Announcement: Jacopo Pontormo Tournament of Manners

[Chris Frankel]

As part of the many festivities lined up for this summer’s annual Chicago Open weekend, July 1-3, I would like to announce the Jacopo Pontormo Tournament of Manners fine arts singles tournament. The tournament will take place on the evening of Friday, July 1. All question writing and tournament directing will be done by Chris Frankel.

Eligibility: This is an open tournament. Anyone who wishes will be able to play. However, for considerations of space, I am putting a 24 player cap on the field, so please register as soon as you can if you would like to play

Cost: The entry fee will be $20 per player. Everyone will be guaranteed to play in all three seeding rounds and at least two playoff rounds. In addition, every participant will receive a copy of the full question set after the Chicago Open weekend. Entry fee will also cover the cost of providing prizes and compensating staff.

Distribution: The tournament will consist of 400 tossups drawn from various fine arts categories, distributed according to following percentages:

30% (120 tossups): Painting and drawing
*20% (80 tossups): Classical instrumental and choral music
*20% (80 tossups): Opera and dance
10% (40 tossups): Architecture
10% (40 tossups): Sculpture
5% (20 tossups): Film
5% (20 tossups): Jazz

*Having not completely finished writing the question set, I have been considering changing the distribution to accommodate 25% (100 tossups) classical music and 15% (60 tossups) opera and dance. This is the only potential revision in the distribution, and should it be made, I will confirm it.

As far as subject matter goes, the canon for the tournament will be relatively in line with that of past ACF and packet submission tournaments, for the sake of accessibility. The focus will be on creators and creative works rather than on technical terminology, and the cultural and temporal distribution will emphasize commonly studied areas rather than esoteric ones (e.g. Italian opera and French painting, yes; medieval sub-Saharan architecture and advanced counterpoint theory, no).

Difficulty: As it is Chicago Open weekend, and the field looks strong, I am setting the difficulty at ACF Regionals-Nationals level, with the difficulty to ascend gradually as the playoff rounds progress.

Format: The tournament layout is still tentative, but will most likely play out as follows. There will be three preliminary seeding rounds of roughly 50-60 questions each, with the field broken down into three rooms, followed by a seeded double elimination bracket. Playoff rounds will consist of one-on-one matches of 24 questions each. Play will continue until all but one player has received two losses. Thus, the winner of the consolation bracket and the runner-up on the championship side of the bracket will play each other after the bracket is completed, and the winner will get a chance to play the bracket winner in a finals game to determine the overall champion (with the runner-up being the first player to accumulate two overall losses).

Current field (list of players who have expressed interest directly or indirectly):

Billy Beyer
Chris Borglum
Eric Douglass
Adam Fine
Nathan Freeburg
Amy Harvey
Adam Kemezis
Seth Kendall
Eric Kwartler
Matt Lafer
Wesley Matthews
Dan Passner
Gerald Patton
Chris Romero
Rob Severson
Mike Sorice
Ted Stratton
Dan Suzman
Seth Teitler
Kelly Tourdot
Matt Weiner
Ryan Westbrook
Leo Wolpert


Schedule: The Jacopo Pontormo Tournament of Manners is scheduled to start play on the evening of Friday, July 1st at 6:00 p.m. at a to-be-announced building on the University of Chicago campus. All staffers and entrants should aim to arrive between 5:00-5:30 p.m. to allow the tournament to begin on time. The target ending time is 11:00 p.m.

Contact: Please e-mail Chris Frankel (cfrankel@princeton.edu) to register or ask any questions related to the tournament. Staff and buzzers are still in need, so please e-mail me if you are not interested in playing, but would be willing to help out with one of those arrangements.

[Nathan]

count me in.
fwiw, I'd vote for Friday evening.

[ValenciaQBowl]

I'm in also, and I'd like to strongly vote for the usual Sunday playing of the singles associated with the Chicago Open. Friday night is tough as that's prime having-fun-time in Chicago for those of us not from the area, especially if there's a baseball game to see. Those whose weak livers and brains will allow them to be hungover don't need to be pandered to; I plan on serious drinking and will be chipper and ready to accept beatings on Sunday morning.
--chris borglum

PS--count in Amy Harvey, also.

[Scipio]

Assuming I can be there, I'll play. Of course, if it's on Sunday or Saturday night, then the issue is moot. Keep us abreast of what you decide.

[Rothlover]

I would prefer Friday night, as that would work best for me schedule-wise, but certainly will do Sunday if thats the consensus.

[Chris Frankel]

Friday evening seems to be a heavily preferred date (sorry Chris, hopefully this won't kill your ability to make it).

Would anyone have major issues (e.g. flight arrivals or pre-set plans) with a 5:00 pm starting time? I want to schedule this for sure, and barring a huge sum of conflicts, think this would be the best option to allow for everyone to get out by 10-11 and still have some chance to see the nightlife or get some sleep.

Also format suggestions are helpful if anyone has any ideas to maximize time efficiency, questions heard per player, and reliability of results. Again, post or e-mail if so; I will have 400 tossups (probably will save some for backup though) to be divided across whatever round structure necessary.

[Romero]

I think you should aim later to give more time for folks to arrive. How about 7?

Romero

[ValenciaQBowl]

Friday night does seem to be the definitive favorite, and certainly no apologies are necessary. I look forward to playing then.

I think Chris R's idea of starting a little later is probably good to consider, but so is Chris F's point about being done by 11. I might suggest a Solomonic 6 pm start, but I wonder about Chicago traffic after 5--I assume it's bad, but I've never been driving there at that time. So I reiterate Frankel's question--how about anyone who absolutely can't be there by 5 (or 6) say so? (I couldn't tell from Romero's message whether he was referring to his own arrival time or just being generally considerate).

PS--the cubs are playing the Nationals at Wrigley at 1:20 on Sunday, so I'm actually happier to play Friday night. And vendors at Wrigley sell Bass Ale!

[Chris Frankel]

Nobody's spoken with outright conflicts, so 6 it is, pending a response from Subash. If you haven't bought your tickets, aim to get in several hours early, like in the early afternoon (I'm aiming for 1 or so), especially if you're flying into O'Hare.

Edit:

I need staff! If anyone will be around Friday night, but is not interested in playing and would be willing to come by campus for a bit, could you get in touch with me? I'll discuss compensation when I start getting inquiries.

Edit #2: I posted the official announcement and gave this thing a title.

[Chris Frankel]

The Pontormo field is now full at 24 (updated roster is posted in the first post). If you or anyone else you know is interested in playing, I can offer waitlist/stand-by spots in the order in which I receive requests. Assuming everyone shows up Friday, this is one stacked field, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone play.

[Chris Frankel]

We have had two cancellations in the field (Zeke is unable to make it, and Subash is picking him up to take him to Chicago), and thus spots have opened up. I had one indirect expression of interest shortly before, so I only have one spot open. If anyone wants it or knows someone who does, please let me know via e-mail ASAP, as I am working on logistics and want to send an e-mail to currently signed up contestants at some point within this coming week.

I also need 1-2 more staffers, if anyone is interested. Still offering $10/moderator.