Hi,
This is a pre-announcement for a still-untitled open tournament to be held sometime around MLK Day 2021. (I'll work with people scheduling events around that time to find the appropriate weekend or range of weekends.)
The tournament will be an attempt at a novel difficulty level for in-season opens, something like "regular difficulty that will be fun for both open teams and college programs at EFT level." To that end:
* 14 packets of 20/20
* The same distribution as ACF Nationals 2018
* Length-controlled tossups (800-character limit with limited breathing room, which is roughly 7 standard lines)
* A focus on simple answer lines with interesting, conceptual clues; most of the tossups should be answerable to teams with a firm grasp of the ACF Fall canon
* Engaging bonuses that are a bit harder than usual for regular difficulty but do not feature extraordinarily difficult hard parts
* A general focus on interesting clues and connections in the vein of the "other academic" questions I've written for ACF Nationals
Generally, I'll try to modulate difficulty in clues rather than answer lines and to present the kind of engaging, current, and occasionally whimsical material you've come to expect from CO Trash, except in a full-distribution academic tournament. My hope is to write a tournament in which every clue is pretty interesting, every question is worth hearing, and every tossup and bonus part feels like an accomplishment to convert, even if it really isn't that hard. What I don't want is for there to be boring questions or clues that are just there to pad out the length, or to sacrifice playability for the sake of novelty. I'd like the tournament to be something that both EFT-level college programs and the best open players can enjoy; this isn't supposed to take the place of the pre-nationals in-season open, but to be an easier tournament for a wide range of teams to play in the old Michigan MLK slot. To be perfectly clear, it will not be too hard or too weird for most teams, although some aspects (such as bonus middle parts) will be harder than usual.
I've written about a sixth of the tournament so far. Assuming I'm on track, I'll make the full announcement in spring 2020 after nationals season and begin arranging mirror sites then. I'm just putting this up here now so that people know the tournament is coming down the pipeline when they're planning out the 2020/21 schedule.
Pre-announcement: unnamed early 2021 open
Pre-announcement: unnamed early 2021 open
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: Pre-announcement: unnamed early 2021 open
This is very exciting! Who else is on the writing team?
Jacob R., ex-Chicago
Re: Pre-announcement: unnamed early 2021 open
I'm going to try to write the entire tournament, although I may bring on additional writers, depending on the progress I've made by this spring.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: Pre-announcement: unnamed early 2021 open
In light of the cascade effect of postponements due to the pandemic, I've decided to postpone this tournament to make way for rescheduling or other events that may take place in spring 2021. It's also going to be easier for me to write on a more relaxed schedule. Fall 2021 or spring 2022 seem most likely for a new date.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum