Format

The Not-So Pro Fog of War League is a team-based competition, consisting of an initial regular Phase, usually six weeks long, and subsequently a Playoffs Phase, usually four weeks long. Four games per player is demanded each week. The time controls are 1 minute to each side, with a 1 second increment per move [1|1], and 3 minutes to each side, with 0 increment per move [3|0].

A week is comprised of a six days duration - which can be extended on special occasions, or shortened during emergencies - during which the games will be played, and a rest day, where unplayed games are ruled upon, data is formulated and new threads are created.

Won games are worth 1 game point, drawn games are worth half a game point and losses are worth 0 game points. Unplayed games will be ruled upon by the administration at the rest day and points will be awarded according to a player's effort on getting a game.

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Regular Phase

Season 1 consists of a 4 team double round robin format , 12.5 or more game points in each week/round will declare a team winner, earning it a match point. Draws will earn a team half a match point, losses will earn a team no match point. From Season 2 , a Swiss format will be used .

Tiebreaks are as follows: 1) Game Points; 2) Least Forfeit Losses and Forfeit Draws; 3) Less Average Team Rating. At the end of the sixth round, the top 2 teams play the finals and bottom two play a 3rd place match

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Playoffs Phase

The top 2 teams play a finals and bottom two play a 3rd place match .

In case of a tie at the Finals and/or 3rd place match, there will be Tiebreaks rounds as follows: 1) 2 Games of Bullet Tiebreaks [2|1] - Higher seed picks the side to play, if still tied Black wins. Tiebreaks must be played by the same players, the only exception is if a players account is closed.

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Requirements

To join as a Player in the Not-So Pro Fog of War League it is required that the chess.com member has a minimum of 3 months in the site, as well as a minimum of 30 rated Blitz games against 20 different human players. Games against computer live bots do not count to the minimum games required.

Players failing to meet the requirements might still apply through the official form, however, it is a player's responsibility to communicate the administration once requirements are met, in case they so desire to join at a later date.

All entries will be verified for deliberate rating manipulation, which is a form of fair play abuse and therefore will not be tolerated.

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Teams

Each team has 6 players, which are divided into six boards respecting a rating ladder, being Board 1 the higher rated player and Board 6 the lower rated player. The average rating per team cannot surpass 1700 rating points, that is, the sum of all six players' collected Blitz ratings cannot be higher than 10200. The rating used is the Blitz peak from the last 12 months.

A max difference of 100 rating points will be accepted, in the event of a higher Board player being lower-rated than the player(s) below them. A board 5 player must be rated 1000 or above to be a board 5.

It is required that one of the players stands in the condition of a Team Captain.

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Team Captain

A Team Captain also stands in the condition of a Player and has, among their responsibilities throughout the season, to:

Recruit, manage and represent their teammates;
Find a substitute player if needed, communicating the administration beforehand - max 48 hours from the start of that particular week - in case of a substitution, a change of rosters or player replacements of any kind;
Provide a team name no wider than 32 characters (spaces included), a team logo (preferably in square proportion: min 200px wide, ideally 600px wide) and optionally choose their team lettering and background color for the official weekly threads;
Be active and communicative for as long as their team lasts in the competition.

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Player

A Player has, among their responsibilities throughout the season, to:

Locate their respective negotiation thread at the weekly Pairings & Negotiation Threads club news post;
Read and follow the instructions therein to negotiate a time for his game;
Attend for their game in the accorded time;
Post their game result at the weekly Results thread;
Communicate their Team Captain beforehand in case of an impossibility to participate on a certain week or period of time;
Have their live chess challenge settings open to everyone in the accorded game time, or alternatively add their opponent to the friends list in order to play the game (see this thread for detailed instructions);
Accept to play for the same team during the season, being unable to join other teams in case of an elimination or withdrawal.

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Substitute Player

Substitute Players (Subs) stand in the condition of Players during weeks in which they are assigned to a team, therefore it is their duty to observe and practice all responsibilities written therein.

Subs are teamless volunteer players which might be recruited by a team during a certain period, in the event of a Player being unable to play. Subs are allowed to play for one single team per week.* For a substitution to be valid, all rating rules listed on Teams section need to be observed. Additionally, a Substitute Player cannot be rated higher than 100 rating points from the Player he is subbing for.

A substitution needs to be communicated by the Team Captain to the Administration (currently @Tebow2Baker ) no further than 48 hours - 2 days - from the beginning of a playing week. On the event of extended weeks, for each 7 playing days comprised in it, there will be a plus of 48 hours added to this limit. E.g. a week that is 18 playing days long will have 144 hours - 6 days - limit for communicating substitutions. Late substitutions will not be accepted.

All teamless Players which have signed on the official form and have not been assigned to a team will be shifted to the condition of Substitute Players when Team Formation ends, being then located at the Subs tab at the Google Spreadsheets. In case you have registered but wouldn't like to be listed as a Sub, contact

*If a Substitute Player has played 2 weeks for a single team, he can no longer sub for other teams during that season, and will be treated as a member of the team he is subbing for. He is still allowed to be replaced by the original player, or by a new substitute.

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Rating Collection

A player's collected rating will usually be based on his peak Blitz rating from the last 12 months of registration.

If a player hasn't met the minimum game requirement (30 rated Blitz games against human opponents) to join the league, they will only be eligible after achieving the minimum games count. A player should let an administrator know after they have played the minimum game requirement of 30 rated Blitz games vs human opponents so that the administrators can add their rating.

If a player has met the minimum games requirement but did not play any games during the collection period of 12 months, their rating is therefore considered inactive. In those cases the administration will decide whether to collect an active rating that translates the player's strength (usually Bullet, if active) or to request said player for an amount of rated Blitz games against human players for his rating to be collected.

Players rated 800 and below will have their rating counted as 800.

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Forfeits

In the event of a player failing to be online (no-show) in the scheduled game time or even 30 minutes after the scheduled game time, they must justify it on the respective Negotiation Thread and offer new time periods as quickly as possible. The administration will be looking upon all negotiations closely for possible abuse of the negotiation system. Failing to show up twice in a week will award a forfeit win to the opponent. A no-show will also render the player a Strike. If a player accumulates three Strikes he will thereby be ejected from the remainder of the season. In case there is a game scheduled late in the week and one of the players is a no-show, they are likely to receive a forfeit loss.

The administration strongly advises against splitting the game time agreement into separate parts, that is, not playing all 4 games in the first agreed time. Players who opt for this assume full responsibility for being both there in all separate occasions. The administration reserves itself the right to award no further points for non-played games due to split game time agreements.

If a player disconnects during a game and loses it due to game abandoning, it is up to the winning player to either take the game point or replay the game. Team Captains might be consulted about the decision, but the final say shall be communicated by the game winning player in the official negotiation thread, in case the disconnected player asks for a replay. Once both players have agreed, the decision on whether to replay the game from the beginning or to recreate the game position is up to the players involved. The game should then be posted separately in the official results thread for validation.

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Arguing

The decision of the administration on any issue is final and should not be debated within the group. You may, however, politely petition the administration for a review of the decision via Private Messages. Constant arguing and complaint may result in a member's ejection from the club.

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IMPORTANT: Unnecessary comments are not appreciated in the Results Threads. Players may get muted/ejected from the rest of the season/ejected from the league if they do not refrain from posting unnecessary comments in the Results Threads after multiple warnings.

These rules are subject to change. Major changes will be communicated inside the club. The goal of the league is to give every team a fair chance. Admins have the right to change to rules during the season to give everyone a fair season.

NSPFoWL HQ

Super Admins

Admins