The Early Early-Summer Challenge: 1 August–30 September

Whereas the SABAP2 Deep and Wide Winter Challenge had two categories, the Early Early-Summer Challenge will have three. There will be a Deep Challenge with the same format as the Winter one, but it will be called the Deep Deep Challenge. The Wide Challenge will also stay the same. The new Challenge is also a Deep Challenge, but at the shallow end – so it is the Shallow Deep Challenge.


These three challenges highlight the three things we need most for SABAP2:

        1. coverage of as many pentads as possible – Wide coverage;
        2. a few checklists each for as many pentads as possible – Shallow Deep coverage; and
        3. lots of checklists for as many pentads as possible – Deep Deep coverage.

The Deep Deep Challenge is simple. The number of points you get for submitting a checklist is the number of checklists received for the pentad. The first checklist for a pentad earns one point in the Deep Deep Challenge. The second checklist earns two points, the third three, …, the 25th earns 25, … But if you submit what you think is the 50th card for the pentad, but you have held onto it for so long that it really was the 19th card to be made for the pentad, you get only 19 points, and everyone else who did a later checklist gets an extra point.


The Shallow Deep is the converse of the Deep Deep Challenge. You get 25 points for doing the first card for a pentad, 24 for the second, …, and 1 for the 25th (and all those thereafter).


For the Wide Challenge, there are 100 points for each different pentad you do in a degree cell which was blank on 1 August, at the start of the challenge, 75 points for each different pentad you do in a half-degree grid cell which was blank at the start of the challenge, 50 points for each different pentad you do in a quarter-degree grid cell which was blank at the start of the challenge, and 25 points for doing each pentad which was blank at the start of the challenge.


So the first card for a pentad earns 25 (or more) points in the Wide Challenge, 25 points in the Shallow Deep Challenge and 1 point in the Deep Deep Challenge.


There will be three separate leaderboards for the winners in the Wide Category, the Shallow Deep Category and the Deep Deep Category. At the very end we will have an overall winner for which the totals in the three categories will be multiplied together.

If you are tempted to become a bit too competitive, remember this. We are all part of the same team.


The allocation of points is dynamic, the records are ordered in time. The 20th checklist for a pentad can become the 21st (and score an extra point in the Deep Deep Challenge, and one less in the Shallow Deep Challenge) if someone submits a checklist late. But for the Wide Challenge, everything is in reference to the coverage map at the start of the challenge, so different people can get points for the same pentad.


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