KGS Tournament Guide

So you signed up to be in a KGS tournament. What do you do? First, most important, read the requirements and rules sections below. Tournament games are different from normal games, and it is important that you know what to expect!

Next, look up the tournament schedule. All KGS tournaments are listed at the KGS tournaments page. Find your tournament. A list of all players signed up will be there. Also, shortly before the first round is due to start, the schedule will appear. When it shows up, check the schedule to see when your game is. Make sure that you are logged on to KGS at least two minutes early! In most tournaments, if you aren't there two minutes early, then you will be dropped from the round, or perhaps dropped from the entire tournament.

Once you get to KGS, just wait. As long as you have a new enough client, you will be notified when your game has been set up by the tournament director. Often this game will be in a special tournament-only room on KGS; the notice will tell you which room the game is in. Once you get this notification, you have one minute to join the game. Go to the room with your game by choosing "Room List" under the "Rooms" menu option, then clicking on the room name. Find your game, click on it to join it, then wait! When the game actually starts, you will get a second notice letting you know and your clock will start counting down. Start playing!

Requirements

Before playing in a KGS tournament, you must have the latest version of the client. If you are using a web browser (Internet Explorer, etc.) to play, then you will have the latest version, but if at all possible it is recommended that you use the downloaded version of the client instead. The downloaded version of the client will be much more realible and less likely to crash when you are playing your game!

To check your client version, start it up; the version is printed in the lower left corner, under the "Configure" button. Go to the download page and see what the latest version available is. If you don't have the latest version, please download it before starting the tournament!

Rules

• Undos are not allowed during a tournament game. Neither you nor your opponent will be able to undo moves. Be very careful before you click!
• The anti-mouse slip option is always turned on for tournament play. This option requires you to hold the mouse over a board position for at least ¼ second before you can click. This means that if your mouse slips as you click, it will not make the wrong move; it will beep instead.
• Your clock will continue to run whether you are there or not. In addition, adding time to your opponent's clock is not allowed in a tournament game. If you have netlag, or if your network connection dies, your clock will continue running. Most tournaments will give you a large amount of time (1 or 2 hours) to play. Do not let your clock run down to the last few minutes! If you do, a sudden network problem can easily cost you the game. Try to pace yourself to finish the game with 10-20 minutes still left on your clock; that way, if near the end of your game your network connection dies or your client crashes, you will still have time to reconnect and keep playing.
• You cannot carry on private conversations while playing in a tournament game. You can still talk to admins while in a tournament, but if you try to talk privately with anybody else you will not be able to, and other users will not be able to talk to you.