That would be a bit harsh! You'd get no end of complaints about the pairings in the 'cut-off' round! As well a whole group of players agreeing quick draws in the round in question in order to "guarantee" their placeSimon Ansell wrote:I like the sound of this too, or the "cut" as in golf idea. Those not making it could play in the Major Open.Jonathan Bryant wrote:Now that I like the sound of. As a by-the-by it might make the event more attractive to the pre-qualified. Didn't John Cox say earlier in this thread that the typical 9-round format of european events meant only a week off work?Alex McFarlane wrote: Other possibilities would be a 9 round event with the previous few days being used to qualify for the British proper. This would be a bit like the FA Cup format.
Anyway, effectively all the weaker players not having exceptional tournaments have worked their way away from having any impact on the tournament outcome by the second week, and will have done their terminal damage to some people's phantom norm chances, so cutting them out at that point wouldn't really serve a purpose. Are you going to guarantee a prize to everybody making the cut?