ISU Sammarinese I (online quiz league, weekly matches, mid-Feb to March 2024)

[CPiGuy]

This is an announcement for ISU Sammarinese I, the first tournament to be held on the Sammarinese format. A full description of the match ruleset can be found here.

Questions
The tournament will use a set of 6 packets written specifically for the format by the Iowa State University quizbowl team. We are targeting a similar difficulty to "two-dot" collegiate tournaments, likely erring on the easier side. The questions will follow this distribution and subdistribution.

Team composition and eligibility
This is a tournament for teams of exactly two players. Other than this restriction, there are no conditions on team composition for the primary ("open") division.
If there is sufficient interest (i.e. at least four teams), there will be a separate high school division. Teams are eligible for the high school division if neither of their players will have graduated high school (or their country's equivalent) by January 31, 2024. Teams need not represent the same high school. If there is not sufficient interest, the high school teams that have signed up will be given the choice between playing in the open division or dropping from the tournament.

Dates
The tournament will run over six weeks, from February 27 to April 13, 2024. Each game week (except the last) will begin on Tuesday and run to the following Sunday; pairings will then be issued on Monday for the following week. Teams will play one match a week, and will schedule the time and date of their matches with their opponents (and staffers) based on availability. The precise dates of game weeks will be:
Week 1: 27 Feb - 3 Mar
Week 2: 5 Mar - 10 Mar
Week 3: 12 Mar - 17 Mar
Week 4: 19 Mar - 24 Mar
Week 5: 26 Mar - 31 Mar
Week 6: 2 Apr - 13 Apr (double week due to ICT/IPNCT and being the final week)

Tournament format
If the number of teams in a division is less than 10, the competition will take the form of one or two stages of pre-determined round-robin play. Otherwise, the competition will be split into two stages: four Swiss-paired rounds, followed by dividing the field into tiers of 4 to play placement games (and finals, for the top tier). The Swiss rounds will actually be repaired every round (as opposed to using a card system); teams will play teams with the same record as them whenever possible.

Tournament logistics
Teams will be sent weekly emails with results/pairings/etc; several spreadsheets will be maintained with standings, the week's pairings, and so on. There will also be a central Discord server to organize the tournament in which this information will be maintained and players can schedule games. Games can be played either through Discord's video feature or via Zoom (at the preference of players and staffers).

Fees
The cost is $50 per team. Payment logistics will be determined at a later date.

Free agents
If you are interested in playing, and you do not have a teammate, I have created a form which you can fill out to declare yourself a free agent, and a spreadsheet where you can see the free agents and how to contact them. Once you form a team, you should fill out the official registration form.

Registration
Teams may sign up via this link.
The field list will be updated on this Google sheet.

[CPiGuy]

A reminder that this is still happening; the start has been postponed by one week. Signups will close at the end of the day on February 25th.

I will also be emailing registered teams this weekend with more information.

[CPiGuy]

I've sent an email to all registered teams and free agents with logistics information. Please check your email and let me know if you didn't get it.

[CPiGuy]

Let me know if you're interested in staffing for this. Staffers will be paid $5/game read.