your suggestion is in the right direction but I wish to highlight that .....
for those who join the competition, even with 0 point like me, may wish to play for all the rounds .... so, any modification to your suggestion ?
My thinking.
I feel that we should think in terms of the average standard of the games played. After 7 rounds, we are sure that the top 8 players are real strong players who stand chance to represent the country and the quality of games played afterthat will be high. Afterall, this is national competition and we are selecting the best players and not selecting the worst player. Sorry for being straight forward.