Seeding Rules for the WYYC14
Competing in a National Contest
National Contests are for the contestants of a country (its citizens and residents).
A contestant can only compete in a National Contest of the country they have citizenship in or reside in currently (permanent residence or long-term visa holders like work (also working holiday), student, spouse and child of citizen visas). Visitors or sightseeing visa holders are not allowed to compete in the National Contest.
Non-Championship Divisions (International Open Division, etc.) are not subject to the rule above.
Regional Contests are not subject to the rule above.
Contestants must follow further rules which are provided by the contest organizers to attendees.
Organizing a National Contest
Organizers can only hold one National Contest per calendar year (same number year, ex. 2014).
Organizers must allow all their citizens and residents to compete or to be subject to compete. However, this rule does not forbid other rules set to limit the Contestants by previous contest results, pre-registration, or other rule violations/violators.
If the Organizers know a Contestant has already competed in another National Contest for that year, they must reject their participation, except in Non-Championship Divisions (International Open Division, etc.).
If the Organizer fails to follow that rule, the seeding from the country to the World Contest can be canceled for that year (or future years).
If a National Contest Organizer chooses to have multiple contests to determine the national ranking, we ask that they please consult IYYF beforehand.
Seeding for the World Contest
The winners of National Contest Championship Divisions (1A to 5A Divisions) will have a seed spot to the World Contest Semi-Final. Also, the Top 10 of each Division will have a right to compete in the World Contest Preliminary Round.
The National Contest must be held between the first day of the previous year’s World Contest and the day before the first day of the current year’s World Contest in order to use its seed spots. For example, any National Contests happening between August 8, 2013, and August 6, 2014, will be subject for seeding to the 2014 World Contest.
In the case that two National Contests from the same country are held within the World Contest Seeding Term, only the first National Contest in the Term can feed its seeds to the World Contest. For example, if the 2013 National Contest is in late 2013 and the 2014 National Contest is in early 2014, both contests are held during the Seeding Term for the 2014 World Contest. Therefore, only the 2013 National Contest will feed its seeds to the 2014 World Contest.
All National Contest Organizers must report to IYYF their Champions and the top 10 Contestants of all Championship Divisions within a month after their National Contest is held.
Only Champions will be granted the seed spots. Even if the Champion gives up, withdraws, dies, chooses not to compete, or already has the seed from a previous world title, the seed spot does not pass to second place. The only cases in which the second place can take the seed spot are as follows: if the Champion does not have a right to receive the seed (see Dual Citizenship/Non-Citizen Resident rule below) or the Champion gets disqualified after the contest.
Through Multi-National Contests
The winners of Multi-National Contest (MNC) Championship Divisions (1A to 5A Divisions) will have a seed spot to the World Contest Final. Also the Top 10 of each Division who are from countries that do not have a National Contest approved by IYYF will have a right to compete in the World Contest Preliminary Round. The current MNC’s are Asia-Pacific (AP) and EYYC (European) Championships. In the case that you compete legally in two MNC’s which feed their seed spots to the same World Contest, you will have a chance to acquire a seed spot only in the first MNC. You can still compete in other MNC’s, but you will not receive a seed for winning the second MNC.
For Dual Citizenship Holders and Residents of Countries of Which They Are a Non-Citizen
If you have dual citizenship or live in another country, you must choose one National Contest to compete in for the year. You have a right to choose one, but not to compete in both. You can make this decision each year individually. For example, you can be the 2012 Japan Champion and the 2013 USA Champion, but you cannot be the 2013 Japan and USA Champions.
In the case that you compete legally in two National Contests which feed their seed spots to the same World Contest, for example 2013 USA and 2014 Japan, you will have a chance to acquire a seed spot only in the first National Contest (in this case, the 2013 USA National Contest). You can still compete in the 2014 Japan National Contest, but you will not receive a seed for winning the 2014 Japan National Contest.
There are some exceptions to this rule. The Hong Kong Contest traditionally allows Mainland Chinese players to compete. However, only Hong Kong ID holders can acquire a seed spot and top 10 position through the Hong Kong Contest.
Each contestant has a right to a chance to compete for only one National Champion Title each year.
Each contestant has only one chance to try to get a Seed Spot through National Contests for a single World Contest.
If a Contestant violates the rule (and/or others) and competes in more than one National Contest in the same year, the contestant will be subject to the cancellation of one or both (or more, if applicable) of their titles, and ultimately may not be eligible to compete in future National/World level contests. That decision is left to the discretion of IYYF.
All rules above are effective as of August 11, 2013.
Rules are subject to change at any time, for any reason, at the discretion of IYYF.