user11799: I'm thinking of entering a chess tournament, and finding it very hard to decode some of the jargon in the tournament listings. The tournament I'm considering entering has 4-day, 3-day, and 2-day options, and I can't figure out how this works regarding the possibility of winning 1st place in your section. Can someone give a general run-down of what the consequences are of joining the 2-day option vs the 3- or 4-day? Can you still win the tournament? How could that work, given that you cannot possibly play some of the other people in your same section but who chose the 3- or 4-day option, since the time controls are listed as being different?

user9025: It's my understanding that all of the players, regardless of whether they started in the 2, 3 or 4-day options, merge on the final day of play. Playing fewer days means you will play faster time controls in the early rounds, so that everyone plays the same number of games, up to the final day's rounds, which are played at the slower time control. The winner is determined like in any other Swiss, by who has the most points at the end of the tournament.

11799: <p>I'm thinking of entering a chess tournament, and finding it very hard to decode some of the jargon in the tournament listings. The tournament I'm considering entering has 4-day, 3-day, and 2-day options, and I can't figure out how this works regarding the possibility of winning 1st place in your section. Can someone give a general run-down of what the consequences are of joining the 2-day option vs the 3- or 4-day? Can you still win the tournament? How could that work, given that you cannot possibly play some of the other people in your same section but who chose the 3- or 4-day option, since the time controls are listed as being different?</p>
 9025: <p>It's my understanding that all of the players, regardless of whether they started in the 2, 3 or 4-day options, merge on the final day of play. Playing fewer days means you will play faster time controls in the early rounds, so that everyone plays the same number of games, up to the final day's rounds, which are played at the slower time control. The winner is determined like in any other Swiss, by who has the most points at the end of the tournament.</p>
