Rules for creating a team.

• Anybody can create a house.
• You can only be a member of one house at one time
• A house must be active at least once a month to stay on the roster
• If a house meets the criteria for Meijin application, it can apply at any time. If the application fails, the house cannot apply for the Meijin for the next months.

Rules for the Meijin application

• A house needs at least 3 Members to apply for the Meijin
• The house must have a designated head and hire
• The house must be in the top 4

Rules for promoting a player

• A newly joined player automatically assumes the rank 1 dan
• The hire of a house is automatically promoted to 5 dan
• The head of a house can promote anybody internally up to 4 dan
• Promotions over 4 dan (or over 5 dan for the hire) have to be voted in by a council of the heads of the houses.

Calculating the Position of a house

• A house gets points for each active member. The points awarded are the square of the players rank.
• A house does not get points for 1 dan players
• A house also gets points for each won game (see below)

One of the main ways for a house to gather points is to challenge another house.

Challenges:
The head of a house can issue a general challenge to another house. The challenge has to specify a rank (e.g. The challenge to a 4 dan match) The challenged house has to name one of its members to face the challenge. This member’s rank cannot exceed the rank specified in the challenge. The winner of the match gets a number of points equal to the rank of the match. If a house does not have a player of that rank or does not respond for a week, it loses the challenge.
A member of one house can also individually challenge a member of another house, although he can only challenge players of an equal or higher rank. The challenged player has to answer within two weeks or the match is lost. The challenged player can either agree to play of decline. If the match if played the winner gets an amount of points equal to the challenging players rank; a decline nets the challenger one point. A player can issue as many challenges as he wants, but can only have one active challenge against him at one time.
Rank Challenges
A rank challenge is a subset of the individual challenge and the most severe challenge. It is issued when one believes that a rival has been promoted to a rank that he does not deserve. In addition to the normal rules of an individual challenge the losing player gets demoted and cannot be promoted again for at least one month.