Rules

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 200 rated Racing Kings games on Lichess;

3. The Lichess account needs to be created before June 30, 2024;

4. The Lichess account must be unmarked (have not violated the Lichess TOS)

5. Have created an account on CVT (https://chessvariants.training/Variant960) 

6. 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 Format:

1. The tournament format will be based on the number of confirmed eligible participants finalized no more than 24 hours after the end of the registration period.

2. The tournament’s first round will begin no more than 24 hours after the end of the registration period. A dedicated forum on lichess in the (TEAM TBD FORUM) will announce the beginning of the tournament and end of the registrations.

3. The tournament will be a two-stage tournament with 8 (EIGHT) players:

   1. To reach the eight players taking part in the tournament, players will be seeded according to their tournament rating into a single elimination bracket. The single elimination preliminary round will continue until only eight players remain.

   2. The tournament rating used for seeding will be the average of a player’s Lichess Racing Kings Rating at their registration and the player’s Lichess Racing Kings Rating at tournament start.

   3. The first stage of the tournament will be a round-robin of 4 (FOUR) players. The eight players that advance to the first stage of the tournament will be randomly seeded into two groups of four players. One player will advance from each group.

   4. The second and final stage of the tournament will be a final match between the two winners of each round-robin group of four.

4. On Round Robin Tiebreakers:

   1. The first tiebreaker will be total match points (1 for a win, 0,5 for a draw)

   2. The second tiebreaker will be mutual score against all players with the same points

   3. The third tiebreaker will be total game points

   4. The fourth and final tiebreaker if necessary will be a tie-breaking match consisting of the match format detailed further on in the rules.

5.  Pairings will be announced in this forum (TBD). Once pairings are announced, players will have 1 week to play their match. 

   1. During the tournament, extensions will be granted if a player requests an extension at least 24 hours before the deadline and a match arbiter permits the extension. 

Match Format:

1. All matches must be played on CVT (https://chessvariants.training/Variant960) 

2. Excluding the final match, all games should be played under the settings “Racing Kings 1440”, “Random”, and “Symmetrical”.

3.  Players must communicate their match results to a tournament director or match arbiter. To do this, players can either message them directly through Lichess Direct Messaging or post their results in this forum (LINK).

4. For Single Elimination Stage and Tie-breaking Games ->

   1. The time control will be 3 minutes with an increment of 5 seconds

   2. The match will consist of 6 games with random positions. There will be 3 positions total played (TWO games for each position). Each player plays a position once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces. A winner is decided if at or before the end of 6 games, a player reaches a game score of 3,5 (1 point for win, 0,5 for draw)

   3. For tie breaking games, If the score is equal (3-3) at the end of 6 games, the players will play pairs of games until the score is uneven. The higher seeded player will start with the white pieces. If the higher seeded player wins with the white pieces, they win the series. If any other result from the first game, the players will continue to play the second game as a pair with the first game.

5. For the Main Tournament (Round Robin & Final Stage) ->

   1. The time control will be 3 minutes with an increment of 5 seconds

   2. The match will consist of 10 games with 2 games each played in 5 random positions. Each player plays a position once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces. A winner is decided if at or before the end of 10 games, a player reaches a games score of 5,5 (1 point for win, 0,5 for draw).

   3. If the game score is equal after 10 games (5-5), the players will play pairs of games until the score is uneven. The higher seeded player will start with the white pieces. If the higher seeded player wins with the white pieces, they win the series. If any other result from the first game, the players will continue to play the second game as a pair with the first game.

   4. If for some unforeseeable reason, no winner can be determined by the aforementioned rules, the active TD has the ability to decide a new tiebreaker format on the spot. 

   5. For the final match, five positions will be randomly pre-determined before the match. These five positions will be selected from this study (LINK) having 64 near equal evaluations from the starting position (within +/- 1.0 at depth 25 or greater). 

Registrations:

1. In order to register, either message an organiser, or post your message in the designated forum thread [LINK] during the registration period (March 10th, 2025 through March 22nd, 2025 23:59 UTC).

2. Players must provide a link to their CVT account upon registration (https://chessvariants.training/Variant960) 

Match Negotiations:

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

2. Due to CVT not having chat functions, all match negotiations are expected to take place in Lichess direct messaging. Any other forms of communication will not be considered viable for match negotiation if problems arise.

3. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

9. If both players make 3 offers but no agreement is made before the end of a round, a match arbiter assigned to the match will investigate the match to determine if fault lies with a specific player.

10. If a player is at fault, the match arbiter will forfeit the player at fault for the round. If both players are at fault, the match arbiter may forfeit both players and advance previously eliminated player(s) to allow the tournament's continuation. If neither player is at fault, an extension would have been requested.

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 RK1440 Open Championship 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 RK1440 Open Championship has had their Lichess account marked (for violation of the Lichess TOS), they will be forfeited from their tournament and their last two matches will be forfeited as well. Players previously eliminated in those two matches may choose to replay their matches from the point of their elimination. Additionally, the player forfeited can receive up to a permanent ban from all future editions of the RK1440 OC, RK Olympiad, and other RK tournaments.

4. If it is brought to the organisers' attention that a participant of the RK1440 Open Championship has used external assistance in one or more of their games, the organisers will use their best judgement to determine whether or not the accusation and evidence is valid and verified. If the accusation and evidence is valid and verified, the matter will be handled similarly or the same as outline in point 3. If the accusation and evidence is either disproven or is inconclusive, no action will be taken on neither the accuser or the accused.

5. If a participant of the RK1440 OC decides to withdraw from the tournament after the completion of the first round, their previous two matches will be forfeited. Players previously eliminated may choose to replay their matches from the point of their elimination. Additionally, the player withdrawn can receive up to a 1 year ban from all future editions of the RK1440 OC, RK Olympiad, and other RK tournaments.

6. If a participant of the RK1440 OC decides to withdraw from the tournament before the completion of the first round, their match will be forfeited. No additional penalty will occur.

7. While these rules outline most foreseeable circumstances and organizers are expected to uphold and maintain the rules as stated above, when all relevant organizers agree to take actions on cases either a) not covered by the rules above or b) not having proper actions clearly outlined, they may take action that has not previously been stated without limitations.