Any authors interested in a World Computer Chess League?

[CRoberson]

The idea is inspired from my assistance with one of the USCL teams.
Each country has a 4 computer team - I suppose we could do more and some countries could have multiple teams. We might impose a rating average limit for each team - probably a good idea.

We have a team match once a week. All teams play all teams twice during the season, so its a 2 round Round Robin. We could have it on Saturdays at reasonable times. I could create the schedules. All matches could be run on ICC or FICS or some where.

[michiguel]

The idea is inspired from my assistance with one of the USCL teams.
Each country has a 4 computer team - I suppose we could do more and some countries could have multiple teams. We might impose a rating average limit for each team - probably a good idea.

We have a team match once a week. All teams play all teams twice during the season, so its a 2 round Round Robin. We could have it on Saturdays at reasonable times. I could create the schedules. All matches could be run on ICC or FICS or some where.

That would be a lot of fun!
However, it may be a huge commitment for many people and it may fail. Certainly, a one day (or two) tournament of teams will be fantastic.
There should be a parallel "Open" for the individuals that could not form a team or were 5th or lower in the scale of their country.

Miguel

[CRoberson]

Here is how we can level the playing field enough that none of the countries has a significant advantage. In fact, teams don't have to be
limited to country borders, but they do need to have similar playing strengths.

We would have cap on the total sum of the team ratings. We could limit each team to a total rating of 10,000 (assuming 4 computer teams and (at this time) 10,000 is just a number for describing the concept). Thus, a team with Rybka on 4 proc Q6600 would have 10,000 - 3,223
= 6,777 points to divide amongst the remaining 3. That could be all three at 2,259 Or, one at 2,800 and the other two at 1988. Another team might try the strategy of 4 members at 2,500 each. These two teams could have interesting outcomes. Possibly, the Rybka team wins the 2 top boards and loses the bottom two or they win board 1, draw board 2 and loose boards 3 & 4. So, there is much strategy in how you pick your team.

We can create the rules ourselves. General thoughts:
o 1 program to a team and 1 team to a program.
o 10,000 rating cap is just a current guess - it could be lower or higher.
o Supposedly, FICS is much better now: allowing us a free server.
o The matches don't have to be weekly; weekly was just a thought.
o TC could be an issue considering time zones. So, maybe G/60 + 5.
o I just guessed at Saturday before due to TZ issues, but any day is fine.
o Adjustable start times may work instead of forced time for matches. Start times could be based on opportunities from pairings and TZs.
o Don't have to use your own hardware. Maybe, you know somebody with better hardware.
o Issues with previous bullet may need compensation in the team rating cap.
o We could allow the Collectors to get involved at this utilizing dedicated units. May need longer than G/60 for that. Maybe not. G/60 + decent increment could work.
o Given that thought, there may not be a need to limit this to authors.