Bristol Quiz League Rules

The registered address of the League will be the home address of the League Secretary

The objects of the League will be: a) To promote a lively interest in general knowledge and current affairs. b) To organise an annual competition of general knowledge quizzes, ensuring that as far as possible, the competition takes place in an atmosphere of good humour and sportsmanship.

The management of the League will be the responsibility of the League Officers who will be appointed at the Annual General Meeting. Each Officer will serve for one year but may be reappointed to serve further terms. The Officers of the League will consist of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary and Secretary.

a) Chairman - to be responsible for chairing all meetings of the League and ensuring that all decisions taken by the League are actioned by the other Officers. He should co-ordinate the activities of the other Officers.

b) Vice-Chairman - to cover for the Chairman in his absence and generally assist in the administration of the League.

c) Treasurer - to be responsible for the finances of the League, i.e. the collection of membership subscription, the payment of invoices and expenses and the preparation of the annual accounts for approval by the AGM.

d) Fixture Secretary - to be responsible for producing the fixture programme at the beginning of each season and setting the date by when all matches must be completed. He will receive all the match result sheets and draw up a league table for periodical distribution. He should also keep records of postponed matches so as to ensure that rule 9c is upheld.

e) Secretary - to be responsible for the administration of the League, ensuring that decisions of the League meetings are actioned. He should issue invitations to meetings, prepare the agenda and maintain a record of those meetings. He should also arrange the publicity of the League. The Secretary and Chairman shall be the approved signatories to the League's bank accounts in addition to the League Treasurer.

a) Each team must register a home venue, suitable for seating 11 people with sufficient separation to allow discussion of answers not to be overheard.

b) Each team will consist of a Captain and up to 4 other players. There will be no registration of individual players so the membership of teams may vary from match to match. Any person, having played for one team, may not play for another team in the League during the same season.

c) The captain will be responsible for presenting his team's answers or delegating another of his members to give an answer on his behalf.

a) The competition will be run on a league basis with three points being awarded for a win, two points for a draw and one point for the losing team. This applies only to matches which actually take place. In the event of a match not taking place, the 'winners' will receive two points and the 'defaulters' 1 points, with the Fixture Secretary able to award 3 points in lieu of 2 at his discretion. there will be a maximum of 11 teams in each division. If 12 or more teams are registered at the beginning of the season, the League will be divided into small divisions and the League champions decided by a 'Final' between the winners of each division. At the beginning of each season, all divisions will be reconstituted by a draw of all teams.

b) Once the divisions have been drawn up, the Fixture Secretary shall draw up fixture programme showing where and when each team is to meet and which team will be responsible for providing the Question Master. Where there is more than one division in a season, the Question Master shall come from a team playing in a division other than that in which the competing teams play. The Fixture Secretary will also publish the date by when all matches must be completed.

c) Matches may be postponed by the mutual agreement of both teams, in the event of severe weather conditions or similar circumstances. In this event it will be the responsibility of the 'home' team to inform the Fixture Secretary and Question Master of the postponement and rearrange the playing of the match as soon as possible.

d) In addition to the above, each team may postpone no more than two matches in a season and must forfeit the points from any other matches that they are unable to attend. The results of these matches will be counted as a 'walkover'. It will be the responsibility of the team calling the postponement to inform the Fixture Secretary and Question Master of the postponement and rearrange the playing of the match as soon as possible.

e) It will be the responsibility of the WINNING team to return the match score sheet to the Fixture Secretary within 7 days of the match having been played. Failure to do so will result in the winning team forfeiting one point. In the event of a 'draw', the home team will be responsible for submitting the score sheet.

f) The Question Master will be responsible for drawing up a set of questions and dividing them into an 'A' and 'B' set. He will ask the questions, allocate the points scored and act as timekeeper. In all matters concerning the match, his decision will be final.

g) If a team fails to provide a Question Master for a match that it has been allocated, without giving reasonable notice, they will forfeit two match points. It will then be the responsibility of the defaulting team to rearrange the match at a date convenient for both teams and inform the Fixture Secretary of the rearranged date.

a) Each match will consist of 14 rounds per team, to be asked alternately. At the beginning of the match, teams will toss to choose the 'A' or 'B' set of questions and will be allowed up to two minutes to answer each question.

b) Each of the 14 rounds will consist of at least three questions (or one question consisting of three parts). For a fully complete and correct round the team will be awarded SIX points and the Question Master may award proportions thereof for what he considers partially correct answers. If the Question Master decides that the team has failed to answer any one or all of the questions adequately for any points to be awarded, he must offer the relevant question(s) to the opposing team who must immediately give a fully correct answer. For each fully correct answer, on passing the question over, only half of the original points value will be available. Thus a maximum of THREE points can be on offer should the whole question be passed. Under no circumstances shall any points value less than a half point be awarded. The winners will be the team with the most points after the 14 rounds. There will be no tie-breaker in the event of both teams having the same number of points.

As an experiment in 2001 2002 full points are available as bonus for any wrong answer. This is to be continued in 2002-2003

a) The trophies owned by the League will be presented to the winners and runners-up of the League competition for them to hold for one year. The holders of the trophies must take responsibility for looking after them but the League will be responsible for insuring them.

Changes to the League rules can be made at the Annual General Meeting held before each new season begins. Everyone taking part in the new season can attend the AGM but in the event of a vote having to be taken, this will be on the basis of one representative vote from each team that took part in the previous season. All proposed changes to the rules must be submitted to the Secretary 7 days before the AGM. A simple majority of those present at the AGM and entitled to vote is required to change the rules.

The Officers of the League shall be empowered to act in any matter not covered by these rules.