The Decemberist

The Decemberist is a high school tournament held at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois, first held on December 1st, 2007. It was originally designed primarily to expose pyramidal questions, specifically NAQT format, to teams in the Northern Illinois area that don't travel to Chicago or Illinois for tournaments. Additionally, the format is set up to allow teams to play significantly more games than most area tournaments.

2007 Tournament

The first incarnation of The Decemberist featured 16 teams. The original format involved two pools of eight teams for seven round robin preliminary games, but inclement weather forced Bloomington and Dixon A and B to leave at the lunch break after five prelim games. Playoff pools of four teams each were bracketed at lunch based on those five games. Auburn A won the tournament, followed by East A, Sterling, and Byron in the championship playoff pool; Rock Island won the consolation championship over Auburn B, Marengo, and Winnebago; Pecatonica won the second consolation championship over Byron B, Hampshire, and North Boone. Hunter Fast of Bloomington scored 101 PPG for top individual honors, and Siva Sundaram of Auburn A was the second top scorer and neg champion, earning a Jane Austen action figure for the latter honor.

2008 Tournament

The second annual Decemberist saw 24 teams. Teams played 5 rounds in morning pool play, were rebracketed at lunch, and then played 5 rounds in afternoon playoffs. All teams were allowed to play in the afternoon, although 4 left before the end of play. Auburn A repeated as champions in a one game final over Loyola A. Buffalo Grove, Loyola B, Auburn C, and Byron finished out the top bracket, while Winnebago won the first consolation bracket. Stats can be found at [1].