TBJ Rules

Every community needs rules and guidelines for its activities. They are seldom needed to be referred to if they are fair and common sense which we hope ours are; however, here they are for the record.

The Ladder is solely for expatriates who live and/or work in Jakarta, the spiritual home of “kemacetan” or the traffic jam.
New entrants to the Ladder may elect to enter the Ladder at the very bottom in which case they may join at any time, or in a position based upon ability as judged and determined by the Players Committee. Generally a player can expect to be placed 10-15 rungs below where he thinks he should be placed; this is not an accident. The Players Committee decisions in this respect are final and no appeal is possible.
Very exceptionally, and only with the agreement of two or more committee members (and for the demonstrable good of the Ladder), a new player may be introduced during the Ladder month, though once again at 10-15 rungs below where he might otherwise expect to be placed.
Challenge Matches are “best of five frames” or “race to three” as it is sometimes called.
Games are initiated when a player in the ladder challenges another player on the ladder up to a prescribed number of rungs higher on the ladder than him or herself. The prescriptions are, Challenger on rungs 1-20 – 4 rungs, Challenger on Rungs 21-30 – 6 rungs, Challenger on Rungs 31-the bottom – 10 rungs
Players who are within the prescribed number of rungs of each other may play immediately and simply report the result to TBJ, or if the Challenge is not for immediate play, then the Challenge must be reported to TBJ if subsequent Ladder moves are not to invalidate the Challenge.
For the purposes of determining rung separation players who operate under the so called “Jungle Rules” (see rule 17) may be ignored. Players on Jungle Rules are highlighted in yellow on the Ladder. The same applies to Players on home leave or extended business visits who have a rather fetching orange stripe applied. All together these are known as the “Ladder Reach Provisions”.
From time to time the Players Committee may relax the Ladder Reach Provisions for special events. This will generally be advised via the website.
Challenge matches timing and venue must be organised between the players themselves.
Who a player may challenge is determined by what the online ladder says at the time the challenge is issued and not when it is played.
The playing of immediate re-Challenges is permitted subject to the Challengee agreeing – he/she is perfectly entitled to refuse such a re-Challenge.
In the event that the Challengee fails to accept a Challenge without cause within three days, then the Challenger is automatically a 3-0 loser
The player being challenged has to offer his Challenger at least two reasonable time/day/places within seven days of the issue of the Challenge – or is automatically declared a 3-0 loser. If the Challenger is unable to accept one of the time/day/places offered within three days then the Challenge is deemed withdrawn by the Challenger. Players are strongly advised to confirm arrangements between themselves by e-mail and better still by registering the challenge with tangga.bilyard.jakarta@gmail.com
The Challenge match must be completed with 7 days of the initial Challenge.
Should positions of Challenger and Challengee be reversed following the issuing of a Challenge then the game must go ahead as arranged; the Challenge cannot, subject to the established time parameters, be withdrawn or revoked by the initial Challenger or indeed the Challengee but only, as usual, by mutual consent. The venue remains to be as selected by the Player in the higher rung at the time of Challenge.
Challenges between any pair of Players are restricted to a maximum of three per Tangga day. A Tangga day starts at 8am and lasts 24 hours.
In the event of a no-show to an already agreed match then the defaulting player is automatically a 3-0 loser
Players who have a work place outside Jakarta but who return to the city for at least one week per month may participate - BUT - must declare their availability period before the start of each ladder month – and make at least two challenges during their time in Jakarta – and accept up to 2 challenges also. A player in this category who has been away from the city for 50 days or more is allowed to challenge up to 6 rungs above his position for a period of one week after his or her return in recognition of the likely major slippage on the Ladder suffered while away. When this concession, the so called “Jungle Rules” is in force then this is made clear on the affected player’s details on the Ladder itself with a yellow stripe through that player’s entire details.
Players have the option to register an agreed challenge before the event by sending all required details on the spreadsheet established for that purpose to Tangga.bilyard.jakarta@gmail.com or by regular e-mail including ALL the same details. SMS must NOT be used.
A player has the right to declare ”moratorium periods” periods of up to three months in total per annum, to cover home leave, sickness and work requirements. During these periods the player may not be challenged in respect of those periods. The player wishing to declare a “moratorium” must do so by e-mail to tangga.bilyard.jakarta@gmail.com. A Player enjoying this concession is appropriately striped on the Ladder
A Player is not obliged to accept more than two Challenges per month (three Challenges for Players in the Top 25).
A Player must accept challenges in the order that they are made and not “cherry pick”.
A player may not have more than 4 unplayed Challenges.
If a Player turns down a valid challenge after he has completed his minimum number of challenges then he may accept no further challenges in the Ladder month. For these purposes only, a valid challenge is one registered with TBJ in the normal way. A Player no longer accepting challenges is “Blue Striped” on the Ladder and the reason noted. Such a player may continue to Challenge upwards
A player is not obliged to accept a challenge from a player he or she has already played in a Challenge in the same Ladder month.
The player being challenged is entitled to have the game be played at his or her own declared “Home Table” or “Home Table 2″, indeed this is expected to be the norm. A player nominates “home tables” upon registration and is entitled to change that nomination no more than once per calendar year.
A Player winning a Challenge to take Rung#1 is required to accept and play up to a further two Challenges in the same Ladder Month regardless of all other Challenge acceptance rules (but just one if the successful Challenge takes place on the last day of the month).
It is the responsibility of the Challenger to report Challenges to TBJ at tangga.bilyard.jakarta@gmail.com and to copy the Challengee
Reporting of results to TBJ at tangga.bilyard.jakarta@gmail.com is the responsibility of the winner of a Challenge Match. TBJ will acknowledge receipt and copy the loser.
If the challenger wins, then he takes the place of the loser on the ladder while the loser slips down one rung; if the challenger loses then the ladder remains in exactly the same place. losing a challenge you have made has zero downside in terms of Ladder position though clearly has implications for the Performance League Table.
All TBJ matches are played under the rules that have been adopted from Asia Expat Pool Challenge and can be found here.
If you feel the need for a referee then you will need to find one yourself as they are not provided by TBJ
As the one with the most vested interest, it is the responsibility of the winner of a challenge to report the results of the Challenge to TBJ at tangga.bilyard.jakarta@gmail.com
Results must be reported to TBJ no later than 08:00 of the day following the challenge to be guaranteed to be included in that day’s Ladder. If the results are not reported by 08:00 the day after that deadline then it is null and void.
Challenge data to be reported are the “Four Ws” – Who, Where, When and What was the result?
Appropriate adjustments will be made to the ladder by the results organiser on a daily basis and will generally be available no later than 12:oo midday.
All reported match results will be displayed daily on the website – sorted on oldest first.

Without doubt, the above will not cover every possible situation so, in the event of need, then the Players Committee will resolve issues on the basis of common sense and fairness – it may even add a new rule if it gets really desperate.

Finally, the real rules are “be reasonable” and sort issues out with your opponent directly. If there is still a dispute then the Players Committee will adjudicate on the basis of reasonableness – and not necessarily on the strictest legalistic interpretation of written rules but rather on the intent of those rules.

Now, stop wasting your time reading the rules, go away – and play!!