System time is 2020-12-01 02:42 GMT

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Valid and invalid games

All games played here are distinguished as valid and invalid games. Each of these is treated differently.

Valid games

These are games that take a normal course. The players exchange moves until one opponent resigns, the position is (stale)mate or both players agree a draw.

At the end of such a game the ratings of both players will be recalculated. The game is now part of the records of both players. The opponents (and any other registered player) may annotate the completed game.

Invalid games

These are games that end in an irregular way:

One player resigned the game before 10 moves were played.
Both players agreed a draw before 10 moves were played.

These games are not rated for any of the players and are not taken into the records of the players. With regard to ratings, these games are treated as if they never had been started.

The losing player (or even both players) is penalized (see below).

Losing on time

Losing a game by letting the clock run down below zero is considered bad sportsmanship. The losing player is penalized (see below).

However, this does not change the game's valid/invalid status, which is determined by the number of moves played alone (see above).

Penalties

The player (or both players in the case of a draw) who is to blame for the irregular end of the game is penalized for wasting his opponent's time and system ressources. Games ending in less than 10 moves or by time-out are considered as irregular.

He/they will lose one Grand Prix point.
He/they will be banned from enrolling in new tournaments for 15 days per irregular game.
His/their personal record (visible on the player info page) will be marked with a to warn other players.

Just to make it clear: The winner of an invalid game is not penalized, only the loser. And losing by time does not prevent that game from being rated, but leads to a penalty for the loser.

You may wonder why both players agreeing a (very) quick draw are penalized. This rule makes it more difficult for cheaters to manipulate ratings using multiple accounts.

Exceptions

Obviously, it is possible that a regular game ends in less than 10 moves. As long as this game did not end by time-out and has at least 5 moves, you can make it valid by clicking on the corresponding link on its game page.

Games with less than 5 moves cannot be made valid by any means. This makes cheating to improve one's rating more difficult.