MatchMaster-R

We called this type of equTournament MatchMasterbecause the software itself makes all of the decisions regarding match pairings. This is in contrast to ALPHA where the tournament officials decide who plays against whom. In MatchMaster-R, the software chooses an optimal schedule to measure the strengths of the competitors. If the software decides that Peter must play against John for a second time, then it would be so, despite the fact that Peter has not yet played against Steve for instance. Such a scenario is not possible in the traditional scheduling system.

Tournament officials and players have some influence on the tournament schedule but only before the draw when they can set certain tournament parameters. After the draw, however, all of the decisions are made exclusively by the software itself and the tournament officials can only enter the results and update the ranking.

Here is a description of MatchMaster-R. As an example we choose a basketball tournament.

Step 1

Create a new MatchMaster-R tournament, open it, and fill out the Sign-up list.

Step 2

Before the draw participants and tournament officials should agree on the number of "rounds" to be played in the competition. You can use MatchMaster-R for a one-week tournament, but also you can use it for an entire season.

Step 3

Set the Next Round policy by choosing between proportional and random types and by setting the depth parameter. When the software generates a schedule it takes both into account. How it works will be explained below in Step 7. In this tournament we set type to proportional and
depth to 7.

Step 4

Set the measure of the result.

Step 5

Click the Draw button and the software will randomly generate the first two rounds of matches. At this stage anyone can play against anyone.

Step 6

Enter and submit the results for the first two rounds, and click the Update Ranking button to compute the initial ranking.

Equtar produces two rankings:

• a main ranking
• an accumulation ranking

An accumulation ranking is a cumulative type of ranking, where a victory is rewarded by 2 points, a tie by 1 point and a loss by 0 points.

Step 7

Click the Next Round button. Based on the existing ranking the software will compute the best possible match pairings for the next round. Here the depth parameter comes into play. In this tournament, depth = 7. So for every team the software will choose an opponent in the range of -7 to +7 in relation to the position of the team in the ranking. For instance, for team L which is 8th in the main ranking, the software will choose an opponent in the range of 2 to 15. It might happen that L could play against someone outside of this range but this chance is very small and would require that every other team within the 2-15 range already have an opponent.

Step 8

Enter and submit the results of the third round and click the Ranking Update button to obtain the new main ranking and accumulation ranking. If the number of rounds played is smaller then was originally planned, repeat steps 6, 7 and 8.

We strongly recommend that you practice using MatchMaster-R before you decide to use it officially. If at some point of using MatchMaster-R, you realize that the tournament would be better served by using ALPHA, then you can export the tournament and import it as a ALPHA type. To export a tournament, please go to: Main Menu > Tournament > Export.