Welcome to STCBunch!!

1. Eligibility

Participants must be members of the STC Bunch and have a valid account at FICS before the start of the tournament. To be eligible you must have played a minimum of 10 rated standard games. To register with the STC Bunch, players should sign up on this website and make sure to enter their FICS handle and current standard rating into their profile (http://www.stcbunch.net/). Registration will close on Monday Feb 13 at 19:00 server time. Late-joins will be open through rounds one and two. Players late-joining will receive a half a point for each round missed.

2. The Only Human Pledge

Every entrant must accept the following: "This STC-Bunch Tourney is being administered by FLAWED HUMAN VOLUNTEERS. Blunders may be made due to processing a high volume of data in a limited time frame. Whatever decision the arbiter comes to will be accepted with grace and aplomb by me."

3. Dates of the Event

2012 FICS STC Winter Blues will start on the Tuesday Feb 14. The dates for each round are:

Round 1: Feb 14-Feb 21
Round 2: Feb 21-Feb 28
Round 3: Feb 28-Mar 06
Round 4: Mar 06-Oct 13
Round 5: Mar 13-Mar 20
Round 6: Mar 20-Mar 27
Round 7: Mar 27-Apr 03


Each round begins and ends at 19:00 server time. Within these limits, players arrange the exact time of their game with their opponent. Players may request a bye by messaging blkmagic on FICS. Such a bye will score 1/2 point. A maximum of 2 byes are permitted and no byes will be awarded in the final round.

4. Tournament Format

All entrants will be listed in descending order by rating and pairings will be determined according to the Swiss system. FIDE pairing rules will be followed. All games will be played at a time control of 60 15. All games must be played rated.

Each win scores one point; each draw scores half a point; each loss scores zero points. The player with the most points at the end of round seven is the winner. In the event of a tie, places shall be decided by the following tie-breaks, in the following order:

a) Sum of progressive scores - the sum of the players' total scores after each individual round
b) Median Buchholz - the sum of the scores of the player's opponents, except the opponents with the highest and lowest score
c) Buchholz - the sum of the scores of all the player's opponents
d) Head to head - if all players tied on a certain score have played each other, the points gained in these games
e) Coin toss

5. Pairings and Arrangement of Matches

Pairings for each week will be posted on Tuesday at 19:00 server time. At the same time game forums will open for the players. THE GAME FORUM IS TO BE USED FOR ALL COMMUNICATION between players to schedule games.

A player who does not post in the game forum by Thursday 19:00 server time must select one of their opponents offered times. A player who does not post in the game forum by Friday 19:00 server time will forfeit that game and, at the discretion of the TD, be removed from future rounds. Their opponent will score one point for that round.

If both players make contact but cannot agree on a time to play their game by Monday 19:00 server time, then the TD shall determine the result of the pairing. If it is judged that both players have made a good-faith effort to schedule the game, then the result shall be set as a draw.

All games must be completed by the end of the round at 19:00 Tuesday server time.

A player who forfeits a game in this tournament may be banned from future STC Bunch events.

6. Conduct of the games

All games must be started through the STCRobot account. Once both players are online, they should issue the command "tell STCRobot play. STCRobot will start the game, announce it in channel 90, and collect the pgn at the end of the game. In the event of STCRobot being unavailable, games should be started manually with the "match" command.

Players not present within 30 minutes of their agreed game time shall forfeit that game. Their opponent should make a post in their game forum to claim the forfeit.

A player who disconnects during a game has 15 minutes to return. If they do not do so, their opponent may claim a forfeit win. If the server records the result of a game where one player has disconnected as a loss to that player, then that result will stand.

7. Moretime and Takebacks NOT ALLOWED

Granting moretime or takebacks in a tourney game will result in a forfeit loss against the grantor at the TD's discretion.

8. Outside Assistance

Players must not use outside assistance (analysis engines, playing programs, printed analysis, advice from other players, and so on) during games. Players who suspect someone of violating this rule should contact the TD. All games are analyzed for computer assistance and any player determined to have used assistance will be excluded from the present and all future tournaments. The result of all their games in the current tournament will be changed to -:+ (forfeit losses).

9. Arbiter/Organizer Correspondence

All correspondence regarding the tournament between players and the TD shall take place in the game forum only. All other messages, such as server messages, may be ignored.

10. Changes to these rules

These rules are subject to change as online conditions warrant. Any changes to the rules will be clearly announced on the STC Bunch website.

In cases not specifically covered by these rules, the TD will attempt to reach a decision in keeping with the rules' spirit.

11. Precedence of these rules

In the event of any contradiction between these rules and other documents relating to the tournament (such as the Player Guide or translations of these rules into languages other than English), these rules take precedence and will be considered binding.

12. Good Sportsmanship

Every player agrees that he/she will have a good time, that this is a tournament among friends, and that he/she will be of good cheer no matter the outcome.