Has anyone done/played in a single day tournament with a merge at round 3?
Basically
Schedule A plays two faster games in am starting earlier.
Schedule B takes a 1/2 point bye for round 1 and plays a slower game 2
Merge for two slower games in afternoon at round 3
Thoughts/comments/suggestions …
Details… (I mapped out other options, too)
Three/Four Round Flex
Slightly off topic, but what is the goal here? I see no reason not to do these as separate tournaments as the appeal the way this is outlined seems very limited.
It stems from feedback and offering something that sort of covers a lot of what was said – opposite intention of limited appeal – so why do you think it has very limited appeal? (this is why I posted to see any pitfalls) I am working with roughly a 9am to 6pm target time -
My thoughts were …
o Some folks won’t play faster than G/60. not out of prize contention taking a bye & playing 3
o I normally do two round afternoon G/60-70 which are popular – (free AM) take byes for 1&2 still could be in contention for prize –
o 4 round G/45 tournaments are well covered in the area - it is what I used to do when I had full days.
o 2 round G/45 (AM only) is good for some youth that have afternoon commitments. they are happy to play & the 1/2 EF no prize adds to payout.
o 4 rounds versus 3 gives a chance for a USCF Norm (yes - I am not sure if anyone cares - no one has ever asked for 4+ rounds for norms – but they have asked for more games in a tournament in general)
o In the past we did have tournaments with slower time controls in the later rounds at expense of faster in early rounds (tougher/money games more likely later) and some stronger players did comment they preferred that.
o It gives some re-entry possibilities which might be incentive for a good player not to immediately withdraw.
o A downside is more schedules mean more chance for an unwanted full point bye for odd number of players which I would try to mitigate – e.g. we have a few players that are ok with only playing to make the section even.
o I know that what folks say they want & what they actually show up for is not always the case. In the past when some strong players said they wanted the longer at least G/90 TC when a local TD did that just for them - they still did not show up 
o We already restrict these non-scholastic tournaments for those under 16 to be rated 1200+ which has worked out well.
o The target number of players for this would be 20-50 players & probably Open & U1600 sections
And, of course, a reason to have 4+ round tournaments is that new players can get publishable ratings after the tournament instead of having to wait for the next tournament. A universal seems to be that players want instant feedback.
I just think you’re going to lose people who don’t like playing faster than G/60 and people who don’t like playing slower than G/60, and that’s troubling. I think it’s just much more appealing to do a, say, 5 or even 6 round G/30 event one week/month and a 3 round G/75 or G/90 in alternation. It might even work to have two rounds of G/90 on, say, the 2 consecutive Saturdays the 20th and 27th.
I just think your tournament which mixes fish with fowl is going to alienate players who will either feel forced to play controls they aren’t comfortable with or take byes they don’t want. By all means do these, just do them over discreet times, not all at once.