Aside from the rules as they normally apply to bughouse played on the FICS,
here are some special rules that have been adopted for the Grand Prix,
along with some general information about the tournament series.
There is a tournament each Saturday.
The starting times for the tournament will vary, but most will begin at
10:00 noon server time or 11:00pm server time. Use the command "fi fermy" to
check the starting time for the next tournament. If 12 or 16 players are
participating, the tournament should last roughly four hours.
The number of players in each tournament will be 8, 12, or 16. The preferred
number is 16, but 8 or 12 players will be used when 16 participants are not available.
The registration process will begin at approximately 15 minutes before the announced starting time of the tournament. The arbiter in charge of registration will announce when registration has officially opened. To register:
Eligible players are players who have not been banned from participating for any reason and either: (a) certainly rank as one of the top ten players in the GP series, or (b) have a rating that meets at least one of the following requirements:
Current rating is at least 2100, with a lifetime best of at least 2300
Current rating is at least 2150, with a lifetime best of at least 2200Semi-eligible players are players who have not been banned from participating for any reason and whose ratings meet at least one of the following requirements:
Current rating is at least 2000
Current rating is at least 1900, with a lifetime best of at least 2100
Qualfiers are players who have achieved a result in one of the
qualifying tournaments that allows them to play that week.
To fill the tournament, up to the limit of 16, qualifiers will be selected first. The number of qualifiers eligible for a given tournament may vary from week to week, but normally there will be only one.
The eligible players will be selected next, up to the tournament limit of 16. Normally, the first eligible players who register will be the first ones selected. However, if there are weeks when there more than 16 qualifiers and eligible players, the arbiter may request one or more eligible players to take "bye" weeks.
The semi-eligible players will be selected last. Generally, one to
four semi-eligible players will be added to bring the number up to 8, 12 or 16. The
number of semi-eligible players added will be at the disgression of the arbiter in
charge of registration.
There will be two rounds to the tournament if the tournament has 8 players, three rounds if the tournament has 12 or 16 players. All games will be played at a 3 0 time control.
First round
Players will be divided into groups consisting of 4 players. Thus, there will be two groups for an 8-player tournament, three groups for a 12-player tournament, four groups for a 16-player tournament.
For a 16-player tournament, the four groups will be formed as follows:
Group 1: The 1 seed (i.e. the highest-rated player), 8 seed, 9 seed, and 16 seed
Group 2: The 2, 7, 10, and 15 seeds
Group 3: The 3, 6, 11, and 14 seeds
Group 4: The 4, 5, 12, and 13 seeds
For a 12-player tournament, the three groups will be formed as follows:
Group 1: The 1, 6, 7, and 12 seeds
Group 2: The 2, 5, 8, and 11 seeds
Group 3: The 3, 4, 9, and 10 seeds
For an 8-player tournament, the two groups will be formed as follows:
Group 1: The 1, 4, 5, and 8 seeds
Group 2: The 2, 3, 6, and 7 seeds
The players will play a match as described in the Tournament Matches section (see the next item). For an 8- or 16- player tournament, the two best scores in each section will advance to the next round. For a 12-player tournament, the two best scores in each section (six players), plus the two best third place scores (two additional players) will advance to the next round. In the event of ties, a tie-breaker game will be played as described in the Tie-Breakers section, which will determine which players advance to the next round.
Note: Tie-breakers will be used only to decide which players continue to the next round. If, for example, two players tie for first, there is no need for a tie-breaker, as both players have qualified for the next round. To establish semi-final sections, when two players tie for first, the higher-seeded player will be considered the first place finisher for that section.
Semi-final round
If the tournament started with 12 or 16 players, the next round will consist of 8 players. The players will be divided into two groups of 4 players, with the 4 players in each group seeded based on their pre-tournament ratings (even if the round 1 results may have changed the rating order). Another tournament match will be played, with the two best scores in each section advancing to the final round. As with the first round, tie-breaker games will be played in the event of ties to determine which players advance.
For a 16-player tournament, the eight advancing players from round 1 will be arranged as follows:
Group 1: The first place finishers in groups 1 and 3, plus the second place finishers in groups 2 and 4
Group 2: The second place finishers in groups 1 and 3, plus the first place finishers in groups 2 and 4
For a 12-player tournament, the eight advancing players from round 1 will be arranged as follows:
Group 1: The first place finishers in groups 1 and 3, the second place finisher in group 2, and the top third place finisher
Group 2: The second place finishers in groups 1 and 3, the first place finisher in group 2, and the other third place finisher
Final round
The final round (round 2 if the tournament started with 8 players, round 3 if the
tournament started with 12 or 16) will consist of the four remaining players.
A match will be played to determine the winner (or co-winners) for the week. Ties will
not be broken in the final round, as it is not necessary to do so.
For each round, a match will be played consisting of 15 games, with partnership changes every 5 games. The format will be:
First 5 games: Player 1 (the highest rated in the foursome) partners player 2 and 3 partners 4 (the lowest rated). Player 1 plays 3, and player 2 plays 4.
Next 5 games: Players 1 and 3 pair up and oppose 2 and 4, with 1 playing 4 and 3 playing 2.
Last 5 games: Players 1 and 4 pair up and oppose 2 and 3, with 1 playing 2 and 3 playing 4.Note that in this format, you partner everyone and oppose everyone -- every player partners every other player in the foursome for five games, and every player faces every other player as an opponent for five games.
To participate in the tournament, the player's internet connection must provide acceptable on-line response. For response to be acceptable, the following criteria must be met when a player is "pinged":
Maximum ping time is less than 600 (i.e. less than 0.6 seconds lag per move).
The ping statistics indicate no packet loss.
If, during the tournament, unacceptable response is detected by an arbiter, the player will be given a chance to reconnect within 3 minutes of the detection. After reconnection, he will be pinged again, and allowed back into the tourney if his on-line response is acceptable. If the player is unable to get his on-line response back to an acceptable level, he will be disqualified. The match will continue by following the rules that apply when a disconnecting player does not return.
If at any time during a game, the accumulated lag (i.e. the time difference between boards) exceeds 30 seconds, the non-lagging team can claim an abort and order the game replayed. The arbiter will determine which team is the non-lagging team by checking ping time.
A team can also claim an abort if "excessive early lag" occurs at the start of a game. It would be considered excessive early lag if one of the following situations occurs:
There is at least 10 seconds of lag when 5 or fewer moves have been played.
There is at least 15 seconds of lag when 10 or fewer moves have been played.
There is at least 20 seconds of lag when 15 or fewer moves have been played.It would be up to one of the players to point out that excessive early lag has occurred. If the arbiter determines the claim is valid, an abort request for the game will be granted. (Exception: The claim will be disallowed if a team can demonstrate a forced win that does not depend on the time situation.)
The game will proceed while the claim is being verified. Verification of the claim should only take a few seconds.
For tournaments games, "lucky lag" will not be recognized as a way to escape a lost position. For example, if a player is waiting for a mating piece with time advantage, he will immediately be awarded the win if the opposing team announces they are sitting to get the mating piece. A lag burst that turns the clock in the other team's favor will not change the result.
It is recognized that, due to the unpredictable nature of lag, unusual situations
may occur that will require the arbiter to make a judgment call as to how a lagged game
should be resolved. If such a situation occurs, the arbiter's decision is final.
When a player disconnects during a game, the game will be normally be scored as a loss; however, if the disconnecting team can demonstrate to the arbiter that it had a clear advantage and was likely to win, then the arbiter may treat the game as an abort. The disconnecting player will be given a few minutes to return.
If the disconnecting player does not return and two or fewer games for that round have been played, an attempt may be made (depending on time availability) to start the round over with a replacement player, with all scores for that round reset to zero. The replacement player will be selected as follows:
If it is the first round of the tournament, a new eligible or semi-eligible player will be selected for that section. The new player will be seeded based on how his rating compares with the other three players in the section. The other sections will not be changed (i.e. there will be no attempt to reshuffle the sections based on how the added player affects overall seedings).
If it is the semi-final round, the third place finisher from the disconnecting player's round 1 section will be selected.
If it is the final round, the third place finisher from the disconnecting player's semifinal section will be selected.
If the disconnecting player does not return and more than two but fewer than half of the games for that round have been played, the remaining three players will play a double-round robin match of 3 0 simultaneous bughouse games using a simulbot (six games total). Each player will have one game with White and one with Black against the other two opponents. If this match ends in a three-way tie, the tie-breaker that applies to three-way ties will be used to break the tie (see Tie-Breakers, below).
If the disconnecting player does not return and more than half of the games for that round have been played, the unplayed games will be scored as forfeits. The non-disconnecting players will be awarded one-half point for each unplayed game.
Warning! As disconnecting players who fail to return
can be very disruptive to the tournament, the sanctions against players who commit
this act can be severe.
If a player disconnects and does not return before half the games in the round have been
played, a penalty of 20 Grand Prix points is likely to be assessed against the player.
If a player disconnects and does not return after more than half the games have been
played, a penalty of 50 Grand Prix points is likely to be assessed. The player may also
be banned from one or more future tournaments.
In the event two players tie for second, a 3 0 simultaneous bughouse game will be played, with the winner advancing to the next round.
In the event three players tie for first, a 3 0 simultaneous bughouse game involving the two higher seeded players will be played first. The winner of this game will advance to the next round. A second 3 0 simultaneous bughouse game will then be played involving the loser of the first game and the third (i.e. lowest-seeded) player. The winner of that game will advance to the next round.
In the event three players tie for second, a 3 0 simultaneous bughouse game involving the two lower seeded players will be played first. The winner of this game will then play the third (i.e. highest seeded) player, with the winner of that game advancing to the next round.
In the unlikely event of a four-way tie, two 3 0 simultaneous bughouse games will be played. The 1 and 3 seeds will play one game, the 2 and 4 seeds will play the second. The winners of each game will advance to the next round.
The Grand Prix ladder is established using the results of the last 15 Grand Prix tournaments. All players who participated in the Grand Prix series will be ranked by selecting their 6 best results in those 15 tournaments. Note that it is not necessary to play in every tournament, but it is necessary to play in a sufficient number of them to achieve a score representative of a player's ability.
The scoring system. The formula to calculate Grand Prix points is:
(p + f) * swhere:
| p = | Number of points scored in the round |
| f = | 8 if the player finishes first in the section |
| 6 if the player finishes second in the section | |
| 4 if the player finishes third in the section | |
| 2 if the player finishes fourth in the section | |
| (if there are ties, the points for the applicable positions will be divided equally) | |
| s = | 2 if round 1 in an 8-player tournament |
| 1 if round 1 in a 12- or 16-player tournament | |
| 2 if a semifinal round in a 12-player tournament | |
| 3 if a semifinal round in a 16-player tournament | |
| 4 if a final round |
In addition, the winner for the week gets 12 bonus points.
If there is a tie for first, the 12 points are divided among the co-winners.
Sportsmanship does not mean a player should offer to replay a game he just won because his opponent thought a :20 difference on the clocks caused him to lose the game, nor does it mean that a player should not dispute an arbiter's request to abort a game if he felt he was clearly winning it. It does mean that abusive or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated, and the arbiters will take measures to ensure that it does not occur. These punitive measures may take the form of penalizing a disruptive player a specified number of Grand Prix points or banning the player from one or more future tournaments. Due to the complexity of these ethical issues, each established violation will be considered on a case-by-case basis, with the sanctions imposed depending on the perceived severity of the infraction.
Examples of abusive or disruptive behavior: insulting comments to your partner or opponents, particularly in channel tells or kibitzes; spamming the tournament channel; kibitzing moves in someone else's game; refusing to play with one of the players in your section; withdrawing from the tournament because you are dissatisfied with your score or the play of your current partner.
If your partner is making abusive comments to you via private tells, you have the right
to mention this to the arbiter, and he will make a note of it. If it becomes apparent this
player has a pattern of abusive behavior toward his partners, punitive measures will be taken.
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