We are also talking about a US Chess rated tournament and an OP that is already used to using a pairing program.
If the OP understands the pairing rules, will not be spending a lot of time on pairings when he wants to monitor play, and is not planning on doing an upload in TD/A then using pairing cards is a decent option.
If the OP understands the pairing rules, will not be spending a lot of time on pairings when he wants to monitor play, and is willing to do the work after the fact to do an upload in TD/A then using pairing cards is a decent option.
Pairing small events by hand is a great way to learn those rules. Low risk, usually not a significant time delay as you figure things out. If you make mistakes, or rather, when you make mistakes (which some of your players may gladly point out ) youâll know better next time.
Perhaps you wonât get to practice some of the techniques youâd only learn pairing a larger event, and yes, you many end up spending more time to enter results online for rating purposes, but worth the time and effort IMHO.
It used to be that most TDs would learn pairings on the job (OTJ) and most (not all) players would be a bit more willing to cut some slack for relatively green pairing TDs. Nowadays computer pairings seem to have reduced that willingness to accept errors.
A lot depends on what the players expect. If the players accept a fairly casual environment that focuses on enjoying the competition and can calmly handle corrections to pairings then OTJ learning is possible and doing manual pairings for a small event can more quickly improve a TDâs abilities. If the players are going to be regulars and the TD develops a reputation for handling pairing problems reasonably then that makes the players more likely to calmly accept such problems. If there are hyper-sensitive players or attack-helicopter parents/coaches that may strenuously berate the TD while protesting any variance from the rules (generally causing a commotion and disrupting the event) then it is better to learn pairing logic outside the tournament environment. In the Tournament Director Certification Committee (TDCC) weâve seen complaints submitted to the office for errors in pairings.
Such players, coaches, parents, etc. may also verbally attack variances that they incorrectly think occurred (weâve seen those in TDCC as well - generally resulting in the complaint being ruled frivolous and the good-faith filing fee being forfeited), so learning pairing rules gives you a way to answer such complaints by comments other than âthat is the way the computer did itâ. For that matter, sometimes the tournament settings, or the usage of the program, are not correct (weâve also seen those in TDCC) and you can better notice such situations if you know the pairing rules.
With a small group of players playing in his backyard, I doubt there will be many complaints about pairings whether it be by pairing card or computer program. I would be more concerned about potato salad dropping on the keyboard or the printer being knocked off the table by kids playing tag between rounds. You can stuff pairing cards in your pocket. I have always showed âhow the sausage was being madeâ to players who were interested in the pairings while I used pairing cards. Usually it did not take too long to show that the âunfairâ pairings were the only legal pairing or more fair than other possibilities. Complaints were often over not wanting to play a certain player or wanting White when due Black. During complaints I never went so far as one TD I knew who would place a .38 revolver on the table when there was a dispute of his ruling. He used to make pairings with his girlfriend sitting in his lap. As laptops go, she was amazing.
) youâll know better next time.