Anchor Ladders
Anchor Ladders are not as volatile as Challenge Ladders - it takes a little longer to climb up an Anchor Ladder. On the other hand, they are also not as stable as GigaRatings, which is a points based system. Anchor Ladders are a real-time system which means that players see anchors being set or movement occuring immediately after entering a scorecard. A batch driven system, geared to regional or national associations, will be available by the end of March 2004.

Anchor Ladders FAQ
Anchor Ladders are modelled on rock climbing. A rock climber establishes an anchor, establishes a hold above the anchor and then sets a new, higher anchor position. An Anchor Ladder is a linear ladder i.e. players are listed in numerical order, best player being #1. A player (Climber) establishes an personal anchor on the ladder by beating another player above his/her position number. Establishing a Climber’s Anchor does not result in movement on the ladder.

Movement
The Climber moves up the ladder and takes their Anchor’s position by beating the Anchor again or by beating a player higher than the Anchor. In the rock climbing analogy, this second player that the Climber beats would be the “Hold”. When this happens, the Anchor and all players between the Climber and the Anchor move down by one position. The “Hold” becomes the Climber’s new Anchor. Movement also occurs every time the Climber beats a player below his/her Anchor. So if a Climber’s Anchor was a fluke win and the Climber can’t realistically beat anyone above the Anchor, he/she will still be able to move to the position immediately below the Anchor. In this case, every win for the Climber will result in movement. Beating players below the Climber’s current position has no impact on the ladder.

Person v Position
The Anchor is the person that the Climber beat not the person’s position. So, if the Anchor subsequently moves up the ladder, it becomes tougher for the Climber to do the same and conversely, if the Anchor subsequently moves down the ladder, the Climber’s rise up the ladder will be easier.

Losing an Anchor (Anchor yanked)
If the Anchor is removed from the ladder, the Climber has to establish a new Anchor.

Losing an Anchor (through time)
After a period of inactivity on the ladder, the Climber will lose the Anchor and a new anchor will need to be established. The length of the inactivity period is set by your GameMaster.

Losing an Anchor (through a deleted match)
In the rare circumstances where a match needs to be deleted, a Climber can lose his/her Anchor (see Deleting Matches).

Timeliness
As the system is on-line and live at all times it is crucial that matches are input into the system in a timely manner. Matches that are not timeously input, cannot count as a ladder matches. They are to be recorded as friendly or social matches and therefore will have no impact on the ladder.

Deleting Matches
Occasionally, a match which had an impact on the ladder when it was originally input needs to be deleted. In these rare circumstances, the rules are designed to reverse the impact of the original match wherever possible. If the original match established an anchor, the Climber loses his/her Anchor. If the Climber also moved up the ladder, he/she will be dropped by the number of positions that he/she originally rose up the ladder and all players in between will improve their positions’ by one. If the deletion is done a long time after the original match was input other movements may have occurred in the ladder and it is therefore possible that the players that were moved down by the original match are not the same players that move up though the deletion. All players that had the Climber as an anchor and who are now positioned above the Climber lose their anchor and will have to establish a new one. As deletions affect the integrity of the ladder, they can only be made by administrators. They are always thoroughly investigated. Any player found abusing the system will be banned from the ladder. The process for re-instating a banned player is difficult and involves substantial monetary penalties in the form of compulsory donations to junior sport development programs.