NEW ‘DECISIVE VICTORY’ RULE FOR KNOCKOUT PHASES

For the World Championship main draw and the knockout phases of national and continental championships, we have introduced a new rule which gained a lot of support in the 2003 tournament survey and has been successfully trialled in the 2003 World, European, Australian and NZ Championship knockout phases. The new rule may slightly reduce the luck factor in deciding the results of KO matches by requiring more games to be played in a match, but (and this limits the extra burden on players) only when matches are particularly close. NB. In the World Championship, this new rule does NOT apply to the Plate, it only applies to the Main Draw.

CONTENTS:

The basics of the new rule
Agreeing the result at the end of a match
Notification required - important – read this to make sure you do not miss out
Fitting in matches before the deadline
Matches close to the deadline - agreeing to opt out of this rule
Numerical example
Questions

1. The basics of the new rule:

In a knockout match, you now require a ‘decisive victory’ with one player ahead by 5.0 TPs or more for the match to end after the “standard” number of games. For example, your target in a 6-game match is now 62.5 TPs (i.e. 62.5-57.5 or better), not 60.1 TPs as it was before.

If neither player is ahead by 5 or more TPs after the standard number of games, you should play an extra game or games as required until one player is 5 TPs or more ahead in the match at the end of a game.

However, if you reach the third extra game without anyone having been more than 5 TPs ahead at any time since the end of the standard games, the winner will be the player in the lead at the end of the third extra tiebreak game. Play more than three extra games only if you are dead level on TPs after three extra games, in which case the next player to be in the lead on TPs at the end of a game wins.

There is a numerical example at the end of this page.

2. Agreeing the result at the end of the match:

Please get used to keeping track of the TP score using the table at the end of the results submission form and please agree with your opponent at the end of the standard number of games (and after each tiebreak game if applicable) whether or not the match is over. If you need to check the results or what time penalties have been claimed, please use the live results page (use “ac” for both user and password) and you can refer to a controller if necessary and if you are still unsure, please ask for the gap to be checked using the “I am not sure, please let me know” option on the drop-down list on the results submission form.

If the match is not over, please play the extra games immediately if possible or arrange a time to play the extra game/s before you leave the game room.

If your opponent goes offline before you can do this, that situation is one of the things covered in section 3 below.

3. Notification required:

You MUST fill in the results submission form for each game as soon as the game finishes, i.e. either before the next game starts or within an hour of the end of the session if it was the last game you played in that session. If the results form is not working for any reason, you should email tournaments@tantrix.co.uk instead.

There is a drop-down list near the end of the form. It says “If this is the last standard game in a knockout match or it is a tiebreak game, please pick one of these options:” and you must pick an option if this is the case. The options are:

N) Not relevant to this game (i.e. it is NOT the last standard game nor a tiebreak game)

1) We were definitely MORE than 5 TPs apart at the end so no further tiebreak is needed

2) We are definitely less than 5 TPs apart and have agreed to continue now

3) We are definitely less than 5 TPs apart and have agreed to continue later (say when below)

4) We are definitely less than 5 TPs apart but did not agree anything e.g. opponent left too fast

5) I am not sure if the gap is less than 5 TPs (a Controller will email you if it IS less than 5 TPs)

6) There is some other dispute about the match and I will email my AC about it now

7) We may be less than 5 TPs apart but we agreed to ignore the tiebreak rule before the match (see section 5 below)

8) Even if I am less than 5 TPs behind, I have no time for a tiebreak game so I resign the match

(To: Controllers who get results emails: these will come through as N) NOTREL, 1) NORMAL, 2) TIMMED, 3) TLATER, 4) NONAGR, 5) UNSURE, 6) DISPUT, 7) IGNORE, 8) RESIGN)

If you pick option 3 please say when you have arranged to play the tiebreak game/s in the “When will you finish your match?” box below the list.

If you pick option 4 you must email your opponent (and copy in your AC) within 24 hours of the end of the match offering dates and times for the tiebreak. If you do not do this in time and you were behind in the match, you will automatically lose your chance to qualify for the next round.

If you choose options 5 (which you can do in order to be safe even if you are fairly sure that the gap is bigger than 5 TPs) or 6, then if a Controller replies to you to confirm that the gap is less than 5 TPs and there should be a tie-break, you must email your opponent (and copy in your AC) offering dates and times for the tiebreak within 24 hours of the Controller replying to you. If you do not do this in time and you were behind in the match, you will automatically lose it. So if you pick option 4, remember to check your emails frequently over the following 24 hours and make sure your mailbox is not so full that emails sent to you will bounce! N.B. The Controller may not reply if the gap is 5 TPs or more.

After you have written to your opponent offering dates and times to play the tiebreak, your opponent has 48 hours to reply constructively on pain of default - but should reply much sooner if possible please.

4. Fitting in matches before the deadlines:

Because of this new rule, please try to arrange your matches as early as possible and/or for a time when you could carry on with extra games if they turn out to be necessary - we do not intend to extend deadlines because of this rule.

5. Matches close to the deadline – opting out of this rule:

If it is difficult to find times to play or you have to play close to the deadline, you can opt out of this rule if you both agree before the match (or before the final session) that you will not play on after the standard number of games even if the gap is less than 5 TPs and that the player who is behind will not claim a tiebreak game. In that case, the leader after the standard number of games will be the winner, whatever the TP gap. Under normal circumstances, no player has to agree to this if they think that it would disadvantage them.

For your own safety, please make sure that you have a clear record of any such agreement, preferably using emails copied to your AC.

6. Numerical Example:

In a 6-game match, Player A is 60.1-39.9 TPs ahead after 5 games (that would already be a win under the old system, but not now), but Player B wins game 6 by 18 tiles to make the score 62.4-57.6 to A.

This is a gap of 4.8 TPs, so the players must play an extra game. NB. a lead of 62.5-57.5 after 6 games would have been enough for A to win the match.

If A wins the first extra game by 1 tile, then A wins the match immediately by 75.7-64.3, a gap of 11.4 TPs.

If B wins the first extra game by 5 tiles, then B wins the match immediately by 72.6-67.4 - a gap of 5.2 TPs.

If the first extra game is drawn (the score would then be 72.4-67.6 to A), or B wins it by 4 tiles (72.3-67.7 to B, a gap of 4.6 TPs) or less, or A wins by 1 tile but gives away 4 time penalties (71.7-68.3 to A, a gap of 3.4 TPs), etc, then the match carries on to a second tiebreak game.

If the match carries on to a second tiebreak game and neither player leads by 5 TPs or more after that game either, a third tiebreak game should be played and whoever is leading at the end of that third tiebreak game wins the match, even if the gap is still less than 5 TPs.

7. Questions:

Please address any questions about this new rule to your Assistant Controller in the first instance.