1. Qualification - 1st day of the tournament - March 14th 2015.
1.1. All participants should register on the RTHF official site and confirm the registration (receive accreditation) at the tournament venue on March 14th 2015.
1.2. First 16 players by World Ranking registered for the tournament are relieved from qualification and will start from the final 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 final 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 200 the organizing committee may change the formula of the qualification and add one more qualification round decreasing number of participants of the qualification to 200 players.
2. Final groups and leagues.
2.1. 64 best players according to the places after qualification are promoted into the next stage of the tournament - the final groups.
2.1.1. In case of non-equal number of players promoted into the final groups from different qualification groups, the following criteria are used:
2.2. 64 players promoted from the qualification groups and 16 best players of the tournament by the World Ranking, relieved from the qualification, are divided into 4 (four) final groups 20 players each.
2.2.1. The seeding into final groups is made automatically using the "meander algorhythm" by WR on the official web-site of RTHF.
2.3. Starting from place 81 the players are divided into the leagues (First, Second, etc.), 24 players in each, accoring to the results of qualification.
2.4.The players in each final 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 final groups promote 32 best players (8 from each final group) into the second day of the tournament, and the final places for players starting from #81.
3. Play-off - 32 participants.
3.1. Play-off (1/16 and 1/8 final) - 1st day of the tournament - March 14th 2015.
3.1.1. When the final groups finish the round robin, 8 top places from group "A" and 8 top places from group "D" will be joined in a common list of 16 players from groups "A" and "D". The common list of 16 players from groups "B" and "C" will join 8 best players from group "B" and 8 best players from group "C" in the same way.
3.1.1.1. The position of the player in the common list of 16 players would be decided by the following parameters:
- place that the player reached in the final group
- points gained in the final group
- goal difference in the final group
- goals scored in the final group
3.1.2. The pairs of the 1/16 final will be seeded in the following way:
"А": 1st plase in the common list of 16 players from groups "A" and "D" - 16th place of the common list of 16 players from groups "B" and "C"
"B": 2nd AD - 15th BC
"C": 3rd AD - 14th BC
"D": 4th AD - 13th BC
"E": 5th AD - 12th BC
"F": 6th AD - 11th BC
"G": 7th AD - 10th BC
"H": 8th AD - 9th BC
"I": 9th AD - 8th BC
"J": 10th AD - 7th BC
"K": 11th AD - 6th BC
"L": 12th AD - 5th BC
"M": 13th AD - 4th BC
"N": 14th AD - 3rd BC
"O": 15th AD - 2nd BC
"P": 16th AD - 1st BC
- The winner of the "AAA" pair meets the winner of the "BBB" pair in the final. The losers of 1/2 final are playing a series for the 3rd place.
3.3. 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.
3.3.1. 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, final groups, 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.
Additional members of the Referee Committee Moscow Open 2015:
Andrey Voskoboynikov (Russia)
Aleksandr Tarakanov (Kazakhstan)
Atis Silis (Latvia)
Mikhailo Shalomayev (Ukraine)
Petr Tmej (Czech Republic)
