Rules:
The 2018 Gunboat Tournament will consist of two rounds. In the first round, players will play seven simultaneous games, one as each country. Steps will be taken to ensure balanced strength of schedule through seeding by gunboat GR and minimizing repeat opponents, but only the country assignment is guaranteed. Scores across games will be aggregated, and the top 7 players (or 14 if we have 56 or more signups) will make the finals.
In the finals, players will play five games rather than seven so that anonymity isn't totally compromised as games end. No player will play the same country twice. Scores will again be aggregated (from the final five games only) to determine a winner.
Games will be 36 hour phases, anonymous, no press, with hidden draw votes. Scoring will be Draw Size Scoring (WTA for you old timers), which means that these games will be ranked. To ensure that the tournament doesn't run too long, games will be force drawn at the end of 1930. Site rules on held stalemates still apply before then. Buy-ins will still be five points, which we can subsidize for anyone who doesn't have enough.
In the event of a tie in first round scores that would be relevant to qualification, the tie will be broken as follows:
Scores in head to head matchups between the tied players
Total supply centers in head to head matchups
Total supply centers in all games
A game of FvA, draw goes to France
Players will be allowed up to a week of (not necessarily consecutive) pause time per round. Pausing will pause all of your games. If you need additional pause time, you are encouraged to find a sitter not in the tournament (sitting someone's account will disqualify you from subbing or sitting for anyone else in the tournament). Games will not be paused or set to Wait For Orders mode to prevent NMRs. They will be paused to prevent impending Civil Disorder, in order to avoid punishing substitutes. Two consecutive NMRs or three NMRs over the course of a game will result in substitution.
Substitutes will be pulled from a group of volunteers in the first round. Substitute positions in the finals will be offered in order of placement in the first round. Since games are ranked and we don't want to punish people for stepping in, substitutes will be given the option before joining each game of being removed from that game prior to its completion. This will not affect scoring; you'll still get any points from a game you're removed from, as well as any points your predecessor earned before you took over.
Prizes:
1st place: 4000
![Points :points:](./images/smilies/icon_points.gif)
2nd place: 2000
![Points :points:](./images/smilies/icon_points.gif)
3rd place: 1000
![Points :points:](./images/smilies/icon_points.gif)
Other finalists: 500
![Points :points:](./images/smilies/icon_points.gif)
Additionally, each solo in the preliminary round will be awarded 250
![Points :points:](./images/smilies/icon_points.gif)
![Points :points:](./images/smilies/icon_points.gif)
Sign-Ups:
You can sign up here. Your gunboat GR is needed for a "soft seeding" used to keep games relatively balanced. Players are welcome to play in this tournament regardless of their ratings, though players with a reliability rating below 90% will be asked to explain their low reliability before being allowed entry.
Any tournament ends up needing subs, so please do volunteer if you're feeling generous, you're only lukewarm on the prospect of playing, or the start time is inconvenient for you. If I'm worried we won't have enough, I may choose to convert a few of the most recent sign-ups into subs, so sign up early.
Signups will close at noon PST on Sunday, April 22nd (two weeks from now).