Our definition of an “Open Tournament” is whether every player that wants to participate has an equal opportunity to do just that.
Many tournaments on our calendar have limited spots. Whether that’s 16 players at the local bar event, or 800 players for Pinburgh, neither of these tournaments are truly open to “ANYONE THAT WANTS TO PLAY”. The important part is that there is a process for registration that makes those spots AVAILABLE to anyone that wants to play. Typically this is done on a first-come, first-served basis.
For events like the PAPA Circuit Final, RCP Championships, IFPA WC, SCS, these are classified as a “Circuit/Series”. For these events the number of players competing is already known and is limited, but ANYONE can fill up those spots based on their play via an open qualifying process.