Russ, see my post adjacent to yours.
1) Tournament play? Absolutely! And by class and in sections.
Round Robin with 6 or more players; Double Round Robin in 4 person
sections. You can also offer Open tournaments where anyone of any
class can sign up to play, but I believe class play would be far more
interesting for most players.
2) Assess playing strength at signup! Ask new players about their
federation ratings - many have them. Starting someone as myself at
a 1200 rating along with an absolute beginner is totally unfair to the
estabished players here. They deserve to have a better
understanding of a new players strength. (And of course a new player
could lie - this has always been possible and always will. Such
behavior should never be the reason to make no effort. I'm certain
you do not subscribe to that thinking but I mention this because many
here would use that kind of logic.)
Well, there can be several types of tournaments. The most common
are Swiss and Round Robin (RR).
Usually in correspondence play, the RR is used. Six players to a
section is the norm, but could be as few as 4, especially when a
Double Round Robin (two games with each opponent, one with White
pieces and one with Black) is played.
Often sections are limited by class, such as all opponents as Class D,
C, B, A, Experts, or Masters. Currently, RHP only goes up to Class A
by rating.
A section code could be easily developed for sections, such as
RRA021, RRA022, DRRB021, etc., where RR and DRR denote Round
Robin and Double Round Robin, and "A" or "B" is the Class of players
permitted to play in the section. The "02" is the year started and the
remaining number is simply a counter that increases with each
subsequent section created for that year.
The above is only an example. I believe having tournament play in
sections by class is the direction to go at this site. Random game
play simply doesn't mean much as far as being a successful
chessplayer is concerned. Often it's a crap shoot when a high rated
player accepts a game with a new player starting at a 1200 rating. A
loss to such players when their rating is not established can create a
hugh setback.
Personally, I think RHP should determine a players beginning rating
based on any chess federation ratings they may already have, as
many players here had them before ever starting play here. I'm a
Class A rated player OTB and Expert player at correspondence chess --
someone like myself should never start off with a 1200 rating.
In my not-so-humble opinion RHP needs to assess a players strength
better before permitting them to play here.