DaveSigaty: Correction of basic idea (2010-01-03 15:59) [#6885]

I think the idea of a generalized knockout is that everyone continues to play every round but each round subdivides the prizes that the players are competing for. In the initial round everyone is competing for all prizes. However, half the players lose in the first round. In the second round all the first round winners are playing for the top half of the prize table while the first round losers are now playing for the bottom half. The results of the second round subdivide the competitors into four groups:

• First round winners who also won in the second round are competing for the top 1/4 of the prize table,
• First round winners who lost in the second are competing for the second 1/4 of the prize table,
• First round losers who won in the second round are competing for the third 1/4 of the prize table, and
• First round losers who also lost in the second round are competing for the fourth 1/4 of the prize table.

And so on.

By irrevocably segmenting the competition based on the results of each round, this system rewards wins (penalizes losses) in the early rounds. In a 16-player four-round tournament, for example, four players will end up with results of 3 wins and 1 loss. Among the four:

• The person who losses in the first round and wins the rest of their games will finish ninth (top of the bottom half of the table),
• The person who losses in the second round and wins the rest of their games will finish fifth (top of the second 1/4 of the table),
• The person who losses in the third round and wins the rest of their games will finish third (top of the second 1/8 of the table), and
• The person who losses in the third round and wins the rest of their games will finish second (bottom half of the top 1/8 of the table).

I think this is the system described in the BGA link referenced at the end of the page.

I think that the stepladder competition described in the Wikipedia link is what is commonly referred to as win and continue tournaments in the Go world. The preliminary rounds of the Ryusei tournament in Japan are played in this format. Ranking within the eight blocks is determined based on the results in the previous year's tournament.

No?