How to play tournaments (for phone players)

[rebayona]

I've been playing backgammon on FIBS for over a year. It was a surprise for me that FIBS been running for all this time and I didn't found it until I installed an app for my phone, and I started playing backgammon on internet about 15 years ago. My favorite app  to play from phone (well, and the only one I know) is the one by odesys: Android - Ovi store - App Store

FIBS is not easy to understand for newbies like me. Even with deep internet and even programming knowledge, FIBS is not easy. It has its own codes, it has its own culture, pages are stucked on 1997, and when you first log in it is like a first day in school. And the feeling remains for a long time. Also phone users are treated like stray dogs here, so we're on our own... That's why I made this post, so we (phone users) can take part of tournaments too.

FIBS is a place where you can have a casual backgammon match for fun when you're taking a break or killing time, but for some people it would be better when are playing for glory. For competitive players, playing tournaments is not only fun, but a good reason / motivation to log in to FIBS every day. To play for "something" (which is nothing but the joy of seeing your name in the top of a list). Tournaments give you a good reason to engage with FIBS, have fun and meet nice, reliable and good players, And boost your ego if you want

How do they work?
Backgammon tournaments on FIBS work very much like a tennis tournament. Single elimination: you lose, you're out, you win and face a new opponent until the final is reached in (most of the time) 3 to 4 rounds. It takes in average an hour, but it may take a lot longer, depending on how though you or your opponents are. Most of them are automatic and scheduled.

When?
You can find a detailed schedule of FIBS tournaments
Or you can add this google calendar to yours just by clicking on " google calendar" below:

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?mode=WEEK&amp;height=600&amp;wkst=2&amp;bgcolor=#FFFFFF&amp;src=s1ua4mdtgsl6fftn9rnno8uqk8@group.calendar.google.com&amp;color=#B1440E&amp;ctz=America/New_York" style=" border-width:0 " width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

How do I sign up for a tournament?
Registration for tournaments is open most of the time 30 minutes before the start of each one. You need to send a command to TourneyBot, which is the second user on the user list screen on your phone. It is a robot, and it is the one who runs tournaments. Select its name just like if you were going to send it a message, and send it the magic words (like a chat message): "tourneys" (without quotes)





It will reply with the open tournaments at the moment, if there are some. One possible reply is:

If there is a tournament this will be the reply. Take note of the number of it, as your next reply will be this:"register 1234"

where 1234 is the number of that open tournament.




From there, you just need to wait until tourney starts. Tourneybot will tell you your opponents and the start of it at the end of each round, but before that you need to tell it to do it. Send it the following chat message: "SUBSCRIBE" (you'll need to do this only once, from there tourneybot will keep you up to date).


So from now then you'll receive these messages:


Some other useful commands are: "PAIRS 1234" where, again, 1234 is the number of the tournament and you can see the brackets of it (useful if you didn't see who is your opponent), and "TOURNEY 1234" will show you all the information about that tournament, like registered players, rules, etc.





And now what?
Enjoy. Behave. Phone users are not very welcome for some users since many of them are droppers, don't know or understand the conduct codes here and just leave, so please don't be one of those. FIBS made a good work blocking them when they reach their limit of unfinished games, but it is annoying anyway. I guess we can change that perception of us (phone players) since if you're playing a tournament it means you're commited to follow the rules, and you won't just leave.

If you want to replicate this instructions to someone you're playing with, just use this link: http://bit.ly/fibstourneys (easier to remember)

Why phone instead of PC app?

• It is easier to play/usability
• More convenient
• You can play from anywhere
• Because we can

Other resources:
How to register and play from PC
More on tournaments
More on PC vs Mobile users

[diane]

This is fantastic, rebayona, I will pin this so it doesnt get lost and is easy to find.

Maybe stog can also put a link to it from the home page - I would prefer to include phone users with stable connections if possible.