Where the rules live
A ladder's rules belong to the league, not the season. They are set once in League settings ▸ Ladder rules and apply to every season of the league. Changes save as they are made.
The words at the bottom of the card, What players read — How it works, are written from the same settings. The public page shows them under the How it works tab.
The board is rebuilt from its results every time something changes. Changing a rule under How places change therefore re-reads the whole season so far under the new rule, not only games played from now on.
Kind of ladder
Ranked by
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Places | A standing order. Results move players up and down it by the rules under How places change. |
| Points (Egyptian) | Everyone starts on the same points. Each counted game moves points from the loser to the winner, more when the player with fewer points wins. The ladder is the points table, most points first; players level on points are ordered by games played. Every player entered is on the table from the start. |
A points ladder hides Getting on the ladder and How places change; neither applies.
Points table
The gap is the difference between the two players' points before the game. Every table moves the same points whatever the score, and the loser loses exactly what the winner gains.
Blewbury / Caversham (start on 100)
| Gap | More points wins | Fewer points wins |
|---|---|---|
| 0–6 | 3 | 3 |
| 7–11 | 2 | 4 |
| 12+ | 1 | 5 |
Hands (1990) (start on 200)
| Gap | More points wins | Fewer points wins |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6–16 | 4 | 6 |
| 17–27 | 3 | 7 |
| 28–38 | 2 | 8 |
| 39+ | 1 | 9 |
Oxford (2025) (start on 200)
| Gap | More points wins | Fewer points wins |
|---|---|---|
| 0–8 | 5 | 5 |
| 9–16 | 4 | 6 |
| 17–24 | 3 | 7 |
| 25–32 | 2 | 8 |
| 33+ | 1 | 9 |
Our own starts from the table in use and makes every number editable. + Add a band splits the last band; the last band has no upper limit.
Everyone starts on
The starting points. Picking a table sets it to that table's usual start; it can be changed.
A forfeit counts as a win for the challenger and moves points the same way. Organisers can add or take points by hand from a player's menu on the Ladder tab, with a reason that shows under Results.
Getting on the ladder
Starting order
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Nobody starts on it | Every player starts off the board. A player appears after their first ladder game. When two players who are not yet on it play, the winner goes on at the bottom and the loser directly under them. |
| Start everyone in an order | Every player starts on the board. The order is set on the season's Ladder tab — by dGrade, at random, or by hand. Until it is set, players stand in the order they were added. |
A player who joins after the start
Seeded ladders only. Starts at the bottom adds them below everyone. Plays their way on leaves them off the board until their first game, the same as a ladder that starts with nobody on it.
A player not yet on the ladder may challenge
How far up a player who is not yet on the board may reach. Anyone on it, or a number of places counted up from the bottom. With 12 on the board and a setting of 3, a newcomer may challenge 10th, 11th or 12th. Two players who are both off the board may always play each other.
When they lose their first game
Directly below the winner, or At the bottom. A newcomer who beats someone on the board always takes that place, and everyone from there down moves down one.
Who can be challenged
Places above
How many places up a challenge may reach, or Anyone above. With 4, the player in 9th may challenge 5th to 8th.
Below the number, when there is a limit: Every place counts, or Players marked away are skipped. Skipped, a player marked away is not counted, so the reach extends one place past each. With 2 places up and the player 2nd above you away, you may challenge the 3rd above you. This applies to places below too.
Places below
How many places down a challenge may reach. 0 means challenges go up the ladder only.
Open challenges at once, per player
A challenge is open from the moment it is made until it is played, declined, withdrawn, lapsed or settled.
Made and received together: both count towards the one number. A player at the limit can neither challenge nor be challenged.
1 made and 1 received (the number shown is the one set above): challenges made and received are counted separately. A player with a challenge out may still be challenged, and a player with one to answer may still make one.
On a player's own page, one Challenge button above the board lists the players they can challenge now; tapping a name makes the challenge. Under Can't challenge now it lists the nearby players they can't, each with why (out of reach, away, already in a challenge, met too recently). The line beside the button says how far they can reach; at their limit the button is greyed and the line says so.
The same two players may meet again after
A number of days since their last game together. 0 means no wait.
Replying and playing
The player challenged
Accepts or declines puts a reply step first. Has no choice — the challenge stands skips it: the challenge is accepted the moment it is made.
Time to reply
Days from the challenge to the reply, or No limit. A reminder email goes to the player challenged a day before the reply is due.
No reply in time
Forfeit to the challenger — counted as a win for the challenger, moved as set under A forfeit moves the challenger. The challenge lapses — closed; nobody moves.
Declining
Counts as a forfeit or Allowed; nobody moves.
Time to play and enter the result
Days from the day the challenge is made — not from the reply — to the result being entered, or No limit.
Not played in time
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Organisers decide | The challenge is marked past its deadline and waits under Needs you on the Ladder tab. The organisers award a forfeit, award it to the player challenged, reopen it with a new deadline, or let it lapse. Both players and the organisers are emailed. |
| Forfeit to the challenger | Counted as a win for the challenger. |
| The challenge lapses | Closed; nobody moves. |
Deadlines are checked every hour.
Your note in challenge emails
Lines of your own added to the email a challenged player receives, one bullet per line, for what is true at your club: who books the court, opening hours, where results go. Empty by default, so the email carries only the lines the rules write. The note is the same for every season of the league; changing it does not rebuild the ladder.
The email the player challenged receives reads, as bullets:
- Accept or Decline by [date]. (the month written in full) followed by what No reply in time does. Left out when The player challenged has no choice or Time to reply is No limit.
- Play the game by [date]. Arrange it between you. Without a Time to play limit: Arrange the game between you.
- Can't find a date? The challenger can withdraw it from the ladder page.
- Your ladder page has what you need to reply and to enter the result.
- Each line of Your note in challenge emails.
A note the challenger typed when making the challenge appears above the bullets.
How places change
The lower-placed player wins
| Setting | Winner 5th beats 2nd |
|---|---|
| Takes the place; those between move down one | Winner 2nd, loser 3rd, the old 3rd and 4th move to 4th and 5th. |
| The two swap places | Winner 2nd, loser 5th. Nobody else moves. |
| The winner moves up one | Winner 4th, the old 4th 5th. The loser stays 2nd. |
The higher-placed player wins
Nobody moves, or The winner moves up one — the winner swaps with the player directly above them. With the second setting, 3rd beating 6th puts the winner 2nd and the old 2nd 3rd.
A forfeit moves the challenger
Into the place; the challenged player drops one (everyone between moves down one), The two swap places, or The challenger moves up one (swapping with the player directly above). A forfeit against a player below the challenger moves nobody unless The winner moves up one is set.
Staying active
A player with no game in
Off, or a number of days. The count runs from the later of: the season's start, the player's last ladder game, the last challenge they made, the day they went on the board, the end of their away dates, and their last automatic drop. So one quiet spell costs one drop, and another follows only after a further full spell.
…is
Dropped places (a number), Moved to the bottom, or Taken off the ladder. A player taken off may play their way back on. Each automatic move appears under Results with the reason No game in N days, and the player is emailed. Automatic moves can be undone on the Ladder tab like any other.
On a points ladder the only choice is Taken off the table: their points are kept, and playing again puts them back on.
A player taken off the ladder
Places ladders only. Covers players taken off for inactivity and by an organiser.
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Plays their way back on | Treated as a new player: off the board until their next game, then placed by When they lose their first game or by taking the place of the player they beat. |
| Comes back at the bottom | Their next game is played from the bottom place, and they may challenge from there within the normal range. |
Time a player is marked away does not count, and a player marked away cannot be challenged. Players mark themselves away from their own ladder page; organisers can mark anyone away from the Ladder tab.
Results
Who enters results
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Managers only | The organisers enter every result. Players still challenge, accept and decline themselves. |
| Players submit | Either player enters the result. It counts once the other player confirms it, or an organiser approves it. Until then it shows as waiting to be confirmed. |
| Players publish | Either player enters the result and it counts at once. Either player can Flag it with a reason; flagged results wait under Needs you with the result still standing. |
Whatever the setting, a game a player records that breaks a ladder rule — out of range, say — waits for an organiser.
A ladder match is
One game, best of 3 or best of 5, to a number of points. The result form asks for that many games and stops asking once a player has won the match. Winner only records who won with no scores.
Games count in the order
| Setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Their results are entered | A result counts when it is entered. The result form does not ask for a date. |
| They were played | The result form asks for the day it was played. A result entered late counts on that day, and the ladder is re-read from there — so a late result can change moves that were made after it was played. |
The close
The title goes to the player at the top at the close who has played at least
When the season is marked complete, the honours board names the top three of each ladder, passing over anyone who has played fewer ladder games than this. With a play-off, the label reads To qualify for the play-off, a player needs at least, and the same number decides who is seeded into it.
Play-off
None, Top 2 (a final), Top 4 or Top 8, and how many games each play-off match is. The qualifiers are seeded in ladder order: 1st plays the last qualifier, 2nd the second-last, and so on. Fewer qualifiers than places leaves byes for the top seeds.
The play-off is drawn from the Play-off card on the Ladder tab and scored on Play-off scoring. The public page shows it under Play-off. When the play-off final has been played, it — not the top of the ladder — decides the season's champion on the honours board.