Walk overs and retirements in league systems

League promotion and relegation rules can vary from club to club. But all systems involve totting up the box league match scores based on the match results. Some clubs may also award extra points to a player for playing all their matches.

But what if one or more matches are not played at all? How do we account for that as fairly as possible? Clearly the reason for not playing a match varies considerably where the "fault" could be attributable in any measure to each of the two players, depending on the circumstances (and thus reflected in a "score"). ManageMyMatch categorises unplayed matches in 3 ways:

1. Both players have failed to play their game and neglect to score the match
2. One player takes a "Walk over"
3. One player retires from the leagues due to illness, absence etc

These are discussed in more detail below:

1. You can simply fail to mark a match, in which case the score of the match is 0 points to each player. This is usually because both players were unable, or unfussed, about playing the match. They are both penalised equally with a 0-0 match score.
2. Walk overs should only be claimed (or given) after all reasonable attempts have been made to arrange the match. It is assumed that both players are still intent on participating in the leagues and will continue to try and play their other matches.  For example, if a player forgets to turn up, this in itself should not necessarily be a walkover - you can usually re-arrange. In order to avoid a walk over, you are advised to be pro-active in arranging matches early in the month - don't leave things too late. Always try and get agreement on taking a walkover from the other player - that's good karma. The player giving the walk over will get no points for the match, but the player taking the walk over is usually awarded a set number of points that would typically represent a close win (again, adjustable by the club). This way the walked-over player is not penalised too much. Of course, there is always room for argument here - if other players all lost their match with the guilty party, then he/she who got the walkover will get more points just for not playing them! Best to avoid walk overs whenever you can.
3. Retirement is when a player can no longer play for the duration of the leagues (normally the remainder of the month). This is usually because of injury, illness or other unforeseen events. A walk over should never be taken/given in this instance. A player can "leave" the leagues very easily (and "rejoin", if necessary) at any time. This method of retirement should always be chosen as it then automatically informs all other participants. When you leave a league you score 0 points for all your unplayed matches (but your scores for played matches remain - as they do for your opponents). In order to be fair to those who did not get a chance to play the leaving player, ManageMyMatch awards points to those players for each unplayed match. The number of points awarded is the average (rounded down) of the total opponent points of those who did play the leaving player. This approach is in preference to the cancellation of played matches that would be disappointing for the players involved (especially if all but one player had already played the leaver!).

Finally, some clubs operate a bonus point system if you play all your matches. Matches not played due to player retirement do not count as an "unplayed match" in this determination. In the other two cases they do. In such cases, this is further incentive to avoid walk overs by arranging your matches as early as possible.