SB Monthly 3 Regulations
These are the SB Monthly 3 regulations. Please read this page before committing and signing up to the tournament.
In a nutshell
3- or 4-round tournament from April to June/July 2025.
Swiss format
You play one game per month on FICS.
The default game control is 45' + 45'' inc., but you can influence this by setting game control preferences.
Joining
1. Understand how Snailbucket works.
2. If you have not yet done so: Create your SB account.
3. Sign up to the tourney between March 10th and 29th.
The number and size of the buckets depend on the number and rating gaps of the participants. You can check a potential distribution of confirmed players in the provisional buckets page. Buckets will be finalized after the sign-up deadline.
BYEs: You may request one 0.5 point BYE. Contact TD pchesso before the 29th of the previous month.
Late-joining: Allowed for round 2. Deadline: April 29th.
Profile
1. Please speed up negotiations by marking bad times in your profile. You may change them throughout the tourney, as long as you have no pending game.
2. You may also set Game Control Preferences. If two player's preferences match, that game control will be used. If they don't, the default (45' + 45'' inc.) will be used. You may change game control preferences throughout the tourney, as long as this is done before game forum creation of a round.
Negotiations
Posting of pairings: 3rd of a month, 2200 FICS server time. Access your game forum, start negotiations.
1st contact deadline: 6th of a month, 2200 FICS server time. Meet this deadline, or you may have to accept one of your opponent's offers.
2nd contact deadline: 8th of a month, 2200 FICS server time. Meet this deadline, or your opponent may claim a forfeit win.
Please speak English.
Talk to your opponent only in your game forum.
Make at least three distinct time offers (hours apart and/or on different days).
Pay attention to your opponent's bad times.
Reply to your opponent reasonably fast (ideally within 24 hours).
Allow 24 hours buffer between setting the clock and game start.
FICS settings
Check your server settings. Type (or copy and paste) into your FICS command console:
var
If necessary, make the following adjustments:
set notakeback 1
set private 0
set noescape 0
set rated 1
set autoflag 1
We have written a Help article about avoiding to lose a game accidentally. The short version is:
set f7 !private and !noescape and rated
set formula f7
Starting the game
If snailbot is logged in: Use "tell snailbot play" to start your game. If snailbot detects wrongly set variables, fix them, and repeat.
If snailbot is not logged in: Check your FICS settings (see above). Send your opponent a match challenge, e.g. "match pchesso 90 30 rated black". If the server warns you that a disconnection will be considered a forfeit, abort the game. You and your opponent must "set noescape 0". Resend the match challenge.
If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for your game, your opponent may claim a forfeit win.
Game play
Applicable TL rules apply:
- silence
- fair play
- no kibitzing
- no takebacks
- no repetitive draw offers
Assistance of any kind is prohibited during your game.
Tie-breaks
No tie-breaks:
If a champion isn't found after round 3 (June), a fourth round will follow (July).
If a champion isn't found after round 4, a fifth round (possibly with shorter time controls) may follow for those who are tied for first place.
Conduct
We may ban any player who lacks common courtesy in game forum negotiations, disrespects an FICS rule laid out in "help abuse", or is in any way a disagreeable troublemaker. We can only monitor posts on our website, but we ask that you practise good sportsmanship in your FICS tells and whispers, too.
Contact
If anything comes up, contact TD pchesso.
