TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet European Go Tour

2000-2007

Rules and Regulations

Rules and regulations of the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet European Go Tour (Part of the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour Tournament Conditions)

  1. Introduction
    2.

    The following guidelines have been prepared by the EGF Rules Commission of the EGF for use in the tournaments of the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet European Go Tour. Their purpose is to offer tournaments organisers clear guidelines to various practical subjects.

    Tournament organisers may still introduce rules differing from the regulations. However, these rules should be written down and made clear to the participants before the start of the tournament, and be presented for approval to the EGF Rules Commission three months in advance. The same applies if tournament organisers expect difficulties in fulfilling the regulations.

    If no approved written tournament regulations exist at the start of the tournament the following guidelines are binding.

  2. Tournament Rules
    3.

    The EGF Tournament Rules in their actual version are in effect on all tournaments.

    In general the tournament should obey EGF standards. For reference, see the Tournament organisation text presented by the EGF Rules Commission in 1999 at:
    http://www.kttl.helsinki.fi/msiivola/rr_commission/tournament.html

    The following rules are specific for the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour. Whenever there is a conflict between the EGF Rules and the rules below, the rules below take precedence.

    By registering, participants agree that they will follow the directions by the tournament organisers. Failing to do so may lead to sanctions.

    The EGF Rules Commission reserves the right to change these regulations when necessary.

  3. Tournament System
    4.

    It is strongly recommended that the MacMahon system will be used. If not, this should be announced in advance of the tournament. Any experiment should not be of radical nature. If a separate top group is planned, it should be clearly announced on the original invitation by which players will be admitted.

    If the number of strong players is large, a super MacMahon group should be formed. In the Finals it may be necessary to form a super group on top of this group, supervised by the EGF. For details see the section on the MacMahon Bar.

  4. Number of rounds and time limits
    5.

    • Super tournaments should have at least five rounds
    • Thinking time should be 60 minutes minimum
      • Finals and Major tournaments should have at least six rounds
      • The thinking time should be 75 minutes minimum

      In all tournaments the byo-yomi should be at minimum 30 seconds standard or 15 moves in 5 minutes Canadian overtime (minimum).

    • The MacMahon Bar
      •

      Too many or too few players above the bar will be detrimental on the quality of the final standing. Too small a number (in particular less than 8) should be avoided because this gives an advantage to the higher rated players. The following is a suggested relation between the number of rounds and the number of players above the bar. If the number exceeds the upper limits a super group should be formed (see section 6).

      Table: Advised number of players above the bar
      Number of rounds Number of players above the bar
      5 10-16
      6 12-24
      7 15-30
      8 20-40
      9 25-40
      10 35-60

      It should be noted that it is not allowed for players to skip rounds in the top MacMahon group and the supergroup (if a super group is formed). This implies that players who know in advance that they will skip one or more rounds will have to start with at least one MacMahon point less than the top group. In some cases it will be advisable to subtract two MacMahon points to prevent severe interference with the top group. If a player in the top group skips a round without informing the organisers before the tournament, the Rules and Rating committee can issue sanctions. Only players who compete in every round of a tournament will be eligible for points for that tournament.

    • Super MacMahon Groups
      •

      In TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour tournaments it is advised that the number of players in the top group should be within bounds stated at the table below. If there are more 4 dan and stronger players than the column top specifies, a super group (of size in the column super) can be formed.

      In the final it is possible to form a second super group if necessary (when the size of the group below super group exceeds the size in column top).

      Only players registered in time (at least two hours before the announced time of the first round) for the tournament are eligible to play the super group.

      Super groups are formed of 12 (5 rounds) or 16 (6 rounds) players. 3/4 of the players is selected according to EGF rating list. Organisers (wild cards) and EGF may select 1/4. Wild cards by the EGF will in principle be awarded to the player(s) with the highest position on the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour overall ranking not yet qualified through the rating list. Any remaining places are again filled following the rating list. If a tournament supervisor is present he has the final say.

      Tournament limits top group one level below top Super group Second super group
      5 rounds 10-12 8+ 12  
      6 rounds 12-16   12  
      final 12-16   16 8-32

      This means that if the number of players of 4 dan and stronger is more than 12 in 5 round tournament a super group can be formed. If the number is less than 10 the topmost 3 dans (or all if they fit) according to rating list are included in the top group. At least 8 players should be in the next group to prevent points leaking to players with 2 wins.

      If in the Finals the number of 4+ dans exceed 32 then a super-1 (second super) group of 16 players is also formed.

    • The Draw
      •

      The draw in the top MacMahon group and the super group (if a super group is formed) should not be biased for reasons of geography or for any other reason (although it is advisable to do this for the lower section).

      For the draw it is advised to make use of a pairing program that has been tested and used to satisfaction in several former tournaments. We advise to make use of GoDraw by Geoff Kaniuk, MacMahon by Christoph Gerlach, GoMMTour by Niek van Diepen, or Gotha from France.

    • Tie breakers
      •

      MacMahon points decide the final standings of the players in the tournament. If these are equal SOS (sum of opponent's MacMahon scores) will be used as tiebreaker.

      If TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour points of two players are the same in the overall ranking then the player with the most first places in the Tour gets the higher place, if the number of first places are equal than the number of second places will be compared, etc.

    • Points for the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour Overall Ranking
      •

      A new points system was introduced with the changed rotation system in Spring 2006.

      The TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour tournaments are divided into three groups: the Finals, the 4 Majors and the 7 Supers; each group has different point allocations.

      TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour points are given to top 12 places in the Finals, top 10 in the Majors and top 8 places in the Supers. Players with the same MacMahon score will divide the total points of their places. Their score will be rounded up to two digits behind the comma (0,333 will be 0,34 and 0,666 is 0,67). Only players who compete in every round of a tournament will be eligible for points for that tournament.

      Place Finals Majors Supers
      1st   38   30   24
      2nd   32   26   20
      3rd   28   22   16
      4th   24   18   12
      5th   20   14   10
      6th   16   12     8
      7th   12   10     6
      8th   10     8     4
      9th     8     6  
      10th     6     4  
      11th     4    
      12th     2    
      Total 200 150 100

      Before the start of the Finals a player may count points up to a maximum of 100 from the first eleven tournaments.
      Example:
      A player gets places 1,1,2,2,2 in Supers and 2 in the Finals.
      The points are 24+24+20+20+20=108 > 100 and 32 points in the Finals =132.

    • The referee
      •

      The chief referee in all tournaments should be announced at the same time as the tournament information is published. The following requirements apply to the TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour referees:

      • All chief referees should have participated an EGF referee workshop.
      • If the organiser does not have a qualified referee available he should contact the EGF Rules Commission at least three months before the tournament.

    • Registration procedure
      •

      Pre-registration is essential for tournament organisers and will therefore be obligatory for TOYOTA - IGS-PandaNet Tour Tournaments. To stimulate this positive incentives can be applied (like a lottery or gifts only for pre-registered players) and negative (higher registration fees).

      The following procedure and time schedule is advised for a smooth organisation concerning the registration.

        Time/Action:
      • two months before: information available
      • 2-4 days before pre-registration closes: players are entered in the pairing program, their registration form is printed, these forms are laid down at the entrance.
      • 3 hours before registration opens: players come in to take their forms a player notifies the organisers if he wants to skip rounds they pay the registration fee registration of these persons is made final.
        nb At a separate desk players that did not pre-register can fill in their form
      • 2 hours before: registration for non-pre-registered players closes
      • 1 hour before: registration for pre-registered players closes
        forms that remain after registration closes are not finalised. These players will not be paired in the first round.

       

      This procedure should be sufficient to sort out the registration queues before the rounds. If necessary people standing in the registration queue can be given tickets at the moment when the registration closes and register those with the tickets after the deadline, but no one else.

      In small tournaments the times before the round can be shorter.

    The Tour stopped in April 2007 and was replaced by the Pandanet Go European Cup


    Page last updated: 2007-04-23.