MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

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CPiGuy
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MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

Hello,

I have just tentatively announced a tossups-only math tournament to be run at MSNCT if there is interest [EDIT: there is. this is happening.]. The official announcement is here, and information about the set is here but I imagine that many people associated with the middle school circuit don't regularly check the college boards.

The reason that I am unsure about interest is that this tournament will fall around college regular difficulty. However, I expect that strong middle school players should still be able to get a nonzero number of the questions, especially in the "recreational" subdistribution, at which I personally may have been better at in middle school than I would be today! I encourage middle schoolers to give the set a try -- it will be extremely challenging, but if one is interested in math, then one should hopefully find this to be a fun set to play.

Additionally, this tournament is completely open, so staffers, students, coaches, and even parents are welcome to play, and there is no requirement that teammates be from the same school or anything else of the sort.

If you are interested in playing, sign up as a free agent (or with a team) here.

If you would like to staff, then you may sign up to do so on the same spreadsheet. Staffers will be compensated, probably with $15.

I will also make an exception to the doubles format for this tournament -- any team composed entirely of middle school students can have up to four students, provided that this will not set the tournament below four teams.
Conor Thompson (he/it)
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

So, this is definitely happening, as there is now a sufficient field to have it. Yay!
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

Some details on this event:

We will meet between 6:30 and 6:45, finalize team formation and scheduling, and then play the tournament. We'll use the Dennard, Matthews, and Wentzel rooms, which are apparently on the upper level. After the tournament has finished, I will read all the unread packets in a shootout fashion for anyone who wishes to stay and hear them.

Additionally, we are still in need of at least one staffer, and possibly two if more players sign up. You are also, of course, welcome and encouraged to sign up and come play -- right up until we start! Again, this is a completely open event -- if you want to play, you can!
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by dxdtdemon »

I'd like to play this, and I guess I would classify myself as more of a statisics/applied math guy, so if there are any free agents that are more into pure math, I think we'd function well together.
Jonathan Graham
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"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

Alright, so:

Currently there are ~7.5 teams (counting free agents) signed up to play at MSNCT. There are two moderators at the moment, including myself. Here are the things which are probably going to happen:

-- If there continues to be only two moderators, we'll have 7 teams and the bye team will read in the third room.
-- If there are three moderators, then either we'll stick with seven teams, or if there's a nontrivial number of new signups, we'll go to nine teams with the bye team reading in the fourth room.
-- If there are four moderators, we'll have eight teams, or if a couple people signed up don't play, we'll enter the null set as the eighth team (meaning bye teams will still get to play the packets against empty chairs).

Obviously, four moderators is preferred, so if you are able and willing to moderate, it would be greatly appreciated. Having said that, I'm confident we'll be able to have a good tournament no matter what.

In any event, I'm looking forward to a fun weekend of quizbowl this weekend, and a great evening of math on Saturday!
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

Okaaaaay. I was not expecting to see this many people sign up (but I'm delighted nonetheless).

Firstly, if you are planning on paying me for the tournament ($10) electronically, you can feel free to do so at any time from now to when we play -- it would be helpful to avoid the pre-tournament crush of trying to determine who has paid how much when. My Venmo username is the same as my forums username, and quite frankly I have no idea how to find me on Paypal (having never actually paid anyone else on Paypal), but I do have it. You can also, obviously, pay physically.

There are currently 9 teams signed up, 3 moderators, and four free agents, one of whom has indicated his willingness to moderate if necessary. As such, I am closing signups. Every effort will be made to allow everyone currently signed up or on the free agent list to play, up to and including aggressively combining together middle school teams (possibly, but to as little degree as possible and hopefully not at all, including splitting players who are together on existing teams) and giving some nonzero number of teams a third player. Assuming everything remains as it does now, the format will be a round-robin with nine teams and the bye team reading in the fourth room.

In the event that two more moderators materialise (or just one moderator, and the aforementioned free-agent continues to be willing to staff), AND we are able to get five rooms, we will do a ten-team round-robin. There will likely be far less manipulation required in this event -- at most, two middle school teams will be asked to play together. Again, this scenario is contingent on both further moderators and access to more rooms.

My apologies to any interested parties who are unable to play. I encourage anybody interested to play at HSNCT or NSC (particularly the latter -- the field could use it right now), to try to organize Math Monstrosity at a summer open in some fashion, or if neither of those are available to you, to play the Skype mirror I'll be running after summer opens.

Additionally, due to the unexpectedly large field, we will not be meeting in Dennard/Matthews/Wetzel as previously announced. I will make a post at some future time before the tournament to announce which rooms we will be using and/or where to meet, and also to provide updates (if such exist) on the expected format.

Thanks again to everyone playing and moderating!
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

Update: we have secured two more moderators. As such, we will have ten teams and no byes. The games will be held in the Executive Conference rooms on the 11th floor. So, meet there at 6:30-6:45.
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

This happened. Thanks to everyone who played or staffed-- it was a great time. Terence Tao, This is Stupid Stuff (Alex Damisch and Jonah Greenthal) cleared the field and won the tournament. Mike Sorice of Coppell West Middle School was the top scorer. Special recognition should go to the top middle school team, Longfellow MS + Pi-oneers, and to the top middle school scorer, Shiva Oswal, who posted 22.86 PPG; also, major props to the several middle school players who came out to play a very hard set.

There are staaaaaaaaaats.

I've also requested a private forum where people can discuss the set; additionally, if you want a copy of the set, email me.
Conor Thompson (he/it)
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Re: MSNCT Side Event: Math Monstrosity

Post by CPiGuy »

The private forum is now up, so if you want to discuss this set, you can (but only in the private forum).
Conor Thompson (he/it)
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