Any advice as I prepare to take the Sr. TD Exam? Study tips? War stories? Any one have stats on the typically pass rate and/or how many times you usually have to take it before you pass? One downside of being from a relatively small state is that there are not several other Senior TDs to whom I can go for advice.
I would suggest that, for each question, you actually look up the rule(s) in the rule book that apply to the question. Read the text carefully and be sure you can use the text to justify why the answer you chose is the correct one. Yes, this will take time, but I believe it is also an excellent review of the rule book that will help solidify your knowledge of the rules.
I should also add that I’m repeating Mr. Relyea’s advice to “check your work,” but perhaps stating it more forcefully. No matter how confident you are that you chose the correct answer, take the time to look up the appropriate rule(s) and actually prove to yourself that the rule really does justify your answer. Subtle details matter!
Also, be certain you have the rules update document as well as the rule book.
As the test is designed to “weed” tds out of the system, (whether actual design, or actual effect is immaterial) there are generally several correct answers to many of the questions. Thus, the test taker
must as some have suggested, look up the rules, and see why each possible answer could apply, or
should be eliminated as a response. At one time, it was permissible to submit text along with the answers justifying a position. And, partial credit was in fact given for this. Unfortunately, such open-mindedness, from what has been posted in other threads is no longer the rule.
Of course, this is false, as has been both stated and proven in other threads. Several questions do have partial credit specified for incorrect answers that are “close.” The examinee is welcome to submit additional documentation with the completed examination.
Of course this is true, as has both stated and indicated in other threads. And in private emails to Mr Ballou,
I have even named the names of specific examiners in the past who have graded such. It is not proper
to list such dedicated folks in public forums, however. Now, Mr. Ballou has stated that partial credit has been given. However, this certainly has not always been the case. I know of a fact of a specific grader
who consistently awarded all or none.
Mr. Ballou has merely offered his opinion, and it is merely opinion that he has offered, no matter how
informed.
From an exam perspective, if you want to know the least about the capacities of a student to understand the information learned, give them an objective multiple choice test. As a former teacher, we were always warned of the limitations of such exams. A candidate who is good at guessing strategies can answer questions without really understanding the material.
Areas to pay particular attention to on the exam will be:
Pairing scenarios. Often on these exams they give you unrealistic pairing situations with fragmentary information. You are then to reconstruct somehow out of the debris of a nuclear hit on your computer or alien abduction of your pairing cards and do a pairing. It would be better to give full information and let the candidate look at the whole rather than have to guess what might have happened. There are situations where a “legal” pairing can be made that SwissSys and/or WinTD disagree with. There are often ways to shuffle pairing cards that can create legal pairings. Many TDs use SwissSys or pair by hand, in smaller tournaments, rather than use WinTD. Is there a WinTD bias in the exam because the USCF uses WinTD for its national exams? I don’t know, but I have been told that is a possibility. It would be very poor for a candidate to miss a correct answer because he is not using a particular pairing program. In any event, double and triple check your answers to any pairing scenario. Even if you are right and do it that way in your tournaments, you might get it wrong. Recognize that pairing programs and present pairing rules are more color conscious than you might be.
Prize distribution. As you can tell from reading several of the threads, there is some disagreement on how to distribute prizes in tournaments. The Rulebook has several examples of how to do it. Don’t expect to get a clean question which fits the Rulebook or the updates. You may have to peruse the threads to see what some think is the correct way to do it. Stick with the consensus even if you think it is wrong. You may have a different perspective and can back it up, it still might be marked wrong because it does not conform. That is what young people today learn when they do exams in school in order to be successful on a test.
Obsolete areas. There are questions which test that you have read the Rulebook, even if the material is obsolete. Computer chess - when was the last time computers were allowed to play in tournaments. Adjournments - a rarity in today’s play with the use of delay and increment. Few modern directors have ever seen adjournment envelopes. These questions are fillers, but you can trip up if you don’t read the rules which have a more precise interpretation than you remember.
First, try to figure out the correct answer without looking in the rulebook. Then look it up in the rulebook just to be sure.
This will force you to think – and that may increase your chances of passing, and, at least equally importantly, it will get you into the habit of thinking so that you will become a better TD.
(1)
The Senior TD exam has a 20-point pairing question for all of the players in the top score groups that includes all of the opponents played, colors in the games, and any non-played games. They do not include details on irrelevant players that are not in the top scoregroups, but those players are not part of the question. There are multiple ways of pairing the scoregroup and varying points given for answers that are sub-par (generally about 8-10 different possible pairings with their respective points). If an answer is given that is not one of those possibilities, and if the answer is NOT clearly incorrect, that pairing has often been sent in the past to the TDCC chair for review (sometimes garnering 4 to 10 points).
(2)
The ANTD and NTD exams have complex prize distributions. The SrTD and LTD exams have prize distributions that are not designed to be complex. Some test-takers have over-thought those questions and given answers based on an extrapolation of the rules rather than answers explicitly based on the rules. TDs that primarily do trophy tournaments are often vague on the rules for distributing money. TDs that primarily do money tournaments are often vague on tie-breaks for trophies.
(3)
Remember to read the rulebook when taking the tests. Some people take the test closed-book (with reduced pre-requisites needed) but doing so can be very, very difficult because there are a number of questions that require either an eidetic memory or going to the rulebook to check on something like a table.
The OP asked for stats, and I don’t have those, but I do have a sample of one (myself). I took the test earlier this year and passed on my first attempt, but just barely. I remember being quite confident in my answers and thinking I might even have aced it. I was surprised at how many I got wrong. So my advice is to double-check everything and don’t be overconfident.
In my recent experience, the Senior TD test contains some questions with NO correct answers. By this I mean that there is a clear answer, but it is not included in the options. So you have to choose the answer that is closest to being right. My opinion, which I am sure will be contested by others.
It was my understanding that the pairing question was to be answered without using a computer program. If I was wrong, I certainly caused myself a lot of grief.
After submitting my test, I was asked to send comments on my reasons for some of my responses. Fortunately, I had kept good written notes while studying the rule book.
Point 2 is a very clear problem which needs to be further examined as a GREAT many tournament directors earn their spurs directing exclusively scholastic events WITHOUT monetary prizes. The need for “scholastic senior td” is great,
and has been for quite some time. Quite a few scholastic local
level TDs perform admirably in large tournament direction capacities on a regular basis. Time to give them an easier ability to get an upgrade which could be very beneficial not only to them, but the kids they serve and the growth of USCF.
I do not think we are inclined to Balkanize our TDs.
The prize questions are not all that hard if one learns the rule book. And one can ask higher level directors for help in learning how that works. I’ve rarely met higher level TDs who were not willing to help. And since we have these really neat inventions like the Internet, e-mail and the phone, one doesn’t have to be in the physical presence of someone to get help.
Most (as in almost all) of my experience had been scholastic when I took the senior exam. I passed.
The rules for allocation of prize money are NOT very complicated. They do seem counter-intuitive at first. Anyone capable of serving as a Senior scholastic TD should be able to learn how to allocate prize funds. It’s not a big deal. Now if a Senior TD has only run money events, he or she will need to learn about teams and tie-breaks. That is a more complicated issue, in my experience.