SVCL Season 4 Official Rules

SVCL Official Rules (Updated for Season 4):

1. The SVCL (formerly the FSVL) will have 18 teams this season (down from 24 last season).
2. Each team will have 5 games scheduled in the Regular Season (no change).
3. Season 4 will run from November 2011 thru June 2012. 
4. Games will now be scheduled once per month rather than the previous format of once per fortnight.
5. At some point during each month, each team will complete one game of Vote Chess against the team on their schedule for that month.
6. It is the responsibility of the Team Administrators to coordinate start times with their opposing teams each month.  The SVCL HQ takes no responsibility for games that do not get played.
7. All games will be played on a Saturday starting at 13:00 Universal Time UNLESS both teams agree on an alternate day and/or time.
8. All games must be played during the month they are scheduled.  No early (or late) games will count.
9. Once the start time has been agreed upon, a team will forfeit the match if they do not accept the challenge within 1 hour of the scheduled start time.
10. Every Vote Chess game will be played at 10-minutes per turn.
11. Every Vote Chess game will be played with random color settings.
12. The first 5 months will be the “Regular Season” with the next 3 months being the “Post Season” or “Playoffs.”
13. Teams will be ranked according to this point system:
    1. Win = 3 points
    2. Draw = 1 point
    3. Loss = 0 points
14. Ties are broken via Head to Head results first, the Chess.com Tournament Tie-Breaker system second (Opponent's Strength), fewest number of forfeits third, fewest number of timeouts fourth, and then the “First Blood” system last (if two teams have the same number of points, the team that scored their points first is ranked higher).
15. There will be no more conferences or wild cards.  The Top 8 teams at the end of the Regular Season will advance to the playoffs.
16. Month 6 will be the Quarter Finals with only the Top 8 teams competing.
    1. The #1 team will play the #8 team
    2. The #2 team will play the #7 team
    3. The #3 team will play the #6 team
    4. The #4 team will play the #5 team
17. Month 7 will be the Semi-Finals between the four Quarter-Final winners.
    1. The #1 team will play the #4 team
    2. The #2 team will play the #3 team 
18. Month 8 will be the Finals between the winners of each Semi-Final game.  The winner of this game will be the Champion for that Season.

Good Luck Everyone!!!  Have Fun and Don't Time Out!!!