Scobol Solo
The Scobol Solo is an individual tournament held each November since 2001 at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. It is open to any high school student. It typically attracts many of the top players in Illinois and occasionally attracts players from out of state.
History
The Solo, as it is often simply called, was the second major individual tournament to be held in Illinois, following the demise of the Ultimate Scholar Tournament which originated at downstate Sullivan before being moved to the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. That tournament, run by Ken Johnson, ended when IWU could no longer provide the space for free.
This tournament has been directed by and written by David Reinstein since its inception. With the exception of the 2006 tournament, it has been held at New Trier's Winnetka campus. In 2006, New Trier was forced to close the weekend of the tournament due to a pertussis outbreak, causing the tournament to be moved to nearby Stevenson at the last moment.
In addition to the Scobol Solo, Donald Taylor has run annual individual competitions since 2006, first at the University of Illinois, then as a side event after the NAQT State Qualifier, and starting in Spring 2011 as a side event to ATROPHY at Northern Illinois University.
In 2010, Scobol Solo was mirrored at PORTA.
In 2010, Scobol Solo used a program Jonah Greenthal developed called Scobol Solo Statistics System, or SSSS. Moderators entered in results at the end of each match, and the results were immediately compiled into the tournament stats and posted on the internet. The program kept track of category stats, so ribbons for category winners could be handed out as soon as the rounds were completed.
Tournament format
The tournament has 14 regular rounds, with each player participating in seven (either round 1 or 2, either round 3 or 4, and so on). Power-matching is used, so that every match has two players with identical records face off. When there were significantly fewer than the cap of 128 players during the first few years of the tournament, "safety matches" were played in which both players were credited with a win. In some recent years in which there were slightly fewer than 128 students present, "phantom matches" have been played which feature a player who should be in the match (who receives a win) against a player on their bye round (whose record is not affected).
After each player plays seven rounds, there will be one 7-0 player, seven 6-1 players, and twenty-one 5-2 players. The 7-0 player and 6-1 players advance to the finals (with the 7-0 player having an advantage), and the 5-2 player with the highest points per 20 toss-ups heard is the ninth player in the finals. Prior to 2012, a written test called the "Desperation Shot" was used to determine which one of the 5-2 players would advance to the finals.
Match format
Each match consists of 20 toss-up questions. There are no bonus questions. Each question is worth one point, with no power or neg points, and ties are decided by sudden death (using up to three tossups, the third of which is a very short, very easy question on a tournament-themed category of answer lines, such as modes of transportation or colors). There were three computational questions in each match through 2009, but computation was eliminated starting in 2010.
Originally, for each tournament, the 20 categories would be set in a specific order, and questions would be asked from each category in order (so question #1 in each round would be from the same category). This was primarily for ease of tabulating the scores for category winners; SSSS was created so that this wouldn't be necessary. Categories are now randomized within each packet and are not announced.
Finals format
The finals consist of 60 questions and nine players (including the 7-0 morning champion). Unlike in the preliminary matches, a wrong answer counts as -1, even if the question is finished, and the question rebounds as usual. Players (except the morning champion) start with 3 points and are eliminated on reaching 0 points.
The finals are divided into three phases, each with 20 questions. In phase one, the morning champion sits out while the other eight players play. At the end of phase one (question 20), the morning champion enters the game with a score equal to that of the leader. At the end of the second phase (question 40), the five players with the lowest score are eliminated, leaving four. Halfway through the third phase (question 50), the two remaining players with the lowest score are eliminated. The remaining player with the higher score at the end of the third phase (question 60) is the champion. Ties for elimination or the championship are broken by tiebreaker tossups, with a correct answer advancing the player and an incorrect answer eliminating the player.
Previously, a tossup that was incorrectly answered was not rebounded for the other players.
Prior to 2004, the finals used only 40 questions.
From 2002 through 2008, some tossups were replaced with handout questions (exclusively in the interdisciplinary category in 2008) that all players could attempt. These were very difficult, multi-part written questions that players could choose to have counted or not. A player who opted to have a handout counted scored 1 point for a handout that is completely correct, otherwise -1. In 2001, very lengthy questions that were repeated twice and required synthesizing multiple facts were used.
Categories
Current Categories
Since 2001, the following 8 categories have always been in use:
- U.S. Literature
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Biology
- U.S. History
- World History (which included European History for the first few years)
- Religion/Mythology
- World Literature (adjusted to World & European Literature in 2012, which was a change in name only)
In the first year, American Literature and American Dramas, Poems, and Short Stories were two separate categories, and all the other literature questions were in World Literature. British Literature was added in 2002, and American Literature was condensed into one category.
The other current categories:
- Current Events/Geography (added 2010)
- Curricular Math (added 2010)
- European History (added as "Western European History" in 2009, renamed in 2010)
- Instrumental Classical Music (added 2010)
- Military History (added 2010)
- Other Fine Arts (added 2010, "other" being defined as not painting or instrumental classical music)
- Other Math (added 2010)
- Other Science (added in 2010, "other" being defined as not biology, chemistry, physics, or math)
- Painting (added 2010)
- Poetry (added 2010)
- Social Science/Philosophy (added 2010 as "Other Social Studies", renamed in 2011)
Discontinued Categories
- Algebra (2001-09)
- Art/Architecture (introduced as "Art" in 2001, renamed 2002, last played in 2009)
- Astronomy/Earth Science/Geography (introduced as "Astronomy/Earth Science" in 2002, renamed 2003, last played in 2009)
- Calculus/Combinatorics (introduced as "Calculus/Precalculus" in 2001, renamed as "Calculus" in 2002, "Calculus/Math History" in 2003, renamed in 2004, last played in 2007)
- Current Events (2002-09)
- Geometry/Trigonometry (2001-09)
- Language Arts (2001-07)
- Pop Culture (2001-08)
- Technology (2001-07)
- U.S. Drama and Poetry (2001)
Results
Notes
- Morning Champion
- Desperation Shot Champion (2001-2010)
- Played as Anton Karpovich
FINALISTS RECORDS
Schools with three finalists, all-time
| FINALISTS | SCHOOL (YEARS) |
| 17 | Auburn (2005, 06, 06, 07, 07, 07, 08, 08, 09, 10, 11, 13, 14, 14, 15, 16, 17) |
| 14 | New Trier (2001, 02, 02, 03, 03, 04, 05, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11) |
| 11 | Carbondale (2006, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 11, 13, 13, 14, 17) |
| 10 | Wheaton North (2001, 02, 02, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 07, 12) |
| 9 | Stevenson (09, 10, 10, 10, 13, 13, 15, 16, 17) |
| 8 | Loyola Academy (2005, 07, 08, 09, 11, 12, 12, 16) |
| 7 | IMSA (2011, 12, 12, 13, 14, 14, 17) |
| 6 | Barrington (2013, 15, 15, 16, 16, 17) |
| 4 | Bloomington (2006, 08, 13, 14) |
| 5 | Latin School (2001, 04, 05, 11, 17) |
| 3 | Downers Grove North (2001, 02, 06) |
| 3 | Fremd (2001, 04, 04) |
| 3 | Maine South (2004, 06, 06) |
| 3 | Wheaton Warrenville South (2008, 12, 15) |
| 3 | Hinsdale Central (2014, 14, 15) |
| 3 | Homewood-Flossmoor (2001, 15, 16) |
| 3 | Oak Park River Forest (2009, 10, 17) |
Schools with two finalists, one tournament
| FINALISTS | SCHOOL (YEAR) |
| 3 | Wheaton North (2002) |
| Auburn (2007) | |
| Stevenson (2010) | |
| Barrington (2015, 2016) | |
| 2 | Fremd (2004) |
| New Trier (2002) | |
| New Trier (2003) | |
| New Trier (2005) | |
| Auburn (2006) | |
| Maine South (2006) | |
| Wheaton North (2007) | |
| Auburn (2008) | |
| Carbondale (2011) | |
| IMSA (2012) | |
| Loyola Academy (2012) | |
| Carbondale (2013) | |
| Stevenson (2013) | |
| Auburn (2014) | |
| Hinsdale Central (2014) | |
| IMSA (2014) |
Players who appeared in multiple finals
| # FINALS | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | YEARS |
| 3 | Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2005-07 |
| Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | 2006-08 | |
| Lloyd Sy (Auburn) | 2009-11 | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2015-17 | |
| 2 | Matt Keenan (New Trier) | 2001-02 |
| Paul Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2002-03 | |
| Donald Taylor (MacArthur)1 | 2002, 2004 | |
| Carlo Angiuli (New Trier) | 2005-06 | |
| John Brown (Auburn) | 2006-07 | |
| Tony Cao (Carbondale) | 2007-08 | |
| Isa Domin (Niles North) | 2008-09 | |
| Ben Carbery (OPRF) | 2009-10 | |
| Andrew Deveau (St. Ignatius) | 2009-10 | |
| Kevin Malis (Stevenson) | 2009-10 | |
| Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) | 2011-12 | |
| Maia Karpovich (IMSA) | 2012-13 | |
| Alston Boyd (Bloomington) | 2013-14 | |
| Evan Pandya (Auburn) | 2013-14 | |
| Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) | 2014-15 | |
| John Waldron (Barrington) | 2015-16 | |
| Matthew Lehmann (Barrington) | 2015-16 | |
| Ali Saeed (Stevenson) | 2015-16 | |
| Jakob Myers (Naperville North) | 2015-16 | |
| Aristotle Vainikos (Sandburg) | 2016-17 |
Finalists from Class A schools
- Jim Davis (The Latin School) - 2001
- Eric Grebing (Bunker Hill) - 2003
- Jonathan Mayer (The Latin School) - 2004
- Brad Fischer (Winnebago) - 2005
- Ben Weiss (The Latin School) - 2005
- Ana Pranger (The Latin School) - 2017
- Mitch McCullar (Williamsville) - 2017
Finalists Notes
- Donald Taylor is the only player to make multiple, non-consecutive appearances in the finals.
CATEGORY RECORDS
In addition to the finalists being recognized as among the best players, ribbons are given to any player who scores the most questions in each of the 20 categories.
Won a category three times
- 4 - Greg Gauthier (Geometry/Trigonometry, '04, '05, '06' 07)
- 3 - Greg Gauthier (Calculus/Combinatorics, '04, '06, '07)
- 3 - Paul Gauthier (World Literature, '01, '02, '03)
- 3 - Nick Matchen (Pop Culture, '04, '05, '06)
- (Scary, isn't it?)
Won a category in two tournaments
| CATEGORY | PLAYER, SCHOOL (YEARS) |
| Chemistry | Carlo Angiuli, New Trier (05, 06) |
| Physics | Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (06, 07) |
| Astronomy/Earth Science/Geography | Zach Blumenfeld, Stevenson (08, 09) |
| Other Science | Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (15, 17) |
| Calculus/Combinatorics | Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (06, 07) |
| Geometry/Trigonometry | Greg Gauthier, Wheaton North (04, 05, 06, 07); Karen Li, Libertyville (05, 06) |
| U.S. History | Garrett Ryan, Lincoln-Way East (03, 04); Andrew Van Duyn, Culver (10, 11) |
| European History | Matthew Lehmann, Barrington (15, 16); Ethan Strombeck, Auburn (15, 17) |
| World History | Kelly Tourdot, Stillman Valley (01, 02); Joe Ahmad, Loyola (07, 08); Jack Miller, Wheaton North (12, 13) |
| Social Studies/Philosophy | Cole Timmerwilke, Auburn (13, 15) |
| British Literature | Paul Gauthier, Wheaton North (02, 03); Andrew Deveau, St. Ignatius (09, 10); Lloyd Sy, Auburn (10, 11); Lily Hamer, Homewood-Flossmoor (15, 16) |
| European/World Literature | Evan Pandya, Auburn (12, 13); Dan Pechi, IMSA (13, 14) |
| World Literature | Paul Gauthier, Wheaton North (01, 02, 03); Kristina Warren, Bloomington (05, 06); Ankush Bajaj, Hinsdale Central (14, 15) |
| U.S. Literature | Jack Glerum, Loyola (07, 08); Siva Sundaram, Auburn (07, 08); Matthew Lehmann, Barrington (14, 15) |
| Nonfiction | Nik Brendler, Lincoln-Way East (02, 03) |
| Instrumental Classical Music | Dylan Minarik, Belvidere North (11, 12); Mahir Morshed, Carbondale (13, 14) |
| Other Fine Art | Cole Timmerwilke, Auburn (14, 15) |
| Religion/Mythology | Issa Domin, Niles North (08, 09) |
| Current Events | Ian Secviar, Mt. Carmel (04, 05); Ben Cohen (07, 08); Mike Penicnak, Fenton (08, 09); Jakob Myers, Naperville North (15, 16) |
| Current Events/Geography | Maia Karpovich, IMSA (12, 13)1 |
| Geography | B.J. Ryan, Hinsdale Central (14, 15) |
| Pop Culture | Nick Matchen, New Trier (04, 05, 06) |
Won three categories in one tournament
| # CATS | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | YEAR | CATEGORIES |
| 8 | Lloyd Sy (Auburn) | 2011 | Biology, Physics, Other Science, British Lit, Poetry, European History, Other Fine Arts, Social Studies/Philosophy4 |
| 7 | Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) | 2012 | Physics, Other Science, U.S. History, Poetry, Instrumental Classical Music, Religion/Mythology, Social Studies/Philosophy4 |
| 5 | Paul Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2002 | Geometry/Trig, British Lit, World Lit, Language Arts, Current Events |
| Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2007 | Chemistry, Physics, Algebra, Calculus/Combinatorics, Geometry/Trig | |
| Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | 2007 | U.S. Lit, World Lit, Music, Art/Architecture, Religion/Myth | |
| Ben Cohen (New Trier) | 2008 | U.S. Lit, Nonfiction, U.S. History, World History, Current Events | |
| Ben Carbery (OPRF) | 2010 | Other Science, British Lit, World History, European History, Military History3 | |
| Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) | 2014 | Other Science, US History, World History, Other Fine Arts, Current Events | |
| Cole Timmerwilke (Auburn) | 2015 | Painting, Other Fine Art, European History, Geography, SS/Philosophy | |
| Ankush Bajaj (Hinsdale Central) | 2015 | U.S. Lit, World Lit, British Lit, Biology, Chemistry | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2015 | Chemistry, Other Science, Instrumental Cl. Music, U.S. History, European History, | |
| 4 | Matt Keenan (New Trier) | 2002 | Biology, Astronomy/Earth Sci, World History, Music, |
| Andrew Uzzell (Evanston) | 2003 | Physics, Calculus/Math History, Language Arts, World History | |
| Greg Gauthier (Wheaton North) | 2006 | Physics, Calculus/Combinatorics, Geometry/Trig, U.S Lit | |
| Dan Auerbach (Glenbrook North) | 2007 | Astronomy/Earth Sci/Geography, Nonfiction, World History, Current Events | |
| Andrew Deveau (St. Ignatius) | 2009 | Physics, Nonfiction, British Lit, Art/Architecture | |
| Lloyd Sy (Auburn) | 2010 | World Lit, British Lit, Painting, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Ben Chametzsky (Carbondale) | 2011 | Other Science, U.S. History, Social Studies/Philosophy, Current Events/Geography | |
| Nolan Maloney (Loyola) | 2011 | Biology, Chemistry, Physics, World History2 | |
| Jonathan Huh (Carbondale) | 2013 | Military History, British Lit, European/World Lit, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Prerak Trivedi (Carbondale) | 2013 | Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Poetry2 | |
| Clare Keenan (Chicago Lab) | 2014 | Chemistry, Mathematics, US Lit, British Lit | |
| John Banta (Lake Forest) | 2016 | Mathematics, Poetry, Instrumental Classical Music, Other Fine Arts | |
| Jakob Myers (Naperville North) | 2016 | Military History, Instrumental Classical Music, Social Science/Philosophy, Current Events | |
| 3 | Parag Bhayani (Homewood-Flossmoor) | 2001 | Geometry/Trig, U.S. History, World Lit |
| Kelly Tourdot (Stillman Valley) | 2001 | U.S. History, World History, Religion/Myth | |
| Garrett Ryan (Lincoln-Way East) | 2003 | Astronomy/Earth Sci/Geography, U.S. History, World History | |
| Ian Secviar (Mt. Carmel) | 2004 | Language Arts, Religion/Myth, Current Events | |
| Kristina Warren (Bloomington) | 2006 | Geometry/Trig, U.S. Lit, World Lit | |
| Siva Sundaram (Auburn) | 2006 | Geometry/Trig, Pop Culture, Language Arts | |
| John Brown (Auburn) | 2007 | Biology, U.S. Lit, Brit Lit | |
| Joe Ahamad (Loyola) | 2008 | Vocabulary, World History, Music | |
| Bonny Jain (IMSA) | 2008 | Physics, Geometry/Trig, Pyramidal Math | |
| Michael Jiang (Auburn) | 2008 | World Lit, Nonfiction, Art/Architecture | |
| Webster Guan (New Trier) | 2011 | Physics, U.S. Lit, Poetry | |
| Dylan Minarik (Belvidere North) | 2011 | U.S. Lit, Painting, Instrumental Classical Music | |
| Nolan Winkler (Loyola) | 2011 | Biology, U.S. History, Religion/Mythology | |
| Thomas Birt (Wheaton North) | 2012 | U.S. History, European History, Military History3 | |
| Maia Karpovich (IMSA) | 2012 | Physics, Other Science, Current Events/Geography | |
| Ian Torres (Loyola) | 2012 | Curricular Math, Other Fine Arts, Social Studies/Philosophy | |
| Stae Schipper-Reyes (Bloomington) | 2013 | Biology, Other Science, Math | |
| Alston Boyd (Bloomington) | 2014 | Chemistry, Religion/Mythology, Social Science/Philosophy | |
| Nolan Liu (St. Joseph (IN)) | 2014 | British Lit, Poetry, Religion/Mythology | |
| Andrew Salij (IMSA) | 2014 | European History, Religion/Mythology, Social Science/Philosophy | |
| Jonathan Suh (Wheaton Warrenville South) | 2015 | U.S. Literature, Poetry, SS/Philosophy | |
| Matthew Lehmann (Barrington) | 2015 | U.S. Lit, Poetry, European History | |
| Jack Mayer (Loyola) | 2015 | Religion/Mythology, World History, European History | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2016 | Other Fine Arts, Current Events, Geography | |
| Gretchen Coleman (Latin) | 2017 | Chemistry, US History, World History | |
| Nick Kaminsky (Metea Valley) | 2017 | Chemistry, US History, World History | |
| Ana Pranger (Latin) | 2017 | British Literature, European/World Literature, Current Events | |
| Alex Reuter (Latin) | 2017 | Chemistry, World History, Religion/Mythology | |
| Ethan Strombeck (Auburn) | 2017 | Other Science, European History, Military History |
- In 2017, Ethan Strombeck became the first player to win at least three categories in three different tournaments.
7 categories won, career
| # CATS | PLAYER | SCHOOL | CATEGORIES (YEAR) |
| 14 | Lloyd Sy | Auburn | U.S. Lit (09), World Lit (10), British Lit (10, 11), Poetry (11), Physics (11), Biology (11), Other Science (11), Painting (10), Instrumental Classical Music (10), Other Fine Art (11), European History (11), SS/Philosophy (11), Interdisciplinary (09) |
| 13 | Greg Gauthier | Wheaton North | U.S. Lit (06), Physics (06, 07), Chemistry (07), Geometry/Trig (04, 05, 06, 07), Algebra (05, 07), Calculus/Combinatorics (04, 06, 07) |
| 11 | Paul Gauthier | Wheaton North | World Lit (01, 02, 03), Lang Arts (02), British Lit (02, 03), Biology (03), Art (01), Geometry/Trig (02), Current Events (02), World History (03) |
| 11 | Cole Timmerwilke | Auburn | SS/Philosophy (13, 15), Other Science (14), Other Fine Art (14, 15), Current Events (14), U.S. History (14), World History (14), Painting (15), European History (15), Geography (15) |
| 11 | Ethan Strombeck | Auburn | Chemistry (15), Other Science (15, 17), US History (15), European History (15, 17), Military History (17), Current Events (16), Geography (16), Instrumental Classical Music (15), Other Fine Arts (16) |
| 10 | Siva Sundaram | Auburn | U.S. Lit (07, 08), World Lit (07), Lang Arts (06), Vocabulary (08), Music (07), Art/Architecture (07), Religion/Mythology (07), Pop Culture (06), Geometry/Trig (06) |
| 10 | Dylan Minarik | Belvidere North | U.S. Lit (11), Poetry (12), Physics (12), Other Science (12), Painting (11), Instrumental Classic Music (11, 12), Religion/Mythology (12), U.S. History (12), SS/Philosophy (12) |
| 7 | Ben Carbery | OPRF | British Lit (10), Other Science (10), Religion/Mythology (09), World History (10), European History (10), Military History (10), Interdisciplinary (09) |
| 7 | Andrew Deveau | Maine South/St. Ignatius | Nonfiction (09), British Lit (09, 10), Physics (09), Curricular Math (10), Pop Culture (07), Art/Architecture (09) |
| 7 | Ankush Bajaj | Hinsdale Central | SS/Philosophy (14), World Lit (14, 15), U.S. Lit (15), British Lit (15), Biology (15), Chemistry (15) |
Category Notes
- In 2012, Current Events and Geography were a combined category. Karpovich won that category in 2012, and then won "Geography" and "Current Events" as separate categories in 2013.
- Nolan Maloney and Prerak Trivedi are the only two players to win the three major science categories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) in the same year.
- Ben Carbery and Thomas Birt are the only two players to win three history categories in the same year.
- Lloyd Sy and Dylan Minarik are the only two players to have won at least one category in each of the broad areas (science/math, history, literature, fine arts, miscellaneous social studies). They each did this in one tournament, but no other player has accomplished this over multiple tournaments.
External Links
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