Speed and aggression.

So, ladies and gentlemen, the votes of the interested parties were divided almost equally. There is no clear advantage for either system. Each has its own pros and cons.
For me, the priority is the participation of all those who wish to participate in the tournament. :)\br\brAfter long and agonizing deliberation, after consulting with people who have influence on this forum, the following decision has been made:\brRegistration is now open again. Welcome to all who wish to participate.\brThe tournament format will be group stage and playoffs.\brGroup Stage\brTo conduct the group stage, all participants will be "seeded" into 5 tiers. The first tier will contain the strongest players, and so on, down to the weakest.\brThe seeding was not done by me, but by a person who knows the approximate level of play of the declared participants and has experience in running tournaments.\brGroups will be formed from these tiers based on the principle of "Maximum Diversity"

This draw reduces the chance that players with the same tournament rating will meet in the early stages of the championship.

Approximately, 8 groups of 5 people each.\brTwo players advance from each group.\brHere, I will again borrow the experience and wording of Scorpions :)

The main criterion for advancing from the group is the number of points scored (1 point is awarded for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss). If several players have the same number of points, then additional indicators come into play (in order of priority):\bra) Berger coefficient\brb) Head-to-head result\brc) Time spent in the group\brd) Place in the seasonal ranking

The playoffs will be held in a Double Elimination system.\brThe 1st and 2nd places in the groups advance to the general playoffs - 16 people.\br\brThus, the players wassermann, Satyr, Kilgor, Ihtiandr\brhave been added to the general list of those who wish to participate.\br\brI really hope that there will be no storm of indignation regarding the repeated change in the tournament format.\brAfter all, we come here to have a good time, and a little waiting only increases the appetite :)\br\brThe draw will be held on Saturday, February 24, at 20:00 Moscow time.\brA broadcast can be made, but only on Mikogo.\brMy laptop can barely handle the stream.\br\brI think that's all I wanted to say :)\brI'm waiting for feedback :)