OGS - Frequently Asked Questions - Ladders

[Ladder Overview] [19x19 Ladder] [13x13 Ladder] [9x9 Ladder] [Ladder FAQ]

Who can join a ladder?
How does promotion / relegation work?
Who can I challenge in the ladder?
What are the game settings?
When can I withdraw from a ladder?
How many outgoing challenges can I issue at the same time?

1. Who can join a ladder?

Any player with 2 completed rated games and a rating confidence of 10% or greater is eligible to enter any or all of the OGS ladder competitions. A player not online for 15 consecutive days without their holiday flag set will be removed from the ladder computation. Ladder games do not use any gamepoints.

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2. How does promotion / relegation work?

All players start each ladder at the very bottom. To gain promotion in the ladder, you simply need to win a game against a player above you. This will move you to one position above theirs in the ladder (for example, if you are 8th in the ladder, and beat 4th, you will move to 4th and the previous 4th-7th places will all move down one). Relegation happens either when you lose a game against someone below you in the ladder (where you drop one place as they move above you in the ladder) or when someone below you wins a game against someone above you (and effectively "leapfrogs" your position).

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3. Who can I challenge in the ladder?

To cater for players of wide range abilities on a turn based server and the possible difficulties of working up a very long ladder timewise, the following system determines who you can challenge:

You can challenge the highest position of the following:

10 positions above your own
40% of the players above your position (e.g. if you are 70th, you could challenge 42nd - 28 positions above)
5 + your theoretical position ordered by rating (i.e. if you are the 7th best player in the ladder you could challenge 12th)

You can only challenge people when they have below the "max incoming challenges" for their position. This value is as follows:

1st to 5th: 5 challenges
6th to 10th: 4 challenges
11th and below: 3 challenges

You cannot challenge someone again within 7 days of finishing your last game against them
You may only have one active challenge per opponent
Non-subscribers can only have up to 3 outgoing challenges at any one time

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4. What are the game settings?

All ladder games are rated and do not cost gamepoints

Board Size: Determined by ladder
Handicap: One even game with nigiri per challenge
Time Controls: Fischer - 7 + 1 < 7 - no time added for weekend
Scoring Rules: Japanese

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5. When can I withdraw from a ladder?

You can withdraw from the ladder at any point. When doing so, all your current ladder games become standard games and start costing gamespoints, and if you rejoin the ladder you must do so from the bottom.

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6. How many outgoing challenges can I issue at the same time?

You can issue up to three challenges at the same time for each ladder. If you are a site subscriber, there is no limit for the number of challenges you can issue at the same time.

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