Internationalization

Vocabulary form: Adobe Reader (.pdf) :: OpenOffice.org Calc (.ods) :: Microsoft Excel (.xls)

Download 1.55 beta

Just a fair warning: I'm pretty sure I'm all caught up on the bugs-to-fix list, but you should still play around a bit before running your next event. If you find a problem, please e-mail pytd@pytd.org with all the details.

Download 1.55 beta.

Bug fixes, 1.52b

• XML bugs stomped (apostrophes, restricted characters).
• Round undo/band connection repaired.
• Provisional rating calculator fixed.

Download 1.52 beta.

Bug fixes, 1.51b

• Round undos no longer prohibited if players byed.
• All player records now appear in the info panels.
• Byed players now reported on the scrolling ordered list.

Download 1.51 beta.

Download 1.5 beta

New features:

• Supports Swiss-McMahon, Swiss, AccelRat, and Baltimore-8 tournaments.
• Tracks provisional ratings according to Arpad Elo's rating system (the AGA's rating system is built on the same statistical infrastructure).
• Write tournament data to XML; edit the file in a text editor and import back into PyTD.
• Generate tournaments by template; currently supports US Open, Toyota/Denso Oza, and Ing.
• Pair rounds in the ordered, slide, and fold styles; choose one style for every round or mix it up.
• Observe players' game histories within their info panels.
• Apply any five of ten tie-breakers in any order.
• Evaluate standings in real-time; see how next round's pairings will change if you choose different tiebreaking criterion.
• Preferences. Choose a default font, setup an autosave timer, place recent files on the File menu, and more.
• Download an up-to-date TD list file automatically or on-demand.

Once you have a chance to look around, please consider sending feedback -- especially bug reports -- to pytd@pytd.org.

Congress '07

Now call me crazy, but wouldn't it make sense for the AGA to stop backing new applications and invest some time (and maybe even some money) in a long-term replacement? It doesn't really matter if it's my program or not (although I'd like it to be), but, like the ratings system, this is one of those things that ought to be done right.

Someone -- probably the Board -- should put out a call for applications and a deadline: anyone who wants their program considered should have it ready by, say, April next. Maybe, to encourage submissions, it would be effective to offer a small prize to the winner -- some cash, a year of go lessons, a nice board and set of stones, etc. And to make the playing field even, the AGA should maintain an official handbook with all the little details. (The current AGA TD Guide by Ken Koester is a fine resource for small club events, but just isn't detailed enough to prepare an application for the Open.)

Towards that end, 2.0 is on temporary hold.

2.0 on-deck

2.0beta is available to anyone who wants it; this will be the only beta before PyTD 2.0.

There's a little more to do before the new version is released, but things are moving along -- there's enough new stuff here to jump straight to 2.0. I'd just like to take a moment and plug some of the changes/additions.

There are really two approaches to developing a TDing application like PyTD. The first is the style-oriented approach. This sort of application is developed for the purpose of directing a particular sort of event; it assumes you don't care about the everyday details and abstracts them away. This is great if you run the same meat-and-potatoes event each month, but tends to come up short when you want to break the rules, run something by hand, or make a change halfway through.

The other approach is TD-oriented. This approach seems to say things like, "I'm one TD with many different events to run; I want one application that can handle them all"; "there's no reason re-pairing for a late arrival or cancellation should take more than 10 seconds"; "tie-breaking is just number crunching"; "this application should work the way I expect it to". It assumes you want the ability to control the details but don't want to be annoyed by them.

PyTD has been inconsistent in which approach it took. There was only one way -- Swiss-McMahon -- to pair players; there was no way to discourage particular "undesirable" match-ups; reports had to be generated just to see the standings. Since 1.0, I've put in a lot of time to clear up this inconsistency; since I prefer the TD-oriented approach, I've focused in that direction, and I think it's a one-size-fits-all solution.

Some features to look forward to:

• Preferences: default font, autosave, recent files on File menu, default tie-break order, reload last workspace, and more. Save the changes and they'll become the default.
• Download an up-to-date TD List with the start of the program or on-demand.
• Group players by club, state, or anything you like, then tell PyTD how unfavorable a meeting between two players in the same group would be (for example, a husband/wife or brother/sister match-up should probably be more strongly discouraged than a meeting between two players from the same club). PyTD will do its best to avoid those pairings.
• AccelRat, Elo, and my own pairing system now available.
• Player info panel updates. Review game results, manage player's groups, and continue to update player's band, bye, and membership info with just a few clicks.
• Tournament info updates. Modify tie-break order, review standings in real-time, update tournament information, and manage group profiles in one place.
• Accounting. Keep track of who owes tournament and membership fees.

1.0 released

Grab 1.0 and let me know what you think. If you have a beta version, you should probably upgrade.

Download PyTD

Interested in pitching in? I'm looking for a Mac user with some general development know-how (Python chops would be good, too) to give me a hand putting together some Mac releases. Just think of it: fame, fortune... well, ok -- maybe neither of those. But I can put your name here in gigantic bold letters. Drop me a line if you're interested.