Your point is very well made. I must honestly
admit that I am no fan of Chip Beall's questions or
tournaments from what I know of them. I never played in one
of them, but judging from several simulated rounds
and tournaments at camps played on his questions I
have a difficult time recociling his tournaments and
academic competitions as a whole. As evidence I offer the
fact that his National Champion and Runner Up, Irmo
and Walton high schools, respectively, could only
manage a tie for 15th and 21st place finishes at NAQT
HSNCT. Granted, these tournaments have differing
formats, but it seems to me that teams that are capable of
such perfomances at one competition should be able to
fare a bit better at the other despite differences in
format. This is of course just my opinion, as little as
it's worth.