Votechess rules

1. Check the ‟Follow” box below the Comments section of each game You joined. This will allow You to track the discussion and participate in it. At later stages of the game, you can also consult the archive to remember/refresh what has been discussed earlier.
2. At the beginning of each game, suggest an opening or move, depending on the color we play with.  Please suggest a move each time it is our turn and state Your reasons for recommending the respective move or supporting it (if somebody else has already suggested it). You can also insert a line, a variation, Your analysis (as a diagram) etc.
3. After reading the evaluations made by Team Members, the Coordinator/Captain of the game selects the move (or the best two to four moves) recommended by Team Members. If there is a clear preference for a move (s)he will post a comment asking everybody to vote for the agreed move. If there are more moves that seem to be equally good, another short round of consultations could follow. (In the early phases of the game, the Coordinator/Captain may also ask Team Members to select by majority vote one of the seemingly equivalent lines.) Finally, the Coordinator/Captain will post the agreed move or the competing recommendations in Bold at a decent time interval before time control in order to allow all Teammates to vote.
4. It is a good idea to allow two thirds of the consideration time for discussion and one third for voting. Thus, the call for voting the candidate move(s) should be made 24 hours before the time control in 3 days per move games and 16 hours before time control in 2 days per move games. (The 24 hours mark can be used in slower VC games, while 1 day per move games should be avoided.)
5. If necessary, the Coordinator/Captain may postpone the call ( or call an early vote if there is an early consensus on the next move ). In which case the VC Captain shall signal this in the Team’s Private Chat.
6. Please, play as a Team and do not vote independently (before) the agreed move was posted! 
If the Coordinator(s)/Captain(s) fail(s) to make the call (in time), players are free to vote any of the moves featured in the discussion, provided the respective move has not been refuted or proven wrong.
7. Failure or unwillingness to observe points 7 and 8 shall entail warnings sent as PMs to offenders. (If they do not accept messages, posts shall be written on their walls.) If a player does not mend her/his ways, (s)he will be removed from the match following the second offense.
Players, who vote early inadvertently and apologize, shall be excused ( but a three strikes rule will be applied after which you will removed from the match ).
A list of those removed from VC matches will be kept and repeat offenders may be banned from participating in future VC matches.
8. Be polite and civil! If You don’t agree with another Member’s suggestion, argue in a polite manner, and refrain from negative comments. Even if a suggested move is an obvious blunder, explain this in a way that will help the other Teammate to learn and become a better player.
A short note on cheating. (I think it is commonsense that we do not want to be cheated against. Hence, we should not cheat either. Not only because of this. But mainly because it is both morally and practically wrong. In the latter sense: we also deceive ourselves, or – at least – run the risk of doing so.) Engine analyzing our ongoing games by any computing means is cheating. This should not be done neither by our Coordinators/Captains, nor by any of the members who joined a certain game. (However, post-mortem analysis is permitted.)
9. A short note on techniques that do not count as cheating. Using databases for checking statistics and particular lines, move orders does not count as cheating. Nonetheless, the databases shall not contain engine evaluations or allow engine evaluations to be TURNED OFF. The use of books, of other printed or electronic material (CDs/DVDs) as well as internet resources on chess is not cheating either. Hence, Vote Chess Game Coordinators and participants should take advantage of these resources. (After all, these are learning, not cheating tools, we may use in correspondence chess.)