I’m currently trying to write a TLA in which the under prizes are bigger than third place. Someone who I respect has said that that can lead to strangeness in the allocation. Comments?
Alex Relyea
Consider a scenario where Player A, who qualifies for the under prize, finishes third. With the traditional structure of 3rd > UnderPrize, Player A takes the place prize and the under prize goes to Player B, the next under player in line. Player X, who finished higher than Player B but only qualifies for place prizes, does not earn a prize.
When you make the under prize larger than 3rd place, you protect the 3rd place prize for the open players. In the above scenario Player A takes the under prize, 3rd place goes to Player X, and Player B does not recieve a prize. Plug your planned prize amounts into the following scenario: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13861
If the intent is to entice more class players to participate then the higher advertised under prize may have the desired effect, but is likely to create situations that require explaining when it is time to distribute prizes. Perhaps you can split the amount for the under prize into two prizes so that they are smaller than 3rd.
The chance for strangeness can come whenever an open tournament section (such as the single section US Open) has class prizes larger than some of the place prizes, particularly if there is a legitimate chance that a class player will outscore enough of the higher rated players that the class player would actually win an open prize in the absence of the class prize. There have been rare cases at the US Open where an expert has actually earned a share of the place prizes (generally so small that simply taking the expert prize instead is more valuable and what ends up being done).
At least using under prizes instead of class prizes avoids a potential problem if an A and two B players tie for third overall. If third place is $70 and Class A and Class B are each $100 then the A player gets the $100 (the only player eligible for that prize - and taking it alone is better than the three-way split of $270) and the B players get $85 each. If the class prizes are instead U2000 (open to all three players) and U1800 prizes then it is a three-way split at $90 each (if it was two A players and one B player then the B player takes the $100 U1800 prize while the A players get $85 each).
Under prizes also avoid a problem if an A and a B player tie for second (a $150 prize). With class prizes you have to decide which of the $100 prizes to use (A or B) or possibly use half of each (if you go by the number of people eligible to win the equal value prizes then you might consider a B prize with 7 players competing for it to be higher ranked than an A prize with 3 players competing for it). With under prizes it is completely clear that the $100 U2000 prize is higher ranked that the $100 U1800 prize (which has the aforementioned three fewer players eligible for it).