We’ll be starting a ladder challenge at our club in the next week or so. It will run to the end of the year when we will have a 2016 Ladder Champion.
I have a software program set up to do a ladder challenge. The way this works is that I will initially seed those interested in playing based on strength by either US Chess, or other over the board rating, or my approximation of what a player’s rating strength is likely to be. Anyone in the club may challenge a player above them (but, not more than three rungs above) to a short match. If you beat a player higher on the ladder, you replace that person on the higher rung of the ladder and the defeated player takes your place on the ladder.
Because White has the advantage of the first move, a match will consist of two G-60, d10 games with each player playing a game as White. In the event of a tie after two games, there will be one Armageddon final game. Players will draw for White. The White player, having the advantage of the first move, will play the game at G-30 whilst the Black player will play at G-40.
Games will preferably be played at The Grindstone Cafe or anywhere else as needed to meet the schedules of the players, with the exception of the Armageddon game which will be played at The Grindstone Cafe so that all may enjoy the final.
If you are in the Lyndonville, VT area and can regularly make our Tuesday evening meetings, please visit us and consider joining in the fun.
There is one thing about ladders that has always bothered me. What happens if a challenged player simply refuses the challenge? Or is it required that all challenges be accepted?
I’ve discussed this with a friend on the West Coast who suggested that, from his experience, a first refusal be effectively a loss and a second refusal would result in no longer being in the ladder. Both results assume that the refusal isn’t based on a reasonable excuse for not competing.
One of our members has expressed a preference for no Armageddon final in the event of a tie. I think the Armageddon insures less possibility of gamesmanship. We’ll see what the folks in the club prefer.
Out of curiosity, what if a player is always the one being challenged?
For example let’s say Johnny is #1 and everyone (#2-4) is challenging him since, well he’s #1. To the extreme where #2-4 won’t play anybody else but #1 and it seems like #1 is playing all the games.
In other words, when does a player’s ranking become inactive? (doesn’t show up a week or two due to … life )
All interesting questions. Can’t say that I know what the answer(s) would be. What I will do should any of this come up, is gather all the usual suspects and seek consensus as to what to do. Maybe we should impose at $100 challenge fee?
In the “Official Chess Handbook” there is a description on pg. 153-158 of a couple of ways to run a ladder system. If the ladder is based on either a club or USCF rating, then the player can challenge just about anyone on the ladder as he is seeking to gain club rating points. In a ladder with rank ordering, the player who is challenging is limited in how high he can challenge. Whether or not a challenged player can decline a challenge depends on the rules you set up for the ladder.
As I recall, some of the ladder games at one club became very contentious as the top player grew tired of constantly being challenged as soon as he walked in the door of the club. The club secretary put limits on how high one could challenge. One had to work one’s way up step by step and not leap frog anyone. A player could not challenge the same guy more than once in a given time period. The complexity of the rules got so that the club ladder started to fizzle.
The old Harkness “Blue Book” and the hard to find “Official Chess Handbook”, also by Harkness, have lots of ideas for clubs to try out. Older members remember that these were the goto books before there were Rulebooks. The Rulebooks have scant information that is useful for clubs; the focus is on tournament play.
Besides a formal ladder, clubs can also try intraclub team matches, like old vs. young, or interclub matches. Interclub matches sometimes morph into a small chess league. I have seen bar leagues, coffee house or pizza shop leagues get started this way.
I like the idea of a match between those of a certain age and those of us of an uncertain age. We have two guys in their 80’s who were once rated around 1700. We could easily have a four board match. I can keep rating approximations via SwissSys or use CXR. Thanks for the ideas.
I just ordered on of the Harkness books used via Amazon for $5.50.
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