2021 BWC info - group stage - open section
https://www.chess.com/news/view/2021-bwc-info-group-stage-open-section
Introduction
The group stage of the Chess.com Bughouse World Championship will start Monday, November 8th! We are very excited about the turnout and hope everyone greatly enjoys the tournament. This blog post is intended to clarify some details and provide some instructions on how the Open section of the tournament will proceed. We encourage you to read through the rules document one more time to refresh yourself on the rules before the tournament begins.
Pairings
Take a look at the challonge bracket for an overview of the pairings for all group stages. Click on the “matches” tab to see who you will be playing each week. Matches will be played in week order, starting with the round labeled “Week 1”. Note: Week 1 is on the far right of the matches list, then weeks 2 through the last week are left to right. An arbiter will reach out to create a group chat on chess.com with all 4 players per match to help facilitate scheduling matches. If you registered for the tournament and do not see your name listed in the bracket, contact @scarysnakes immediately.
Scheduling matches
You and your partner are responsible for scheduling your matches with your opponents. Organizers will create chess.com group chats with all 4 players to help coordinate match time, but the onus is on the players to determine match times. As soon as a match time has been determined, you must post the scheduled time either to the scheduling forum or to #scheduling channel in the discord server. Use the format: "Player A + Player B vs. Player C + Player D 00:00 UTC + Date". Players are required to schedule their match at least 6 hours before the match starts and are strongly encouraged to provide 24 hours notice.
Timeline
Your match must be scheduled and played by the end of the day Sunday of each week (your first match must be played by the end of Sun 11/14). If a match is not played by the end of the week, organizers will give one or both teams a forfeit loss for the week, determined by effort made to schedule their match.
Match Format
The games will be 2+0 (2 min per side, 0 sec increment), and your match is best of 16. The first team to reach 9 points (wins=1 point, draws=0.5 points, losses=0 points) by a margin of 2 or more games wins the round. In the case that a team reaches 9 points with a margin less than two games (e.g. the match score is 9-7), players will continue playing until a margin of at least 2 games has been met. If either team reaches 16 points, they win the match regardless of margin of victory.
To clarify this rule: The first team to reach 9 points will win the match unless the other team has 8 points. In this case, the match will end whenever either team has a 2 win lead over the other (10-8 or 11-9 etc.) or when the first team reaches 16 points.
Reporting results
You must report results to the reporting results google form. One player per team should report results.
Advancing in the tournament
All teams in each group stage will play a match against all other teams in their group. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to a single elimination bracket. Additionally, to fill out the 32 team bracket and avoid first round byes in the single elimination stage, the next top 8 teams by match points will also advance to the single elimination match (so some groups will send 3 teams to the single elimination stage).
Additional prizes
We offer prizes to the top all women and all under 18 years teams. Please let an organizer know by the end of Week 1 if your team meets one or both of these criteria. Teams are only eligible for one prize total - including overall top 8 prizes.
Important links
Club (chess.com) - The chess.com club for this event. Please join this club, as its forums are used to communicate between organizers and players and for the purposes of scheduling/posting match times and results.
Discord - The discord server we use for the tournament. You are not required to join the discord, but it can be used as an alternative way to communicate with organizers and players.
Bracket - The challonge bracket that will show pairings and standings.
Calendar - The calendar of matches and streams. You can use this calendar in case there are matches you would like to spectate. If you plan on streaming a match and would like your stream to be on the calendar, please let an organizer know in advance.
Reporting results - Report match results using this form.
Scheduling forum - Notify others about your match schedule either here or in the discord server #scheduling channel (or both).
Rules - The tournament rules. Check here before asking questions to organizers.
Other points
I’d like to thank all of the wonderful organizers who made this event possible: @ArchdukeShrimp, @1800_strength, @scarysnakes, @chuckmoulton, @midnightfox, @marvelanddcforlife, @fuzzician, @canonicalmodule, @plextv, @Casper__J & @rebus2k
I will be hosting an Opening Announcement Stream/Q&A with @scarysnakes to kick-off coverage of the tournament. The stream will take place on Tuesday, November 9 at 17:00 UTC (12:00 pm EST) at twitch.tv/chuckmoulton. Stop by to ask the organizers any questions you have about the event.
Thanks again for your participation, and best of luck!
