We implemented a new point standings system for the full 2005 King/Queen season. If you played under the indoor USAV points system, you'll be familiar with the concept of the point standings system. Basically, we'll be awarding (or deducting) points to players based on their performance at each tournament.

The new points system will take into account the individual's performance as well as the relative strength of their competition and the margin of victory (or defeat) in head-to-head match-ups.

Points will be awarded for all levels of competition, although only gold and silver division points will be available on the Website. The points system will be used to seed players for future tournaments, and players may be moved up or down a division based on their number of points.

The male and female players with the most points at the end of the year will be crowned 2005's King and Queen of the Triangle. A complete listing of player point standings will also be available on the website following each tournament.

We've assembled the following brief list of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) to help explain the new system.

Q. Why did my points change after the first tournament?
A. We modified the points ranking system after the April tournament to re-rank players after each head-to-head matchup (as opposed to only re-ranking at the end of the tournament), which should result in more accurate rankings over the season. We also discovered that one pool had erroneous results, which we corrected prior to the May standings update. Thanks to Gordy Lewis for his help in improving the point standings system.

Q. What will the new points system be like?
A. Each player will start with a rating depending upon what division they sign up for. Players that sign up for Gold will start with a rating of 1500, for Silver 1250, and for Bronze 1000. As players complete matches, their ratings will go up or down based on the results of each match. After each tournament, the ratings will be used to determine pools and divisions for the next tournament.

Q. Is the K/Q points system based upon games or matches?
A. Points are awarded for head-to-head match play. In this case, the points from each of the two games in a match are totaled and compared to those of the competing player (of the same gender).

Q. How are the points calculated?
A. The K/Q points formulas are based on the primary formula used for calculating the player ratings of various sports and games (most notably, international chess). This formula takes into account the probability of a player winning a head-to-head match-up based on the relative strength of their competition. Additionally, our King/Queen formulas take into account the margin of victory (or defeat) for each match.

Specifically, in the case of a head-to-head victory by Player A, the following formula used is:

PlayerA_New_Rating = PlayerA_Rating + (1 - Probability_of_winning) * Margin_of_VictoryMultiplier

where the Probability_of_winning = 1/(1+(10^-((PlayerA_Rating - PlayerB_Rating)/400)))

and the Margin_of_VictoryMultiplier is a number that scales from 16 to 32 based on the margin of victory.

In the case of a head-to-head defeat for Player A, this formula used is:

PlayerA_New_Rating = PlayerA_Rating + Probability_of_winning *
-Margin_of_DefeatMultiplier

Q. What happens in the case of a tie?
A. In the case of a head-to-head tie, the formula above is used with a multiplier of 8, which results in half-points awarded to the lower-ranked player and half-points taken from the higher-ranked player. If the players have the same rating, half-points are awarded to both players.

Q. How are playoff points awarded?
A. A similar formula is used to calculate playoff points, although those losing in a playoff match are not penalized for their performance, and the margin of victory/defeat is not taken into account. Additionally, bonus points are awarded for playoff victories as well as for finishing 1st overall.

Q. What happens if I don't play in a tournament?
A. Players that register for and play in a tournament receive 25 initial points, while those who register but do not show up to play have 25 points deducted from their total (aka 'The Bad Habit Bill Rule'). If you neither register for nor play in a tournament you'll receive 0 points for that tournament.