TABLE Tantrix Tournament Rules

1^st Hungarian Open Table Tantrix Championship, 2005

English version – Magyar változat itt

1) Starting each game:

If players are unsure whether their bag contains a complete set of tiles, they should check the set before the game starts. Once the game has begun it will be scored even if the set is later found to be incorrect.
It is the responsibility of both players to ensure that the clock is set correctly.
Please use the colour registered as your first preference, or your second preference if your opponent’s first preference colour is the same as yours. If second preferences are the same too, we encourage players to agree on alternative colours. If you cannot agree, refer to the Controller. If one player has not registered a first preference, they cannot prevent the other player playing with their first preference but they can play with any of the other three colours. See also rule 11 about “Colour-blind sets” below.
Each player takes a coloured ‘tile mat’ with the colour they will be playing with as the background. The tile mat must be placed in way that ensures that the colour you are playing with is very obvious to your opponent and to spectators, but whether or not you actually place your tiles on the spaces on your tile mat is entirely up to you.
Names, colours and other details known before the game starts should be filled in on the score sheet.
Players should take sensible precautions to ensure that their tile bag cannot be confused with that of the game next to them.
Each player takes one tile at random from the bag. The player with the higher-numbered tile will move first.
The two tiles should be put back into the bag. Then ach player takes six tiles at random from the bag and each player places all six of their starting tiles in front of them. If the game is not going to start immediately, tiles should be face down until both players are ready.
The player who is not going to make the first move starts the game by starting their opponent’s clock.

2) During the game:

Play proceeds according to the official rules of Tantrix as in the latest Tantrix Game Pack booklet, except as modified by these special table tournament rules.
Players must draw tiles quickly and without looking inside the bag to avoid any potential for cheating.
Players may never touch their opponents’ tiles and should not move (or hide) their own tiles during their opponent’s turn.
When designing a sequence of moves, it is good practice to place the first tile close to the Tantrix but not touching it and any other forced tiles a little further back. The tile you are proposing to play should not touch the Tantrix until the move is ready to be confirmed.
However, before the endgame, a move is only confirmed when the player’s hand enters the tile bag to pick up a replacement tile. <N.B. This tournament rule differs from the rules in the Game Pack booklet.>
Players must not skip picking up a replacement tile after each move, even if they are sure of a sequence of moves.
If a player picks up a replacement tile before making it absolutely clear which tile they are playing (i.e. by making it touch the Tantrix) then the tile closest to the Tantrix (if legal) is taken to be their move.
When a player’s turn is complete they must press the button to start their opponent’s clock only after picking up their last replacement tile. If a player forgets to do this, they can start their opponent’s clock at any time during their opponent’s turn. It is your responsibility to ensure that your opponent’s clock is running when it should be.
If you get too close to the edge of the table, press the pause button on the clock and move the tiles into the centre.
If a player wishes to count the tiles left in the bag, they must do so in their own time and without looking at the tiles. The bag must be shaken up to mix the tiles afterwards, also on that player’s time.
The player who takes the last tile from the bag should make it very obvious to their opponent that the bag is empty, e.g. by announcing ‘Bag Empty’.
During the endgame, a move is confirmed as soon as a tile touches the Tantrix and at the end of their turn, the player should press the clock with the same hand as they made their last move with.
As soon as the final move has been played, the clock should be stopped by pressing the pause button, i.e. you should not start your opponent’s clock as you normally would after your turn.

3) Time limit:

The time limit is 20 minutes per player per game.
There will be NO mistake penalties.
If a player goes over the limit, the game should carry on. However, at the end, a player who takes 20:00 or more loses 1 Tournament Point (TP) from their total and their opponent gains 1 TP. This is repeated for every full minute by which the time taken exceeds the time limit, e.g. times between 21.00-21.59 incur two time penalties.
The combined TPs for a game after any such adjustments should always add up to 20.0 (unless the Controller needs to penalise both players in some way) and any adjustments are limited so that no player can score more than 20.0 TPs or less than 0.0 TPs from a single game.
If a player’s time exceeds 25 minutes, the Controller can stop the game and adjudicate the final result.

4) After the game:

Tournament Points (TPs), on which final tournament positions will be based, are awarded as shown on the score sheet. They are based on sharing out 20 TPs for each game according to the margin of victory. Time penalties as described in rule 3 above may affect the final TP score in a game.
As soon as the game has finished, the score sheet must be completed and signed by both players, then handed to the Controller (via a spectator if necessary) immediately.
The Tantrix must be left intact and the clock paused until both players have signed the score sheet.

5) Time-outs:

Mistakes have the potential to ruin a game, so players should check each other’s moves. When your opponent has made an illegal move or a mistake that you want them to correct, you should say “time-out” and press the pause button on the clock. N.B. Time-outs must be kept to a minimum and inappropriate use of them may result in penalties of some sort.

Illegal moves:

Playing a tile where the colours do not match.
Surrounding a forced space by a fourth tile. (before endgame)
Playing along a controlled side. (before endgame)
Creating a forced space with three links of the same colour. (before endgame)

Further mistakes:

Failing to fill a forced space before making the free move
Failing to fill a forced space before finishing a turn
Possessing a number of tiles different than six (before endgame)

The right time to call a time-out is when a move is confirmed, i.e. when the offending player puts their hand into the bag to pick up a new tile during a turn or immediately after the offending player presses the clock if they have missed a forced move at the end of their turn. Once a player has called a time-out:

The game must be ‘frozen’, e.g. if the offending player has just pulled a tile from the bag, the tile should be kept separate from all other tiles until the situation is resolved.
The player who called the time-out must identify the problem. Both players must agree on what to do about it and implement what they agree – see the Appendix at the end of these rules if what to do is unclear.
After the mistake has been corrected, the clock is restarted (un-paused) and play continues. It is the responsibility of the player who called the time-out to check that the clock has been restarted correctly.
In most cases, these steps will take well under 10 seconds to complete but for major interruptions it may be necessary to record whose turn it was, and whether or not the free move had been taken. If a player has to leave the table, the Tantrix may be covered, so that the other player gains no advantage.

6) Defaults and byes:

If a player does not arrive for a game within 5 minutes of the scheduled time, their clock may be started.
After 10 more minutes, they can be defaulted.
In table tournaments, a default win is usually worth 15.0–5.0 TPs. However, the Controller can alter this at their discretion, e.g. by increasing the number of points awarded for a default if in his opinion a player has defaulted deliberately to avoid the risk of scoring less than 5.0 TPs if the game was actually played.
If someone defaults more than two games in an all play all event, all of their results are ignored.
In all-play-all groups of an odd number of players where, as a consequence, every player will get one bye round, no TPs will be given for them - the positions after each round will be decided on TP%s.

7) Tiebreaks:

Unless otherwise stated before the tournament, if two or more players are tied on TPs at any stage, they will be separated on the basis of the TPs scored in the game or games played between them in the same phase, then by who has scored the most tiles overall ignoring opponents’ tiles and (if even that does not separate them) by the toss of a coin.

8) Cheating:

As well as spoiling an event for the other players, cheating severely devalues your own performance in a tournament.

Cheating includes:

Getting help from someone else.
Using pre-prepared notes or recorded information.
Taking notes of any kind during the game. <N.B. this differs from the online tournament rules>
Making deliberate errors to gain an advantage hoping your opponent will not notice in time.
Deliberately throwing a game to help a friend to win a tournament, ensure that another player does not win or just because you are not bothered by a result which nevertheless affects the positions or Elo ratings of other players.
Talking excessively during a game in order to try to distract your opponent, otherwise putting undue pressure on them (e.g. by telling them to play faster) or talking at all about any game in progress other than your own.
Anything else which may secure an unfair advantage for you or for another player.

Anyone caught cheating risks being disqualified from the current tournament and banned from future tournaments.

9) Other disruption:

We also ask for all mobile phones to be switched off or muted, for chatter near games that are in progress to be kept to a minimum, and for any behaviour which may distract either your opponent or a nearby player to be avoided. Photography is allowed but preferably early in a round (e.g. please avoid disturbing players making moves in time trouble), and it must not be too intrusive. The Controller may require any spectator who is disturbing a game in progress to leave the playing area.

10) Colour-blind sets:

In order to facilitate the participation of colour-blind players, a limited number of special colour-blind sets (with the green links replaced by white links) may be made available.
To compensate for any perceived advantage that the colour-blind player may have by always playing with a set with which the other players are not familiar, the non-colour-blind player may choose both their own colour and the colour that the colour-blind player will play with.
Non-colour-blind players may elect to play any game with a colour-blind set (e.g. in order to get used to it in conditions which favour neither player before facing a colour-blind player in a later round), subject to both players agreeing to this and to there being enough colour-blind sets to go around.

12) Disputes and Tournament Controllers:

Players should try to resolve any disputes between themselves in a friendly manner after pausing the clock. If this proves to be impossible, they can ask the Controller for a ruling. The Tournament Controller's decision is final.

Appendix - Mistakes and penalties (detailed provisions)

When a mistake is made, it should normally be common sense how the game should be fixed. These detailed provisions, referred to in rule 5 above, are provided to identify special cases and for use where there is a dispute.

IF A PLAYER HAS MORE THAN 6 TILES

The surplus tiles are removed at random by the other player. NB: Whatever the circumstance, a player may never put one of his/her own tiles back into the bag. It must always be done by the opposing player. However, there is no need to put back a random tile if both players agree which tile should be put back, e.g. the last tile picked up.

IF A PLAYER HAS LESS THAN 6 TILES

If a player hits the clock before picking up a replacement tile and their opponent notices before confirming their first move, the clock should be hit back, the guilty player draws the tiles needed and makes the forced moves if any became possible by the newly drawn tiles. However, if the mistake is only noticed after the innocent player has confirmed their first move, the guilty player still has to pick up the extra tiles needed but it is still the innocent player’s turn, i.e. the guilty player does not make any move with the newly drawn tiles even if they would have fit a forced space had they been drawn at the right time.

ILLEGAL MOVES

· Surrounding a forced space by a fourth tile.

· Playing along a controlled side.

· Creating a forced space with three links of the same colour.

· Playing a tile where the colours do not match.

a) If the innocent player notices before confirming the first move of their next turn, the mistake must be taken back.

b) However the move must always be taken back, no matter how far back the mistake was made. All tiles taken from the Tantrix should be added to the players’ hands according to players’ best guess, then tiles from the players’ hands returned into the bag at random. If the players can not agree on a reasonable way to recover the game, then the game is drawn, though the Controller can apply penalties at their discretion.

IF THE TANTRIX IS KNOCKED

When it is not possible to re-establish the Tantrix with reasonable certainty then the game is drawn, unless less than 10 minutes of combined time has passed in which case the players may restart subject to the agreement of the Controller. If one of the players was responsible for the knock then the Controller will apply a penalty.

FORCED SPACE (FS) MISTAKES

All players should get into the habit of double checking their opponent’s forced spaces before they start their own turn. After the innocent player has confirmed their first move, they may ask their opponent to backtrack and fill missed forced spaces. The best time to call “time-out” is when the player’s hand enters the bag to pick up a replacement tile, but before either player sees what the replacement tile is.

1) FS MISTAKES BEFORE THE FREE MOVE

The free move is taken back if it was the very tile which should have been played into the forced space or a subsequently forced space. Otherwise, the forced spaces are filled of course but the free move (if still legal) remains too.

2) FS MISTAKES AFTER THE FREE MOVE

If the mistake is announced after the guilty player has finished their turn but before the innocent player has begun their turn then the forced space must be filled (and any others).

If the mistake is announced after the innocent player has completed their first move (i.e. picked up a replacement) then play continues normally. No moves are taken back.

3) FS MISTAKES DURING THE END GAME

It should be possible to undo all mistakes during the endgame. However, as undoing a mistake could advantage the guilty player, the innocent player can choose whether or not to undo. Remember (rule 2.l.) that all moves during the endgame are considered confirmed as soon as the tile touches the Tantrix.