SUMMARY OF TANTRIX ONLINE TOURNAMENT RULES (last updated on Tuesday, 02-Sep-2003 06:25:53 BST, rules 7 and 8 were changed before the 2003 WTC)

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1. Introduction:

For ALL online tournaments, the normal rules of Tantrix will apply. The following is a summary of the special tournament rules. This summary is not exhaustive and you should refer to the Full Rules for details of what to do in unusual situations. You can also read the full rules in French or German or a summary in Hungarian. In the unlikely event that the different language versions of the rules or the full and summary rules conflict or appear to conflict, the English version of the full rules will always take precedence.

Sections in this summary have been numbered in the same way as in the full rules for ease of reference but the order has been changed for this summary so that the most important rules are at the top.

Unless otherwise stated, the email address for the Tournament Controller will be tournaments@tantrix.co.uk .

2. Time limit:

The time limit is 15 minutes per player per game. You should always finish the game if you go over (or even just hit) the time limit but you will lose tournament points at the end as set out in rule 9 ("Tournament Scoring") below. Players must claim time penalties/bonuses on the online results submission form. You should apply the time limits strictly, but please note that if your opponent takes 15:00 or more, you must claim any time penalties on the online results submission form (or by email to tournaments@tantrix.co.uk if the form is not working) *NEW for 2003* before the next game starts or within an hour it it was the last game of the session. If in doubt you should claim - you can retract the claim up to 24 hours later. Please note that a time of 15:00 DOES incur a time penalty.

9. Tournament scoring:

  1. Positions will be based on Tournament Points (TPs), which are awarded as shown in the table in the Full Rules and at the bottom of the Results Submission Form and are based on sharing 20 TPs out for each game. You do not need to work all this out - the Controller will only need to know the game score and the times rounded down to whole minutes.

  2. In addition, 1 TP is deducted from a player's total and added to the other player's TP total if they hit the time limit of 15:00, with an extra TP for each whole minute by which they exceed the time limit. e.g. 2 TPs are deducted for taking 16:00 - 16:59. This is subject to the maximum possible TP score for a game being 20-0.

10. Tiebreaks:

  1. In a match in a knockout competition, if the TP scores are equal after all the games have been played, the player who has won the most games in the match will be declared the winner. If both players have won the same number of games, the person who scored the highest total number of tiles wins. If these are equal too, the players should carry on playing games with a 5 minute time limit per player until one of them wins a game or loses because their time reaches 5:00.

  2. If two or more players are tied in an all-play-all event, they will be separated on the basis of the TPs scored in the game or games which was/were played between them. For more complex ties, please see the Full Rules.

8. Arranging games:

  1. *AMENDED for 2003 WTC* For events where people arrange between themselves when to play, opponents should be emailed within 2 days of the start of the round, with the relevant Assistant Controller ("AC") copied in, otherwise you may receive a warning. If you do not make contact within 2 days of a warning, you risk being defaulted unless you have already notified the Controller that you will be unavailable over that period. When you write, you should offer dates and times consistent with the guidelines for the tournament concerned.

  2. *AMENDED for 2003 WTC* If a player does not reply to an email within 3 days, the AC should be told. The Controller will then contact the uncommunicative player and if they do not reply within 7 days of the original email or within 2 days of the AC's email, whichever is later, they may be defaulted. These gaps may be decresed at the Controller's discretion when deadlines are approaching. For this reason, anyone likely to be unable to access their email for *AMENDED for 2003 WTC* 2 days or more during the tournament should let the Controller know.

  3. If a player does not appear in the lobby at the arranged time, their opponent should wait for 15 minutes.

  4. If a player does not appear within 15 minutes (maybe they had trouble connecting or there was a mix-up over the time zones) and they email the opponent within 24 hours, the match should be rearranged. Please tell the Controller so that a player is only allowed one ‘chance’ per match, up three in a tournament as a whole at the Controller's discretion.

  5. In other circumstances at the Controller’s absolute discretion, a player may be defaulted for not making an effort to arrange a match or, if a deadline for a game to be played is close, the first time they fail to appear.

  6. *NEW for 2003 WTC* When deciding which player to default if a match is not played by the deadline, ACs only need to consider emails that they were copied into at the time they were written.

3. Disconnections:

It is your responsibility to organize access to a reliable computer in order to avoid/minimize disconnections. It is recommended that you start with a "fresh" system, ie a just booted or rebooted system and preferably not to have any other applications running at the same time as playing.

When players are disconnected, you should try to be helpful. Please give them time to reconnect. You should give a player at least 5 minutes to reconnect. After 5 minutes in Limbo, you can carry on against Robot by going "Actions/let the Robot play". In more complex situations, if neither player can continue the game or if you wish to submit a game for adjudication, please refer to section 3 in the Full Rules.

4. Adjusting the time limit after disconnections:

We have to rely on players to be fair here. On reconnection, the clocks should show the times at disconnection. If either player’s clock has been reset to zero or has been ‘ticking’ while they were unable to move, please agree any adjustments when the disconnected player rejoins and before you carry on playing, not at the end of the game.

11. Disputes:

Please try to resolve disputes amicably without involving the Controller. If all else fails, contact the Controller after the game. It may help to copy and paste the chat in the game room into an email and send that and/or a picture of the game when the dispute arose. Please see the Full Rules for details of how to send a picture of the screen. This is also necessary if you want to send a game for adjudication.

14. Cheating:

While we take steps to deter and to detect cheating, it is obviously hard to detect online. As well as spoiling an event for the other players, cheating severely devalues your own performance in a tournament. In case it is not clear, cheating includes:

a) getting help from someone else in the game room, through an instant message service such as ICQ, AIM, MSN or in 'real life'
b) disconnecting or defaulting deliberately to gain an advantage
c) using real tiles to help count the tiles left in the bag
d) not waiting long enough for someone to reconnect before letting the robot play on
e) placing your first tile too near the edge deliberately because you have bad tiles and would prefer a restart
f) using things like a pre-drawn grid to help with tile-counting (*)
g) lying about your age or nationality to gain entry to a tournament for which you are not eligible
h) making multiple entries for a tournament using different names or otherwise falsifying information on an entry form
i) deliberately losing a game (or just deliberately playing badly) to help a friend to win a tournament, to ensure that another player does not win a tournament or simply because you are not bothered by a result which nevertheless affects the final positions or Elo ratings of other players
j) anything else (however 'clever' it may seem) which is aimed at securing an unfair advantage for you or another player
(*) Using a blank sheet of paper to take the odd note during a game IS acceptable

Anyone caught cheating risks being banned from all future tournaments and we reserve the right to 'name and shame' them on the Tantrix website in the most serious and most clear-cut cases. Please do not be tempted to cheat even if you think (hopefully mistakenly) that someone else is cheating - that kind of reaction just makes things worse for everyone in the end.

5. Colours:

Where a player has registered a first preference colour on entry, they must use it in all games unless their opponent has registered the same first preference colour or agrees to let them use an alternative colour. If both players have registered the same first preference colour, we encourage them to agree on alternative colours, but if this is not possible, please see section 5 in the Full Rules.

If your opponent has not used the correct colour, you can ask for the game to be restarted but only if you do so before making your first move.

6. Placing the first tile too near the edge of the Tantrix:

If the first tile is placed 5 or less spaces from any edge of the full playing area, the second player can ask for the game to be restarted, but only if they do so before completing their own first move.

7. Defaults:

See rule 8) above for details of what constitutes a default. The other player is awarded 20.0-0.0 TP win for a default in a knockout competition. In other competitions, the other player is awarded at least a 15.0-5.0 TP win for a default - the full rules have full details. A default is not included in Elo rating calculations. This is because the Elo ratings are supposed to reflect actual play. If someone defaults more than two games in an all-play-all tournament, all of their results are ignored for tournament purposes, though games they actually played will still be included in the Elo rating calculations. Penalty points can also be awarded by the Controller in cases of exceptionally inconsiderate behaviour by any player with regard to their opponent.

12. Tantrix tournament Elo ratings / Lobby rankings:

All tournament games which are completed on the Tantrix.com site will be included in the Lobby or Master rankings in the usual way. The separate Tantrix tournament Elo ratings are described in a separate section of this tournaments site.

13. Tournament seedings:

Where required, these will be based on the Elo ratings at the closing date for entries. These will be reduced as described in the rating rules if the number of games on which the rating is based is below the threshold level or if the player concerned has not played a tournament game for a very long time.

15. In all matters, the Tournament Controller's decision is final:

This rule is here in case anything has been forgotten, but isn’t intended to be used more than is absolutely necessary. If a dispute affects the Controller as a player, then obviously the decision will be passed to someone else.

The date and time are :

Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 13:12:45 GMT
Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 13:12:45 GMT (local)

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