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NEW ZEALAND GROUP CHESS LADDER RULES:

1. GENERAL

1.1. To participate in the New Zealand Group Chess Ladder players must be registered members of the chess.com New Zealand Group. Registration in the chess.com New Zealand Group is restricted to New Zealanders living either in New Zealand or abroad.

1.2. The New Zealand Group Chess Ladder can be a two-game-at-a-time event. All participants should be prepared to play two games at the same time.

1.3. New players are always welcome to join the New Zealand Group Chess Ladder. New players always join the ladder at the very bottom of the ladder.

1.4. The Ladder Tournament Director is solely responsible for managing the New Zealand Group Chess Ladder.

2. CHALLENGES

2.1. Ladder challenges are issued directly to the player whom you are challenging using the usual chess.com challenge methods.

2.2. Players may only challenge an opponent who is 3 or less places above them on the ladder. For example, a player with a ladder ranking of 18 may only challenge opponents with ladder rankings of 17, 16 and 15. When calculating challenges any inactive ladder members may be ignored (see rule 2.6).

2.3. Players may only challenge an opponent who is NOT already playing another ladder game against a lower-ranked opponent i.e. another ladder game as defender. Please check a players active online chess games for existing ladder games before issuing a ladder challenge.

2.4. Players may play two games at a time, provided that one is as a challenger against a higher-ranked ladder opponent and the other is as a defender against a lower-ranked ladder opponent. Under no circumstances may any player play two games as a challenger or two games as a defender. Therefore, the player ranked #1 on the ladder and the bottom-most ranked ladder player are limited to just one game at a time.

2.5. Higher-ranked players are expected to accept any valid challenge that they receive, within 3 days of the challenge being issued, this being the standard time control for ladder challenges. If a player does not accept a valid challenge within 3 days of the challenge being issued the result will be adjudicated as though the player had accepted the challenge and lost (see rule 4.4).

A ladder challenge may only be considered invalid for the following reasons:

The challenger has not chosen to play with the white pieces (see rule 4.1).
The ladder challenge time control is not 3 days per move (see rule 4.2).
The ladder challenge is not correctly named: Kiwis ladder challenge (see rule 4.3).
The defender already has another game as defender in progress (see rule 2.3).
The challenging player is not within the required 3 ladder positions inclusive of the defender (see rules 2.2 and 2.6).
The player challenged is marked inactive (see rule 2.6).
The player challenged has recently defeated the challenging player and the conditions detailed in rule 4.5 have not been met (see rule 4.5).

When an invalid ladder challenge is sent please decline it and message your opponent with an explanation of why it has been declined. Results of any invalid challenges that are played may be ignored by the Ladder Tournament Director at his or her discretion (see rules section 5).

Invalid challenges may be corrected and re-sent to the same opponent.

2.6. A player who forfeits 2 consecutive ladder challenges by failing to accept a valid challenge within 3 days of the challenge being issued (see rule 2.5) will be marked as inactive by the tournament director. Once marked inactive a player has a 60 day grace period to contact the Ladder Tournament Director to be reinstated as an active member of the ladder. Whilst inactive players are not a part of the ladder i.e. challengers may ignore inactive members when calculating who they may challenge (see rule 2.2). Ladder members marked inactive may not be challenged.

If a player contacts the Ladder Tournament Director to be made active again within the 60 day grace period the player returns to the ladder at the position the player currently holds. If no contact is made with the Ladder Tournament Director within the 60 day grace period the player is removed from the ladder and must join again at the bottom of the ladder.

3. ABSENCES

3.1. Vacation time may be taken as per normal during ladder games.

3.2. A player must accept any valid ladder challenge sent to him or her before taking vacation.

3.3. Whilst on vacation a player may not be challenged to a ladder game. Please wait until the player returns from vacation before issuing a ladder challenge. (The reason for this is that chess.com challenges automatically expire after approximately 7 days.)

4. GAMES

4.1. The challenger always plays with the white pieces.

4.2. The time control for ladder challenges is always 3 days per move.

4.3. A ladder challenge must be named precisely: Kiwis ladder challenge. (Note that case sensitivity is optional, as is the final full-stop.) This is so a challenger may easily determine if an opponent is available to play a challenge.

4.4. When a ladder challenge is completed a ladder change is only necessary if the lower ranked challenger defeats the higher ranked defender, either in a ladder game or by forfeit (see rule 2.5). In the case of the lower ranked challenger drawing with or losing to the higher ranked defender no ladder change will occur. The ladder change that occurs is that the lower ranked challenger takes the position of the higher ranked defender and the defender and any intervening players drop down one ladder position.

At the conclusion of a ladder challenge, if a ladder change is necessary the winner must post a message, and also preferably a link to the game, to the New Zealand Group forum here: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/kiwi-ladder---challenges-results-and-new-entrants-post-here so as to notify the Ladder Tournament Director to make the necessary change.

4.5. In all cases, players may not play two consecutive ladder games against the same opponent. Before these "rematches" are allowed players must have completed at least one ladder game as a challenger against a different opponent.

In the special case of ladder player #2 challenging ladder player #1 a new challenge may be issued 2 weeks after the conclusion of the previous ladder challenge.

5. OTHER

5.1. Any disputes will be adjudicated solely by the Ladder Tournament Director.

5.2. Any adjudication made by the Ladder Tournament Director will be made using the New Zealand Group Chess Ladder Rules as the primary guide.

5.3.Any adjudication made by the Ladder Tournament Director will be final.

New Zealand Group

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