ACF rules

ACF rules are the rules used for ACF tournaments. They are also very widely used at other tournaments.

Summary

• Matches consist of 20 tossup-bonus cycles, with a very brief halftime break after 10 cycles
• Four players play at a time
• Matches consist of tossups with interrupt penalties in effect (worth –5 points), but no powers. Non-power correct tossup answers are worth 10 points.
• Correct tossup answers in regulation lead to bonuses comprising three parts worth 10 points each
• Players have 5 seconds to begin answering after they are recognized for buzzing in on a tossup
• There are 5 seconds from the end of reading a tossup until the tossup goes dead
• Teams have 5 seconds to answer each bonus part; the moderator prompts after 4 seconds. (The rules permit question text to specify a different time limit, but that is extremely rare.) Bonus parts do not bounce back.
• Each team is allocated one 30-second timeout
• Teams may substitute players at halftime or before overtime, but not at timeouts
• If necessary, overtime consists solely of sudden death

Full rules

ACF Gameplay Rules

Modifications

Many tournaments allow powers (nearly always worth 15 points).