Articles STC Open 2006 Ignoring the Numbers TeamChess FICS TeamLeague Master Musings From the Web Contributors Archives by year 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995	From the Web[master] by Tom Klem (TheWiz) Las Vegas, NV USA You may be wondering, if you are playing in the STC Open 2006, how we deal with the self reporting forms and also the problem reports. I thought I would share with you a couple of programs which the volunteers have provided in order to make it just a little easier to track down who dunnit type's of issues. The first program we have is what is known among data processing programmers as a data view. It simply uses a short php script to collect all the information in a table which pertains to this or that round, this or that section, and display it in a first in, last out by date format. One of those reports looks sort of like this (abbreviated to save space): TDS Self Report Usage View for Round 4 Member Section Choice TimeStamp RAMESHB.ICC WICC_Open B:3 3 - Black Won Tue 28Mar2006 22:49:52 VAPOR.ICC WICC_Open B:3 3 - Black Won Tue 28Mar2006 21:46:00 BRET.USCL WUSCL_Open B:8 3 - Black Won Tue 28Mar2006 19:53:04 JGRFILHO.FICS WFICS_Rsrv B:8 3 - Black Won Thu 23Mar2006 09:00:32 Admin Entries ADMIN.STC WICC_Open B:17 Board was deleted Wed 22Mar2006 22:52:07 ADMIN.STC WICC_Open B:17 1/2 Point BYE Wed 22Mar2006 22:50:59 As you can see for yourself, the information is handily laid out to make it easy for your Tournament Directors (RoZa and thewiz) to make sense out of the "he said, she said" issues which come up from time to time. Believe it or not, we have had to rely on this report a number of times to resolve questions from players. Sometimes they won their game and didn't report anything (for who knows what reason), and so therefore there was no entry in this key report. Absence, in this case, does not make the heart grwo fonder. However, having this report does help to sort out the questions. Questions like, "Why was I forfeited?" "I won my game but I didn't get a pairing this round. Why is that?" Well, now you know how we ultimately figure out what happened on those types of issues. Now we come to the all important Problem Reporting system with which some of you are now familiar. When we get a problem report, or even if we do not, an entry is made into another special table in our database which allows us to actually see every problem for every section again arranged by descending date order. That report sort of looks like this: TDS Arbiter Problem View for Round 4 Member Section Problem TimeStamp ETWOEFOUR.ICC WICC_Open B:7 Had agreed to play Insanity at 8 PM ICC time on Monday, 3/27, but I ended up at the emergency room with severe back spasms. Insanity had origionally said he was available on Tuesday (today) so I sent an email and an ICC message requesting that we change the time today, and I explained the situation with the ER visit. Insanity replied that he had requested a forfeiture against me. First, I am requesting that we be allowed to play. Second, I don't want to be removed from the tournament. Thanks! Tue 28Mar2006 21:51:38 WEKABIRD.FICS WFICS_Rsrv B:10 No Submit Sat 25Mar2006 15:33:00 WEKABIRD.FICS WFICS_Rsrv B:10 No Submit Sat 25Mar2006 15:30:31 A-RU.ICC WICC_Open B:6 I tried to send a second message to my opponent this morning, and the automatic mail feature does not seem to be working (the new window that opens just shows my inbox rather than the screen to compose a message). Can I find contact info for my opponent somewhere? Thanks. Thu 23Mar2006 06:13:25 WELSHBLITZER.FICS WFICS_Rsrv B:8 i've sent email to say that i had dropped out,due to finishing with fics server. i regret that this email seems to have been too late to stop my name going in draw.email was sent 06.51 server time on 22/03/06. Wed 22Mar2006 21:11:52 As you can see, all of the links are hot (please don't send any emails to our members), which gives the TDs the opportunity to right away inquire via the email, what the problem is, beyond the report itself, and what is to be done about it. Obviously, this is a "squeaky wheel --- gets the grease" system, where those who communicate do alot better than those who do not. As you can also see, we can see if a player clicked on the problem report link in the self reporting form, but then failed to send in a problem report. That's what the "no submit" entries are all about. While we probably haven't thought of everything, the volunteers and I have worked very hard to make running one of these online tournaments both enjoyable for you the players, and we the downtrodden (TDs and Arbiters). Years ago in primary flight, I had an instructor who drilled into my head the three C's of aviation. When in trouble, we were told, climb, confess and communicate. Brothers and fellow STCrs, please follow that instruction. Climb to the top of your section!!! Confess to us when you are wrong!! Communicate via the problem report when you need help!!