2018 All Star Match Rules:
Event Format
There will be four teams, one representing each division. Each team will be comprised of four top performers during the previous PRO Chess League Season.
Stage 1:
Stage one is a round-robin where every player plays one game against everyone from the other three teams, for a total of 12 games. The time control will be three minutes with a one second increment. Ties for first place result in the prize being split.
Stage 2:
The total number of points from all four players from the four teams are added up, ranked from 1st to 4th place, and we begin a series of elimination matches. If two or more teams tie for one of the spots, the following tiebreakers are in effect:
1. Head to Head Result
2. Team with the highest point scorer
3. Team with the second highest point scorer
4. Team with the third highest point scorer
5. Team with the most Wins
6. In the extremely unlikely event that there is a tie after checking for the 1st through 5th tiebreakers, a quick tiebreaker event, with the time control of 1 minute plus a 1 second increment, will be played between any teams that are still tied after these tiebreakers, and will continue until the tie is broken. If two teams are tied it will be randomly determined which team or teams gets the white pieces, and the top scorer for each team will face off. If that game is drawn, the second top scorer will take their place, and the colors will switch. This will continue until we have a winner, and the colors will not switch again (the team that was white in the first game, will be black in every subsequent game if they are drawn). If three or more teams are tied, we will use a similar tiebreak method. The only exception is we will not use a tiebreaker match to determine who finished 3rd or 4th.
The third- and fourth-place finishers from stage one play in the first survival match. Whichever team loses this match is out of the competition and is replaced by the second-place finisher from the previous stage.
The loser of this next match will then be replaced by the first-place finisher from stage one, and the winner of that match wins the all-star tournament.
The format of the matches is as follows: Board four from one team plays board four from the other and the loser of that game is eliminated and replaced by that team's board three. You win the match by beating the other team's board one. A draw eliminates both players, but if both teams are down to their final player, they will reverse colors and continue to play until we have a winner. The time control remains three minutes to start with a one second increment.
The team that finished better in the original Round Robin will receive the White pieces in the first game of the match, and colors will reverse after each game. If there was a tie between 3rd+4th place finishers after going through the first 5 tiebreakers, it will be randomly decided which team gets white in the first game.
Board order is determined by placement in the original Swiss tournament. So whichever player finishes with the least number of points, will be considered Board 4 for his or her team. If two players tied with the same number of points, the higher rated player will be play on a higher board.
Prizes:
Championship Team: $2000 ($500 per player)
Second Place Team: $1200 ($300 per player)
Third Place Team: $800 ($200 per player)
Fourth Place Team: $400 ($100 per player)
Highest Individual Point Scorer in Stage 1: $600 (If tied, this prize will be split evenly)
