How it worksClimb the ladder.
The ladder is simple: play someone close to you, post the result, move. Here is exactly what the app enforces and what we keep in human hands.
The climb
Six rules, one minute to read
Lower rank challenges up.
If you are ranked below someone, you are the challenger. The app figures this out automatically.
Stay within three spots.
Same-tier games only count if the two players are within three rungs of each other.
Win, you swap and climb.
If the challenger wins, they take the defender's spot. Everyone between them slides down one.
Draw slides you one step up.
A draw puts the challenger right below the defender. Everyone between drops one.
Lose and the board doesn't move.
If the defender wins, ranks stay exactly where they were. Try again after challenging someone else.
Knight #1 can swing for a promotion.
The top Knight may challenge the bottom Bishop. Win that and you swap tiers.
The app handlesQuietly, every time
- Checks the pairing.Only legal matchups are accepted. Illegal ones bounce.
- Moves the ladder.Ranks update the moment a parent posts a result.
- Applies inactivity nudges.A Knight who goes two weeks without a game slides down one rung. Bishops stay put.
- Tracks records.Wins, losses, and draws are kept per player.
- Blocks instant rematches.A challenger must play a different opponent before challenging the same person again. The defender has no such restriction.
- Keeps a quiet rating.A private rating runs under the hood for future seeding.
We handleThe human parts
- Playing the game.Pieces, clocks, and smiles are still an in-person thing.
- Black for the defender.The defender takes the dark side. A small tradition worth keeping.
- Disputes or edits.If something looks wrong, flag the organizer and we'll fix it.
Where games countChurch, home, school, online.
A real game between two ladder players counts the same wherever it is played. Report it and move on.