2026 WBC Up Front Tournament

Up Front Trial Event - class “B”.

New players are welcome, provided they have either attended the Demo or have spent at least an hour working through the basic mechanics of the game with an experienced player. I will be available in open gaming for teaching sessions on Monday and Wednesday afternoon for anyone interested.

Swiss Elimination - 5 games

  • Round 1:

Players will be matched by Random Selection. (Former champions will not be matched against each other in the first round.)

If there are an odd number of players in round 1, a bye will be offered to the most recent champion. If the bye is declined, the next most recent champion will be offered the bye. If all former champions decline, then a non-prior champion will be randomly selected.

  • Round 2 through 5:

Players will be matched against players with similar records. If there are an odd number of players, a bye will be given to a player randomly selected from those with the worst record. No player may receive more than one bye.

Each round will be allotted a maximum of 100 minutes of playing time. Subsequent rounds will start immediately upon conclusion of the preceding round.

The Elimination Round

Up to the top eight players will advance to single elimination playoffs.

All players with 4 or 5 wins will advance. Enough players with 3 wins will advance to fill the quarter final field of 8.

The players with 3 wins will be ranked based on a strength-of-victory formula, with bonuses awarded for the number of different nationalities and different scenarios played.

For tie-breaking purposes among those with a 3-2 record, each player scores 1 point for:

  • Each win by the opponents they defeated,
  • Each different nationality played (max 3),
  • Each different scenario played (max 4),
  • Playing either the French or Italian (1 each)

In case of a tie for the last slot, the following will be used to evaluate ranking:

  • Any head-to-head result
  • Record vs mutual opponent(s)
  • Number of wins by the opponents that defeated them
  • Random draw

If there are not at least 8 players with at least 3 wins, the SE portion of the tournament will proceed with the number of qualifying players. The top seeded players will get a bye in the quarterfinal round to ensure 4 people advance to the semifinals. (No player will advance to the elimination round with a non-winning record.)

GM: Ken Whitesell (email: KenWhitesell -at- comcast.net)

I will not be playing in the tournament, no official assistant GMs are assigned.