Copyright: Visual Help Copyright ® 1993-1994 Firas Bushnaq


Contents
TournaMaster Help -- Table of Contents

The Legal Stuff

What is TournaMaster?

Frequently Asked Questions

Tournament Features Panel

Teams Panel

Staffing Limitations Panel

Command Panel

Information Panel

Printer Font Panel

Title Panel

Single-Elimination Tournaments

Double-Elimination Tournaments

Consolation Rounds


The Legal Stuff

Disclaimer

In no event will Phil Sauer & Associates, or any of its third-party vendors be liable to anyone for special collateral, exemplary, indirect, incidental or consequential damages, whether as a result of tortious conduct or breach of warranty or breach of any of the provisions of this agreement even if Phil Sauer & Associates has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Such excluded damages include, but are not limited to, cost of removal and reinstallation of any component of this product, outside computer time, labor costs, loss of goodwill, loss of profits, loss of savings, loss of use or interruption of business, or other economic loss, that may arise in connection with the furnishing, performance or use by customer of the software referred to herein. Phil Sauer & Associates and its licensors and distributors' entire liability under any circumstances shall not exceed the price paid for TournaMaster.

Enough said.


What is TournaMaster
What is TournaMaster?

TournaMaster is a program designed to quickly and efficiently plan and set up a variety of common tournament configurations, and provide neat and accurate printouts of all appropriate bracket structures.

TournaMaster is designed to set-up tournaments that will be held on one day, and therefore includes information on the maximum time the tournament should take to complete. The purpose for this is that some facilities are rented in advance, and need to be completed by certain times. The maximum time feature of TournaMaster ensures that the proper tournament can be selected to ensure that the number of teams in the tournament get to participate as much as possible for a given time period.

See Also:

Tournament Type


Tournament Type

This program deals with three general types of tournament structures:

•	Single-Elimination Tournaments

•	Single-Elimination Tournaments with Consolation Round

•	Double-Elimination Tournaments

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel

Single-Elimination Tournament

Double-Elimination Tournament

Consolation Round


Tournament Features Panel

The Tournament Features Panel is divided into the following regions. Please select the region about which you require further information:

Tournament Type

Seeding Options

Number of Teams Scrollbar

Playing Areas Scrollbar

Minutes Per Game Scrollbar


Seeding Options

Seeding is an attempt to provide even competition by separating the best of the competitors in the early rounds in the hopes that other teams will be provided with an incentive to upset them. Should the top seeds survive, the final rounds are more exciting than they would be if the two best were to meet, for example, in the first round, thereby eliminating one of them.

The best teams in a tournament should ideally meet in the later rounds of a tournament. The process of separating the best of the competitors so they do not meet in contests early in the tournament is defined as "seeding" a tournament.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel

No Seeding

Random Seeding

Manual Seeding

How do I seed teams?

How do I change the order of seeded teams?


No Seeding

Select this option in cases where you merely want the teams to appear in the printed brackets in the exact order that you entered them into the Teams Listbox. Byes will be assigned to the bottom teams on the bracket until all byes are exhausted.

See Also:

Seeding Options

Tournament Features Panel


Random Seeding

For cases where you don't know what the seeding order should be as well as having a desire to randomly place teams, select the Random Seeding option button in the Seeding Options area.

The feature is used in conjunction with the Shuffle Teams button just under the Teams Listbox. Use the Shuffle Teams button to shuffle the teams into any configuration you wish.  Use the Shuffle Teams button as many times as you like.

See Also:

Seeding Options

Tournament Features Panel


Manual Seeding

Select this option when you want to manually seed teams. Selecting this option activates the Seeded Teams Listbox.

See Also:

How do I seed teams?

How do I change the order of seeded teams?

Seeding Options

Tournament Features Panel


How to seed teams
How do I seed teams?

You seed teams simply by double-clicking on any team in the Teams Listbox. If the team you select has already been seeded, TournaMaster will not permit you to seed it again.

See Also:

How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?

How do I change the order of seeded teams?


How to delete teams
How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?

Teams are removed from both the Teams and Seeds Listboxes in the following manner:

•	Highlight the team you want to remove by clicking it with the mouse, or by navigating to the team by using the keyboard.

•	Tap the DELETE key. This will cause TournaMaster to ask you if you really would like to remove the team. If you confirm removal, TournaMaster will remove the team. If you change your mind, TournaMaster will cancel the request.

•	If you wish to remove teams from the Seeds Listbox, you may remove all of the teams at once by clicking on the "DELETE ALL SEEDS" button just below the Seeds Listbox. TournaMaster will ask you to confirm the delete in case you click the button accidentally.

See Also:

Teams Panel

How do I add teams to the Teams Listbox?

How do I seed teams?


Teams Panel

The Teams Panel consists of the following components:

Left-hand side of panel:

Team-Entry Box

Teams Listbox

Shuffle Teams button

Right-hand side of panel:

Seeded Team Listbox

Delete All Seeds button


Team Entry Box

The Team Entry Box is the area just above the Teams Listbox. When you click the mouse in this area, it changes color, and allows you to enter the names of the teams/players participating in the tournament. Press Enter after each team has been entered.

See Also:

Teams Panel

Teams Listbox

Shuffle Teams button


Team Listbox
Teams Listbox

The Team Listbox provides an area to store the names of teams or competitors for any set of tournament settings.  Teams are entered into the listbox through the text-entry box located just above the listbox.

The Shuffle Teams button is used to randomly assign teams positions within the listbox. See the Shuffle Teams description for more information.

See Also:

Teams Panel

How do I add teams to the Teams Listbox?

How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?


How to add teams
How do I add teams to the Teams Listbox?

You add teams to the Teams Listbox by entering the name of the team in the text area just above the Teams Listbox. If you have previously entered the team into the listbox, TournaMaster will not permit you to create the duplicate team.

See Also:

Teams Panel

Teams Listbox

How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?


Shuffle Teams

This button randomly shuffles the order in which teams/participants that have been entered into the Teams Listbox appear in that listbox.

The order in which teams appear in the Teams Listbox will determine pairings for the first and subsequent rounds of the tournament. If you wish to manually seed the tournament (Manual Seeding option selected), this button will serve no purpose due to the fact that the seeding will be drawn from the order in which they appear in the Seeds Listbox.

If, however you wish to place teams as they appear in the listbox (No Seeding option is selected), this button will shuffle the teams into that very order.

If you wish to seed the tournament randomly, then select the Automatic Seeding option and use the Shuffle Teams button to jumble the pairings.

This button is not active if there are no teams entered in the Teams Listbox.

See Also:

Teams Panel

Random Seeding


Seeded Team Listbox

The purpose of the Seeded Team Listbox is to provide an area for teams to be selected for seeding order. When in this listbox, teams may be selected by clicking on a team, and dragging the team to it's new location within the listbox. The seeded order of the new arrangement is automatically calculated.

See Also:

Teams Panel

How do I seed teams?

How do I change the order of seeded teams?

How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?


How to change seeding order
How do I change the order of Seeded Teams?

The order of seeded teams is changed by performing the following steps:

•	Highlight the team in the Seeded Teams Listbox that you wish to reposition by clicking on it with the mouse.

•	Click and hold the primary mouse button (usually the left mouse button) then drag the mouse until the pointer turns into a leftward-pointing arrow.

•	While still holding the primary mouse button down, position the leftward-pointing arrow until it is positioned where you would like the highlighted team to be positioned.

•	Release the primary mouse button, and the selected team will be repositioned in the Seeded Team Listbox. All numerical rankings are adjusted automatically.

See Also:

How do I seed teams?

How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?


Delete All Seeds

This purpose of this button is to eliminate all of the seeds from the Seeds Listbox. It is used only as a shortcut to deleting the seeded teams one-at-a-time. This button is inactive if there are no seeds in the Seeds Listbox.

See Also:

Teams Panel

Seeded Teams Listbox

How do I seed teams?


Number of Teams Scrollbar

You enter the number of teams or players that will be participating in the tournament in this area. Merely adjust the scrollbar until the value reflects the correct number of teams that will be participating in the tournament.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel


Playing Areas Scrollbar

You enter the number of playing areas that are available for tournament play in this area. Merely adjust the scrollbar until the value reflects the correct number of playing areas.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel


Minutes Per Game Scrollbar

The purpose of the Minutes Per Game Scrollbar is to tell TournaMaster how much time is required to complete a typical game in this tournament. This time should include time-outs, practice/warmup sessions, and the time it takes for breaks between games. This information is needed because it is an element of the calculations required to determine the maximum time for the tournament -- information which is useful if there are time limits imposed on the use of a facility for the given tournament.

For example, if the time limit imposed on the actual playing of a game is 30 minutes, and there is a 10-minute rest period imposed between each game and a 5-minute warmup before the game actually begins, then the Minutes Per Game Scrollbar should be set to 45 minutes.

If there are time limits imposed on play, then this is easy to compute. If there are no time limits, then an estimate should be made.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel

Maximum Time


Maximum Time

The maximum time to complete a tournament is computed by making the following assumptions:

•	All games in any given round are completed before the next round begins.

•	The final round in a double-elimination tournament requires two games be played in order to determine a champion.

•	A consolation round (if selected) in a single-elimination tournament is completed before the championship round begins, or vice versa.

See Also:

Information Panel

Staffing Limitations Panel

Playing Areas Scrollbar


Information Panel

The Information Panel is subdivided into five small windows. Each window provides information that is useful for the planning of any tournament. Please select from one of the following topics for further information:

Number of Games

Number of Rounds

Optimal Areas

Concurrent Games

Maximum Time


Number of Games

The number of games for a single-elimination tournament is always equal to the number of teams minus one.

The number of games for a single-elimination tournament with a consolation round is always equal to the number of teams.

The maximum number of games for a double-elimination tournament is always found by taking the number of teams and doubling that value. Then, remove one from that value to obtain the answer. For scheduling purposes, it is assumed that the maximum number of games will be needed to complete the tournament.

See Also:

Information Panel


Number of Rounds

A round is a set of games that must be played before any subsequent sets of games can begin. For example, in order to play a final round between two teams, the semi-final round of the tournament must first be completed. The "Number of Rounds" window shows the tournament planner how many rounds are required in order to complete the particular tournament defined by the tournament options.

See Also:

Information Panel


Optimal Areas

The optimal areas for a tournament is defined as the maximum number of playing areas that will be required at any time during the entire tournament.

See Also:

Information Panel


Concurrent Games

Concurrent Games are the number of games that may be played at any one time.  This number is located in the Concurrent Games window of the information panel. The number of concurrent games is determined by:

•	The number of total staff members available to officiate a tournament (provided that the Staffing Limitations Panel is activated by placing the panel in the ON mode).

•	The number of staff required for each game (once again, provided that the Staff Limitations Panel is activated by placing the panel in the ON mode).

•	The number of playing areas available for the tournament.

See Also:

Information Panel

Staffing Limitations Panel


Staffing Limitations Panel

The purpose of the Staffing Limitations Panel is to determine whether or not there are enough staff members on hand to properly officiate a tournament. The use of the panel (when the activation button is set in the ON position) determines whether a the number of staff members available will pose a limitation on the number of games that can be played at any one time.

For example, if there are a total of six staff members on hand to officiate a tournament, and two are required to officiate a game, then only three games may be played at any one time -- even if there are four or more areas on which to play.

In other words, the number of staff members and the number of those staff that are required for officiating a game limits the number of games that may be played at any one time, thereby determining how much time it will take to complete the tournament.

If the Staffing Limitations Panel is turned OFF, staffing will not be considered when the maximum time for the tournament is calculated, nor will it be considered when computing the number of concurrent games that may be played. When this feature is turned ON, then staffing will be considered as a potential limitation when maximum time and concurrent games are calculated.

See Also:

Concurrent Games

Maximum Time


Single Elimination
Single-Elimination Tournaments

A single-elimination tournament requires the fewest number of games in order to determine a champion. One loss eliminates a participant or a team from the tournament.

In order to determine third and fourth place teams or participants in a tournament, one may choose to schedule a consolation round.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel

Tournament Type

Consolation Round


Consolation Rounds
Consolation Round

A consolation round is played in order to determine third and fourth-place teams in a single-elimination tournament. Since the winner of the tournament played the second-place team, the third and fourth place teams consist of the teams that lost to the first and second-place teams in the most recent earlier round of the tournament.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel

Tournament Type


Double Elimination
Double-Elimination Tournaments

A double-elimination tournament requires each participant of the tournament to play at least two games. Once a team has accumulated two losses, they are eliminated from the tournament.

See Also:

Tournament Features Panel

Tournament Type


Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions...

Please click on any of the following questions

for further information.

 How do I add teams to the Teams Listbox?

 How do I delete teams from the Teams/Seeds Listboxes?

 How do I seed teams?

 How do I change the order of seeded teams?

 How do I customize the default TournaMaster settings?

 What do the numbers on the printed output represent?

 Why are the team placements out of sequence on lower bracket printouts?


How to customize default
How do I customize the default TournaMaster settings?

You customize the default settings of TournaMaster by making all of the adjustments and entries you desire to the TournaMaster panel and then:

•	Clicking on the Save Button in the Command Panel.

•	Saving the settings to a file named DEFAULT.TRN (enter the file name in the dialog box as requested).

•	The next time you launch TournaMaster from Windows, this default file will be loaded automatically. If you want to alter this file at a later time, you may do so by repeating the procedure just described.

See Also:

Command Panel


Command Panel

The Command Panel consists of the following buttons:

•	Print Button -- Prints the brackets and the first round placement of teams. TournaMaster assigns byes as appropriate.

•	Save Button -- Saves the existing TournaMaster Main Form to a tournament settings file (*.TRN).

•	Load Button -- Loads a previously saved tournament setting file (*.TRN) to the TournaMaster Main Form.

•	Delete Button -- Deletes an existing tournament setting file (*.TRN) from disk.

•	Help Button -- Activates the help system and presents the TournaMaster Help Table of Contents.

•	About Button -- Displays information about this and other programs.

•	Exit Button -- Exits the program.


Numbers on printouts
What do the numbers on the printed output represent?

For Single-Elimination Tournaments:

The numbers on the printouts correspond to the game number that is to be played. This is necessary in order to assign staff to officiate the games in advance. Games played in any given round are completed first before games in other rounds are assigned. Games are assigned from top to bottom and left to right, in that order.

For Single-Elimination with Consolation Rounds:

The numbers that appear in parenthesis that appear under the Consolation Round branches indicate that the LOSER of the game number referenced is to be positioned at that branch. For example, if the number 5 appears in parenthesis (5), then the LOSER of game number 5 is to be positioned at that branch.

For Double-Elimination Tournaments:

The numbers on the printouts for the upper-bracket are the same as described in the section "For Single-Elimination Tournaments" above. The lower bracket, however, is a little different.

The game numbers for games played in the lower bracket are identified in the same manner as the games in the upper bracket with the exception that the lower-bracket games have the letter "L" prefix. For example, the third game in the lower-bracket is game number "L3".

The numbers that appear at each branch in parenthesis indicate that the LOSER of the upper bracket game that corresponds to that number should be placed at this branch. For example, if the number 5 appears in parenthesis (5), then the LOSER of game number 5 in the upper-bracket is to be positioned at that branch.

See Also:

Why are team positions on the lower bracket out of order?

Command Panel


Why out of order
Why are the team placements out of sequence on lower bracket printouts?

In a double-elimination tournament, it is quite possible for the two teams that just competed in the upper bracket to meet almost immediately in the lower bracket of the tournament. What we want to do is prevent these two teams from meeting too soon. So, the teams are printed in a staggered sequence in the lower bracket of a double-elimination tournament in order to prevent this from happening.

By staggering the entries, we enhance the competition within the tournament since we are maximizing the exposure of each team to as many other teams as possible.

See Also:

What do the numbers on the printed output represent?


Printer Font Panel

The printer font panel is used to select the font used when tournament brackets are printed to the output printing device. The combo box will only display fonts that are supported by the selected printer.


Title Panel

The title panel provides four lines of forty-character lines for printing on the printed output of the tournament. You have the option of using all, some, or none of these lines for a title. It is completely optional. For double- elimination tournaments, the title that appears on the printed page will be accompanied by a phrase "Upper Bracket" or "Lower Bracket" as is appropriate.