These Official Rules (Rules) of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2024-2025 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, Starters, Substitutes (collectively Team Members), and other members.

1.1.1 Game. An instance of competition that is played until a winner is determined by one of the following methods, whichever occurs first: (a) Completion of the countdown timer or objective achieved, (b) Team Surrender, or (c) Team Forfeit.

1.1.2 Round. An instance of individual competition, often between individual team members. The player or team that wins the majority of available rounds will be determined the winner of the game.

1.1.3 Set. A series of games that is played until one player wins a majority of the total games (e.g., winning two games out of three “best-of-three”). The winning player will receive a win tally in favor of their team for the match.

1.1.4 Match. A group of sets that is played until one team wins a majority of the total sets (e.g., winning two sets out of three “best-of-three”). The winning team will either receive a win tally in a league format or advance to the next round in a tournament format.

1.1.5 League. A group of teams that regularly play against one another. There are two distinct types of PlayVS leagues: (a) Recreational and (b) Competitive.

1.1.6 Phase. A section of scheduled league play that comprises a season. There are distinct phases for leagues, with each phase having its own league format.

1.1.7 Season. Scheduled league play that will occur over a predetermined amount of time.

Team Members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in Section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.

Each League page will list the number of players necessary to fill a team’s Roster and Bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches are expected to be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches. The Roster and Bench must be finalized before the Roster Lock Date, as listed in Section 3.4 Roster Submission of the league’s Competition Rulebook.

Once a Game of Record is established, substitutions are not allowed. Once the game is complete and the results are recorded, player substitutions may be made before the start of the following game.

Substitutions must be made by one of the following:

In the event the Match Assistant is unavailable, rosters and substitutions must be confirmed before the start of each game unless otherwise approved by a League Official and stated by a PlayVS Admin in the Match Lobby Chat.

Players on the bench may be used for any match their team is competing in within their assigned league. Eligible substitutes for a match will be displayed on the Bench tab of the team’s roster card. Only the players shown on a team’s Bench can be used as substitutes in an official PlayVS Match.

If a player on the starting roster cannot compete in the match and there are no available Substitutes, competition may continue without that player as long as it does not disadvantage the opposing team.

A Game of Record (GOR) in Chess is established in the following conditions:

1.3.1 When the first player in a Round makes their first move.

Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in Section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.

During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches should communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby chat.

At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results before pausing, if necessary.

By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game. In the event of an equipment failure, or if an in-progress game is stopped, then the affected player will forfeit the individual round.

In the event of a player disconnection, the game will automatically begin a 30-second countdown to Auto-Resign the game. The disconnected player must promptly reconnect, or indicate a reason for the disconnection in the match lobby chat or risk loss of the game. Individual games unaffected by the disconnection may continue competition.

If the disconnected player, or their coach for the team, has not shared any updates in the match lobby chat within a 10-minute window, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.

Match Format: Best-of-Three (Bo3) Games

Game Format: Three Simultaneous 1v1 Individual Best-of-One (Bo1) Rounds

Team Size: 3 Players

Mode: 10-minute Rapid (or Blitz for Tiebreakers)

Settings:

Each team will compete in a Bo3 to determine the overall winner of a match. Using Chess.com, each game will consist of three individual, but simultaneously occurring, 10-minute Rapid rounds between the starting players of each team. The winner of the overall match will be determined by the team with the majority of Individual Round wins amongst their team’s players. The winner of each Individual Round will be determined by the platform. In the event of an overall tie after all games have been played, each team will select one player from their team to compete in a single 5-Minute Blitz game to determine the winner of the overall game. Individual Rounds ending in a tie do not need to be replayed.

If the overall game remains tied after all Individual Rounds have been played, then each team will select one player from their team to compete in a single 5-Minute Blitz Round to determine the winner of the overall game.

Teams will select the order of their Roster using the Match Assistant (referenced below as P1/P2/P3), and then rotate pairings in the following order:

All matches within the season will share the same Match Format as listed above, regardless of phase.

For a detailed breakdown of each phase available for the league, see section 5.2 Phase Details of the league’s Competition Rulebook.

Active players may communicate in between games. However, once the individual rounds of a game begin, communications between players and coach must be stopped until the individual round is completed with a result.

A Game is considered tied in the following scenarios:

When a game is tied, a single 5-minute tiebreaker round will take place to determine the winning team for the overall game.

Each player on the Starting Roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:

2.1.1 A device compatible with Chess.com

2.1.2 Headsets and/or Earbuds

2.1.3 Table and Chair

2.1.4 Stable Internet Connection

2.1.5 An active Chess.com account (Account signup is free)

Teams must adhere to Section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.

Teams will have side selections in the following order:

Home Team

Away Team

At all times, all three players on the roster for the overall game will be competing in their individual rounds simultaneously.

White will have one (1) minute to make their first move once the game is created on Chess.com. If an individual round is abandoned, the round must be recreated for the match to continue.

Once both players have made their first move, the player’s 10-minute clock will begin to countdown during their respective turn. Players will take turns making moves until:

Once all three individual rounds have been completed, teams will tally up their individual wins. The team with the most individual round wins will be awarded the win for the overall game.

Team Members are eligible to spectate a match by searching for the player’s username and clicking Watch.

As there is no advantage granted through this process, Team Members may spectate a game without following the protocols referenced in section 7.7 Match Spectating from the league’s Competition Rulebook.

If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, then in-game statistics and results will be recorded at each game's conclusion.

In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant cannot be used, then statistics will not be tracked, and the match results will need to be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.

In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.