Online

Welcome to the Wild West Shootout Online, the 2nd annual Denver Open Backgammon Tournament. We hope you thoroughly enjoy this unique 4-day event and we look forward to seeing you in person next year. This ABT Online! tournament is sponsored by our friends at Gammon Stuff and the USBGF and we greatly appreciate your continued support. For the 2020 Wild West Shootout ABT Online, we have brought the MoreSwiss format to the Wild West. We offer two levels of competition based on your skill level (subject to eligibility requirements).

Open Gunslingers are experienced high-level players and are quite familiar with tournament play; they tend to make very few blunders (huge mistakes) and generally know their skill level relative to the field.

Advanced Warriors are both casual players and experienced players, but often play more creatively rather than by the book; they tend to make a few blunders (huge mistakes) per game.

Whether your an Open Gunslingers or an Advanced Warrior, you will have a chance to show off your skills as you fight to tame your opponent. The winner of both ABT main events will be awarded with beautiful trophies that would make any Gunslinger or Warrior proud.

ABT Online! tournaments are for current USBGF members only. If you’re not a member or your membership has lapsed, joining or renewing your USBGF membership is easy and a fantastic value ($10 a quarter for new members – click HERE). The Wild West Shootout Online will be played entirely on GridGammon using Discord for communications (mic and camera required). If you do not have a GridGammon account (free to all USBGF members), we are happy to assist you, just email your full name and desired username to Dan@DenverBG.org or Benjamin.A.Friesen@gmail.com. If you do not have a Discord user name, you can register at Discord.com. Some events are limited to a maximum number of participants, so please REGISTER early to guarantee a spot.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

The online tournament experience has many nuances and can be a little daunting. To help you navigate, click HERE to download the “Tournament Procedure”. This document will guide you and allow you to become comfortable with the tournament process.

Playing Platform: GridGammon – Please be ready to play 30 minutes prior to your match. No other playing platform is allowed unless instructed by a tournament Director.

Turn your GridGammon Sound OFF (Options Menu/General Properties/Sound – Uncheck Enable Sound).
Set GridGammon to save your match file automatically after each match (Options Menu/Backgammon Settings/Auto Save – Check ON “Save games automatically when I’m playing”, and also check ON “Snowie GridGammon (.sgg)”, this is the file type when the file is saved. Note the “Save folder” at the bottom of that screen – this is the directory your completed files will be saved.
Once your match is completed, the winner must save the match file into the WWS Discord Server (# ?event name-match-files).

Communication Platform: Discord – Real time-audio is required between players for all matches. Additional real-time video is required (camera) for the Doubles Shootout event only.

Discord works great on your computer or smartphone. For the best experience install Discord on your computer. Discord also has a version you can use in your browser, but we don’t recommend it.

You can join the Wild West Shootout Discord Server by clicking HERE. The Discord server ID is GC2vUra.
For a great tournament experience using Discord, click HERE to download a printable guide on “How to Use Discord”.
IMPORTANT: We use real names for communication. Please change your nickname for Discord using the convention “FirstName LastName (GridGammon Username)”. Right click on your Discord username and choose, change nickname.

Bracket Details: For the ABT Main Event, the brackets will be posted on the MoreSwiss website. For all other side events, the brackets will be posted on the Challonge website.

Contact a Director: Use the #Director tag from within Discord to contact a Director at anytime. If there is an issue that requires additional communication, please text staff directly, but only as a last resort.

Dan Minardi (Director) – Cell 3o3-356-3679
Ben Friesen (Director) – Cell 81o-348-1695
Rory Pascar (Support) – Cell 617-699-91oo

MORESWISS

In a Round-Robin format each player competes head-to-head with every other player in the tournament. A Swiss-system has traditionally been used when too many entrants were participating in a tournament for a true round-robin to have been feasible. In both formats no one is eliminated, rather every participant plays the same number of matches. The winners are the player(s) with the best win-loss record. In the past, Backgammon tournaments in the United States used a modified Swiss-system wherein after a certain number of rounds they moved the players with the best win-loss records into a single elimination knockout bracket. “MoreSwiss” refers to a format that has been developed over the years for backgammon tournaments where players are eliminated after a certain number of losses, most commonly four (three for the Wild West Shootout). Swiss rounds continue until there is only one player remaining with fewer than two losses. That person is the winner with the fewest losses while all players remaining with one or two losses place in the tournament. MoreSwiss.com was created by Rory Pascar, organizer of the Chicago Open Backgammon Tournament, 2009 – Present.

TERMS, CONDITIONS and RULES

Please read carefully. By registering you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. Players are expected to act in the spirit of good sportsmanship and in accordance with the ABT Online Tournament Rules. The Wild West Shootout is a privately run tournament and reserves the right to refuse entry with no reason required. Eligibility for all events is subject to approval, entrants will not be allowed to play below their playing level. The tournament is not responsible for equipment, backgammon and communication platforms or general technical difficulties.

BOUNTIES

Any Gunslinger, through the random draw, who eliminates the WANTED opponent from the main event, will receive the listed cash bounty. Bounty posted by Denver Backgammon.

Any Warrior, through the random draw, who eliminates the WANTED opponent from the main event, will receive the listed cash bounty. Bounty posted by Denver Backgammon.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Tournament Directors

Dan Minardi
Ben Friesen

Eligibility Committee

Roberto Litzenberger
Rory Pascar
Patrick Gibson

Advisory

Carol Joy Cole
April Kennedy

Thank You

Rory Pascar – Chicago Open
April Kennedy – Viking Classic
Candace Mayeron – Los Angeles Open
Carol Joy Cole – Michigan Summer Backgammon Championships
Karen Davis – Cherry Blossom Backgammon Championship
Morgan Awards – A premier supplier of trophies, awards and promotional products, located in Broomfield, Colorado, generously donated engraved trophy plates.
The Gizmo Dojo – This member-driven 501(c)(3) non-profit makerspace, based in Broomfield, Colorado, donated graciously the labor and tools to create trophy bases.

CONTACT US

For any questions or concerns, please contact: Dan Minardi – 3o3.356.3679 – Dan@DenverBG.org

Denver Backgammon
PO Box 7294
Westminster CO 80021