Season Zero / Competition protocol
The board is serious.The rules are clearer.
One place for the score, the cutoff, the anti-farming limits, and the conditions that must be met before any prize result becomes final.
Time control5+0
Counting tableQuick Match
Prize commitment9 SOL stated
Current statusPublic beta
01 / Status
What is active, and what is not
Public beta status
Email sign-in binds one Arena identity to a recoverable account; it still does not prove that one human owns only one account. The Season Zero ledger and organizer-funded prize commitment are announced, but every point, podium place, and payout remains provisional. Payout certification stays locked until identity and fair-play review, the published appeal process, and the final rules have closed.
Season Zero is designed as a real-player, five-minute chess competition. Only completed online Quick Match games can enter the competition score. Practice boards and private invite tables are available for play, but they are unranked and never add tournament points.
A player's Glicko-2 rating is separate from tournament points. It is used only as a profile skill estimate and to find reasonably matched opponents. It does not decide the podium.
02 / Scoring
Three for a win. One for a draw.
Tie order
- 01Total Quick Match points
The highest provisional point totals at the cutoff enter review first.
- 02More wins
If points are equal, the player with more counting wins ranks first.
- 03Fewer counted games
If wins are also equal, the more efficient score ranks first.
- 04Earlier last counted result
The earlier completion time of the final counting result breaks the remaining tie.
If all four published criteria are equal, the players share the same rank. The permanent Arena number keeps their display order stable, but it is not a sporting tie-break. If an exact tie touches any prize place, certification and payout remain blocked; no tied player may be silently displaced or assigned an unequal place without a transparent, published resolution and the stated appeal process.
03 / Match limits
Play widely. Score honestly.
Counting games per pair
The same pair can add points from no more than two games in any rolling 24-hour window.
Minute rematch pause
An immediate repeat pairing does not count. The same players must wait at least 30 minutes before another counting match.
Two-seat ready check
Quick Match clocks remain stopped until both visible players acknowledge the room. Both seats then share one five-second start.
Once both seats are ready, every server-completed result counts immediately, including a resignation or timeout at zero plies. If only one seat is ready when the 30-second window closes, the ready seat receives a recorded no-show win, but no rating or tournament points; if neither is ready, or a seat leaves before both are ready, the room closes unranked. Private tables remain unranked and never add points or prize eligibility.
When an active clock reaches zero, the interface shows a neutral verifying state while the server keeps a two-second arbitration window for a move received before the deadline. Move and timeout database windows do not overlap. A request stalled beyond that bounded window fails closed as a timeout; this is a disclosed service limit, not extra player clock time.
04 / Fair play
The move must be yours.
Open the full fair-play and review rules
Not permitted
- Chess engines, bots, opening books, or live move assistance
- Collusion, result fixing, score trading, or deliberate farming
- Exploit abuse, automation, or interference with the service
- Multiple accounts or participation under another person's identity
How results become final
A place shown at the cutoff is provisional. Identity checks, game data, and suspicious patterns may be reviewed by a human before certification. Players must have a fair opportunity to appeal an adverse decision.
No automated signal alone should disqualify a player. Final-result and appeal dates will be published with the final rules.
05 / Prizes
A nine-SOL organizer commitment
The community organizer states that the Season Zero prize pool will be personally funded. This is a 9 SOL commitment, not a claim that funds are held in escrow. The published SOL amounts will not be reduced. Payout is conditional on verified identity, human fair-play review, the appeal window, and publication of the final rules.
Open prize allocation and payout details
Winner's payout choice
Each certified winner may receive the advertised SOL amount or choose its equivalent value in BNB on BNB Smart Chain. The BNB option changes the payment asset, not the value of the published commitment.
BNB payout = SOL prize × SOLUSDT close ÷ BNBUSDT close
Both reference prices use the closing values from the Binance Spot one-minute candles that open at 01 September 2026, 20:00 UTC. The result is rounded up to eight decimal places. The public candle records and the calculation will be published with the certified results. If either reference market is unavailable, the advertised SOL amount remains the default prize. This reference method does not imply sponsorship or affiliation with Binance. See the official Kline/Candlestick documentation.
No purchase required
No FLORK purchase or holding, wallet connection, X follow, repost, or referral is required to play or qualify. A verified winner will be asked for either a compatible Solana public address or a BNB Smart Chain public address only after choosing the payout asset and completing review.
Never send a private key or seed phrase. Flork Arena will never ask for one.06 / Timeline
Snapshot first. Review second.
Open the full review and payout timeline
- 01
Leaderboard cutoff
Quick Match results completed before this moment form the provisional snapshot.
- 02
Identity and fair-play review
Date to be announced
The organizer reviews the provisional podium and contacts the relevant players.
- 03
Appeal window
Dates to be announced
Any affected player receives the process and deadline for a documented appeal.
- 04
Certified result and payout
Date to be announced
Final placements are published only after review and any appeals are resolved.
Season Zero / Plain-language promise
No hidden route to the podium.
The visible score is simple. The checks behind a final result are careful. Any material rule change must be published before it can govern prize play.