I think based on the time controls you used that submitting rounds 1-3 for dual rating and rounds 4-6 for quick-only was probably the best choice. (Yeah, it’s contrary to what one might expect, but this WAS an insanity after all. I’ve always wanted to run one, I don’t know that we’ve had enough crazy players here in Nebraska to make it work, though.)
An alternative would have been to submit rounds 1-6 for quick rating and rounds 1-3 as a separate section for regular rating. I don’t know which of the two the Ratings Comittee would prefer, I doubt most players would see enough of a difference for it to matter. (Though I will say I’ve read more than my share of emails from irate parents about the two points their son didn’t get in some event for some reason, perceived or real.)
As to the signup issue, the primary reason we aren’t using the historical records for validation is that they’re inaccurate and incomplete. Also, you may have brought in an outside TD to run a couple of events for you, but that doesn’t mean you want him or her submitting events using your affiliate ID all the time. How can I tell the difference between a rent-a-TD and a local TD who directs for you every now and then?
There have also been a number of highly publicized in-state feuds where TD X no longer is considered friendly by Affiliate Y. I also know of some not-so-public problems as well where someone submitted events using an affiliate’s ID without the affiliate’s knowledge or consent.
We’re having similar data validation issues with affiliate signups, we need to have someone we know to be an officer of the affiliate make the request but in more than a few cases the officer records we have on an affiliate are YEARS out of date. (In one case, the person listed as President died a decade ago!)
Two more related signup issues:
About 25% of the TDs who have tried to sign up are not listed on the USCF records as being current certified TDs. In one recent case, according to the USCF’s records that person’s local TD card expired in 1997.
Similarly, at least a dozen affiliates have tried to sign up though their affiliate had lapsed, in one case in October of 2003.
These are all, for the most part, one-time issues, and I’d rather take a fairly conservative approach to them, even if it upsets a few people, than take an approach that turns out to be too permissive.
Are there better ways to do it? Perhaps, but at this point I’d rather spend the time working on the modules that aren’t done yet rather than reworking the ones that already do work, even if not optimally.
The fee for submitting events on disk is 20 cents per game with a $5.00 minimum fee. The fee for submitting events online is 18 cents per game (a 10% savings) with a $3.00 minimum fee.
Once we get deposit accounts working, I think the minimum fee for those will be $1.00.
