Server Tournament Rules

RULES



Compulsory Server Rules

Dear Chess Friends,



chess on a chess server is a great thing. You can meet like-minded people and compare your skills in nice games. However, for a fair and friendly competition some rules are necessary. They follow an easy principle: those who treat others badly or break a rule will be banned from the server – notwithstanding further consequences.



If you have any questions you are welcome to ask a system operator or a ChessBase employee in the chat – you recognize them by the entry „ChessBase" or by the entry „Sysop" under their status in the player list. Or just send a mail to these adress.



Server Tournament Rules


About seven months of tournament-play lie behind us now. We used the experiences gained during this time to develop the program technically. But these experiences also found their way into the following set of rules. The idea behind them is to make decisions of our tournament-directors easier to understand, to inform players about proceedings on the server and to make the modalities of awarding prizes more transparent. However, we are not perfect. Therefore: if you have any question about the rules or if you have any proposals to make, just send me a mail.





The rules apply from 01. January 2003. The most important changes are the partly lifted anonymity when winning a prize and the awarding of rating-prizes. We take it that all player are acquainted with these rules.



Tournament Rules for Official Server-Tournaments



§ 1 Purview of these rules



(1) The rules apply to all official tournaments played on this server. Deviations from these rules will be especially announced.



(2) If not stated differently in the following, the current rules of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) apply.



§ 2 The players



(1) The players are responsible for their individual internet-connection. The players are responsible for being present in the virtual tournament hall when the lots are drawn for each round, when the round starts, and when the game begins. The players are also responsible for downloading the most recent version of the software they use (Fritz 7, Fritz 8, Shredder etc.). If a player fails to comply to these rules he/she has no right at all to demand that the consequences of his/her failure to comply to these rules should be redressed. Above all, there is no right to let the game start anew.



(2) The players have to follow the instructions of the tournament-director, particularly in regard to closing the board-window, starting new games and continuing games. The players are also obliged to answer all questions of the tournament-director relating to the tournament immediately.



(3) The players are responsible for registering in time for a tournament. The player has to enter the tournament room, in which the tournament is played. After that, the player has to send a special-registration-message to the tournament director (marked by the Sysop-symbol and the rank of "Tdirektor"). This is done via the chat by sending the word „join“ to the tournament-director. Fritz 8 users can register by clicking the "Join Event" button. The registration is confirmed by the tournament director (you are in ... ). The tournament-director often sends an alphabetical list of registrations to the participants. It is the task of the players to check whether they were entered into the tournament. Being entered into a round that is already under way is not possible. In this case, you can only enter in the following round.



(4) The players are responsible for having their chat-window opened throughout the entire tournament, that is during the games and during the waiting periods between games; they have to make sure that they can be reached through the chat throughout the entire tournament.



(5) The players have to comply to the rules of conduct and the general rules on the server. Above all, insults to your playing-partner and insults to third parties should be avoided. It is also strictly forbidden to make use of computer-programs for support during the games. We will report on our homepages and in the press about any case of cheating using the name and personal data of a person who cheats. In addition, we will confiscate all ducats a player has won on our server - in any tournament - and delete his ducat-account.



(6) The players have to abstain from being unfair. Above all, it is unfair to start chatting to other players during a game or to leave a tournament without reason. If stepping back from a tournament is absolutely necessary, you have to inform the tournament-director and wait for his confirmation.



§ 3 The tournament-director



(1) The tournament-director has to take care of an efficient an timely execution of the tournament, and has to make sure that the rules are complied to.



(2) In case of dispute only the tournament-director has the right to decide whether a game has to be played again or how games that are aborted due to prolonged lags are rated. In case of the latter, the tournament-director should award the game to the player with the shorter lag. If this is not clear or if it cannot be established which player is responsible for the technical delay of the game or why the connection was delayed, the game should be declared drawn.



(3) All decisions of the tournament-director about executing the tournament, rating games and awarding prizes are non-appealable.



(4) If rules are violated or if players behave in an unfair way, the tournament-director has the right to impose sanctions. He might



count the current game as a loss;

ban a player from the tournament;

ban a player from the server for a certain amount of time;

decrease the player's rank;

let the account of a player be deleted.

§ 4 Server-disconnection



(1) If the connection is interrupted during a tournament or if the majority of the players lose their connection because of problems with the server-connection, the tournament-director decides how to continue the tournament. If possible the tournament should be continued, especially when the break does not last longer than 30 minutes. Only if there are two rounds or less left to play the tournament-director should – unless circumstances indicate not to do so – cancel the tournament prematurely.



(2) If the tournament-director decides to continue the tournament the interrupted round should – if there are any doubts – be started entirely new. Games that were already finished do not count and have to be played again.



§ 5 Prizes



(1) Prizes can only be won by players who give their complete name, their complete address and a correct and current email-address to the tournament-director. It is not sufficient to mention that the address or the email-address of the player is known to another tournament-director or to ChessBase.



(2) Prizes can only be won when the player agrees that his or her real name might be published in the tournament-reports on the server – or in the chess press. Players who want to remain anonymous cannot win prizes.



(3) Non-money prizes, no matter of which kind, cannot be changed.



(4) Prizes will be played out as announced in the invitation. If the invitation published in one of the reports differs from the invitation in the tournament room, the invitation in the tournament room is binding. In case of doubt, the German version of the invitation is binding.



§ 6 Rating-prizes



(1) § 5 of these rules apply unless otherwise indicated.



(2) Rating-prizes can only be won by players whose rating during their last 400 games before the tournament has not been more than 150 points above the given rating-limit.



(3) The tournament-director can exclude players from winning rating-prizes when they haven't yet played 100 games in the discipline, in which the prize is played out. As a rule, the tournament-director should do so, if the player's data do not contain any information about the real name, the address, the playing strength and the membership in a club.



(4) A player is completely excluded from winning a prize if he/she submits a wrong name.



(5) Rating-prizes and prizes can only be won with the same permanent handle/nickname. If a player claims prizes under two different handles/nicknames this will lead to a three-month ban from any prizes. This does not apply if the player informs the tournament director about the changed handle/nickname prior to the tournament, and states why the handle was changed and if the tournament-director accepts this explanation.



(6) Every player can only win a maximum number of two rating-prizes per calendar-month. Should he/she win more prizes only the first two will be awarded. In this case it is in the discretion of the tournament director whether the prize is given to the following player or whether the prize can be won in one of the following tournaments.



§ 7 Language



Communication with the tournament-director has either to be in German or in English – this is a matter of choice. The tournament-director can allow communication in additional languages.



§ 8 Elimination of legal proceedings



Legal proceedings for all cases of conflict resulting from these rules are eliminated. This applies above all to questions of awarding prizes.



§ 9 Validity



These rules are valid from 01. January 2003.