We have 16 teams, and I have no reason to anticipate more coming in. Let me know in the comments how you think sections should be divided. As always, your input is valued.

Thank you, smallblackcat!

4x4 looks okay to me. If other captains prefer it more balanced, there are options. Perhaps EoT could swap one pair of players, to raise the rating of EoT_The_Glance? Perhaps NB could significantly either raise or lower the rating of NB_Leuko? We might get something like 7-5-4 then.

RW_Verde wouldn't mind playing Fischer, if we're considered a useful addition.

Good chess, everyone.

4x4 works for me. I think 5 team sections are generally avoided unless absolutely necessary so I would assume it would be a 6-6-4 layout (or a similar permutation e.g. 6-4-6) would be the main viable alternative.

I don't see any clashes so it looks like main consideration would be average team ratings. I'm quite happy to go along with the consensus choice and my teams work in any layout.

I understand people would welcome more variety in comparison to the sections we've got in recent seasons, but the only truly logical setup is 4-4-4-4, as any others separate teams that are very close in average and just deepen the imbalances. I should also point out that 6-6-4 would be a disaster for NewBlood as Leuko and Erythro would be in Spassky, and with a gap of 165.25 points between them I do expect our squads to remain separate.

So as we seem to have consensus around 4x4, I'll start creating sections shortly. Pairings will be done by Saturday, if not sooner. Thanks everyone for your input.

Thanks once again for all your work, sbc!

Pairings are up. They were manually done, so if in the unlikely event that you spot an error, please let me know ASAP.

What kurumim said: Thanks for organizing this tournament sbc and whole administration team.