WUDC Compliance

This page addresses issues in which Tournaman mode of pairing rounds may clash with Article 30 of the Worlds Universities Debating Council's constitution (http://www.wudc.info/council/constitution.php). When set to "Strict WUDC-settings", Tournaman fully complies with those rules. For further information, please see below.

Avoiding position repeat vs. preserving ranking brackets

Respecting the selected parameters, Tournaman aims to distribute teams to all four positions over the course of a competition as evenly as possible - for this reason Tournaman was originally created.
Since allocating positions is a rather complex endeavour, and forming the ranking brackets takes precedent under WUDC-rules, sometimes it may not be possible for all teams after four rounds to get all four different positions. If your competition has five rounds or more, however, it's very likely that every team will get to debate at least once on each position. After each round, Tournaman automatically creates an overview of the positions that teams have held so far in the round-folder of your competition.

Detailed compliance report

Article 30
The format of a Round of the World Universities Debating Championships shall be as follows:
All remarks in this table only refer to strict WUDC settings in Tournaman.
1. Overview of the Format Notes on section 1
a. There shall be nine preliminary rounds of debate, involving all teams eligible to debate in the Championships along with any composite teams deemed necessary under 2b.
b. Following the nine preliminary rounds, there shall be an elimination round consisting of the top 32 teams from the preliminary round (The Main Competition).
c. Following the nine preliminary rounds there shall also be an ESL elimination round consisting of the top eight teams which are eligible as an ESL team in accordance with Article 22 (The ESL Competition).
No remarks here
2. The Preliminary Rounds Notes on section 2
a. All teams eligible to debate at the Championships compete in the preliminary rounds. These are all the teams that are set as "active" in the "Edit teams" dialogue.
b. Composite or "swing" teams must be added by the Tournament Director to under the following circumstances:
i. If the number of teams eligible to debate in the preliminary rounds is equal to a number divisible by four, no composite teams are allowed; or
ii. If this is not the case, then composite teams may be added until the number of teams in the preliminary round is equal to a number divisible by four.
Swing teams can be added before the start of any competion as "inactive" teams.
c. If a team withdraws from competition before or during the preliminary rounds then they shall be removed from the draw and either
i. replaced with a composite team; or
ii.the number of composite teams is reduced to ensure that the number of teams in the competition is still equal to a number divisible by four.
Swing teams can be swung in by right-clicking on a team that is to be replaced after drawing a round. Similarly, if teams drop out of the competition, they only need to be set to "inactive" and will not appear in future draws. If the drop-out of a team reduces the number of rooms, it is advisable to discard of the draw, de-activate the team, and re-draw the round.
d. Following each round, teams shall be ranked by the adjudication panel and awarded points (Team Points) as follows:
i. 1st ranked team: 3 points;
ii. 2nd ranked team: 2 points;
iii.3rd ranked team: 1 point;
iv.4th ranked team: 0 points.
No remarks here.
e. Teams shall also be given a score out of 200 (Team Scores) by the adjudication panel in accordance with the Rules of the Championship. No remarks here.
f. If a team forfeits a debate they shall be given 0 points and a Team Score of 0. If a team was replaced by a swing team, it will automatically be rewarded 0 points and a team score of 0. If the team was replaced AFTER announcing the round, simply enter the points the team scored, but check the button "Substitute team was debating" - Tournaman will treat the team as if it was a swing team.
g. In the opening round, teams will be drawn in debates of groups of four teams on a random basis, and subsequently allocated Opening Government, Opening Opposition, Closing Government or Closing Opposition (Speaking Positions) on a random basis. No remarks here.
h. For rounds two through to nine, the debates shall be drawn by the Tournament Director on a "power-pairing" basis, in accordance with section 3 of this Article. No remarks here.
3. Tabulation of Preliminary Rounds 2-9. Notes on section 3
a. At the conclusion of each preliminary round (except for the last round) teams shall be ranked in order of their aggregate Team Points accumulated by the team; from highest aggregate to lowest. No remarks here.
b. The teams should then be divided up into pools of teams with the same amount of aggregate team points, with pools being ranked from highest aggregate to lowest. No remarks here.
c. If any pool (The Upper Pool) consists of an amount of teams equivalent to a number that is not divisible by four, then teams from the pool ranking immediately below that pool (The Lower Pool) may be promoted to the Upper Pool, so that the Upper Pool consists of a number of teams that is divisible by four; provided that;
i. Team from the Lower Pool are selected on a random basis; and
ii. The pools are made up into numbers of teams divisible by four by starting at the highest ranking pool and moving consectively to the lowest ranking pool, subject to 3f below. _
Remarks see under 3f
d. Once the pools have been adjusted in accordance with 3c then the pools are divided into debates of four teams on a random basis, subject to 3f below. Remarks see under 3f
e. Once the teams have been placed in groups of four they shall be allocated Speaking Positions on a random basis, subject to 3f below. Remarks see under 3f
f. The Tournament Director may devise a tabulation program or system that alters or varies:
i. the random allocation of teams to a debate in accordance with 3d;
ii. the random allocation of teams to Speaking Positions in accordance with 3e;
iii. and/or the random promotion of a team from a Lower Pool to an Upper Pool in accordance with 3c;
in order to provide that teams are given as even an amount of the various Speaking Positions as possible over the nine preliminary rounds.
Concerning 3 f i and ii: After the pools have been built according to 3c, Tournaman will not use a purely random mechanism to build the debates, but attempt to have all teams compete in all positions in the course of a competition as evenly as possible. In order to avoid uneven increases of position counts, which would need to be reversed later on, Tournaman will usually not assign the same position to a team twice in a row.
Concerning 3 f iii: Subject to the tabmasters choice, Tournaman will minimize repeated pull-ups and from all eligible teams pull up teams that have not been pulled up before.
g. The Tournament Director shall not be permitted under any circumstances to alter the compostion of a pool beyond what is permitted under 3f. No remarks here.
h. The following shall not be taken into account in any manner whatsoever when allocating teams to debates:
i. Team Scores;
ii. Whether two teams from the same institution have been drawn to debate each other; or
iii. Whether the two or more of the teams drawn to debate each other have competed against each other in a prior preliminary round of the tournament.
No remarks here.
4. Selection of teams for the elimination rounds Notes on section 4
a. At the conclusion of the nine preliminary rounds, teams are to ranked in consecutive order (from highest to lowest) as follows:
i. Total aggregate Team Points accumulated by the team; and
ii. Where teams have an equal number of aggregate team points, on the basis of aggregate Team Scores accumulated by the team; and
iii. Where this is also equal, on a count-back of the number of times that each team has ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd, with a team ranking higher if it has been ranked 1st more often, and so on; and
iv. Where the teams still cannot be distinguised, by drawing lots
Ranking lists are automatically build according to these settings.
b. The highest thirty two ranking teams will participate in the Main Competition elimination rounds, and shall be ranked from 1st to 32nd according to 4a. No remarks here.
c. Where there are, at the commencement of the preliminary rounds, at least 80 teams eligible to compete in the ESL elimination rounds, the highest sixteen ranking ESL teams will participate in the ESL Competition elimination rounds, and shall be ranked from 1st to 16th according to 4a. In any other case, the highest eight ranking ESL teams will participate in the ESL Competition elimination rounds, and shall be ranked from 1st to 8th according to 4a. No remarks here.
d. Teams shall compete in the elimination rounds subject to the qualification requirements of this Constitution. No remarks here.
e. The consecutive order of finalists should be announced and posted by the Tournament Director before the commencement of the elimination rounds. No remarks here.
5. The Main Competition elimination rounds Notes on section 5
a. Teams shall be drawn to debate in accordance with Schedule A of this Constitution.
b. At the conclusion of each of the Octo-Finals, Quarter Finals and Semi Finals, the adjudication panel shall select two winning teams from each debate. These two teams shall progress to the next elimination round.
c. In the Final, the adjudication panel shall select the one winning team and the three runners-up. The three runners-up shall not be ranked in any way by the panel
No remarks here.
6. The ESL Competition elimination rounds Notes on section 6
a. Teams shall be drawn to debate in accordance with Schedule A of this Constitution.
b. At the conclusion of each Quarter Final and Semi Final, the adjudication panel shall select two winning teams. These two teams shall progress to the next elimination round.
c. In the Final, the adjudication panel shall select the one winning team and the three runners-up. The three runners-up shall not be ranked in any way by the panel
No remarks here.
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