2022 MCC Rapid Matchplay Championship

Tournament to be played in a manner similar to the FIDE World Cup, but where all players who are knocked out prior to the semi-finals are inserted into a “Consolation” Swiss tournament instead of being eliminated altogether.

All pairings will be determined using Tornelo (if any player has no Tornelo rating, their rapid or classical FIDE or ACF rating may be used instead).

Time Control
Allegro games - 13 minutes per game + 2 seconds per move
Blitz games (if needed) - 3 minutes per game + 2 seconds per move
Armageddon games (if needed) - White: 5 minutes, Black: 4 minutes (for all moves)

Entry Fee
$45 per MCC adult member; $35 per MCC junior/concession member (add $15 for non-MCC member).
Free entry for any MCC member GM/WGM, IM/WIM or FM/WFM.

MCC Membership Applications/Renewals

Timetable
Mon 3rd Jan, 7.15pm - Preliminary Qualification
Mon 10th Jan, 7.15pm - Knock out rounds 1 & 2 (Consolation Swiss rounds 1-4)
Mon 17th Jan, 7.15pm - Knock out rounds 3 (Qtr Finals) & 4 (Semi Finals) (Consolation Swiss rounds 5-8)
Mon 24th Jan, 7.15pm - Knock out round 5 (Final) (Consolation Swiss rounds 9-12)

Prizes (provisional)
$1,400 prize pool
Knock Out - 1st - $400, 2nd - $300, 3rd - $200, 4th - $100
Consolation Swiss - 1st - $100, 2nd - $60
3 rating groups: 1st - $50, 2nd - $30

Format
Tournament to be played in a manner similar to the FIDE World Cup, but where all players who are knocked out prior to the semi-finals are inserted into a “Consolation” Swiss tournament instead of being eliminated altogether.

All pairings will be determined using Tornelo (if any player has no Tornelo rating, their rapid or classical FIDE or ACF rating may be used instead).

Knock Out Tournament:
Monday 3 January 2022 – Preliminary Qualification (only required if number of entries is greater than 32 players – if entries are equal to or less than 32, the tournament will proceed to Round 1 and the event shortened by one night).
All players will play a 5 round Allegro Swiss.
The top 32 finishing players will then qualify for round 1.
Tornelo's tie-break system may be used to determine the final players who finish in the top 32.

Monday 10 January 2022 – Round 1 (round of 32) and Round 2 (round of 16)
The 32 qualifiers will be seeded into round 1 by the following method:
- Standing in the qualification tournament; then
- Their Tornelo rating (or alternative rating if applicable)

All 32 players will be inserted into a pre-determined draw such that the top seeds are as far apart as possible in the draw at all rounds.

All players will be paired for round 1 according to seeding (i.e. 1 v 32, 2 v 31, 3 v 30, etc). Pairings for round 2 will then proceed per the pre-determined draw.
For each round, all players will play a match of 2 Allegro games.
If scores are equal after the 2 Allegro games, then the following series of blitz games will determine the match winner:
- Best of 4 blitz games; then
- Best of 1 Armageddon blitz game with draw odds for black.
Colours for pairings of the Allegro games, the blitz games and the Armageddon games will be done randomly.

Monday 17 January 2022 – Round 3 (Quarter-Finals) and Round 4 (Semi-Finals)
The format will be the same as for rounds 1 and 2.
The winner of each Semi-final will enter the Final.
The loser of each Semi-final will enter the 3rd Place Playoff.

Monday 24 January 2022 – Round 5 (Final and 3rd Place Playoff)
The format will be the same as for the preceding rounds, except that each Allegro match will be best of 4 games (instead of 2 games).
If scores are equal after the 4 Allegro games, then the following series of blitz games will determine the match winner:
- Best of 4 blitz games; then
- Best of 1 Armageddon blitz game with draw odds for black.
The winner of the Final will finish in 1st place in the Tournament and the title of MCC Rapid Matchplay Champion.
- The loser of the Final will finish in 2nd place in the Tournament.
- The winner of the 3rd Place Playoff will finish in 3rd place and the loser in 4th place in the Tournament.

Consolation Swiss Tournament:
All rounds of the Consolation Swiss will be played at Allegro time control (13 mins + 2 secs).

Monday 10 January 2022 – Rounds 1-4
Round 1 will comprise all players who initially failed to qualify for the Knock Out Tournament. This may include (at the organiser’s discretion) any player who wishes to enter as a late entry. Colours for pairings for round 1 will be done at random. Colours for round 2 pairings will proceed per normal Tornelo process. Players who are eliminated from round 1 of the Knock Out Tournament will be inserted into the field before round 3 of the Consolation Swiss. Each such player will be allocated a score equal to that of the leader of the Consolation Swiss at the end of round 2. Pairings for round 3 and 4 will then proceed per normal Tornelo process.
Players who are eliminated from round 2 of the Knock Out Tournament will be inserted into the field before round 5 of the Consolation Swiss. Each such player will be allocated a score equal to that of the leader of the Consolation Swiss at the end of round 4.

Monday 17 January 2022 – Rounds 5-8
The format will be the same as for preceding rounds.
Players who are eliminated from the Knock Out Tournament Quarter-Finals will be inserted into the field before round 7 of the Consolation Swiss. Each such player will be allocated a score equal to that of the leader of the Consolation Swiss at the end of round 6. No further player insertions will be needed after round 7.

Monday 24 January 2022 – Rounds 9-12
The format will be the same as for preceding rounds.
Prize winners be determined by the final standings as at the end of the tournament (i.e. round 12).

Rating
The event will be Tornelo rated only.

Results/Pairings
In Chess Chat tournament discussion thread

Tournament Organiser and Arbiter
Thai Ly (0421 912 296 or melbchessclub@gmail.com)

Further Questions
melbchessclub@gmail.com