The grand winks cuppers tournament 2020

Results

Final

COVID-19 (late entrant, drink a fine) was the winner.

Group stage

WiddlyTwinks has defaulted, which means that the tournament format had to change to an all-play-all. There will still be a final double-length play-off match between first and second, and third and fourth places, held either in week 5 or in the Easter term.

Peterhouse has disappeared without trace and are assumed defunct.

*"The ones who aren't on any of the other teams", formerly known as "Novices"

Team sign-up:

There is a sign-up fee of £5 per team. This fee covers tournament entry and provides all members of the team with a nominal membership to CUTwC for the entirety of Lent term (this allows members to turn up to CUTwC sessions throughout the term including cuppers but does not entitle these member to vote on any club issues unless they are also full members of CUTwC).

In order to form a team, all members of the team must be part of some common group, traditionally Cambridge colleges or departments. This group can be linked by something other than college/department, however it must be a reasonable link and what is considered reasonable is at the discretion of the tournament organiser. Collaborations are permitted (e.g. St John's and Trinity College could form an unlikely partnership) but this must be acknowledged in the team's name.

In order to enter a team the team captain must email the tournament organiser (Edward Brown) with your team name; team captain's name, college/department, and contact details; and the name and college/department of at least one other member of the team (but preferably all three other members). This must be done by the entry deadline, which is 10:00pm Friday 31st January Monday 3rd February 2020.

You cannot change team members midway through the tournament (unless permission is given by the tournament organiser), and the tournament organiser must be informed of the name and college/department or all team members prior to their first involvement in a cuppers match.

By entering the tournament, you acknowledge that you will have to pay the £5 entry fee for your team. This can be paid by either:

• Cheque payable to Cambridge University Tiddlywinks Club posted to Dr Stew Sage, Selwyn College Cambridge, CB3 9DQ
• Bank Transfer to "Cambridge University Tiddlywinks Club" (ask for details).

The rules regarding the game and the tournament:

The games themselves will be played using the standard ETwA rule set. A link to the simplified version of the rules (covering most aspects of play and being vaguely understandable for beginners!) as well as a link to the full rules are included below.

• https://etwa.org/rules/simplerules.pdf
• https://etwa.org/rules/rules2016.pdf

The rules and format of the tournament are to be as follows:

• The format of the group stage of the tournament will be a semi-swiss, in which teams will be allocated to each other via an algorithm based on how many matches they have won up to that point.
• The group stage will consist of 5 matches per team split over 5 'Match Weeks'.
• Each 'Match Week' will run from Thursday to Wednesday. Each week's matches must be completed by 23:59 on the relevant Wednesday.
• The first 'Match Week' will conclude 23:59 Wednesday 5th February, and the remaining four 'Match Weeks' will conclude on the next successive four Wednesdays.
• Matches will be announced via a Google Document accessible to all team captains. The first round of matches will be released on Friday 31st January Tuesday 4th of February, otherwise matches will be announced on the Thursday of every week.
• It is recommended that matches be played every week at CUTwC meetings, however matches my be rearranged to an alternative date/time as long as both parties are in agreement (this includes the splitting of matches across multiple days/locations).
• Rearranging Matches:
  • It is assumed that all matches will be played at Wednesday CUTwC meetings unless specified otherwise.
  • Rearranged matches do not require an umpire, however in the event of an in-game ruling being required a 3rd party may be enlisted to settle a dispute - any other disputes should be brought to the attention of the tournament organiser.
  • Every effort should be made to rearrange matches if required by one team.
  • If one team cannot play a match at a CUTwC meeting, and every effort is made to rearrange the match but this is unsuccessful, then the team able to attend the CUTwC meeting is eligible to claim a walkover if at least ¾ members of the team attend the CUTwC meeting.
  • In the event of a walkover being claimed then the captain of the claiming team must submit satisfactory evidence to the tournament organiser that every effort was made to reschedule the match. Without sufficient evidence then the score of the match will be considered 0-0.
  • The points awarded for a successfully-claimed walkover are 20-0.
• Matches consist of 4 games (2x2 simultaneous games with both pairs from each team of 4 playing both opposing pairs), each game taking approximately half an hour.
• Any match which would otherwise end in a draw will compete for a bonus point via a Peterhouse Pot style game in which one player from each team is nominated to take part.
• Pair A and B may consist of different player combinations between matches (out of the 4 players in your team) but not within a single match.
• Missing Players:
  • If one member of a pair cannot attend a match for any reason, then the match can be played with only one member of a pair present.
  • In this event the player playing singles can only achieve a maximum result of a 3-4 loss regardless of how much better the result may be; the opposing pair can still earn maximum points from winning the game but cannot lose or draw, with any such results being converted to a 3-4 in their favour.
  • In this event the player playing singles will have half of their final points from each game transferred over to the opposing team.
  • If both pairs are missing a player, then all scores from the game are halved after being calculated to give the final game score.
  • The above rules are to ensure that it is always better to play a game singles than forfeit, but that it is always even better to have both members of a pair present.
• The score of each match is added together to create the final match score (e.g. a match with scores 5-2, 3-4, 6-1, 6-1 would result in a final score of 20-8).
• Should a match not be played by the deadline for any reason (except when a walkover is claimed successfully) then the score of that match shall be 0-0.
• Match scores should be emailed to the tournament organiser as soon as they are available in full.
• In determining the order of the group, teams will be ranked firstly on points accumulated, then on match wins, and lastly on head to head.
• The semi-final, final, and 3rd place playoff will take place in Easter term, and will consist of the 1st place group stage team playing the 4th place team in one semi-final, and 2nd and 3rd in the group making up the other semi-final.
• The semi-final matches will be the same as the group stage matches, while both the final and the 3rd-place play-off will consist of both pairs in a team playing both pairs of the opposing team twice each; all of these matches will again be decided by a Peterhouse Pot with a nominated player in the case of a draw.
• If one member of a pair cannot attend a match for any reason, then the match can be played with only one member of a pair present.
• In this event the player playing singles can only achieve a maximum result of a 3-4 loss regardless of how much better the result may be; the opposing pair can still earn maximum points from winning the game but cannot lose or draw, with any such results being converted to a 3-4 in their favour.
• If both pairs are missing a player, then all scores from the game are halved after being calculated to give the final game score.
• The above rules are to ensure that it is always better to play a game singles than forfeit, but that it is always even better to have both members of a pair present.
• The score of each match is added together to create the final match score (e.g. a match with scores 5-2, 3-4, 6-1, 6-1 would result in a final score of 20-8).
• Should a match not be played by the deadline for any reason (except when a walkover is claimed successfully) then the score of that match shall be 0-0.
• Match scores should be emailed to the tournament organiser as soon as they are available in full.
• In determining the order of the group, teams will be ranked firstly on points accumulated, then on match wins, and lastly on head to head.
• The semi-final, final, and 3rd place playoff will take place in Easter term, and will consist of the 1st place group stage team playing the 4th place team in one semi-final, and 2nd and 3rd in the group making up the other semi-final.
  • If fewer than 5 teams enter the tournament then no semi-finals will be played, and the top two teams in the group will compete in the final.
  • If fewer than 3 teams enter the tournament then no group stage games will be played, and the final will consist of each pair from a team playing each pair from the other team three times to determine the overall score for the final.
  • If only one team enters the tournament then they shall have won a truly meaningless competition

Equipment:

Each team member will be provided with a free squidger for participation, and mats and winks will be provided at Wednesday CUTwC meetings - if you need to rearrange matches then it is your responsibility to ensure that you a have a mat and a set of winks to use (these can be bought from the club or borrowed from other players).

Any rule disputes should be brought to the attention of the tournament organiser immediately. The tournament organiser's decision regarding any rule dispute is final.

The tournament organiser reserves the right to alter or add rules to the tournament in order to prevent rule abuse.

For further information please either email the tournament organiser or see the CUTwC website (https://cutwc.org/).