Rules

The tournament format will be a two-stage tournament. The first stage will be a group stage consisting of groups of no more than FOUR players. Each group of FOUR players will be a round-robin to determine ONE advancing player. The second stage of the tournament will be a single elimination bracket.

1. Players will be seeded into the group stage based off of their T Rating. Their T Rating will be determined by the average of their Racing Kings rating at registration end and their peak Racing Kings rating.

2. Players will be seeded into the single elimination stage based on the group the advancing player comes from.

   1. In the event of an odd number of groups, Group A’s winner (with the highest ranked player from the group stage) will have a bye.

   2. In the event of an even number of groups, Group A’s winner will face the lowest Group’s winner (if 8 groups, then Group H’s winner), Group B’s winner will face the second lowest Group’s winner (if 8 groups, then Group G’s winner), and so on.

Each match will consist of EIGHTEEN games, broken up into THREE different time controls. The first SIX games will be in the time control of 1+1. The next SIX games will be in the time control of ¾+0. The last SIX games will be in the time control of 0+2. These sets of SIX games in different time controls MUST be played in this order for fairness of competition. 

1. For the group stage only, all EIGHTEEN games must be played for tiebreaker purposes. If the match is ended early for any reason, all remaining points will go to whichever player has the lead.

2. For the single elimination stage only, once a single player has reached 9.5 points or more, the match may be ended. If players have played all EIGHTEEN games and the score is tied at 9-9, pairs of tiebreaking games of ½+0 will be played until there is a decisive winner.

3. Due to the amount of games of the match, each player may call one break between any games in the match. This break cannot last more than FIVE minutes. Players may agree to resume play before FIVE minutes have passed.

On lengths of Rounds:

1. For the group stage, players will be given THREE weeks to complete all of their matches. There will be no particular order that each player has to play their matches in. They may schedule with any of their designated opponents at any point in this window of time.

   1. If all matches are scheduled and played before the THREE weeks have passed, the group stage will end early and the single elimination stage may begin early.

   2. Any matches not scheduled and played before the THREE weeks have passed will automatically be double-forfeited unless sufficient evidence has been provided to determine that one player is clearly at fault for not scheduling or playing the match.

   3. If a match is scheduled and one player does not show up to the match time, players must attempt to reschedule the match. If the same player does not show up to two scheduled match times, they will be forfeited from the remainder of the tournament.

2. For the single elimination stage, each round will be given a SEVEN day period to schedule and play their matches. Deadlines for each round will be pre-determined once the single elimination stage has begun

   1. Matches of the next round can be played as soon as the pairing is known.

   2. If matches are not played before the SEVEN day period and no extension was requested, the higher seeded player from the group stage seeding will be awarded the win. This will only occur once per player.

   3. If a match cannot be scheduled before the round’s deadline, a player must request an extension. Each extension request will be handled on a case by case basis.

On tiebreakers for the Group Stage:

1. Players will be ranked first by match wins, then by head to head score, then by points scored across all matches.

2. If these tiebreakers are not sufficient enough to decide a clear group winner, a tiebreaking match in the format of the Single Elimination bracket will occur between the tied individuals. 

   1. In the event three or more players are all tied by the above tiebreakers, the additional tiebreakers of “games won as black”, “1+1 games score”, and “T Rating” will be applied to determine the TWO players that will play in the tiebreaking match.

The tournament will be directed by RKCC EA james126 and RKCC TD MIMOGR 

Any player found in violation of the Lichess TOS during the duration of the tournament will immediately be removed and prohibited from continuing in the competition. All of their previous results in the current stage will be changed to a full points forfeit in their opponent’s favor. If this occurs during Round 1 of the single elimination stage, the player who placed second in their group will take their spot in the single elimination stage. This may also result in up to a 1 year RKCC ban.

Any player found to have intentionally lost games or matches will be removed from the remainder of the competition and issued up to a 1 year RKCC ban. 

Any accusations of cheating, deliberate losing, unfair assistance, or any other violation of the Lichess TOS or competition rules cannot be made publicly (whether on Lichess, Discord, or any other public messaging system). If an accusation is made public, TDs cannot properly handle a report or appeal of the incident. Any reports or appeals should be made privately to a TD or using the Lichess report function.

Any occurrence not explicitly outlined by the aforementioned rules will be up to the TDs discretion to decide what action will be taken. This can include, but is not limited to:, match forfeit(s), removal from the competition, suspension from the competition, RKCC suspension, RKCC ban, Lichess Report, or any other viable disciplinary action.

Aforementioned action definitions:

1. Double forfeits: A 0-0 set result entered into Challonge

2. Full-Draw: An equal point set result entered into Challonge (90-90)

3. Full-Forfeit: Full points for a set result entered into Challonge (180-0)

4. Removal from the competition/tournament: The player’s registration will be removed and the team will lose this player. This player may not play on any team for the remainder of the competition.

5. RKCC Suspension: A set duration based on upcoming RKCC events in which the player would be ineligible to register for.

6. RKCC Ban: A set duration based on a fixed amount of time in which the player would be ineligible to register for RKCC events.