Rules

This page contains the ruleset for the 2022 RK Olympiad.
Please read these rules carefully if you consider signing up for the Olympiad. The rules we compose are not exhaustive. When this page provides insufficient clarity about a situation occurring in the event, it is up to the organisers to judge the case.

Organisers for the 2022 RK Olympiad are:


Entrant Eligibility:

Entrants who meet the following criteria are eligible to take part:

  1. Have an established Racing Kings rating on Lichess;

  2. Have played at least 50 rated Racing Kings games on Lichess;

  3. Be participating only using their main account;

  4. The account needs to be created before September 1, 2022;

  5. Have joined the team “Lichess Racing Kings”.

Any player attempting to use multiple accounts or any other illegal methods to gain a competitive advantage will be kicked out and if necessary, reported to Lichess moderators.


Tournament Rules:

  1. The Olympiad is a competition between teams of 3 players.

  2. Players within a team have a designated board number at which they will play for their team (boards 1, 2 and 3). When teams play a match against each other, each board plays against their counterpart on the opposing team.

  3. Boards are to be distributed according to rating: the strongest player on a team plays on board 1, the middle player on board 2 and the weakest player takes board 3. In case two players are less than 50 points apart at the time of registering, the team may choose to switch these players' board positions instead.

The tournament format is as follows:

  • A Swiss stage consisting of:

5 rounds if there are 11 teams or less

6 rounds if there are 12 or 13 teams

7 rounds if there are 14 or 15 teams

8 rounds if there are 16 teams or more

  • Single elimination bracket between the top 4 seeded teams from the Swiss.

Please take note of the following stipulations:

  1. Pairings will be taken care of by the organisers and will be posted on Lichess every week.

  2. Semifinal matches for the Single elimination bracket will be 1st seed from the Swiss stage vs 4th seed, and 2nd seed vs 3rd seed.

  3. Ties in the final standings of the Swiss stage will be broken by (in order):

  • Buchholz

  • Mutual score

  • Cumulative points score across all matches

When teams are paired against each other, each player is matched against the opponent with their corresponding board number (boards 1 play against each other, as do boards 2 and 3). Each round continues for one week (Monday - Sunday), by the end of which you are expected to have played your match. Please note the following stipulations:

  1. All games are rated.

  2. Results AND games of each match should be communicated to one of the organisers, or posted in the relevant forum thread upon completion.

  3. Each match will consist of SIX (6) games of 3+2. An exception is made for the Final of the tournament, in which all players will complete a match of EIGHT (8) games of 3+2.

  4. Players are allowed to end a match as soon as a decisive score of 3.5 points (or 4.5 points for the Final) or more is reached. They have to communicate this clearly to their opponent.

  5. Breaks during matches are not allowed. If a player is unable or unwilling to continue the series, they forfeit the remaining games to their opponent.


  • Once all players from a team have played their match, the results from their respective matches are added up. A match win counts for 1 point towards the total match score of your team, and a draw counts for 0.5 points. The team with the higher total match score is declared the winner.

  • In case the total match score between two teams in an elimination match is 1.5 - 1.5, the result from board 1 is used as primary tiebreaker. The secondary tiebreaker is the result from board 2. In the unlikely case all three boards draw their matches at 3-3, the players from Board 1 are required to play a tiebreak match consisting of pairs of rated 2+2 games.

  • In case a draw between two teams occurs in a Swiss stage, the result of the match is counted as such and requires no tiebreak.


Registrations:

In order to register, either message an organiser, or post your message in the designated forum thread [LINK].

Players can register directly as a team of 3. Only one member of the team needs to register all 3 team members. The team must be registered in a format that clearly states all 3 players are joining as a team. An organiser will then individually message each player to confirm their registration as a team.

Team registrations must contain the following information:

  • Usernames of all three players

  • An (self-)assigned Team Leader who can act as a general representative of the team and as a contact for the organisers in case of disputes.

  • Who will play on Board 1, on Board 2 and on Board 3. These positions cannot be changed anymore after the first round is played.

  • A team name


If you do not have a team, but would like to register, you can register alone instead. An organiser will add your name to the participants who are registered individually. Players can then contact you asking to join a team with them and then you can re-register as a team. At the end of the registration period, the remaining players without a team will be drafted together by the organisers.


In an effort to keep teams as competitive as possible among each other, 6 of the strongest players participating in the event were appointed as designated Team Leaders in advance. These 6 players will each have to seek their own teammates, and are thus not allowed to team up together. You can find them on the Registrations page.

Teams registering without any of these players are allowed to choose their own Team Leader.


Match Negotiations:

1. Players may begin negotiating a playing start time as soon as their next pairing is known.

2. Each player is responsible to offer at least 3 separate times for the match, unless an offer has been accepted before that number is reached.

3. The 3 offered times should be no closer than 3 hours to each other and no more than 2 on a single date.

4. If 3 offers are not made in time the player at fault must accept a time chosen by the opponent.

5. If both players fail to make 3 offers by the deadline, then an organiser may assign a match time at their discretion.

6. A player should respond to an offer by accepting or making a different offer, preferably within 24 hours.

7. If a player is excessively or repeatedly late for scheduled matches they may be forfeited.

8. If both players make 3 offers but no agreement is made before the weekend then a match arbiter will determine if fault lies with a particular player.

9. If a player is at fault, then their opponent will decide the match time, if no player is at fault the Tournament Director will assign a match time.


About cheating, bans, and forfeits:

1. Accusations of cheating or other actions that violate the Lichess ToS must be sent to Lichess moderators using the report function.

2. Public shaming is against the Lichess chat policy and will, if necessary, be reported to Lichess moderators. Additionally, public shaming of a player in the context of the RK Olympiad may result in a sanction from the Tournament Directors. This can include but is not limited to a warning or the forfeit of a match.

3. If it is brought to the organisers' attention that a participant of the RK Olympiad has been marked as having violated the Lichess ToS by the Lichess moderation team, the concerned team will have said player's last 2 series forfeited as 0-6 and their match results adjusted accordingly. If the remaining two teammates wish to continue in the Olympiad, they are expected to acquire a substitute player with an equal or lower rating than their original player.

4. Participants of the RK Olympiad are not permitted to play their matches in any other way than on lichess.org, and using the account that they registered with.

5. If an organiser is involved in any type of incident that requires intervention of the tournament organisers, then responsibility to handle the incident is handed over to the remaining organiser(s).