2012 Fantasy USCL Official Rules

Fantasy USCL

1) Overview

This is a game where you compare your love of and knowledge about the US Chess League with that of other fans. You get to manage your fantasy team week by week to try to win matches against other teams, and to score the most points over the course of the season.

2) Game Play

You can participate in Fantasy USCL solo, but it's even more fun to join an 8-16 team league. Either way, the first step will be to select your roster before the season starts. Each week, the USCL will post matchups for Monday matches on Friday and for Wednesday matches on Sunday. You will have until Monday afternoon at 2:59 pm Pacific to select which four of your players' scores will count for you that week. Once you report your lineup, you can not change it. If you fail to post your lineup on time, your previous week's lineup will be used, even if it includes resting players.

3) Roster

If you are playing solo, your roster consists of 10 players-- pick any you like. If you are drafting a team in a league, your roster consists of 14 players.

3A Drafting

For drafting, your league must gather online. If there are 6-10 players in your league, each USCL player may be drafted once; if there are 11-16 players in your league, each USCL player may be drafted twice. Randomly assign an order 1...n among the players. The pick order is then 1, 2, ... n-1, n, n, n-1...2, 1, 1, etc.

You should then maintain a forum thread that lists all players' rosters, so players can see each other's teams, and be aware of what players are still available.

3B Lineups

There are no restrictions on which 4 players from your roster you choose for your lineup during the USCL regular season. During the USCL post-season, you may pick 2 players from your roster each week for your lineup.

3C Roster Changes

One roster change may be made each week (in future seasons when this is automated, we will increase it to 3). All roster changes must be made before the week's lineups are announced.

You can pick up an available player, and drop a player from your roster. If you are not in a league, all players are "available." If you are in a league, the rules for availability are the same as in the draft.

If you are in a league, you can also trade a USCL player (one-for-one) with another fantasy player.

All such roster changes must be publicly posted with visible time-stamp.

A team that is 'out of contention' may not purposely make a terrible trade to help someone else's team.

Available player pick-ups are not allowed during the USCL post-season.

4) Scoring

Fantasy USCL both has a year-long point tally that can be compared with all other Fantasy teams; and can simultaneously be scored in 16-team leagues with mach-play.

4A Season

Your Fantasy USCL season score counts the total points scored by your weekly lineups, with bonus points for scores with the black pieces, large upsets, and Clutch/Chokes. The math is:

+1 point for each win; +.5 for any draw.

+.1 for any score with the black pieces.

+.5 for any win against a player 150+ points higher

+.25 for any draw against a player 150+ points higher

+1 for any Clutch of the Week and -1 for any Choke of the Week

Then just sum it up!

4B League Play

In league play, you score based on weekly matches between yourself and another Fantasy team. The score of your four-player lineup is compared to that of your opponent. Whoever scores more points that week wins the match; if you have identical scores, your match is a tie. Your league standings are determined by your match win-draw-loss record (1 point for a win, 1/2 for a draw, 0 for a loss), with total game points as the first tie-break, and Fantasy USCL total season score as the second tie-break.

The first 8 weeks of the USCL's regular season are the "regular season" for Fantasy USCL. Before the season starts, pairings will be made with weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 being divisional play, and week 4 an interdivisional match. In USCL week 9, it will be divisional championship matches. Pairings within each division will be 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. The winners of these matches will determine the final divisional order, with a drawn match leaving the higher-scoring team from the regular season ahead. USCL week 10 is USCL championship week. The pairings are east v. west 1-1; 2-2; 3-3 etc. The winner of the 1 v. 1 matchup is the Champion of your League.

5) Prizes

Anyone winning a 16-player league will receive a prize. The top two season scores of players not in a league will also win prizes. This page will be updated with the details of those prizes.

6) Various

* All Fantasy USCL will be conducted through the USCL group's forum for this year. In the future, we may build a program for it.

* For the purposes of Fantasy USCL, a USCL player's "rating" means the supplement rating used by their team for roster purposes; and for a player over 2600, it is 2600.

* Each league should have one player who volunteers to be responsible for updating rosters, based on the posted updates of their fellow players.

* Each league should also have a 3-player appeals committee in case of a dispute.

* Each week up to 2 official Clutches and 2 Chokes of the Week can be named; these will be games that decided matches, either through terrific play or terrible play.

* Questions? Contact dpruess.