Wolfarena 2026

Introduction

To make it easy to find opponents in this fun variant, a special tournament in the brand new format will be organized, that will be called Wolfarena. The matches will consist of 10 wolfrandom atomic games in 3+2 time control.

The issue with traditional formats like Swiss and Single/Double Elimination, is that they are very slow and serious, and don't handle late joins or removing participants well. On the other hand, we have Lichess Arena format, that is not as serious - fairness-wise - since it encourages to be not only stronger player, but a faster player too, and also has a solid luck element.

However, the arena format is very dynamic and allows easy pairings. It is not convenient to play standard lichess Arena in Wolfrandom variant due to issues with enforcing opening moves, so a new Wolfarena format is devised to combine the strengths of Lichess Arena and more serious formats. Below are the rules.

Feel free to ask any questions in the forum below!

1. Joining and pausing

1.1) If you wanna participate in Wolfarena, post "join" in this forum (or to @ADCKOE_3APEBO DM if you're muted). This can be done now, before tournament start, or in the middle of the tournament. The tournament starts off at July 12th (Sunday), 8:00 UTC. I estimate it to end at August 31th, but it will depend on activity and difficulty of organization.

1.2) If you join the tournament please make sure TAKEBACKS ARE ENABLED in settings, at least for Casual games.

1.3) You can also leave any time by posting "pause". You can join again later after pausing. A player may also get auto-paused on forfeit by organizer decision.

1.4) If the organizer (me) already gave you a pairing, the PAUSE will only be applied after current match - you should still play the assigned match or you will be forfeited!

2. Pairings and scheduling

2.1) When enough waiting players are accumulated, I announce new pairings from my @ADCKOE_3APEBO alt. You should schedule and play a match with your opponent within 4 days (96 hours) of announcement for optimal tournament performance, since you can be paired again in 4 days.

2.2) The hard deadline for scheduling is 7 days if someone has scheduling issues, and in exceptional cases the organizer will schedule the match to 8th day, which is the ultimate deadline. If 8 days pass since pairing announcement and the match is still not played, it will be forcibly resolved as 10-0, 0-10, 5-5 or 0-0 depending on who is at fault.

2.3) In most cases one or both participants will be forfeited if the match is not played in 7 days. DM about your scheduling issues with supporting SCREENSHOTS of your interaction with your opponent. DM to my alt @ADCKOE_3APEBO . If the match is not played in 7 days and nobody sent a DM with SCREENSHOT to @ADCKOE_3APEBO , both participants will be forfeited with 0-0 score.

2.4) Playing a match faster than in 4 days doesn't give you tournament advantage. Even if you play it immediately after announcement, you are available for pairings again only in 4 days. However, playing a match in 4 days rather than 7 does typically give you advantage.

3. Match format

3.1) The match always consists of 10 Casual games of 3+2. All games must be played since it counts for tournament score.

3.2) There is no tie breaker and 5-5 match is considered drawn.

3.3) Unplayed games will be awarded to the player who did not refuse to play.

3.4) Before each odd game (1st, 3rd, ... 9th), one of participants generates a position using https://honey-motel.bnr.la/wolfrandom/ . (Discord bot in Moxiverse can be used as alternative generation method if both participants are in Moxiverse discord.) They post it in game chat, and another participant verifies on the site that the position indeed was generated right now.

3.5) Participants play moves immediately after generating the line. Do takebacks if someone messes up. The moves are not needed to be played in the same exact order as generated, but the resulting position after move 3 must be the same. After that, the game is played.

3.6) Even games (2nd, 4th, ..., 10th) are played with colors reversed from the same position as previous game.

4. Scoring

4.1) Each of participants scores number of points they earned during their match, which can be any number from 0 to 10, for Arena standings.

4.2) If a participant won their previous two matches, the score from 4.1 is also multiplied by 2, similarly to lichess arenas. Lost, forfeited and drawn matches reset the streak.

4.3) The one having the highest score in the end, is declared the 2026 Wolfarena champion!

5. Sanctions

5.1) This kind of tournament is very dynamic and not easy to organize. If someone is being a problem with scheduling, the organizer can issue them a yellow card as a warning.

5.2) Two yellow cards result in a red card and the participant is getting permanently auto-paused after that.

5.3) These sanctions only apply to the current tournament and are void for other tournaments held in the future.

**Introduction** To make it easy to find opponents in this fun variant, a special tournament in the brand new format will be organized, that will be called Wolfarena. The matches will consist of 10 wolfrandom atomic games in 3+2 time control. The issue with traditional formats like Swiss and Single/Double Elimination, is that they are very slow and serious, and don't handle late joins or removing participants well. On the other hand, we have Lichess Arena format, that is not as serious - fairness-wise - since it encourages to be not only stronger player, but a faster player too, and also has a solid luck element. However, the arena format is very dynamic and allows easy pairings. It is not convenient to play standard lichess Arena in Wolfrandom variant due to issues with enforcing opening moves, so a new Wolfarena format is devised to combine the strengths of Lichess Arena and more serious formats. Below are the rules. **Feel free to ask any questions in the forum below!** **1. Joining and pausing** 1.1) If you wanna participate in Wolfarena, post "join" in this forum (or to @ADCKOE_3APEBO DM if you're muted). This can be done now, before tournament start, or in the middle of the tournament. The tournament starts off at July 12th (Sunday), 8:00 UTC. I estimate it to end at August 31th, but it will depend on activity and difficulty of organization. 1.2) If you join the tournament please make sure TAKEBACKS ARE ENABLED in settings, at least for Casual games. 1.3) You can also leave any time by posting "pause". You can join again later after pausing. A player may also get auto-paused on forfeit by organizer decision. 1.4) If the organizer (me) already gave you a pairing, the PAUSE will only be applied after current match - you should still play the assigned match or you will be forfeited! **2. Pairings and scheduling** 2.1) When enough waiting players are accumulated, I announce new pairings from my @ADCKOE_3APEBO alt. You should schedule and play a match with your opponent within 4 days (96 hours) of announcement for optimal tournament performance, since you can be paired again in 4 days. 2.2) The hard deadline for scheduling is 7 days if someone has scheduling issues, and in exceptional cases the organizer will schedule the match to 8th day, which is the ultimate deadline. If 8 days pass since pairing announcement and the match is still not played, it will be forcibly resolved as 10-0, 0-10, 5-5 or 0-0 depending on who is at fault. 2.3) In most cases one or both participants will be forfeited if the match is not played in 7 days. DM about your scheduling issues with supporting SCREENSHOTS of your interaction with your opponent. DM to my alt @ADCKOE_3APEBO . If the match is not played in 7 days and nobody sent a DM with SCREENSHOT to @ADCKOE_3APEBO , both participants will be forfeited with 0-0 score. 2.4) Playing a match faster than in 4 days doesn't give you tournament advantage. Even if you play it immediately after announcement, you are available for pairings again only in 4 days. However, playing a match in 4 days rather than 7 does typically give you advantage. **3. Match format** 3.1) The match always consists of 10 Casual games of 3+2. All games must be played since it counts for tournament score. 3.2) There is no tie breaker and 5-5 match is considered drawn. 3.3) Unplayed games will be awarded to the player who did not refuse to play. 3.4) Before each odd game (1st, 3rd, ... 9th), one of participants generates a position using https://honey-motel.bnr.la/wolfrandom/ . (Discord bot in Moxiverse can be used as alternative generation method if both participants are in Moxiverse discord.) They post it in game chat, and another participant verifies on the site that the position indeed was generated right now. 3.5) Participants play moves immediately after generating the line. Do takebacks if someone messes up. The moves are not needed to be played in the same exact order as generated, but the resulting position after move 3 must be the same. After that, the game is played. 3.6) Even games (2nd, 4th, ..., 10th) are played with colors reversed from the same position as previous game. **4. Scoring** 4.1) Each of participants scores number of points they earned during their match, which can be any number from 0 to 10, for Arena standings. 4.2) If a participant won their previous two matches, the score from 4.1 is also multiplied by 2, similarly to lichess arenas. Lost, forfeited and drawn matches reset the streak. 4.3) The one having the highest score in the end, is declared the 2026 Wolfarena champion! **5. Sanctions** 5.1) This kind of tournament is very dynamic and not easy to organize. If someone is being a problem with scheduling, the organizer can issue them a yellow card as a warning. 5.2) Two yellow cards result in a red card and the participant is getting permanently auto-paused after that. 5.3) These sanctions only apply to the current tournament and are void for other tournaments held in the future.

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