I'm in favor of starting rounds on time, with remote machines either getting a time penalty or playing locally (their choice). The clock should run for the remote machine as soon as the round is scheduled to start. Once a round is started the remote program cannot switch. For example if it starts to play locally, then the connection comes up, it must continue locally. A similar rule must be in effect for local players. If there is a local hardware failure and the local machine needs to be replaced with a new one, the clock should start on time and should continue to run while the backup local machine is prepared.
I'm also in favor of allowing restarts while the clock is running. If a local machine crashes, the program can be restarted (continuing from the position at the crash), while the clock is running. If a remote connection is lost during a game, the game can be continued after the connection is repaired, but the clock runs while the hardware problem is being fixed. One possible issue, if a remote connection goes down permanently, can the remote program continue on local hardware? I think this should be allowed (again with the clock running while hardware is switched). The only problem might be if we allow rounds to start early to make the tournament go faster, especially if there is a round robin. Both programs should agree to an early start and if one has connection issues it should be OK to delay to the scheduled start with no penalty. I agree that the tournament has to have a predefined completion time, and all rounds much be completed by that time. There might be fewer rounds, or some rounds might have faster time limits. People make travel plans and it can be expensive to change them. David > -----Original Message----- > From: computer-go-boun...@computer-go.org [mailto:computer-go- > boun...@computer-go.org] On Behalf Of Rémi Coulom > Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 2:19 AM > To: computer-go > Subject: [computer-go] Rules for remote play at the Computer Olympiad > > Hi, > > During the Computer Olympiad in Beijing, some remote participants had > problem connecting to their remote machines, which created many > unpleasant incidents. In order to avoid these problems in the next > Olympiad, I believe we need better rules for remote play. Here is what I > suggest: > > - The start of a round must not be delayed until remote participants > connect to their remote machine. In case of any technical problem with > the connection, remote participants must either play locally or forfeit > the game. If they take a lot of time to connect, that time must be > substracted from their thinking time. > > - If, for any reason, we do not have time to play all the scheduled > rounds, playing less rounds is better than delaying the last round to a > date when some participants have to forfeit their game because they > cannot attend. > > - It is less important, but I would also like to suggest that a 7-round > playoff is much too long. 3 games are enough for 9x9. And the 9x9 > playoff must be scheduled right at the end of the 9x9 tournament, so > that participants in the 9x9 tournament do not have to wait for the end > of the 19x19 tournament. > > These rules would avoid most of the incidents of the previous Olympiad. > We could propose them to the tournament director if everybody agrees. > > Rémi > _______________________________________________ > computer-go mailing list > computer-go@computer-go.org > http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/ _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/
