rev. December 1, 2009
Battle of the Books Rules
Teams will have no more than four players.
Teams will be assigned seats for each round of the Battle. Questions will be asked in a round-robin manner. Four questions will be asked per team per round. Battles will be 4 rounds.
The emcee will ask a question to a team. The team will have 30 seconds to decide the answer. Time will begin at the end of the question. The team may ask the emcee to repeat the question once. The time will be stopped while the question is being repeated and restarted at the end of the question. At the end of 30 seconds, the timer will say “time” and ask for an answer. The captain must answer immediately, or the team will forfeit their chance to answer this question. Only the captain may give answers during Battles. Only one team member may be the captain per round.
Teams must give the full title and author’s name as it appears on the Battle of the Books bookmark to receive the full 5 points. Beginning articles in titles (A, An, The) are optional. If the team is able to give a partial answer or only gets part of the answer right, they will receive 2 points for the correct title, or 3 points for the correct author’s name.
If the first team gives an answer that is incorrect, the next team will have a chance to provide the missing answers. They will be given 10 seconds to confer with their team and respond. The question will not be repeated. If that team is not able to answer or gives a partial answer, no other team will be given the chance to earn points from this question. The second team will then be asked a new question, and play will continue. Teams will not lose points for incorrect answers.
CHALLENGES:
If a team challenges a question, they must quickly prove their point to the judge before the next team is asked their question. The judge may either decide that the question was fair and that the team answered incorrectly, or that the question was not fair. If the judge decides that the question is not fair and that the challenge is valid, the team will be awarded points for their answers. Each team may challenge twice during a Battle. Teams may only challenge questions posed to their own team.
If a team challenges a question but the judges do not agree with their argument, the judges will tell the team that their answer is still incorrect. The judges should not give any details or explanation because the next team still has the chance to answer the question. After this team has answered, then the judges may explain to the challenging team why they did not agree with their challenge.
ANSWERING INAPPROPRIATELY:
If an answer is blurted out by the wrong team, that team will lose 5 points and the question will be thrown out. A new question will be given to the team whose turn it is. If someone other than the captain provides the answer, that team will lose 5 points, the question will be thrown out, and that team will lose their turn. *When a team answers inappropriately a second time, they will be disqualified.
LOSS OF POINTS AND DISQUALIFICATION:
The following will cause a team to lose 5 points for the first infraction, and disqualification for the second infraction:
*Being disruptive
*Answering inappropriately (the wrong team answers, or someone other than the captain answers)
SUMMARY OF POINTS POSSIBLE:
full answer 5 points
title only 2 points
author only 3 points
incorrect answers 0 points
*answer out of turn lose 5 points first time, team is disqualified the second time
*disruptive, noisy lose 5 points first time, team is disqualified the second time
After 4 questions have been asked per team, the first round is over. Teams will go to their new positions. Teams may decide to appoint a new captain.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds will follow the same rules. At the end of the 4th round, the team with the most points will be the winner.
TIES:
All teams tied for the same place will be in a single elimination tie-breaker round. These teams will be asked the same question at the same time. They will have 30 seconds to legibly write the complete title and author’s name on the paper provided. Spelling will not be considered, but the answer must be recognizable to the judge.
CITY BATTLE:
The top two teams will compete in the City Battle against the other winning middle school teams. The City competition will follow the same rules as the school competition. Each team competing in the City Battle may choose alternate players for their team in the event that a team member may not be able to attend the city competition.
