All matches at TCQT tournaments follow NAQT rules. A one-page summary of NAQT rules can be found here. Following NAQT rules includes reading all computation tossups and bonuses during all matches at TCQT tournaments and each team having one 30-second timeout per match. The following deviations from and exceptions to NAQT rules apply to gameplay at TCQT tournaments:
1. Five seconds is the standard duration for all timing concerns pertaining to answering and conferring on questions at TCQT tournaments, except for computation questions that explicitly state that ten seconds are allowed.
2. All matches will have 20 tossups and the appropriate corresponding bonus cycles, unless the match is tied after 20 tossups and the appropriate bonus cycles. Clocks may be used in matches late in the season to help prepare teams to compete at national championships. Matches with clocks will still have 20 tossups, unless they are tied at that time, in which case the tie will be broken as explained below. Whether clocks will be used for matches at a particular tournament will be communicated with coaches and moderators in advance.
3. Matches that are tied after 20 tossups and the appropriate corresponding bonus cycles are to be decided by a sudden death overtime in which the first score change from tossup 21 onwards breaks the tie and determines the final outcome of the match. No matches at TCQT tournaments are to end in a tie.
4. A desire to have the score be correct and accurately reflect what happened during matches supersedes technicalities related to the timing of protests. Thus, protests during TCQT matches do not need to be lodged prior to the next bonus or tossup. Protests of any question from a match can be lodged up until two minutes after the conclusion of a match, as long as technological devices are not used to assist with the decision of whether to protest, no additional research is done by the players or other individuals connected to the team, and no team discussions that would not ordinarily be allowed during the course of gameplay occur. NAQT rules regarding frivolous or disruptive attempts to protest still apply.
5. Requests to verify the score and the rules during matches do NOT require the use of a timeout.
Teams with identical win-loss records and who need to have their tied win-loss records broken for the purposes of determining playoff seeding and qualification are to have their tied win-loss records broken first by head-to-head results. If head-to-head results are not able to break the tied records because the tied teams did not play each other at all due to unbalanced scheduling or because of "circle of death" ties, similar to what happened in Group E of the 1994 FIFA World Cup or with the Big 12 South football standings in 2008, then points per 20 tossups heard will be used to break tied win-loss records that need to be broken to determine playoff seeding and qualification. Please note that the tiebreakers used at TCQT tournaments differ from the official NAQT tiebreaker policy, as is generally necessary in order to adhere to a predetermined schedule and playoff format at local and regional tournaments. Unbalanced scheduling will be avoided to the fullest extent possible, and round-robin scheduling will be used to determine matchups during preliminary rounds in all divisions with ten or fewer teams.
All TCQT tournaments follow the schedules and playoff formats included on the tournament hub and communicated with all coaches and moderators in advance of the start of the tournament. No adjustments, additions, or subtractions will be made to tournament schedules and playoff formats after the tournament has begun.