Duplicate (as in bridge) CM

[ADAman]

I searched the message board to see if running a CM tournament like a duplicate bridge tournament has been discussed but didn't find anything (did I miss it? Is it common at other sites?). This would seem a good way to segregate tactical skills from the ability to choose the "best" units or any particular luck in the way the map is drawn on a QB. My questions are on the best way to score the games. This post is a bit long but I couldn't find a way to shorten it much.

For those not familiar with duplicate bridge, the score is based on how a person does relative to others playing the same hand. A simple example in CM terms would be…

1. For an 8 person tournament, a moderator would generate, say, 4 separate QBs (A-D). For round 1, persons 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, and 7&8 would pair off and play game A. For round 2, 1&3, 2&4, etc. would play game B. Round 3 would pair 1&4, 2&6, etc. playing game C. Then 1&5, etc. would play D. Ideally, everyone would play everyone but I've limited this example to 4 games.

2. Scores would then be computed based on how an individual did compared with other players playing the same side of the same game. You can win if you do better with your side, win or lose, than others do. Using duplicate bridge scoring but CM nomenclature, the best German score for a game receives 3 points, a 'top', the next best score receives 2 and so on down to the worst score which receives 0, a 'bottom'. The scoring is then done for the Allies. Obviously, if a German scores a top, the corresponding Allied player against whom he played gets a bottom. If there were 16 players, the top score on each side would get 7 points, not 3.

It is obvious (at least to me) that a tournament based on this approach would percolate the strongest tacticians to the top since the play balance of the scenario is no longer a factor. You can win even by losing as long as you lose by less than everyone else playing your side in that battle.

This gets to the issue of this post, how to score "duplicate" CM games. Two obvious approaches are:

1. Similar to duplicate bridge - Assign points to the players based on how they did. Assume the Germans score 3 "Total" and 1 "Minor" victory in game "A". The three top Germans receive 2 points apiece (3+2+1 points split evenly) and one gets nothing while the Allied player opposite the "Minor" German victory gets 3 points and the other Allied players get 1.

2. Compare players to the average score for their side - In the above (assuming "Total" = 4 and a "Draw" = 0), 3 of the Germans would get 4-(13/4)=.75 points, one Allied would get 2.25 points (assuming I didn't bonehead the math) and I don't know the right to do for the rest. Giving negative points seems a bit harsh. In the above example, the German with the minor victory would get a 1-(13/4)=-2.25 points score. This would drop him 4.5 points behind his Allied opponent in just one game. Still, not giving negative points would mean that a player who in his 4 games got one minor victory and suffered 3 total defeats could place higher than someone who got 4 draws and that doesn't seem right.

I'd like to hear if others have tried this approach and any ideas on a "fair" scoring system for it. After I've toyed with this a bit and assuming this isn't a well plowed field, I'll post a follow up with a pointer to the opponents wanted forum where I'll see about hosting a small event to try it out.

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Air Defense: Shoot 'em down, sort 'em out on the ground (AKA - if it flies, it dies)

[Nabla]

Well I must say... Last weekend I thought about this bridge tournament thing too, so I think it's a very good idea. I'm too busy (and tired) to think of the details right now, but I'll get back to this later on.

If the details can be worked out count me in. Note that this idea would also allow very unbalanced games (if the moderator would generate them), which would make this even more interesting.