1. Qualification - 1st day of the tournament - March 15th 2014.
1.1. All participants should register on the RTHF official site and confirm the registration (receive accreditation) at the tournament venue on March 15th 2014.
1.2. First 16 players by World Ranking registered for the tournament are relieved from qualification and will start from the semifinal groups of the 1st day of the tournament.
1.3. All other participants (starting from #17 of the list, according to the World Ranking), are divided into qualification groups so that there is not less than 16 and not more than 20 players in each group.
1.3.1. The players are seeded into the qualification groups with the "meander" algorhythm according to the World Ranking.
1.3.2. The seeding is done automatically using the RTHF web-site software on the first tournament day after verification of registration (accreditation) of the players.
1.4. The players in each qualification group are playing "round robin" so that each participant plays one match with each other, according to the schedule published in the tournament hall.
1.5. The qualification results divide players into semifinal groups and leagues. The results of the qualification games are not kept on the next stage of the tournament.
1.6. In case the number of registered participants exceeds 240 the organizing committee may change the formula of the qualification and add one more qualification round decreasing number of participants of the qualification to 240 players.
2. Semifinal groups and leagues.
2.1. 120 best players according to the places after qualification are promoted into the next stage of the tournament - the semifinal groups.
2.1.1. In case of non-equal number of players promoted into the semifinal groups from different qualification groups, the following criteria are used:
2.2. 120 players promoted from the qualification groups and 16 best players of the tournament by the World Ranking, relieved from the qualification, are divided into 8 (eight) semifinal groups 17 players each.
2.2.1. The seeding into semifinal groups is made automatically using the "meander algorhythm" by WR on the official web-site of RTHF.
2.3. Starting from place 137 the players are divided into the leagues (First, Second, etc.), 20 players in each, accoring to the results of qualification.
2.4.The players in each semifinal group and league are playing "round robin" so that each participant plays one match with each other, according to the schedule published in the tournament hall.
2.5.The results of semifinal groups promote 64 best players (8 from each semifinal group) into the second day of the tournament, and the final places for players starting from #65.
3. Main round - 2nd day of the tournament - March 16th 2014. Play-off - 64 participants.
3.1. All participants promoted into the second tournament day should verify their registration (receive accreditation) at the tournament venue according to the tournament schedule.
3.1.1. The players that did not verify their registration in time are excluded from the main round of the tournament and receive the last places strating from 64 in the final list of the tournament. No changes in the paricipants list for the second tournament day are made, so all other players keep their places after the semifinal round (see below).
3.2. To decide the seeding number for the play-off all 64 participants are divided into 8 (eight) final groups:
- final group 1 - 1st places from each semifinal group
- final group 2 - 2nd places from each semifinal group
- final group 3 - 3rd places from each semifinal group
- final group 4 - 4th places from each semifinal group
- final group 5 - 5th places from each semifinal group
- final group 6 - 6th places from each semifinal group
- final group 7 - 7th places from each semifinal group
- final group 8 - 8th places from each semifinal group
3.2.1. The players in each final group are playing "round robin" so that each participant plays one match with each other, according to the schedule published in the tournament hall.
3.3. After the final groups all 64 participants are joined in the "common list of 64" providing their seeding number for the play-off, according to the number of their final group and their place in the final group (players from final group 1 receive seeding numbers 1-8, etc.).
3.3.1. In case some player is absent on the second tournament day (see 3.3.1.), he/she is shifted to the end of the "common list of 64", while players below are improved by one place each.
* As an example: if a player is absent in the final group 1, the round robin is played with 7 players, and the players of the final group 1 will receive places 1-7 in the "common list of 64", while players from final group 2 - places 8-15, etc., with a shift of 1 place, and the absent player from the final group 1 is shifted to the place 64 in the "common list" and receives place 64 after the tournament.
3.4. When all 64 players get their seeding numbers, they are distributed to the play-off net according to the scheme:
3.5. On each stage of play-off (except the series for the 3rd place) the series are played of seven matches (to four victories of one player). The series are conducted according to the ITHF Tournament Rules.
3.5.1. The series for the 3rd place is played of five matches.
4. General rules and disputes.
4.1. All matches are conducted according to the ITHF Game Rules.
4.2. The winner of a match during group rounds gains 2 point, the loser - 0 point, in case of a draw players get 1 point each.
4.3. If two players have the same number of points, the placement is done using the following criteria:
a) result of their match
b) goals difference in all matches of the group
c) number of goals scored in all matches of the group
d) number of victories in the group
e) decided by a cast, done by tournament organizers
4.3.1. If three or more players have the same number of points, the placement is done using the results of the mini-tournament between them first:
a) number of points in mini-tournament
b) goals difference in mini-tournament
c) number of goals scored in mini-tournament
d) number of victories in mini-tournament
e) goals difference in all matches of the group
f) number of goals scored in all matches of the group
g) number of victories in the group
h) decided by a cast, done by tournament organizers
4.4. The final places on all stages of the tournament (qualification, semifinal groups, final groups 1-8, leagues, play-offs) are decided by ITHF Tournament Rules using following criteria:
a) the place gained by the player in the group/play-off stage
b) the overall number of points
c) number of points in games between players with the same overall number of points
d) goal difference in games between players with the same overall number of points
e) number of goals scored in games between players with the same overall number of points
f) number of victories in games between players with the same overall number of points
g) overall goal difference
h) overall number of goals scored
i) overall number of victories
j) additional match played until a goal is scored
4.5. All matches that were not completed during the 5-minutes jingle for any reason should be finished during the next possible pause, no later than 3 tours before the end of the "round robin". If the incomplete match happened during one of the last three tours of the "round robin", they must be finished immediately after the corresponding tour.
4.6. If one of the players is absent at the game for more than 30 seconds after the start signal of jingle, another player wins the match with the score 5:0.
4.7. After introduction of the results into the computer only mistakes made by the secretary entering the results in the software may be corrected. Any mistake done by the player writing the result in the protocol may be corrected only before introduction of the result in the computer.
4.8. Any controvercy is studied by the committee of referees, set by the organizing committee, after request done by any player to any member of the committee of referees.
4.9. The decision of the committee of referees is final and may not be disputed.
4.9.1. If a player refuses to agree with the decision of the committee of referees, the organizing committee may decide to disqualify the player from the tournament.
