ACF has made a few changes that will affect how its tournaments are run next year. They are:
-Starting with ACF Fall, teams will no longer pay their tournament fees to their local host; instead, they will register for tournaments directly with ACF and pay by sending their fee directly to ACF Treasurer Jerry Vinokurov. Hosts will be issued checks by Jerry after the tournament (as will editors). More details on how this centralized payment system will work can be found here.
-The minimum number of meaningful games hosts must guarantee has been changed from eleven to ten. Bear in mind that this is indeed a minimum number; ACF (as always) encourages hosts to run a format guaranteeing teams as many games as possible given staffing, packet number, and time constraints.
-Trophies and prizes: The new centralized payment system will allow ACF to purchase trophies and have them sent to the hosts, which we hope will make things a little easier on the hosts. (The cost of the trophies, which we anticipate being less than $50/site, will come out of the hosts' share of the tournament fees.) The rules on what titles and trophies must be awarded remain largely the same, but I will post them here for clarity's sake:
The updated hosting guidelines may be found here. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about these changes.Trophies: The top two overall teams will receive trophies in all cases. If the host reasonably expects fewer than four undergraduate and/or four Division II teams to play the tournament two weeks before the tournament, when the trophies are ordered, then the host must inform ACF that it will opt out of Undergraduate and/or Division II trophies. If the host receives Undergraduate and/or Division II trophies, or if there are four or more teams that qualify, the Undergraduate and/or Division II titles must be awarded.
Prizes: At a minimum, the members of the top two overall teams, and the top four individual scorers, should receive book prizes. Used books that you can acquire for a few dollars each are perfectly acceptable. For tournaments of ten or more teams, it is strongly preferred that you also give book prizes to the next four overall scorers and to the top four undergraduate and Division II scorers. If the host opts out of Undergraduate and/or Division II trophies, but it turns out that there are enough teams to award either or both of those titles, hosts must award the titles and make reasonable efforts to award prizes to the winners.