Originally Posted by KiD
Why? It can't be due to pressure put on by some eccentrics, surely?
Simply due to field size.
You will notice that splitting fields into divisions is common in the very large tournaments such as held in Canberra or Parramatta.
When the eccentrics played the Club had just taken the cap off memberships (capped at 100 for 12 months), and the fields surged to 106 (2000), 117 (2002) etc (memberships peaked at 186). The divisions were a solution to ensuring competitive games; the traditional approach for large Swisses. (What was unique at Box Hill was the intermingling of pairings between divisions. This intermingling would not be appropriate in a week-end Swiss, but is a good solution in a SWISS played at the rate of one game per week).
After the move to a new venue, and with the growth of four new Clubs (Dark Horse, Croydon, Noble Park, and Canterbury Juniors <Tuesday>), our field sizes have settled at 60+ on a Friday.
Simple two round acceleration is now the appropriate method to ensure competitive games.
MOZ*