Beat the Box
2 stages of 3 games per court — ideal for 1–1:15h
How it works
- Stage 1 splits the field into boxes of four by a snake draft — with 12 players court 1 gets seeds 1, 6, 7, 12, court 2 gets 2, 5, 8, 11, court 3 gets 3, 4, 9, 10. Every box is roughly equal strength, so the first stage is a fair measurement, not a seeding lottery.
- Each box plays all three partner splits — the same three games as Escalera.
- Then the whole field is reranked and sliced from the top: best four to court 1, next four to court 2, and so on. A player can jump from the bottom court to the top in one move.
- Stage 2 is another three games per box. That is the whole tournament — it fits an hour to an hour and a quarter.
Scoring
Short games by points, by a timer, or as sets. Time mode is the usual choice — it makes the two stages land on the clock.
Who wins
The box you finish in sets your band: court 1 takes places 1–4, court 2 takes 5–8, and so on. Inside a box, the final-stage score decides. A court-1 player always finishes above a court-2 player.
Round by round
3 games
3 games
3 games
Stage 1 — the snake draft. Seeds 1, 6, 7, 12 in box 1; 2, 5, 8, 11 in box 2; 3, 4, 9, 10 in box 3. Every box is worth the same on paper.
This is the difference from Americano and Mexicano: the court is closed. The same four players stay on it for all 3 partner combinations — only then are the points counted and players promoted or relegated.
Organizer’s note
The main difference from everything else: the first stage is not seeded by rating — the snake draft makes every box equal on paper, so stage 1 is a measurement rather than a confirmation. Two stages, qualifying and final, and that is the whole tournament. Built for a night where time is short.
Can we enter as a pair?
No — Beat the Box is individual only. The reseed between the two stages moves single players between boxes, which a fixed pair cannot survive.
Questions people actually ask
+Why not just seed by rating in stage 1?
Because then stage 1 tells you nothing you did not already know. The snake draft makes every box a fair test.
+I scored the most points overall but finished third.
Points are not the ranking — the box you ended in is. Points only order the four players inside it.
+How long does it take?
About 1:00–1:15 with 12 players on 3 courts. It is the format to pick when the courts are booked for exactly an hour.