MSO Rules and Clarifications Please See a List Of

MSO Rules and Clarifications

Please see a list of rules for the Mind Sports Olympiad. If you have any queries, please email [email protected]

Tiebreaks

Tie-Breaks

The Mind Sports Olympiad Tie-Break System to be used:

A tie-break is a situation where two or more players (pairs or teams) have the same score and are in a position to win a medal or title. The MSO tie-break rules apply.

All tie-breaks will be agreed in the office with the Chief Arbiter or a director, neither of whom will be involved as a participant in the particular event.

The rules below will be applied for two player games:

1. Head to Head results between the players involved. This will only apply if one player has beaten all others in the tie-break, or one player has lost to all others in the tie break.

2. Points spread from all rounds, ignoring the players best result.

3. Sonneborn-Berger. MSOrules/Ilfeld 2

Please note that none of these steps are reapplied. (e.g. – if one player is eliminated in head to head, then rather than reapplying head to head, the remaining tiebreak is decided by point spread and then Sonneborn-Berger.) After step 3, unseparated players will share medals.

The rules below will be applied for multi-player games:

1. The board played on in the final round (i.e. A player from the top board is placed ahead of anyone on a lower board, if they have the same tournament points)

2. Result in the final round

3. Victory Points scored in all rounds/points percentage (of winner) in all rounds

4. Most Wins (followed by most seconds etc.)

5. Head to head

6. Buchholz (removing top and bottom 2 opponents)

For the Pentamind, the tie-break will be the next Pentamind score (i.e. the 6th best result) will be used as a tiebreak; the secondary tiebreak will be the 7th best Pentamind score; the third tiebreak will be use the 8th best scores.

Backgammon

International Backgammon Tournament

Rules and procedures

Tiebreak Procedure MSOrules/Ilfeld 3

(Please note that for tiebreaks the match score has no effect)

1. Head to Head results between the players involved. This will only apply if one player has beaten all others in the tie-break, or one player has lost to all others in the tie break.

2. Sonneborn-Berger.

Interpretation

The tournament rules and procedures cannot, and should not, regulate all possible situations that may arise during a game or a match. No set rules should deprive the

Tournament Director(s) of his freedom of judgment or prevent him from finding the solution dictated by fairness and compatible with the circumstances of a particular case.

Committee

The Tournament Director shall be assisted by a ruling committee set at the beginning of the tournament with 3 to 5 players acknowledged for their expertise of tournament. The names of players in the ruling committee shall be displayed in the playing rooms. If one player of the committee is involved in a dispute he shall be substituted.

Inscriptions

Inscriptions are approved by the Tournament organization that doesn't necessarily have to give any explications about its decisions.

Languages MSOrules/Ilfeld 4

The official tournament languages are English and Italian. No speech in other language is permitted between players and spectators when a match is in progress.

Dressing

It is required to dress properly at all time, otherwise the access to the Tournament will be denied.

Matches

All matches shall be played in official tournament rooms except by agreement or decision of the tournament director.

Players must observe their seat assignment on the draw sheet.

Matches of the Championship and Intermediate take precedence.

The board of the Main will be drawn randomly.

Byes of the Progressive Consolation will be drawn if possible first among players without a bye in the Main.

On the tournament board, late arrivals will be assigned in numerical order: the tournament director will decide how many late arrivals to keep available and how long.

In all 13 point matches or more, each player is allowed to take two breaks of 10mn duration each. For shorter matches each player has one break of 10mn duration. The authorized breaks must be taken between games. If the duration of the pauses are not respected penalties shall be awarded.

Punctuality.

It is the responsibility of each player to be on time: you must check that the program have not been modified. Ignorance is no defense against penalty points incurred through late arrival. For any unjustified late arrival penalty points will be awarded as follows: 1 point added to opponent's score for every 5mn being late, starting from the moment chosen by the MSOrules/Ilfeld 5

Tournament Director, considering circumstances, generally 20mn after of the scheduled starting time. As soon as penalty points amount to more than half of the needed number of points to win the match, the missing player will be disqualified.

In case of necessity, an hour delay could be granted by the tournament director's decision; after the hour, penalty points will start.

If clock is in use, instead of giving penalty points, the director will start the player's clock.

In any case, to prevent penalties, a player should secure the tournament director's consent when leaving the playing rooms.

Spectators

It is permitted to watch a match, but spectators must observe complete silence and avoid to disturb in any way the players, otherwise they will be sent away.

The tournament director can request at any time, on his own initiative or on a player demand, that a spectator leaves the table, for a justified reason or for a need of the tournament.

To draw attention to any misplays or make general comments on plays is forbidden.

In case of intervention of a spectator the offended player can request the tournament director to sanction.

Except flagrant cheating, a spectator may testify only on tournament director request.

If a spectator wants to address a player, he must ask the permission of the opponent.

In case of agreement, he must use a language understood by both players.

Any indubitable signals between player and spectator will result in penalties that could reach the player's immediate disqualification and forfeiture of any prize. The spectator will suffer the same penalty if he takes part at the tournament. MSOrules/Ilfeld 6

Preliminaries

Direction of play, choice of checkers' colors and seats shall be decided at the start of the match and, once decided, will remain the same for the whole match. If the players disagree on the choice, they roll the dice and the highest result decide direction, color and seat.

Equipment

You must play with the tournament equipment or with equipments approved by the tournament director.

If you accept to play with non authorized equipments, you do it at your own responsibility.

You must have at least 2 standard precision dice.

A player may ask the tournament director to change, from the next game, the equipment he is using (or part of it) if he realizes that it is not regular or for another justified reason.

The tournament director can also replace, on his own initiative and at any time, defective or not regular equipment.

Disturbing and unnecessary objects have to be removed from the table surface.

Cellular phone must be turned off (or used shortly with the permission of the opponent and avoiding any disturb); headsets and recording equipments are also prohibited if not with the permission of the opponent.

Any help is prohibited. It is forbidden to write anything but the score.

Score

All matches will be played to the stated number of points: in case of different MSOrules/Ilfeld 7

agreement, the involved players will be penalized.

If, by mistake of both players, a match has been played at a different number of points than the stated one and the result posted in the tournament board, the loser cannot ask to play the match again or to carry it on or that the result were changed (if the stated number of points was smaller and the winner different); the director will give a warning to both players and will penalize them if they do it again.

If the players realize that they are playing to a wrong number of points (but the match is not finished yet), they have to change the number on the score sheet and carry on the match to the correct number of points; if vice versa with the correct number the match were already finished, the players have to keep playing till the wrong number of points they were suppose to go to.

Each player shall keep a running score of the match, with the match length marked at the top of the score sheet. Both players shall check their score with the opponent's score at the start of each game. It's the leading player's duty to check if the score sheets match together: in case of a failure the score sheet of the trailing player will be valid.

Match cards of the tournaments must be used.

Failure to keep score creates presumption in favor of an opponent in case of dispute.

If both players have a missing match length, the match will be played by default to the stated match length.

If both players realize that they do not play to the number of points stated, the score sheet shall be rectified and they shall play to the stated match length. The result of a match shall be reported to the tournament director by the loser or by the winner with the score sheet.

If a player inadvertently concedes a match, even though his opponent has not reached the requisite number of points, such concession shall be deemed valid once the name of the MSOrules/Ilfeld 8

winner is entered in the official draw sheet by the tournament director.

The use of flip over scoreboards is allowed and cheered; if you use both the flip over and a normal score (to keep also track of the game "history"), in case of discordance the flip over prevails.

Irregularities

Any settlement or convention between players is prohibited: no game may be replayed, canceled or settled.

Noise, act or attitude which hinder opponent's thought and concentration are prohibited.

The player should never cover the complete view of the board to his opponent: he should for example avoid to put the cup inside the board or to keep the hand over it for too long. The not in turn player should never touch the dies nor the pieces, not even his own.

The player should move the checkers clearly, using only one hand. Particularly, he should avoid exceeding in tentative back and forth moves. All the moves have to be performed regularly, in particular a checker from the bar should be played before moving any other checker.

If legally possible both numbers on dice must be played. If only one dice or the other can be played legally, but not both, then the highest dice must be played.

A hit checker must be placed on the bar. It is insufficient simply to tap the checker or indicate by movement of the hand that a hit is intended. If a checker (or checkers) must be hit legally, but is not placed on the bar the move may be considered as illegal.

Checkers born off must be out of the board and must always be kept in full view of both players. Any checker should not be held in player's hands. MSOrules/Ilfeld 9

Any moves not performed properly may result in an adverse ruling in case of dispute.

The director, if informed, will warn and eventually penalize a player who makes repetitely illegal moves.

Player concludes his turn by lifting both dice. He may reposition the dice on the right board to facilitate thought and moving the checkers, but only flowing the dice on the playing surface. After lifting dice, a player can't keep moving his pieces (unless the opponent demand to replay an illegal move).

If a player notices a wrong starting position, he may correct it before the fourth roll of the game. A player with a number of checkers different from 15 can lose gammon and backgammon.

Players must play at a reasonable pace. A player may lodge a protestation with the tournament director, if his opponent plays too slowly. The tournament director may on his own initiative, introduce a clock to finish a game or a match.

Cube

Automatic double and beavers are not legal.

When it is the player's turn to throw dice, he may double against a close board with a man or more on the bar. The Jacoby rule does not apply. (gammon and backgammon will count at all times. So, a cube turn is not necessary to win gammon or backgammon)

The Crawford rule (no cube) applies: when a player reaches match point, the doubling cube will be out of play for one game and in any subsequent games the cube may be normally turned from the first legal opportunity.

A centered cube shall be considered with the value of 1 point.

The cube must always be kept in full view of both players.

A player can double only when the opponent concludes his turn by lifting both his MSOrules/Ilfeld 10

dice.

A premature double stands and the opponent can move accordingly.

A player who doubles must place the cube with appropriate value uppermost on opponent's right board. He must wait his opponent's acceptation before rolling the dice.

A player who accepts a double must place the cube with appropriate value uppermost on his side.

Once a player is doubled and accepts this double will be deemed valid.

A player who refuses a double must place the cube in the center of the board.

Only legal procedures shall be valid to double and to accept a double, any other shall be deemed null and void.

During the Crawford game the doubling cube should be removed from the board; but if, by mistake, the doubling cube has been used during the Crawford game, the player has in any case the right to invalidate all the doubles performed during that game, if he realizes the violation until the end of the game.

Dice

Only dice approved by the tournament director must be in use.

At the beginning of the match players choose a set of four dice, generally with 2 different colors.

Once a match is in progress dice may not be changed except at tournament director's decision.

The tournament director has the right to introduce new dice at any time.

At the beginning of the match each player choose a die alternately. A random draw shall be made for the one who choose first. A player must have two dice.

Cups and dice must be kept in full view of both players. Dice must be rolled on the MSOrules/Ilfeld 11

right side of a player's board.

Cocked dice must be re-rolled. Dice are deemed cocked if they do not come to rest flat on the right board. If you think your dice are cocked, you must wait your opponent's consent before rolling again. In case of a dispute, players must leave unchanged all the equipment: any modification by a player create presumpion in opponent's favor.

At any starting game a player may request a dice mixage, with the same procedure of the beginning of the match: he will mix the dice and his opponent will choose first.

None or nothing must interfere the movement of dice in order to stop or control them.

Before rolling both dice must be in the cup. The cup must be shaken vigorously just before rolling. Both dice must come out simultaneously from a discernible height, without touching hands, in order that dice roll and bounce freely on the right board.

A player concludes his move by lifting both dice. If a player rolls the dice before the opponent has finished his/her turn, the roll may only be re-rolled if the opponent demand so. In other words, the opponent decides whether the roll stands or has to be re-rolled.

A premature roller cannot use the cube and must play the premature dice when the opponent concludes his turn.

All violations of aforesaid rules shall be sanctioned.

Disputes

Any infringement by a player of the accepted standard of tournament behavior can result in immediate disqualification and exclusion from the tournament.

When a dispute arises the tournament director must be summoned and the players must leave unchanged dice, cube (the position in which it lies will be deemed valid), checkers and score. Any modification by a player create presumption in MSOrules/Ilfeld 12

opponent's favor.

The tournament director on his own initiative or at request of a player may appoint a neutral referee to observe a match: the referee shall have full powers to protect each player against opponent's irregularities, illegal moves included.

The tournament director has the right to gather together the committee to adjudicate a dispute, a claim or a protestation.

A player may appeal a director tournament's ruling, but he must appeal just after the ruling. To resolve an appeal at least 2 members of the committee shall be convene with the tournament director. The committee shall hear relevant testimony and arguments of both players involved. A ruling will be taken by majority decision.

A match may be videotaped on tournament director's decision. A player cannot refuse it, if he does he will be forfeited. If a camera is in use, it may be use in case of dispute.

CLOCK RULES

Generalities

On his own initiative or at the justified request of any participant of the tournament, the tournament director may require two players to use a clock, to play or finish a match.

The clock can be introduced at the beginning of a game or during a game in progress at the discretion of the tournament director.

A player can request any time the checking of the working of clock. In case of an observed flaw the clock should be changed and reparation to the injured player might be MSOrules/Ilfeld 13

arranged.

Time

You may play with the Bronstein system. At the beginning of a match the director will give to each player a given amount of time per point (for example 3 minutes), plus some seconds (for example 12) of delay per move: so a 7 points match could be played with 21 minutes per player +12 sec delay per move.

The effective time will in any case be indicated by the director accordingly with the event.

If a player completely ends his time (his clock reaches 0), he loses the match.

If the clock is issued in the middle of a game the average needed points will be calculated.

If the tournament director notices that two players play without a clock when one is required or they play with the wrong setting of time, penalties can be awarded to both of them.

Procedures

Players share one pair of dice coming from a set of four. At the start of a match players choose one die each. A random draw can be made for the first player choosing the die.

Either player may demand a mixing of dice prior to the start of any game, according the same procedure of the beginning of the match.

A random draw can be done for the sense of play. The clock shall be placed on the side of the bear-off. For a match in three sets, players may alternate the sense of play and make a draw in case they have to play 3 matches.

At the start of each game the clock is centered and each player roll at the same time a MSOrules/Ilfeld 14

die. The player rolling the lower starts the opponent's time and the other player makes the move.

A player signals the end of his turn by pushing the clock: dice should be left on the board. Then the turn passes to the opponent.

If a player presses the clock without rolling the dice or playing his checkers, the move will be considered as illegal.

Dice cannot be touched before the opponent's move is complete.

If a player is against a closed board with at least one checker on the bar

− the opponent can hit the clock at each move (to always get the delay seconds);

− the player is not required to roll the dice but he still must continue to hit the clock to

signify the end of the turn; if he can use the cube he can always double.

Doubling

A player who wants to double should clearly present to the opponent the cube in the middle of the board and then push the clock.

A player who wants to accept a double should clearly take the cube on his side and then push the clock.

A player who wants to refuse a double should clearly put the cube on the center of the board; then he centers the clock.

Conceding a game

A player may offer to concede a plain game, gammon or backgammon only after completing his turn and then centering the clock. To accept a concession ' opponent says

"accept", to reject says "reject". No player may refuse an opponent's concession for the maximum possible number of points.

Claiming a game MSOrules/Ilfeld 15

After completing his turn, a player may claim the game when the outcome is certain.

The player claiming the game centers both buttons and says «I win the game» (or «a gammon» or «a backgammon»).

The opponent has to verify this statement.

Stopping the clock

A player can stop the clock for the following reasons :

- make a proposal of concession of the game;

- to retrieve a fallen die or checker;

- to contest an opponent's action: or example, after an illegal move of the opponent, the

player has the right to demand the rectification without losing time;

- to summon the tournament director;

- to announce the intention to take a break (when taking a break, it is counseled to both

players to write down on their score sheets their time until expiration of the match).

Decamentathlon

The Decamentathlon World Championship comprises 10 events each scored out of

100 (for a maximum score of 1000), lasting 3.5 hours and largely consisting of examined papers. The following mental skills are tested in the Decamentathlon:

1) Memorizing cards, Memorizing numbers (base-10) MSOrules/Ilfeld 16

2) Draughts (have rules defined on website)

3) Mental calculation

4) Creative Thinking

5) Chess

6) Go

7) Mastermind (6 colors)

8) KenKen

9) Sudoku

10) Backgammon

The Decamentathlon provides the opportunity for players to show how good an all- rounder they are.

The Rules of Draughts (EDA)

Draughts Board and men

2.2The draughts board is square in shape and is divided into 64 squares of equal size, alternately light and dark in colour. (Technically called white and black.)

2.3The board is placed between the two players such that the bottom left-hand corner square is black.

2.4The game is only played on the black squares, which for the purpose of reference are assigned numbers from 1 to 32. MSOrules/Ilfeld 17

2.5 Each player starts with 12 discs, or men, all of equal size. One player has dark coloured men (called black), and the other has light coloured men (called white). The colours of the men must make a distinct contrast with the colours of the squares of the board.

2.6 At the start of play the black men occupy squares 1 to 12 and the white men occupy squares 21 to 32.

Order of Play

2.7To start the game the players decide by the toss of a coin which colour they will play. In subsequent games the players alternate colours.

2.8The first move in each game is made by the player with the black men. Thereafter the moves are made by each player in turn.

The Moves

2.9 There are fundamentally 4 types of move: the ordinary move of a man, the ordinary move of a king, the capturing move of a man and the capturing move of a king.

2.10The ordinary move of a man is its transfer diagonally forward left or right from one square to an immediately neighbouring vacant square.

2.11When a man reaches the farthest row forward (the king row or crown head) it becomes a king, and this completes the turn of play. The man is crowned by the opponent, who must place a man of the same colour on top of it before making his own move. (It may be necessary to borrow from another set if no captured man is available for the purpose.)

2.12The ordinary move of a king is its transfer diagonally forward or backward, left or right, from one square to an immediately neighbouring vacant square.

2.13 The capturing move of a man is its transfer over a diagonally adjacent and MSOrules/Ilfeld 18

forward square occupied by an opponent's piece (man or king) and on to a vacant square immediately beyond it. A capturing move is called a 'jump'. On completion of the jump the captured piece is removed from the board.

2.14The capturing move of a king is similar to that of a man, but may be in a forward or backward direction.

2.15If a jump creates an immediate further capturing opportunity, then the capturing move of the piece (man or king) is continued until all the jumps are completed. The only exception is that if a man reaches the king row by means of a capturing move it then becomes a king, but may not make any further jumps in the same turn. At the end of the capturing sequence, all the captured pieces are removed from the board.

2.16All capturing moves are compulsory, whether offered actively or passively. If there are two or more ways to jump, a player may select any one he wishes, not necessarily that which gains the most pieces. Once started, a multiple jump must be carried through to completion.

Touching Pieces

2.17Either player, on intimating his intention to his opponent, is entitled to adjust his own or his opponent's pieces properly on their squares at any time during the course of the game.

2.18If a player on his turn to move touches a piece he must play that piece, unless he has given an adjustment warning. If the piece is not legally playable, Rule 20ii applies.

2.19If any part of a playable piece is played over a corner of the square on which it is stationed, the move must be completed in that direction. MSOrules/Ilfeld 19

False, Improper or Illegal Moves

2.20A player making a false, improper or illegal move shall be cautioned for the first offence, and then the move recalled. If the caution and recall of such a move does not take place before the opponent makes his next move then the move is allowed to stand and the game continues as normal. The offending player shall forfeit the game for any subsequent false, improper or illegal move made in that game. This applies if, for example, a player:

i. Omits to capture or to complete a multiple capture.

ii. On his turn to play touches an unplayable piece.

iii.Moves a piece, either in an ordinary move or in a capturing move, on to a wrong square.

iv. Moves an uncrowned man backwards.

v. When capturing, removes an opponent's piece or pieces not in a position to be captured by that move.

vi. When capturing, inadvertently removes one or more of his own pieces.

vii.Continues a capturing move through the king row with a man not already crowned.

viii. Moves a piece when it is not his turn to play.

2.21If any of the pieces are accidentally displaced by the players or through a cause outside their control, the pieces are replaced without penalty and the game continued.

2.22A player who refuses to adhere to the rules shall immediately forfeit the game.

The Result of the Game

2.23 There are two states to define: the win and the draw.

2.24The game is won by the player who can make the last move; that is, no move is available to the opponent on his turn to play, either because all his pieces have been captured MSOrules/Ilfeld 20

or his remaining pieces are all blocked. 'Last move wins!'

2.25 A player also wins if his opponent:

i. Resigns at any point,

ii. Forfeits the game by contravening the rules.

iii. Fails to reach the time control when using a clock.

2.26 The game is drawn if, at any stage, both players agree on such a result. (This usually occurs when neither side can force a win.)

2.27The game shall be declared drawn if, at any stage, a player can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the referee that both the following conditions hold:

i. Neither player has advanced an uncrowned man towards the king row during his own previous 40 moves.

ii.No pieces have been removed from the board during the previous 40 moves of each player.

2.28The game shall be declared drawn if, at any stage, a player can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the referee that with his next move he would create the same position for the third time during the game.

2.29In the case of Rules 27 and 28 the referee shall check the player's claim while his clock is running. Should the claim prove unsubstantiated, the game shall be continued, subject to the player still having time remaining on his clock.

Lines of Action MSOrules/Ilfeld 21

Lines of Action World Championship

6 rounds, 25minutes + 5seconds-per- move

* The touch-move rule will apply

* If an illegal move is made, in the 1 st instance this will be a warning only. Simply restart your opponent's clock

and point out the illegal move. On a 2 nd instance, two minutes will be added to the opponents' clock. On a 3 rd

instance, an illegal move will result in the game being forfeited.

* If a move results in simultaneous connection for both sides, this will be a draw

Oware

OWARE

TOURNAMENT

Swiss tournament, with 6 or 7 matches. Till 8 players will be all play all.

In any case the precise number of matches will be confirmed before the start. MSOrules/Ilfeld 22

1VP for the winner, 0 for the loser, ½ VP each in case of a 24-24 draw.

BASIC RULES

The object of the game is to capture more pieces than your opponent.

The board consists of two rows of six cells, holes or cups. Each player owns a row.

There are two extra cells, not part of the board proper, for holding each player's captives.

The pieces are all alike. They are sometimes referred to as stones, pebbles or seeds.

There are 48 in all.

Arrangement of board at the beginning of each game or round:

Four seeds are placed in each house on a board that is made up of two rows of six houses making twelve in total. Each row of six houses is the territory of the player sitting nearest to them. With two end houses used as stores for captured seeds.

Object

The object of the game is to capture as many seeds (nickers) as possible. The first player to capture 25 seeds or more wins the game. A draw is possible in this game with each player capturing 24 seeds. Seeds are captured, by making two's or three's with ones last seed on the opponent's side.

Board

Oware consists of fourteen depressions {houses} for a standard board or twelve for MSOrules/Ilfeld 23

most portables, scooped in the ground or carved out of a board. These are arranged in two rows of six houses, each player having six houses facing them in the case of the portable boards. For the standard board the two extra houses used for storing captured seeds are placed at either side of the board in-between the two rows. The game is played with 48 seeds

{nickers}, with 4 seeds placed in each house.

Maneuver

To start the game both players have to decide who should start. This can be done by the toss of a coin or by mutual agreement. In subsequent games the winner starts. Once it has been decided who should start that player can pick up from any one of the 6 houses in front of them that makes up their territory. Once the house has been selected all the seeds have to be scooped and sown in an anti-clockwise direction, in a consecutive manner placing the first seed in the house to the right of where they were scooped from. The remainder of the seeds, are placed in the houses directly following each other without skipping a house.

Omitting a house

The only exception is when a house that is being played has more than 11 seeds in it.

With this situation one will be able to place a seed in each house until one comes to the original house that one scooped the seeds from, the next seed is not placed in this house but in the one after it. The same is repeated on subsequent rounds.

Capturing seeds MSOrules/Ilfeld 24

One captures seeds, by making a two or three with ones last seed on the opponents side. Take note if one makes a two or three but has seeds left to sow one does not gain anything.

Multiple Capture

If one makes a two or three with ones last seed and the house or houses preceding the captured house on the opponents side also have twos, threes or any combination of them, one captures these as well. So long as there are no houses with less than two or more than three seeds, in-between them, a maximum of five houses can be captured in this way. Beyond five houses one forfeits everything, as this would leave the opponent with no seeds to play with.

In other words, capturing all the opponents' seeds is not allowed (Grand Slams are not allowed "You may not starve your opponent").

Compulsory moves

Providing you have an alternative move available, it is illegal to make a

move that will 'starve' your opponent of seeds, that is to leave them with

no seeds, and hence no move. This includes both the situations of a 'Grand

Slam', as described above, or where the opponent has no seeds on their

side at the start of your turn, and you have the option to provide one.

It is possible to create a situation where your opponent has no seeds on

their side, and your only available moves will starve your opponent of MSOrules/Ilfeld 25

seeds. In this case, any of those moves now become legal. Your opponent

will then have no available move on their turn, you capture all remaining

seeds, and usually win the game (although this can result in a tie). In a

close game, this is one of the more usual ways of securing victory.

End game

The game ends when one player has captured 25 seeds or more. When both players decide that continuing will only lead to going round in circles in such a case each player keeps the seeds on their side.

PROCEDURES

During your turn you are free to count the seeds in all the 12 holes.

As soon as you start picking up the seeds from a hole, that will be your move, you can't change your mind.

If you need to pick up some seeds in one of your holes to better counting, you have to announce that to you opponent, otherwise you will forced to make that move.

You are never allowed to pick up seeds from your opponent's holes for counting, but you can ask your opponent to do so.

When you are not in turn, you never can't touch any seed in your opponent's holes; if your opponent agrees, you can only arrange the seeds in your holes, for a better visual counting.

When a player reaches 25 seeds, the game ends, no need to carry for scoring purposes. MSOrules/Ilfeld 26

When a final situation which only lead to going round in circles is recognized, the game is over; if the other player disagrees, the director will be summoned to judge.

TIME

Each player has 15 minutes.

If your time expires, all the remaining seeds will be credited to your opponent. So it could still be a draw.

If a player doesn't claim his win, at the end of the game the arbiter will count: the player with the most seeds captured is the winner.

TIES

If at the end of the tournament 2 or more players have the same number of VPs, the general MSO criteria will be applied.

Go 19×19

10.15am to 6pm (lunch break 1.30pm-2.15pm)

£15 (AM+PM; register for Double Session)

Swiss pairings over 4 rounds with a 40 minute time control per player. 4 rounds with a 40 minute time control. MSOrules/Ilfeld 27

Go 9×9

10:15am to 1:45pm

£10

Swiss pairings over 4 rounds with a 20 minute time control.

Go 13×13

2:15pm to 6:00pm

£10

Swiss pairings over 4 rounds with a 20 minute time control.

Dominoes MSOrules/Ilfeld 28 MSOrules/Ilfeld 29

Acquire

ACQUIRE

The tournament will be run over three rounds.

Round 1 will be allocated splitting the best ranked players in different tables.

Round 2 will have a 1st/2nd/3rd/4th classified player in round 1.

Round 3 will be allocated swiss style, with the "final table" with the 4 players with the best score so far. The gold medal will go to the player with the most points among the finalists. Silver and bronze medal will go to the players with the most points (apart from the MSOrules/Ilfeld 30

gold medalist).

Players registered at the tournament are expected to know how to play.

The scoring system used is: take your money at the end of the game and divide by the total money held by all four players. For the winner, a notional 6% is added to their portfolio when calculating the above score, though this is not added to the total amount of money in the game.

All tournament games will be between 4 players if possible. In the event of the number of entrants not being a multiple of four, then there will be three player boards as required to make the count correct. All scores in a 3 player game will be multiplied by ¾ to normalize the results.

The tournament is being run to the standard game rules as per the 1976 Avalon Hill edition.

Seating is determined by each player drawing a tile at random. The lowest numbered tile starts. In the case of a tie, the players drawing the tile with first letter starts. Other players sit in ascending order round the table from the starting player. These tiles are placed on the board. If 2 (or more) of these tiles are adjacent, they do not form a hotel chain. Instead, a player must add another title to the group to form a chain. In the 2nd and 3rd round seating order could be decided by the arbiter and recorded and that way the luck of position would be evened out by balancing out seating order like chess does with black and white balancing! MSOrules/Ilfeld 31

Your turn ends when you pick up a replacement tile. Play then passes to the next player, and shares can no longer be purchased.

Games are played with all shareholdings open.

Providing the end game conditions from the rules, a player has the option of ending the game!

If you do end the game, you may end it at any point in your turn, even before playing your tile.

If a tile merges 3 or 4 chains, the largest chain takes over the others. It takes over the subsidiaries from largest through to smallest. In the case of a tie the player who laid the tile chooses the order.

If a player exceeds in thinking, the opponents are requested to inform the tournament director, who has the right to put the slow player on the clock (poker style).

It's not allowed to take notes (in any way) during the game, apart from the case in which the game is interrupted.

Talking. It is not allowed to give suggestions, tips or explanations about how to play to any player in any moment, neither at the end of the move. Should a player break this rule, the opponents are requested to inform immediately the tournament director. MSOrules/Ilfeld 32

The tournament director can penalize players (for any infringement) deciding an amount of money to be subtracted to their score at the end of the game.

Penalties are at discretion of the arbiter

Wrong position of a tile: it's responsibility of all the players. The director will judge accordingly with the situation.

Triolet

It is a one session event, with 20 minutes per player sudden death. This includes score calculation (the player who scores, must first tallies points before pressing the clock). The event will comprise 4 rounds.

Swiss pairings will be used, and seeds if possible.

If the round is being slowly played, then a time monitor can be requested to ensure that players maintain a reasonable pace.

In a one session event, there will be four rounds.

The victory points from each table will be distributed as follows:

1 for winner MSOrules/Ilfeld 33

0 for the loser

(point difference is recorded)

Kamisado

KAMISADO RULES

Kamisado is an abstract strategy board game for two players that's played on an 8×8 multicoloured board invented by Peter Burley who will be giving free demos of this game during the Mind Sports Olympiad. Each player controls a set of eight octagonal dragon tower pieces. Each player's set of dragon towers contains a tower to match each of the colours that appear on the squares of the board (i.e., a brown tower, a green tower, etc.). One player's towers have gold dragons mounted on the top, while the other player's towers are topped with black dragons.

The player with the black dragons moves first and may choose any tower. From this point onwards, each player must move the dragon tower that matches the colour of the square that the opponent's last move finished on. The object of the game is to reach your opponent's

Home Row with one of your dragon towers. The first player to achieve this goal is the winner of the round.

Setup:

1) The board is set up as for 'standard' Kamisado, with all the towers on their MSOrules/Ilfeld 34

matching squares (i.e. Brown on Brown etc.) on the two Home Rows.

2) Black starts as usual.

3) Black's first move has a maximum length of one space.

4) Then White's first move has a maximum length of three spaces.

5) Black's second move has a maximum length of five spaces.

6) All subsequent moves have a maximum move length of seven spaces (i.e. play proceeds as normal from this point onwards).

Mensa Connections

MENSA CONNECTION

TOURNAMENT

Swiss tournament, with at 6 matches. Till 10 players will be all play all.

In any case the precise number of matches will be announced before the beginning.

GENERAL RULES

For what is not specified here, regular rules are in use.

GAME

Each match consists of one game.

The scoring charts are placed beside the board, both in the same side, with the same orientation and visible to both players. MSOrules/Ilfeld 35

The first-named player plays first.

Each tile can be placed so that it touches any tile that is down or one of the special colour start cells.

A player may change his rack if he has none of the colours of which he has the fewest points in, otherwise a players rack is replenished at the end of his turn.

A tile may be played for 0 points!

If a player gets a colour to 18 he get another go but without replenishing their rack. It is possible to have more consecutive go.

If a player gets 2 colours to 18 with the same move, he only gets another go.

The game continues until there is no room left on the board or a player gets 18 in all of the six colours.

The score is worked out on the backmost colour and the winner is the player with the highest among the lowest value; in case of a tie you go ahead with the second backmost colour, and so on.

The winner gets 1VP, while his opponent gets 0 VPs. In case of a draw (only if all the

6 colors are in the same position!), both get ½ VP.

At the end of each game the levels of the backmost colors and their differences are reported.

TIME

Each player has 10 minutes+10 seconds per move.

During his time the player declares aloud his score and moves the cubes (the opponent has to check in this very moment).

If the player wants to change his rack, he has to declare it and to show his tiles before MSOrules/Ilfeld 36

pressing the button.

As a player press the button, he only can replenish his rack.

If a player runs out of time, he stops playing and his opponent carries on playing till the game ends or his time expires. The winner is then decided in the usual way.

TIES

If at the end of the tournament 2 or more players have the same number of VPs, the following criteria are used in order as tie-breakers:

1. Head to Head results between the players involved. This will only apply if one player has beaten all others in the tie-break, or one player has lost to all others in the tie break.

2. Points spread from all rounds, ignoring the players best result. The difference between the position of the backmost color of the winner and the position of the back most color of the loser (this difference can also be 0, when the 2 back most colors are in the same line and the victory is determined by the 2nd (or 3rd, or more) back most color.

3. Sonneborn-Berger.

Abalone

The opening position for Abalone at MSO is the Belgian Daisy opening: MSOrules/Ilfeld 37

Mastermind

MASTERMIND

TOURNAMENT

Swiss tournament, with 6 matches. Till 10 players will be all play all.

In any case the precise number of matches will be announced before the start.

GENERAL RULES MSOrules/Ilfeld 38

For what is not specified here, regular rules are in use.

MATCHES

Each match consists of two games.

The first-named player is Codemaker in game 1 with the roles reversed in game 2.

Eight colours are in use, no blanks.

The code may include repeated colours.

The Codemaker secretly sets a code, then – when the Codebreaker declares to be ready - he starts the opponent's clock.

The player who has solved the code with less attempts wins the match and gets 1VP, while his opponent gets 0 VPs. In case of a draw, both get ½ VP.

CODEBREAKER

During his time the Codebreaker is free to manipulate pegs at will, he can arrange them on the table or over the board as well (but at the end he has to leave on the board only the new attempt).

The Codebreaker is not allowed to write anything and to use any other support: he can just manipulate the pegs.

When he presses the clock, his turn is over: he is not allowed to do anything but thinking during the Codemaker's time.

CODEMAKER

The Codemaker inserts the marker pegs in the appropriate holes in any order.

When he presses the clock, his turn is over: he can no longer change his answer. MSOrules/Ilfeld 39

TIME

The Codebreaker has 8 minutes.

The Codemaker has 4 minutes.

THE CODEBREAKER FAILS

If the Codebreaker's time expires before he has solved the code he will be recorded as having scored 13 attempts.

If the Codebreaker fails to solve the code within the 12th line (the last on the board), he will be recorded in any case as having scored 13 attempts.

If both players score 13 attempts, both have lost and get 0 VP.

THE CODEMAKER FAILS

If the Codebreaker founds that the Codemaker has marked an attempt incorrectly

(either during his time or at the end of the game), the Codebreaker is credited with having solved the code on the following line unless the code was correct on the line incorrectly marked.

Example: Codemaker incorrectly marks line 3. Codebreaker is credited with having solved the code in four attempts. If the incorrectly answered code was the right code to be solved (that is, the Codemaker did not realize that the code has already been solved), the

Codebreaker is credited with the correct number of attempts.

If the Codemaker's time expires before the end of the game, the current attempt is considered correctly answered. MSOrules/Ilfeld 40

Prizes and Tiebreaks

Junior (18 & under) and Senior prizes are applied based on the participant's age as of the opening ceremony date. Money is always split but medals are determined via a tie-break if necessary.

Mental Calculations MSOrules/Ilfeld 41

Pentamind WC and Euro WC

Pentamind can only use at most 3 games from the Eurogames World Championship list. Please note that meta events such as the Amateur Poker WC will not count towards the

Pentamind. In Euro you can use expansion and its original ( e.g. - Settlers + Cities and

Knights) but in the Pentamind you cannot use both the original and its expansion (e.g. - Only one Dominion)

Pentamind scores will be applied if a player starts an event and drops out with less than 50% of the rounds played in order to encourage players to fully participate even in one event doesn't help their Pentamind score. Dropping out less than half way will be allowed if there is a sufficient excuse and the head arbiter agrees.

Chess Blitz MSOrules/Ilfeld 42

Illegal move loses game

960 and Rapid Chess

Illegal move gets warning and 2 min increment to opponent

In Chess960, each player may castle once per game, the same as standard chess, moving both the king and a rook in a single move; however, the castling rules were reinterpreted in Chess960 to support the different possible initial positions of the king and rook. After castling, the king and rook final positions are exactly the same as they are in standard chess. Thus:

• After a-side castling, the king finishes on the c-file (c1 for White, c8 for Black) and

the a-side rook finishes on the d-file (d1 for White, d8 for Black). The move is

notated 0-0-0 and is known as queenside castling in standard chess.

• After h-side castling, the king finishes on the g-file and the h-side rook finishes on the

f-file. The move is notated as 0-0 and is known as kingside castling in standard chess.

Castling in Chess960 has the same prerequisites as castling under standard chess rules, namely:

• The king and the castling rook must not have previously moved, including having

castled. The castling rook must be on the same rank as the king. MSOrules/Ilfeld 43

• No square between the king's initial and final squares (and including them) may be

under attack by an enemy piece.

• All squares between the king's initial and final squares (including the final square),

and all squares between the rook's initial and final squares (including the final

square), must be vacant except for the king and castling rook.

Exchange Chess

For exchange chess:

Players can talk in any language that they want (even creating a code).

Time is 5 minutes

Pawns can be placed up to the 7th rank, and do get promoted (though we keep them as a pawn on the board, and they return as a pawn when taken)) So, if you promote a pawn as queen, rook or knight, and it is not taken immediately (in normal games used to happen, but in "exchange chess" may pass many plays without it...), both players must remember.

A piece can be placed with check but not with checkmate.

Castling is as with normal chess and can only be done with the original rook and king MSOrules/Ilfeld 44

if they have not moved.

Hare and Tortoise

I will direct the tournament and the following rules and scoring will apply:

1. The tournament will consist of three or four games lasting not more than 50 minutes

each.

2. Players will be allocated to as many tables of four as possible and as few of three as

necessary.

3. Before each round all the players will be arranged in ranking order. For the first round

the order will be random. In subsequent rounds they will be ranked in descending

order of total match points, with ties broken by carrot-count (the fewer the better).

4. Starting at the top of the ranked list the first four will be allocated to table 1, the next

four to table 2, and so on. If and when 3, 6 or 9 players remain they will be similarly

allocated to tables of three.

5. At each table the lowest-ranked player will play first, then the next lowest, and so on,

the highest-ranked playing last.

6. Any player joining the tournament part way through will start with 0 match points and

0 carrots and be inserted in the ranking order accordingly. (Thus they will be above

any players who have come last in all their games so far and below everyone else.)

Any player leaving the tournament before the end will be removed from the ranking

list. MSOrules/Ilfeld 45

7. Games will not be played against the clock but on appeal the tournament director may

demand a player either move within one minute or start again (with 65 carrots but

without replacing used lettuces).

8. Rules of play will be exactly as printed in the published rule sheet. In case of

conflicting interpretations the tournament director's decision will be final.

9. A game ends as soon as all players but one have reached home and the remaining

player has made one more move (to reduce the penalty of carrots left in hand).

10. First home scores 4 points, second 2, third (at a 4-player table) 1, fourth (or third at a

3-player table) 0. If anyone fails to reach home within the allotted time points will be

awarded on relative final positions.

11. Number of carrots left in hand will be recorded, aggregated, and, if necessary, used to

break ties at the end of the tournament. Any lettuce left in hand will count as 10

carrots.

12. Mobile phone warning. Any player whose mobile phone makes a sound during play

will lose their game without redress.

Entropy

15 mins per player per round

Order/Chaos is pre determined by pairings, as black/white in chess.

Tie break is head-to-head followed by points difference (ignoring best

result), then Sonneborn-berger, if required. MSOrules/Ilfeld 46

If Chaos times out then Order gets to place the pieces and make his own

moves, they are not placed randomly. You have the rest correct.

1) Seeding is applied to the first two rounds of six ONLY. Seeding by results from last few years and then "best guess" down to last player. The two-round rule helps with pairing and minimises bruised feelings from players who think they should have been seeded...but weren't! This is how I've applied it to every tournament I control and believe it to be both consistent and fair.

2) For play-order, "White" = Chaos in the 1st game, Order in the 2nd

3) If a player runs out of time, there is no need to press his/her clock, just leave it running. But if the clock is pressed, the other player can just press it again.

4) If both players run out of time, call referee. The referee will nominate a square

(starting from the top-left unfilled square from any perspective he chooses). This is done

BEFORE drawing the counter. Counter is then drawn by referee and placed. Repeat until board is filled. You'll note that this is not fully random.

Otherwise all good. You'll note that it is a serious error to run out of time as Chaos

(unless there are only one or two counters to play), because Order gets to draw, place AND move! The penalty for running out of time as Order is usually less severe. Running out of time is rare, though.

***** MSOrules/Ilfeld 47

Entropy World Championship

6 rounds, 15 minutes per player per half-round

ROUND 1 14:15

ROUND 2 15:30

ROUND 3 16:45

(Get dinner after this round, but be back for 19:00!)

ROUND 4 19:00

ROUND 5 20:15

ROUND 6 21:30

NOTES:

* Chaos should avoid dropping the bag below the level of the table or excessively rattling the counters in the

bag, especially when their opponent's clock is running. When the counter is removed MSOrules/Ilfeld 48

from the bag, please show

the counter to your opponent as a courtesy.

* As Order, the touch-move rule will apply (unless the counter cannot be moved)

* As Chaos, if a counter has not been released on the board it can be moved, but once released it may not be

moved

* Please report results and individual scores (used for tie-breaks) BEFORE discussing the game with opponent!

RUNNING OUT OF TIME:

If either player runs out of time, the game is not automatically lost. Either keep the clock running OR press the

clock after each move (in which case the opponent can immediately restart the clock).

- Order has run out of time: Chaos draws a counter and places it on any empty space.

Order does not get to MSOrules/Ilfeld 49

move.

- Chaos has run out of time: Hand the bag over to Order (you may pause the clock while this is done). Order

now draws a tile, places it on any empty space and then makes any legal move.

- Both players have run out of time: Call the arbiter who will randomly draw counters and fill the board, always

choosing empty spaces stating from the top-left to the bottom-right (from any perspective of the arbiters'

choosing provided it is followed consistently).

When the board is full, the game is scored in the normal way. MSOrules/Ilfeld 50

Endnotes