Single Comment

In the last two rounds, the privilege of moving first was given evenly, so
that you would have it as many times as you didn't have it. Since there
are a total of 11 games to play for those of us who played Michael Howe,
we can't all play equally as many games as the first player as the
second. So, in the last round, here is how who moves first will be
decided:

1) The player with the lower total score so far will move first.

2) When players have equal scores, whoever has moved first in fewer games
will move first. For these purposes, any game automatically won against
Michael Howe without actually playing against him will count as a game in
which you moved first.

3) If there is still a tie, the other tiebreaking methods will be used in
the same order they would be for deciding the winner. Whoever loses the
tiebreak would go first. [No ties were left unresolved by the prior
rule.]

4) Exceptions will be made to make sure that no one moves first in fewer
than five games and in more than seven. An average of five to six would
have been enforced, but counting any unplayed game against Michael Howe as
a game in which you moved first raises the total number of games in which
each remaining person in the contest moved first.

With these conditions in mind, here is who will play whom in each game,
with the first player listed first:

Alice Chess

Fergus Duniho vs. Antoine Fourriere
Tony Quintanilla vs. Michael Madsen
Mark Thompson vs. Thomas McElmurry

Anti-King Chess II

Carlos Carlos vs. Fergus Duniho
Roberto Lavieri vs. Antoine Fourriere
Mark Thompson vs. Ben Good
Michael Madsen vs. Mike Nelson [exception]

Cavalier Chess

Carlos Carlos vs. Roberto Lavieri
Ben Good vs. Fergus Duniho
Mike Nelson vs. Gary Gifford
Tony Quintanilla vs. Mark Thompson [exception]

Maxima

Gary Gifford vs. Roberto Lavieri
Ben Good vs. Thomas McElmurry

Takeover Chess

Thomas McElmurry vs. Carlos Carlos [exception]
Michael Madsen vs. Gary Gifford
Mike Nelson vs. Tony Quintanilla

I think this was the fairest way to decide who goes first in each game,
but if Antoine thinks it will be fairer for him to move first in our game
of Alice Chess, given that he would be moving first in fewer actual games
than anyone else, I'm willing to allow it. This is not because I doubt
the fairness of this method, but only because it might appear unfair, and
if I defeat Antoine and win the tournament, I don't want anyone to think
I did it by manipulating the tournament.