SVCL Season 5 Official Rules

SVCL Official Rules (Updated for Season 5 (2015)):

1. The SVCL (formerly the FSVL) will have ?? teams this season (still to be determined).(Registration is still open, so the number of teams may still go up slightly)
2. Each team will have 6 games scheduled in the Regular Season (up from 5 last season).
3. Each season will now run from February thru October. 
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. If the 2 teams cannot agree on a date, the default date will be the last Saturday in the calendar month (Mar 28, Apr 25, etc.)
9. All games must be played during the month they are scheduled.  No early (or late) games will count.  Exception (new this season): due to various personal schedules and holidays, each "month" will include the week just before and after the actual calendar month giving each team 6-7 weekends in which to schedule their game.  Example: Month 1 (February) will go from Jan 25 to Mar 7.  Month 2 (March) will go from Feb 22 to Apr 7.  etc.
10. 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.
11. Every Vote Chess game will be played at 10-minutes per turn.
12. Every Vote Chess game will be played with random color settings.
13. In case of a Draw during the Playoffs, the teams will play again with reversed colors.  If tied again, 3rd game is random colors, then reversed, etc.
14. The first 6 months (February - July) will be the “Regular Season” with the next 3 months being the “Post Season” or “Playoffs.”
15. Teams will be ranked according to this point system:
    1. Win (by checkmate/resignation or in 16 moves or more) = 3 points 
    2. Win (by timeout/forfeit (in less than 16 moves)) = 2 points
    3. Draw = 1 point
    4. Loss = 0 points
16. 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).
17. Only games that timeout in less than 16 moves will be counted as a timeout for both points and tie-breaking purposes.
18. 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.
19. Month 7 (August) 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
20. Month 8 (September) 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 
21. Month 9 (October) 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!!!