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Out of all the suggestions, there's a lack of specifics regarding the key issues... I've given it some thought regarding the regulations and decided to share my ideas. The key points, in my opinion, are: players should be on equal footing (so that the randomness of the draw doesn't affect their chances of competing for the main prize), all participants who show up and want to play should be able to participate in the tournament (a strict selection process is clearly not suitable for this tournament, as we barely manage to reach the required number of participants each time), and there should be a clear final (not based on points, but a specific match that determines who the champion is and who gets the Cobra medal :)). A bit of background: we've stuck with the Swiss system as the only option that allows us to stay within the time limit and "balances out" the uneven number of participants, plus it "sort of gives a chance to compete even with one loss." In reality, a player who loses in the first round has no chance of winning in our format, as they physically won't be able to catch up in points with those who are undefeated in the limited number of rounds. So, let's not pretend that our shortened Swiss system gives a chance to win with one loss; we've never actually played it to the end (after the results are recorded, there are always players with one loss who could theoretically still play). We can't physically manage a double-elimination bracket, and an Olympic-style bracket with an odd number of players looks bad – some people are sweating from the first round, while others are just hanging around. The dynamics of the tournaments are such that we consistently get more than 16 but fewer than 32 participants. The main problem is the uneven number of participants; even if we create a nice bracket before the tournament through a selection process, we can't be protected from unforeseen circumstances (Stepa's case is a recent example), which will again make it uneven.
Based on all of the above, I've come up with the following: at the start, players are divided into 2 groups, each with an even number of participants. This is achieved by having the judge play in the first round if there is an odd number of participants (this is the only round in which they can play; I think many would support the idea of the judge not participating in the tournament). After the first round, we will most likely have an odd number of players with 1 win. Here's the key point: we add to each group the number of contenders for the win to reach 8 from those who lost. How to do this is an open question: it could be a re-buy, a draw from a bag, hero contests, or any other bright idea that comes to mind. As a result, we have two groups of 8 people, from which, after 2 rounds, exactly 2 people with the maximum number of wins remain (the game is played according to the Swiss system: only those with the same number of points can play against each other). These 4 people compete in the final part of the tournament, with the semi-final draw being random from a bag, followed by the final match between the winners and a match for 3rd-4th place. According to this scheme, a player who loses in the 1st round has a real chance to win the tournament. In terms of time, we can easily fit it into 5 days, with one game per day. We have a specific final match that can be broadcast with engaging commentators and the appropriate hype. That's the idea; what do you think?