Single Comment

Michael Howe has quit the tournament. The most straightforward way of
proceeding would be to declare him the loser in all his remaining games
without anyone actually playing any of them. It seems that this option may
give an unfair advantage to anyone who hasn't played him yet, though,
since he has won only one game, this would materially affect the score of
only one player.

A second option would be to not count any of his games toward scoring.
This would put everyone on a level playing field against each other. It
would also set a precedent of doing the same for anyone else who quits. It
may seem innocuous right now, given that doing it right now would make a
material difference for only one player, but if someone else quit after
playing more games, it might not seem like such a fair thing to do.

I think that some of the unfairness in the first option may be mitigated
by the following consideration. It gives people who haven't yet played
against Michael Howe the option of playing the game they were scheduled to
play with him against someone else who has already won the game in this
tournament. Although someone who has beaten him at a game will have to
play and win one more game to score just as well as someone who hasn't
played against him, someone who has beaten him has better odds of being
the better player for the particular game he has beaten him at.

Whichever option we go with, there is also the possibility of reassigning
some games before we continue. This may be desirable for those who were
assigned to play Michael Howe for one of their top choices. If you
haven't played Michael Howe yet, and you're interested in a reassignment
of your remaining games, please contact me with the change you would like
made.