Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, talking about tournaments.
Wherever I speak, I encourage people to expand their horizons by playing against new players. Their skills improve; they play faster, try other hands outside their comfort zone, and maybe pick up a few tricks, here and there. We all have room for improvement in our games. I specifically recommend playing in a tournament because I feel that it provides a great environment for learning and expanding skills.
Unfortunately, I hear rumbling, both on-line and at my speaking events, from people who are afraid of trying tournaments because they worry that some players won't be friendly, or might even be downright mean! It makes me sad to think that they're avoiding such a great opportunity to make friends and improve their own game.
I've had over a dozen years of experience as a tournament player, and I would say that 60 percent of the players are friendly but focused; about 25 percent are people with whom I actually connect, who end up becoming really great friends; a handful who are a little prickly; and a very small fraction who I never want to play with again. In a tournament of 12 rounds, there might be one or maybe two players, tops, who are that unpleasant. The good news is that if any player tells the tournament director about Miss Bossy, she is warned; if she continues to be rude, she is told never to return.
Of course, I have all those years of experience behind me. What I consider "friendly but focused," now, might seem more intimidating to someone who isn't used to playing in a quick, competitive game. As I wrote in Searching for Bubbe Fischer, I well remember those audible sighs from across the table when I was slow to pass, and the snappish replies when I would ask "Is this first or second left?" I was mortified if my hand was called dead. I wanted to sink under the table if I got a penalty for throwing someone else their mahj tile.
The thing was, by playing at tournaments, I became a better player. I had to be more decisive, I had to keep up with the rhythm of the game. I am a terrible swimmer--afraid of putting my face in--so I'm not comfortable with the analogy of being "thrown in the deep end," but I will say that, if you're very timid about your passing or calling for tiles, then you're probably not ready for a tournament.
However....you can improve that part of your game if you're motivated. And you'll have more of an incentive to do it against strangers than against those loving friends you see every week. Sometimes a little push is GOOD for you.
Tournament directors can actually facilitate that by having a more gradual introduction. At least, that was the first creative solution that my partner Donna and I implemented, to include those players who would ordinarily be reluctant.
We started tracking players at our second tournament. For six years, now, we have opened up our one-day, four-round event to the entire community. After our first event, there was much grousing that some of the players were not as good as others, so for every event since, we have asked players to label their speed/experience level. We have had two, and sometimes three, levels: rookies (can't always finish four games in 50 minutes), mid-level (50 minutes per round), and quickest games (45 minutes). We keep each player rotating among tables at their proper level, throughout the day. The rookies are happy to play among themselves and they don't get overwhelmed by the faster players; the fast players don't feel dragged down. Generally, people have been much happier with this situation, and we've seen players progress from one level to the next, over the years!
Another problem I've tried to correct has to do with prizes. I've found that a player needs to average around 60 points per round in order to be among the top scorers. I became concerned about the rest of the pack. If you're having a mediocre day, you can feel like it's pointless to keep playing when others are outscoring you. I've watched some of the best tournament directors, and learned from their ideas. We sometimes offer a "high round" prize for the top score every four hands, so that everyone finds that each new round is a chance for victory! I also like to give a prize for the first person who wins the "hand of the day," so that literally every player, in every hand, has an opportunity for a prize.
Some tournaments award booby prizes or crying towels for the player with the lowest score, but I don't know of anyone who wants to stick around for that kind of embarrassing negative recognition so I don't award it. Most recently, though, I thought about those unsung heroes who score in the middle because they keep getting wall games. Each player gets 10 points for such a game, and while it's better than losing, it's not likely that an afternoon of wall games will get you enough points to win.
The morning before our last tournament, I sat for a moment and thought, "How do we reward the person with the most Wall games? Wall...flowers!" I stopped and picked up little potted rose plants for the top three wall-flowers--at the end of the day, they were so happy to get a little recognition! I think it will become a staple of my future events.
In that vein, I want to address the "tournaments are unfriendly" aspect of the game. I'm trying to figure out a kind of "Miss or Mr. Congeniality" competition: at the end of each round, players can indicate whether anyone was exceptionally kind (or stunningly rude) and I'll reward outstanding behavior. Ideally, everyone should want to vie for this kind of title. I don't need everyone to display disingenuous, saccharine-sweet behavior, but who knows? Might throw an interesting angle into the proceedings.
The only problem I already anticipate is that, because we fit 35 tables into a ballroom and the noise gets quite loud, I'm going to have to allow four or five extra minutes, before each round, just for friend-making. I'll have to go back to the skills I acquired as a Brownie troop leader. I know we can make this work!
What's keeping you from tournaments? Is it the speed, the intensity, the potential unfriendliness, or just the "great unknown" quality? Likewise, if you have been to tournaments that were very successfully run, I'd like to get some pointers. Email me at bubbefischer@gmail.com -- always happy for feedback!
Talk to you soon!
Bubbe Fischer
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