Rummikub (2 player)

Description

Tournament Format
Players per table – 2 
Time control – Bronstein Clock timings: 10 mins per player + 10 secs per move.
Rounds – 5 Round Swiss Pairings (Standard MSO tie-breaks apply)

Rummikub is a tile-based game that was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Jew, who immigrated to Mandate Palestine in the early 1930s. He hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home. The game combines elements of rummy and mahjong. Hertzano sold the first sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small shops. Over the years, the family licensed it to other countries and it became Israel’s #1 export game. In 1977, it became a bestselling game in the United States. Game play continues until a player has used all of the tiles in the rack, at which point they should call out “Rummikub”, and are declared the winner.

Tournament Clarifications:
– At the start of the game, each player takes 1 joker, and then randomly selects the remaining 13 tiles. Should either player get 3 doubles (pairs of tiles with both the same number and colour) then they can request that both players reshuffle the tiles and draw new starting hands.
– For your initial meld, tiles must add up to 30 or more in 1 or more sets. A player may play a joker as part of an initial meld but its value is considered 0. Players may not build upon or manipulate sets already on the table prior to playing their initial meld, or in the turn in which it is played.
– The Joker can be used instead of any other tile to create a set (including if that tile already appears twice on the table). Two jokers can be used in a single set.
– Tiles may only be manipulated on the table if you are playing at least one tile from your hand.
– When manipulating the table, a jokers value and colour can be completely changed as long as the shared board ends the turn in a legal position. i.e. a player does not need to “replace” the joker with an appropriate number in a set or run.
– Once a tile is placed from the hand to the table it is considered in play, and may not return to a player’s hand. This is to prevent a disagreement over undoing a turn.
– A player cannot press the clock whilst the tiles on the table are in an illegal position. If they do then their time is restarted until the position is made legal.
– If a player runs out of time then they forfeit the game.
– If all tiles in the pool have been taken, then you must either perform a move that includes at least 1 tile from your hand, or pass. If both players pass on consecutive turns then they game is over. Players add up the value of their tiles in their hand (jokers are worth 50) and the player with the lowest score wins.
– The winner of the game is the first player to get rid of all their tiles.
– The score in a game is irrelevant for the purposes of the tournament, simply the winner scores 1 tournament point.
– Standard MSO tie-breaks apply, except point spread is not applicable.