[CQ-Contest] Towards a critical examination of the 2-point rule in CQWW

[Kim Östman]

Dear all,

Bob's N6BK / HS0ZIA e-mail to the reflector triggered some (long...)
thoughts in my head. He wondered why North American (NA) stations in CQWW
get 2 points for each NA QSO outside their own country, when it's 1 point
for everybody else in the world. I also brought up this question in March in
conjunction with the CQWW survey. At the time, a kind veteran US contester
answered me privately, explaining that the rule was created decades ago when
there was a need to encourage activity especially from zone 8 (the northern
Caribbean). The world was a different place back then. 

To bring some analytical structure to the discussion, let's examine what I
see as the most common arguments for maintaining the status quo: 

1. "The rule evens out the imbalance between the number of available NA and
EU countries" = multipliers. ===> The numbers show that there are 73 EU
multipliers and 50 NA multipliers. Being in zone 7/zone 8 (from here on:
z7/z8) on the doorstep of SA brings in 32 additional SA multipliers, and as
the map shows, many are in very close proximity. So that's 73 (EU) vs. 50 +
32 = 82 (NA & SA): the numbers don't support this argument. 

2. "You can't log the existing multipliers due to lower activity level in
the NA/SA vs. EU countries." ===> That's already retreating from and
shifting the original argument. You need one single station for the
multiplier, and if you're in a rare zone/country and have put in an effort
to have a good signal, chances are they will find you without you even
having to hunt them down. This year in CQWW CW, I worked 55 different EU
multipliers vs. 40 different NA/SA multipliers, from up here in the
propagationally challenged Aurora Belt where NA/SA is actually challenging
to reach. In the 2012 CQWW CW, one of the top z8 stations worked 57 EU vs.
40 NA/SA multipliers. A log analysis covering multiple years will provide a
more reliable view. 

3. "There are less stations available for QSO points." ===> First, EU has a
virtually endless supply of other 1-point EU stations. But likewise, z7/z8
have an endless supply of US stations to work. Second, the EU <-> NA 3-point
DX highway is open for z7/z8, and good antenna systems result in good
signals even down to 80m or 160m. Likewise, the EU guys with good systems
get a nice number of NA contacts even on the low bands. Of course z7/z8 are
further away from EU than z5 is and the openings are shorter. But then
again, z15/z16 are also further away from NA than z14 is. We accept the
reality, work as many NA/SA as we can and then attempt to make up for it in
other ways. It's all about strategy!

4. "z7/z8 NA stations are disadvantaged relative to the z9 SA stations,
which are *just a few hundred kilometers away*." ===> So what about southern
Europe and the hot-bed AF z33 in close proximity? Are the serious contesters
in southern Spain asking for rules exceptions in the form of 2-point (or
even 3-point) EU QSOs, because close-by 3V and CN get 3? No. If their
concern is to win the world, they simply travel to places such as z33.

An interesting further point emerges when looking at the 2013 CQWW survey
results
(http://www.cqww.com/files/2013_CQWWDX_Contest_Survey_27Apr2013.pdf),
questions #9 and #10. The former was about increasing the intra-NA points
for "z1-z5 <-> z6-z8" QSOs from 2 to 3, and the latter was about increasing
"JA <-> rest of Asia" points from 1 to 3. 

Funnily enough, a higher number of respondents (31.9%) thought that NA QSOs
should be valued 3 points than that Asians hams should be rewarded with 3
points (27.7%). Even more interesting is that a greater number (32.9%)
thought that Asians should NOT be rewarded than that NA QSOs should NOT be 3
points (26.2%)! There were 2.5% less people with "no opinion" in the Asian
question (NA: 41.9%, AS: 39.4%). 

==> In light of all the above, is the 2-point (or proposed 3-point)
exception really about creating a level playing field? For a global group of
participants, in a global contest?

Finally, a personal example, not to toot my own horn (I have as many flaws
as the next guy) but to illustrate the point. Last year I was trusted with
the wonderful opportunity to operate CQWW CW as SOAB HP from a southern
European superstation. It was tons of fun for this frozen OH guy and quite
the learning experience. 

But I was in 1-point EU; had I been just a few hundred kilometers south and
worked the exact same people, I would have won the whole damn thing. Such a
comparison is of course too simplistic, but it makes the point, and relates
directly to the z7/z8 vs. z9 argument about such a small distance placing
one in a 1-point (or, well, 2...!) area vs. a 3-point area. Did I start
requesting beneficial exceptions for my location so as to "correct" the
perceived injustice? Of course not. I accept the fundamental continental
divide, no matter the relative disadvantage for me in the fight for the top
spot.

Summa summarum, I think the above analysis shows that serious
reconsideration is needed for an exception that was created for a reason
that no longer exists. We are all equal, but this is making some "more equal
than others," as one author famously coined. Perhaps distance scoring
schemes could help, but I suspect the devil would again emerge in the
details.

I may be a naïve idealist, but I'd like to think that we are an
international contesting community, one that continuously seeks for better
ways of understanding, acknowledging, and encouraging each other in positive
ways. In the long term, exceptions that privilege given subsets are highly
counter-productive to this higher purpose. What do you think?

Sincerely,

73
Kim OH6KZP

P.S. Up here in the barren lands of the EU Aurora Belt, we should get 4
points for all DX QSOs that we manage to squeeze through. I'm sure that our
fate-sharing friends in Alaska and Nunavut will agree :) But actually, the
guys really getting screwed over are in Oceania, and they get hardly any
consideration. In my opinion it's a testament to their dedication that they
bother participating at all. If anything, most of them should get at least 5
points for all contacts...