Pace match play
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Pace match play is a bit like running a race. You’re playing your matches, accumulating points along the way, but there’s a minimum amount of progress you need to make to stay in the race. Players who fail to make the required progress are eliminated.
This tournament format plays a bit like a but with more flexibility around when the first elimination happens and the total runtime. It also has a more positive psychological spin as players are accumulating positive points vs. getting unwanted strikes. When compared to knockout tournaments, Pace match play will give all players more minimum guaranteed rounds while still ensuring the tournament ends in a reasonable maximum number of rounds.
Pace match play was invented by .
To start, decide how many initial rounds you want players to play before anyone is eliminated (e.g. seven rounds). Multiply that by four (the average number of points per player per round) to come up with the initial target (in this example 7x4=28).
Next, choose the pace. A normal pace is seven points (equal to getting first place in a match) but you may increase or decrease the pace to make your tournament go shorter or longer.
In your IFPA calendar submission, explain that:
Everyone will play at least 7 rounds. The initial target is 28; anyone who has less than 28 match points after round 7 will be eliminated. The pace increases by 7 points for every round after that. E.g. players who have fewer than 35 points after round 8 will be eliminated; less than 42 after round 9; etc.
Balanced player pairing is recommended since this is an elimination format. As players are eliminated, the best players will naturally play against other players closer to their skill level.
There are no tiebreakers in a Pace match play tournament. Since each round is defined by a point threshold rather than a player count, no eliminations will ever occur between tied players.
A Pace match play tournament can be run as a standalone tournament without playoffs. Simply keep playing until only one player is left. You may have to play a final tiebreaker match in case two or more players are tied at the end.
If you'd like to run a , set the eliminate until setting to the max number of players to take to playoffs. Match Play will stop you from creating new rounds once the field of players has been reduced to that number or fewer.
Recommended playoffs formats for Pace match play tournaments are:
Initial rounds
The number of rounds to play before any player is eliminated.
Initial target
The number of points a player must have by the end of the initial rounds to avoid being eliminated.
Pace
The number of points the target increases by each round after the initial rounds.
Eliminate until
The minimum number of players each round must have.
It's important to note that you will end up with a variable number of players for playoffs. A format like does not handle a variable number of players very well.
or brackets (with byes)
(if the player count is four or fewer)
See also: .