Chess Ladder Tournament

100 Dollar Prize

Competition runs May 6 – December 16

The format will be a modified pyramid ladder tournament. Full rules will be published Real Soon Now. The format will reward playing consistently through the duration of the tournament. Get to the top. Hold the position. Win!

The default time control for games will be G25/d5, but other time controls, or no time controls, can be used by agreement of the players.

And, if you know me, you know that I can’t just stop at Chess. So, I’m also running (simultaneously) ladder tournaments in

Xiangqi (Chinese Chess)

Go (Players may agree to play on a 13x13 board. If playing on a full board, time control should be ncreased.)

Chess960 (Also known as Fischer Random Chess)

Hive (A popular modern abstract strategy game)

Homeworlds (An obscure modern abstract strategy game)

Each of these five ladder tournaments will have a 20 dollar prize.

Rules for all ladder Tournaments

1. All games are to be played at Gatekeeper Games.

2. The tournament will be a modified “pyramid ladder” tournament, as described in the wikipedia article “Ladder Tournament”. Short version – Challenge somebody above you. If you win, you take their place. Try to get to and stay at the top.

3. The modification is to the scoring method. In a traditional ladder tournament, the winner is the player who ends up at the top of the ladder. For this club, the goal is to encourage and reward long term participation. Players will earn points for playing games, and additional points for getting to and holding games near the too of the ladder.

3a. Every legal challenge played earns 1 point.

3b. Successfully defending the number 1 position earns 10 additional points.

3c. Successfully defending the number 2 position earns 5 additional points.

3d. Successfully defending the number 3 position earns 3 additional points.

3e. Successfully defending the number 4 position earns 1 additional point.

3f. If a challenge game ends in a draw, the players do not move positions, but no additional points are awarded for a successful defense.

4. A player who is present must accept a valid challenge from a player eligible to issue a challenge. (See the wikipedia article. Basically, you can only challenge players on your level or one level above.)

5. If there are no eligible players present, but there is a player who is more than one level above the challenger, the challenger may challenge up. However, if the challenger is victorious, the players do not switch places. Instead, the losing, higher ranked player is moved to the first place on the space one level below his current position. All players between those spots are moved up one position to fill the vacancy left by the displaced player. The successful challenger moves to the last spot on the level above him. The player holding that position is moved back one space, and all other players between the challenger’s former position and new position are moved back to fill the vacancy.

6. A player who misses four consecutive Monday night meetings at Gatekeeper Games is considered to be dormant. After the evening of play, all dormant players will be subject to an “auto-challenge”. The next available non-dormant player will be considered to have challenged the dormant player, and win. Their positions will be adjusted accordingly. No player can “win” more than one auto=challenge per week.

7. You may not play the same player two times in a row.

7a. If two players are present and able to play, but are not eligible to play each other due to the consecutive player rule, neither will be considered to be dormant, and the clock will reset on considering them dormant.

7b. Auto-challenges described in rule 6 do not count as playing that opponent for purposes of the consecutive player rule.

8. In the last two weeks of the tournament, any player not present ill be considered to be dormant. In the last week, positions will be adjusted by auto-challenge before the start of play for the night, for all players not present by 6:45.