Learning from the methods used in the last 5 years ....... 11 + 0 method used in 2005. 9 + 0 method used in 2006. in fact, 7 + 3 method was considered before 2007 National Open but 7 + 2 method was used instead in 2007 and again in 2008 ........ For 7 + 3 method, assume players A, B, C and D perform very well in the first 7 rounds as compared to players E, F, G and H. After the first 7 rounds, the orders of ranking are A, B, C, D, E,F, G and H. In Round 8, all players A, B, C and D perform badly and ended up players E, F, G and H move into semi-final and promoted to Grade B, i.e. Round 8 is the most critical round for all 8 players. Personally, if we have times for 7 + 3 method, could we consider 9 + 1 method, if it is too late for National Open 2009, then how about next year ? I understand it is not easy to design a system to take care of all factors, but since we have tried 11 + 0, 9 + 0, 7 + 2 methods so far, if it is not working well this year for 7 + 3 method, may be we should conisder the x + 1 (more...)