Brain Ring Game System

1. General Provisions

1.1. This document describes the rules of the game "Brain Ring" and also defines some commonly accepted terms.
1.2. "Brain Ring" competitions consist of match encounters (hereinafter – "Fights"). Each fight involves 2 teams, unless otherwise specified by the competition regulations (hereinafter – "Regulations"). Below, "teams" always refer to the teams participating in the current fight.
1.3. During the fight, a team can have no more than 6 members. Substitutions during the fight are prohibited unless otherwise established by the regulations.

2. Conducting the Fight

2.1. Each fight consists of one or several question rounds. Each question round presents one question.
2.2. "Brain Ring" questions must comply with the Sports "What? Where? When?" Code unless otherwise specified by the regulations.
2.3. The competition regulations must set the number of question rounds in the fight or the conditions for ending the fight.
2.4. The aim of the game is to give the correct answer within the strictly allocated time. Teams may answer in turn but not simultaneously. During a question round, a team can give no more than one answer.
2.5. Questions are asked by the host, who also evaluates the correctness of the teams' answers.
2.6. Determining the correctness of answers is conducted according to the Sports "What? Where? When?" Code, unless otherwise specified by the regulations.
2.7. If the regulations allow appeals on the host’s decisions, a full description of appeal submission and review procedures must be included.
2.8. The fight is considered finished when the host announces its result.

3. Determining Fight Results

3.1. For a correct answer, a team receives a certain number of game points (hereinafter – "Points"). The most common scoring schemes are described in the next two points.
3.2. In the non-accumulative scheme, the team receives 1 point per correct answer.
3.3. In the accumulative scheme, the following rules are used:

• for the correct answer to the first question of the fight, the team receives 1 point;
• the number of points awarded for a correct answer in subsequent rounds depends on the results of one or several previous rounds;
• if the previous round had a correct answer, then the current round's correct answer earns 1 point;
• if no team gave a correct answer in the previous round, then the current round's correct answer earns 1 point more than would have been awarded in the previous round.

3.4. The scoring scheme must be determined by the regulations.
3.5. The winner of the fight is the team that scored the most points in all question rounds combined. If more than 2 teams participate, they are ranked according to their total points scored.
3.6. In case of a tie between two teams, the fight is considered a draw. If more than 2 teams participate, teams with the same number of points share corresponding places. The regulations may establish a method for deciding the winner (and/or placement) when points are equal.

4. Brain System

4.1. A special device (hereinafter – "Brain System") is used to determine the team that gets the right to answer.
4.2. The Brain System must provide a light and/or sound signal indicating the start of the answer time for the question round (hereinafter the start time is called "Brain System launch").
4.3. The Brain System must provide a light and/or sound signal indicating the end of the answer time. Ideally, it should emit a sound once per second during the last 5 seconds. Otherwise, the countdown for the last 5 seconds must be done by the host or his assistant.
4.4. The Brain System should allow teams to signal readiness to answer. This is usually implemented via peripherals assigned to each team (hereinafter – "Buttons").
4.5. When a team signals readiness by pressing the button, the Brain System must block signals from other teams until the host or assistant acts.
4.6. The Brain System must count down the answer time. When a team presses the button, the Brain System should stop the countdown until the host or assistant acts.
4.7. The Brain System must clearly allow the host or assistant to determine if the button was pressed during the allowed answer time, before it starts, or after it ends.

5. Conducting a Question Round

5.1. Before the question round starts, the host or assistant sets the Brain System to the initial state, where time is not counted but button presses are registered.
5.2. The question round starts when the host says "question number" and announces the current question number.
5.3. After announcing the question number, the host reads the question. Upon finishing, the host says "time," after which the host or assistant launches the Brain System. The interval between "time" and launch must not exceed 3 seconds.
5.4. At the start of the question round, all teams have the right to answer the current question.
5.5. If a team presses the button after the host announced the question number but before the Brain System launch (hereinafter called "False Start"), the team loses the right to answer this question.
5.6. From the Brain System launch, the answer time countdown begins, lasting 60 seconds. Regulations may reduce the answer time in case of a false start.
5.7. If a team presses the button during the answer time, it gains exclusive right to answer. The host or assistant stops the countdown and sets the Brain System to register button presses only. The host then indicates the team allowed to answer.
5.8. The answering team must immediately designate one player to answer (hereinafter – responsible player). The team captain may name the respondent but is not required unless the regulations specify otherwise. The responsible player must answer immediately. Other team members must remain silent and not prompt the respondent.
5.9. Any violation of rule 5.8 leads to automatic disqualification of the answer. The fact is determined by the host.
5.10. If the team answers correctly, the question round ends.
5.11. If the answer is incorrect, the team loses the right to answer this round. If all teams lose the right, the round ends.
5.12. After several unsuccessful attempts, if some teams still retain the right to answer, the host or assistant restarts the Brain System (hereinafter "Brain System Restart").
5.13. After several unsuccessful attempts, if multiple teams retain the right to answer and one of them presses the button before the restart, a false start is recorded and that team loses the right to answer. If only one team retains the right, no false start is recorded.
5.14. After the Brain System restart, one of two time counting methods applies:

• the countdown continues from the current value;
• a new answer time value is set (e.g., the team retaining the right gets 20 seconds).

This time counting rule after restart must be defined by the regulations.
5.15. When answer time expires, the question round ends.
5.16. If no team gives a correct answer, the host announces it immediately after the round ends. A variation allows the host to not announce the correct answer and repeat the same question in the next round. In this case, the regulations must explicitly define how many consecutive rounds can use the same question and require that the correct answer be announced before the fight ends.