben Good
Michael Madsen vs. Mike Nelson [exception]

Cavalier Chess

Carlos Carlos vs. Roberto Lavieri
Ben Good vs. Fergus Duniho
Mike Nelson vs. Gary Gifford
Tony Quintanilla vs. Mark Thompson [exception]

Maxima

Gary Gifford vs. Roberto Lavieri
Ben Good vs. Thomas McElmurry

Takeover Chess

Thomas McElmurry vs. Carlos Carlos [exception]
Michael Madsen vs. Gary Gifford
Mike Nelson vs. Tony Quintanilla

I think this was the fairest way to decide who goes first in each game,
but if Antoine thinks it will be fairer for him to move first in our game
of Alice Chess, given that he would be moving first in fewer actual games
than anyone else, I'm willing to allow it. This is not because I doubt
the fairness of this method, but only because it might appear unfair, and
if I defeat Antoine and win the tournament, I don't want anyone to think
I did it by manipulating the tournament.

This is a misinterpretation of Rule 8 of PMC. Triple repetition is a draw,
just as in FIDE Chess--per rule Zero, all FIDE rules apply except as
contardicetd by the given rules. PMC has a differnt 50-move rule because
the essence of the 50 move rule is irretractable change--and a pawn move
in not unretractable in PMC. Triple repetition is the same as in FIDE,
therefor it isn't stated explictily in the PMC rules.

The game in question is indeed a draw if the player to move chooses to
claim it.

Unfortunately, you can call a draw at PMC only after 50 moves without
capture or promotion, so maybe one or both players are simply taking time
to think. Still, a general rule that third repetition is a draw unless the
game rules specify it to be a loss or a win might be welcome for GCT #2.
Anyway, I'm all for starting Round 3.

I have just finished assigning all the games for the second round of the
tournament. Because some people are playing only three games this round,
not everyone is moving first exactly twice and second exactly twice. Here
is how I determined who would go first in each game. First, I arranged it
so that whoever had won fewer games would go first. I then applied the
following rule: No one could move first in more than two games, and no one
could move second in more than two games. This involved switching the order
of some opponents in a way that worked out consistently for everyone. As
much as possible, any discrepencies will be made up in the last round, so
that each player moves first and second in an equal number of games.

I got preferences for Kamikaze Mortal Shogi graphics from one player for
each scheduled game. My opponent shared my own preferences, but for the
other three games, only one player apiece gave preferences. So those are
the ones I went with.

All games but Maxima are being played with presets that enforce the rules.
It is fitting that Antoine is playing the only game of Takeover Chess in
this round, since he wrote the code for enforcing the rules of this game.
If there are any bugs in the Takeover Chess preset, it will normally be
his responsibility to fix them, not mine. But it would be best to contact
both of us about any bugs in that preset, since a given bug might be in
Game Courier's code instead of in Antoine's.

The third paragraph in my last comment describes an application of the
provision I included in the first paragraph under 'Pairings', which
reads 'If any two players both win the same game against other opponents,
and they have not played each other yet, they may choose to play that game
together instead of what they were previously scheduled to play.'

Since I have decided to go with the first option, anyone who has not yet
played against Michael Howe is considered to have won his game against him
without playing it.

Michael Howe has quit the tournament. The most straightforward way of
proceeding would be to declare him the loser in all his remaining games
without anyone actually playing any of them. It seems that this option may
give an unfair advantage to anyone who hasn't played him yet, though,
since he has won only one game, this would materially affect the score of
only one player.

A second option would be to not count any of his games toward scoring.
This would put everyone on a level playing field against each other. It
would also set a precedent of doing the same for anyone else who quits. It
may seem innocuous right now, given that doing it right now would make a
material difference for only one player, but if someone else quit after
playing more games, it might not seem like such a fair thing to do.

I think that some of the unfairness in the first option may be mitigated
by the following consideration. It gives people who haven't yet played
against Michael Howe the option of playing the game they were scheduled to
play with him against someone else who has already won the game in this
tournament. Although someone who has beaten him at a game will have to
play and win one more game to score just as well as someone who hasn't
played against him, someone who has beaten him has better odds of being
the better player for the particular game he has beaten him at.

Whichever option we go with, there is also the possibility of reassigning
some games before we continue. This may be desirable for those who were
assigned to play Michael Howe for one of their top choices. If you
haven't played Michael Howe yet, and you're interested in a reassignment
of your remaining games, please contact me with the change you would like
made.