FICS Standard Championship 2013
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Sections

The FICS Standard Championship will be divided into two sections; one open section and one for players whose rating is below 1800.

To be able to qualify for the lower section semifinals a player MUST HAVE a best rating, and this must be at most 1900 (if the best is from 2000 or earlier exceptions can be made).

Qualifiers

For a period of time there will be qualifiers run several times per day (see the schedule for further info). The qualifiers will be 4 round Swiss tournaments. There will be one round of latejoin. The first two not already qualified players in the open section and the first two not already qualified players in the lower section will qualify for the semifinals. In the qualifiers no tiebreaker will be used (which means that, if there are several players with the same number of points, more than two can qualify). A player from the lower section can of course qualify for the semifinals in the open section too. A player is allowed to participate in as many qualifiers as he want. The four players, not already qualified, with the highest overall scores will also qualify for the semifinals.

Semifinals

After the qualifiers it's time for the semifinals. There will be separate semifinals for the two sections. There will be a total of three semifinals for each section. The semifinals will be 4 round Swiss tournaments. There will be one round of latejoin. The first three not already qualified players in each semifinal will qualify for the final. Buchholz will be used as tiebreaker (the total score of the opponents excluding the worst of those scores). A player is allowed to participate in as many semifinals as he want. The player, not already qualified, with the highest overall score will also qualify for the final.

Finals

The finals will be 10-player Swiss tournaments. In case of a tie for first place the players will play tiebreaking games until a winner is decided. Reserves will be selected in the order they appear in the overall standings for the semifinals.

Noescape

Please disable noescape before starting a championship tournament. We generally can't force you to do so, but having it on is bad karma. For the Semi Finals and Finals having it off will be mandatory. To disable noescape, use the server command "set noescape off".

Cheating

All Championship games will be scrutinized for any sign of cheating, whether it's computer assistance or any other form of foul play. The minimum sanction imposed on cheaters is: a complete reset of all ratings and stats, followed by a ban on playing rated server games for a period of time, followed by an extensive ban from future participation in any kind of tournament.

Withdrawals

When entering a tournament you are expected to stay for its entire duration. Please make sure to plan accordingly. Leavng a tournament in progress messes with pairings in subsequent rounds, and potentially diminishes the experience for the other players. You can freely withdraw before the tournament starts. If you need to leave a tournament in progress you are expected to ask the manager for permission, and provide a good reason for it.

tjradd, evilcoyote, dzomba, Arodin, Loucke, andreasw and LNO

mattuc, chaostheory, ghostshadowrook and jminamora