Registration

• Every sumo fan with a basic knowledge about the sumo world is welcome to participate.
• Every player has to be registered with a unique shikona (fighting name).
• Every player is allowed to register only once.
• Every player will be informed by e-mail about important Sumo Game announcements and dates.
• Every player has to pass an entrance exam featuring basic questions about Sumo. If you are unable to answer the exam questions, we recommend you to study sumo a little bit more before participating.
• After registering, you will receive a password by e-mail. With the password you will be able to access the member area.

Tournament Application

• Six tournaments of 15 days are held every year. Tournaments are held in January, March, May, July, September and November.
• Every player should participate in every tournament, if possible.
• Every player who participates, must apply for the tournament before the tournament starts. This can be done in the member area of this web site.
• Application can be made starting the day when the new real banzuke is published (usually two weeks before the tournament start).
• Application deadline is Saturday 10am (JST) before the tournament.
• E-mails will remind all Sumo Game players of the important dates.

Tournament absence (kyujo) and retirement

• If you are unable to participate in a tournament, please notify us of your kyujo. This can be done from two weeks before the tournament until the end of the tournament in the member area.
• If you notify us of your kyujo, the kyujo will have the effect of a 7-8 makekoshi, otherwise it will have the effect of a 0-15 makekoshi. A second consecutive kyujo always has the effect of a 0-15 makekoshi.
• Players who are absent for three tournaments in a row will usually be retired, however, exceptions to this rule are possible.
• Unlike in real sumo, it is not possible for a participating wrestler to go kyujo while the tournament is in progress.
• If you would like to retire from the Sumo Game, please let us know.

Daily bout submission

• During the tournament, every player will compete in one bout per day against another player, normally of the same division. Unlike in real sumo, makushita wrestlers (if there are any) will also compete in 15 bouts per tournament.
• Every day, players are supposed to pick ten makuuchi wrestlers out of all makuuchi wrestlers whom they believe to be victorious on that day. Among the ten wrestlers, at least four must be of maegashira rank.
• The order in which a players lists the ten wrestlers becomes relevant in case of a draw (see details below).
• Daily predictions for a specific day can be made until 2pm (JST) of that day in the member area of this web site. If no new predictions are entered by 2pm, the default predictions will be used. Default predictions are initially entered when applying for the tournament, and can be modified during the tournament.

Daily bout decision

• For every selected wrestler that wins his bout, the player is awarded with one point. For wrestlers who lose their bout or are kyujo, the player does not receive a point. A fusensho (victory without a fight) is considered as a victory.
• The player with the higher amount of points wins the daily bout and receives a shiroboshi.
• In case of a draw (i.e. both players predicted the same number of victorious wrestlers), the order in which the players listed their wrestlers becomes relevant. Starting at the top of the lists, the selected wrestlers of both player will be compared step by step until one player selected a winning wrestler while the other player selected a losing wrestler. The player who selected the winning wrestler will win the bout.
• In case that the bout cannot be decided by the above tiebreaker rule (i.e. both players placed winning and losing wrestlers in the same order), the player with the higher placed victorious wrestler of lower rank will win the bout.
• In the unlikely case that the bout can still not be decided, the winner will be determined randomly.

Yusho Decision

• If at the end of a tournament, two or more wrestlers are leading their divison with the same number of wins, the following will be the tie breaker rules:
  1. The wrestler with the highest total score wins the yusho.
  2. If two wrestlers have the same total score, their direct bout in the tournament (if any) will be the deciding factor. If there are more than two wrestlers with the same total score and all of them had direct bouts against each other, the one with the highest number of wins from these bouts wins the yusho.
  3. If the yusho cannot be decided by tiebreaker rule 2 either, the wrestler among the remaining candidates who has the highest number of days with 8 or more points wins the yusho.
  4. If the yusho cannot be decided by tiebreaker rule 3 either, the wrestler among the remaining candidates who has the least number of days with 5 or less points wins the yusho.
  5. If the yusho cannot be decided by tiebreaker rule 4 either, the wrestler with the most perfect days wins the yusho.
  6. If the yusho can still not be decided, it will be determined randomly.

Banzuke

• Our banzuke is basically structured in the same way as the real banzuke, with a few minor differences.
• At the end of a tournament, players will be promoted or demoted in the banzuke. Players with kachikoshi (eight or more wins) will be promoted, while players with a makekoshi (eight or more losses) will be demoted.
• Ozeki Promotion: Usually, a sekiwake who has won 31 or more bouts over the last three tournaments is promoted to ozeki. An ozeki is only demoted if he gets two makekoshi records in a row. An ex-ozeki will be promoted again, if he wins at least ten bouts in the tournament following his demotion.
• Yokozuna Promotion: In order to be promoted to yokozuna, a wrestler must usually have been ranked as an ozeki in the previous two or more banzuke, must have won at least one yusho in his career and must have a record of 22 or more wins over the last two tournaments or must have won the last two tournaments in a row. Unlike in real sumo, a yokozuna can be demoted to ozeki in our Sumo Game if he gets three makekoshi records in a row. An ex-yokozuna will be promoted again, if he wins at least 10 bouts in the tournament following his demotion.