On August 15, Waverly was buzzing with excitement as over a dozen Jenga experts gathered to test their skills.
We needed to make sure the playing fields were level within 1° of accuracy. Luckily, the Carpenter’s Level app for the Palm Pre made this easy.
A few of the players had already signed up for Tournology before showing up at the tournament. The rest of the competitors had to create accounts, and register for the tournament. We worked on several improvements to the signup process since our Pitch tournament, and it seemed to go much smoother than the last time.
Tensions were high as the first Jenga blocks were extracted from their nestled cocoons.
Like Icarus, some were too grand in their ambitions, and Jenga-ed a bit too hard. One could almost hear the melting of wings as blocks tumbled to the ground.
The competition was fierce, but friendly.
As the Final Countdown played in the background (looped is probably a more appropriate phrase), the contest came between John and Karli.
In the end, there could be Only One, and Karli ended up walking away with the grand prize.
Congratulations to everyone who participated, and thanks for helping beta test Tournology! You can see the results of both Round Robin groups here and here.
If your competition bone is tingling and you’re around the Omaha/Lincoln area this Saturday, have we got a competition for you! Following our hugely successful Pitch tournament, the Tournology team is organizing our Next Big Thing. Say it with me now:
Jenga.
We present Jengology, Tournology’s second hosted tournament. Here’s what you need to know:
The game is Jenga. We’ll provide the tables, block sets, and keep the throngs of screaming fans away from the matches.
We’re playing on Saturday, August 15. the gaming starts at 1pm, and should run until about 3pm.
The venue is the basement of Horizon Bank in Waverly, Nebraska. Need a map?
Snacks and drinks will be provided.
Here are the rules:
Jenga games will be played in a 1 vs 1 format. Order is decided by a coin flip.
Today we’re switching the beta flag on Tournology, just as Google’s removing the beta flag from Gmail. If you’ve signed up for the waiting list, you can now start using Tournology for your own nefarious purposes.
Currently, we’re looking for beta testers who fill these niches:
If you’re a manager of a team or tournament
If you’re organizing or participating in a Single Elimination or Round Robin tournament
If you’re excited about trying out new, sweet applications for free.
We’ve got big, big goals for Tournology. Some of the ideas on our A-list:
Leaderboards. Want to know the top softball players in Texas are this year? We’ll keep track of your history and show you who’s hot.
Notifications. Easily send participants news about upcoming matches, results, and schedule changes.
Hassle-free registration and payments. We’re not in the business of trying to upsell you for DVDs and other junk you don’t need.
Free during the beta. We’re still working out our pricing structure, but beta users will be grandfathered into special accounts as a thanks to helping make Tournology great.
Crossword Puzzles are serious business. Just ask the 674 professionals and rookies that participated in the 2009 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), directed by the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Editor Will Shortz.
Competitors must complete seven individual crossword puzzle rounds to vie for the final. Each round is scored based on puzzle difficulty, as well as speed and accuracy of the solver’s solution. After the initial seven rounds have been completed, the scores from each round are added up, and the top three members of the top three divisions (organized by skill level) participate in the final eighth puzzle.
What is interesting, and what should be noted very closely, is the format of the eighth and final round. The puzzle for this round is enlarged onto a white board, placed on an easel, and solvers complete the puzzle in front of a full audience. Each competitor wears earmuffs to block any external noise, for fair competition and to avoid distraction. Live commentary is available for the audience’s viewing pleasure.
When organizing or competing in any tournament, it’s important for all competitors and supporters to watch the final match. It will entertain the audience by showcasing great skill, display healthy competition between the best players, and give everyone something to aspire to for the next tournament. Make sure you take a gander at the finals video of the 2009 ACPT included below. It has all of those things and more.
This is a great example of a well run tournament. Solvers of all skill levels will have fun competing in their division. You needn’t be the best to feel the adrenaline from high intensity competition, and that’s what every tournament organizer should strive to encourage. American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, we salute you. Well done.
With the recent collapse of 3d realms, we’ve decided it’s time to get out of the vaporware business and release our first version of Tournology.
Currently, Tournology is in a private beta. That means you can register on our VIP list, and once there’s a critical mass to run a couple tournaments, we’ll set you loose on the site. You can start a tournament (we currently support Round Robin and Single Elimination) and create your teams of destiny.
We’re really excited to get Tournology available to as many people as possible. And in accordance with Linus’s Law, there’s likely features we haven’t thought of, or bugs we haven’t tweaked yet. So we’ve added a link at the top of the page for you to send us feedback, both positive and negative.
So be cool like Duke and come get some beta-y goodness. We promise we won’t disappoint.
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