Rating Range Restrictions
When declaring your prize classes to SwissSys in the Rating Range dialog, keep in mind the following recommendations and cautions.
Unrated Player Handling
Best practice, as recommended by the USCF, is to put unrated players in a separate class.
Alternatively, you can include unrated players with existing classes using these methods:
Options for Unrated Players
- Bottom class: Use 0 as the bottom rating for the lowest class
- Top class: Check the “unrated with top class only” checkbox
- All classes: Use 0 as the bottom rating across all classes
Limitations
SwissSys is not designed to handle special cases such as allowing unrated players in only the top two classes but not others.
Prize Structure Guidelines
Do not mix “Under” prizes with regular class prizes. For instance, avoid awarding a combination of prizes like U2000, Class B, U1600, etc.
Important Considerations
Violating these guidelines may make it difficult for SwissSys to produce flawless results in all cases. If you have already advertised prizes that require you to ignore these recommendations, you may override the warnings you receive. Even with complex class setups, SwissSys will provide at least a good starting point for awarding prizes.
Whenever possible, set your classes in accordance with these simple principles to ensure accurate results.
Verification Responsibility
Even though this feature has been exhaustively tested, it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure the awards you distribute are completely accurate. Always double-check the results by hand and by inspection.