07-02-2017, 02:02 PM
amuir Wrote:Three problems with advance pairings:
1. The home team has a big advantage in less travel time = more preparation time.
This does not happen in 4NCL where people already are at venue or in tournaments abroad.
2. Knowing colours in advance is a problem too as this favours the team with board 1 as white as they can win on board count if 4-4.
3. The poor arbiter is only a volunteer and in addition to making the draw, sending results to FIDE, resolving disputes, has to co-ordinate team lists too.
1. It's a small advantage sure, but if pairings are the night before, travel is generally no more than 1hr to any venue (because of the halfway rule), and both teams have a window of close to 14hrs. Nobody preps for almost all of that.
2. The team with white on 1 is barely at an advantage, but wouldn't you rather know you were black in advance? Or how about combine problem 1 with problem 2 and find a solution, so the side slightly disadvantaged with travel can have the slight advantage of white on 1?
3. Tell you what, for the literal 10mins it would take to forward on the emails basically, I will even volunteer to do it for a neutral match to me if it is too much for the organiser.