MonsterDYP

MonsterDYP is the mode for open evenings. Every player plays for themselves, gets a new partner and new opponents in every round, and the ranking is per player. Players can arrive late, take a break or leave early without breaking the tournament. DYP stands for “draw your partner”.

Entry type: MonsterDYP only. You need at least 4 players. Groups are not supported.

How a round is drawn

Round 1 forms teams of two from the entry list and pairs them. With Randomize entries before tournament start, on by default, the list is shuffled first. If the number of players does not divide into matches of four, the leftover players get a bye in round 1 and play first in round 2.

Every later round is drawn by a search over thousands of random team combinations. Each candidate round is judged by these criteria, in this order. A higher criterion always beats a lower one; the lower ones only decide between rounds that are equal on the higher ones.

1. No bye twice in a row. A player who sat out the previous round plays in this one.
2. Byes are spread evenly. Nobody gets a second bye while somebody else has had none. The difference in bye counts across the field never exceeds one.
3. No repeated partners. Two players who have already played together are not put in the same team again, as long as any combination without repeats exists. With 4 players that is 3 rounds, with 8 players 7 rounds, with 20 players 19 rounds.
4. Few repeated opponents, no identical teams. Every pair of opponents that has met before counts against a round, and a team that played in exactly this line-up in the previous round counts even more. The bye is also weighed here: players with fewer matches than average are kept playing, and a player who has played many rounds in a row without a bye is preferred for the next one.
5. Balanced matches. Among the remaining candidates, Kickertool prefers rounds where the two teams of a match have a similar combined standing, so the leader does not team up with the second and play the last two.

After the search Kickertool swaps single players between teams to remove any repeated partner pair that is still left, and orders the matches so that repeated opponents are as rare as possible.

The table

Columns in sorting order:

1. Average Points (fair) (ØP*), see below.
2. Buchholz Score 1 (average) (ØBH₁): the average points per match of all opponents you faced. A high value means strong opposition.
3. Encounters Difference, Set Difference, Goal Difference.

Match Count shows how many matches a player has played and is not used for sorting.

Average Points (fair)

Points per match is the only fair measure when players have played different numbers of matches. Kickertool uses Average Points (fair): your points divided by your matches, with a correction for players who played clearly fewer matches than the field.

• The reference group is everybody who was there from round 1 and is still playing.
• The minimum number of matches is 75 percent of the average match count of that group, but never more than 75 percent of the number of players in it. Example: after 8 rounds with a full field the minimum is 6 matches.
• A player who joined late and has fewer matches than the minimum gets the correction. For every missing match, the average points per match of the field are subtracted from their points before dividing. As soon as they reach the minimum, the correction disappears for good.
• A player who paused or left the tournament keeps the correction as long as their match count is below the minimum.
• Corrected values are marked with a star in the table.

Example with 2 points per win and a field average of 1.0 points per match: a player joins in round 5, wins 3 out of 3 matches and has 6 points. The minimum is 6 matches. 3 missing matches cost 3 times 1.0 points, so the fair average is 3 divided by 3, that is 1.0 instead of 2.0. After 3 more matches the correction is gone.

Players who come and go

MonsterDYP is built for a changing field. Everything happens in the discipline’s player list.

• Late check-in works at any time. A newcomer is placed in the running round right away if the bye holders and the newcomers together make up a match. Otherwise they play from the next round. Their first round is remembered for the fair average.
• Pause a player who needs a break. Paused players are skipped in the draw and keep their points. Choose Unpause and they are back in the next draw. Pause and send back also removes them from the current waiting queue for tables.
• Remove from Tournament takes a player out for good. Their results and their place in the table stay.

Options

• Prevent Byes: everybody plays in every round. If the player count does not divide by four, one or more teams get three players instead of a bye. Round 1 then pairs the first team with the second instead of the first with the middle.
• Pre-Draw Matches when possible: draws matches of the next round on free tables while the current round is still running. Set a Planned number of rounds with it; the New Round button is then hidden and rounds are created automatically until the number is reached.
• Randomize entries before tournament start: shuffle the player list before round 1. On by default.
• Draw: allow drawn matches.

Running the stage

• Start each round with New Round when all matches of the current round have a result, or let the pre-draw handle it.
• The latest round is shown on top of the round list.
• You can remove the latest round as long as it has no results.
• Kickertool never runs out of rounds: when every partner combination has been used, partners repeat, but as late as possible.

Tip

For a club evening with an unknown number of players, turn on Prevent Byes and the pre-draw. Nobody waits, and you decide when to stop.

FAQ

Why is there a star next to a player’s points?

The star marks a corrected Average Points (fair) value. The player has played fewer matches than the minimum, because they joined late, paused or left. For every missing match the field’s average points per match are subtracted before dividing. The star disappears once the player reaches the minimum number of matches.

Can players join after the tournament has started?

Yes, at any time. A newcomer is placed in the running round right away if the bye holders and the newcomers together make up a match. Otherwise they play from the next round.

Why do two players get the same partner again?

Every partner combination has been used. With n players that happens after n minus 1 rounds. From then on partners repeat, but Kickertool puts each repeat as late as possible.

How do I avoid byes?

Turn on Prevent Byes. If the player count does not divide by four, one or more teams get three players instead of somebody sitting out.

What happens when a player leaves early?

Choose Remove from Tournament in the player list. Their results and their place in the table stay. If they only need a break, use Pause instead; paused players are skipped in the draw and keep their points.

Next steps

For a survival variant of the same idea see Last One Standing. For a fully balanced schedule with a fixed player count see Whist.