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Zain Africa Challenge
University Information
National Tournaments
International Championship
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Game Rules

The following are the official rules of the game:

Format/game overview
  1. Zain Africa Challenge is a question and answer game played between two teams of three players each.
  2. The game is played in four rounds. 
  3. The first three rounds are called Face-Off Rounds. In each of these rounds, there are two types of questions: Face-Offs, worth 10 points each and Bonuses, worth 20 points.
  4. The fourth round is called the Ultimate Challenge. Each team gets a turn to play the Ultimate Challenge. The team has 60 seconds to answer 10 questions in the category of its choice. Each correct answer is worth 50 points, for a total of 500 points.  
  5. In each of the three Face-Off rounds, a different player represents the team answering Face-Off questions. That player is the only one who can answer for his or her team.
  6. In each Face-Off round, there are four new categories.  In each category there are three Face-Off questions. Each Face-Off has a related Bonus question.
  7. The last player to correctly answer a Face-Off selects the category for the next Face-Off.
  8. On Face-Offs, after the entire question is read, the first player to signal gets to answer.
  9. If s/he answers correctly, the team gets a Bonus question.
  10. If s/he answers wrong, the player representing the other team gets a chance to answer the Face-Off.  If that player answers correctly, his or her team gets the Bonus.    
  11. Bonuses are played by the entire team. The team may confer on its answer.
  12. In the computerised version and at the National Qualifying Tournaments, each Face-Off round lasts three minutes or until no Face-Off questions remain, whichever comes first. When the three-minute timer reaches zero, the currently playing Face-Off/Bonus question pair is completed, then the round is declared over. At the International Championship Festival, an audio signal will announce the end of the round.
  13. At the end of the three Face-Off rounds the teams play the Ultimate Challenge. The team that’s behind goes first. If there’s a tie, there is a coin toss and the team that wins decides if it wants to go first or last.    
  14. In the Ultimate Challenge, there are four new categories from which to choose. When it’s a team’s turn to play, the players confer and select the category. Once a category is selected it is no longer available.
  15. In the Ultimate Challenge, the team has 60 seconds to answer 10 questions. The questions are read rapid-fire one after the other. Team members can confer on answers. Any team member may call out an answer. The first answer heard by the presenter is the one that will be accepted. As long as there is time remaining, teams can keep coming back to questions which they missed or on which they passed.
  16. In the Ultimate Challenge, if the team answers all 10 questions correctly it scores 500 points. Even if the first team to play the Ultimate Challenge does not take the lead in the game, the second team plays the Ultimate Challenge. For televised matches, as a reward for answering all 10 questions correctly, each student team member receives a $500 Bonus.
  17. The team with the most points at the end of the Ultimate Challenge wins the game.
Game procedures
  1. The answers provided by Zain Africa Challenge are the official answers.
    The underlined information is considered the minimum needed for a correct response.
  2. At the end of the game, the Scorekeeper verifies the score and it is declared official.
  3. If the score is tied at the end of the game, the tie is broken by a sudden-death play-off of Face-Off questions with all players eligible to answer.  The first correct answer scores 10 points and wins the game.
Answering Face-Offs
  1. On Face-Offs, players signal and are recognised before beginning their answer. Once a player has been recognised, s/he must immediately begin their answer.
  2. After the presenter completes the reading of the question, the lockout signal system is activated and the players are given approximately 3 seconds to signal and must answer immediately once they are recognised.
  3. A correct answer on a Face-Off question scores 10 points. If the answer is incorrect, the question is turned over to the player on the other team.
  4. Every time a player answers a Face-Off question correctly, their team, and their team only, gets the chance to answer a Bonus question.
  5. If a player does not answer immediately, a game official calls “time.” An answer given after time is called does not count.  Where applicable, the question is turned over to the player on the other team.
  6. If a player confers with a teammate on a Face-Off question, the answer is disqualified, even if it was correct.  Where applicable, the question is turned over.
Answering Bonuses
  1. A team earns the chance to answer a Bonus question after its team member correctly answers a Face-Off.
  2. On Bonus questions all team members should confer. If there are conflicting answers, the player in the centre position must speak for the team.  That player may designate (verbally or with a gesture) another player to answer.  The presenter will take the first clear answer obviously directed toward him/her, so teams should be sure that they agree on their response before anyone gives an answer.
  3. The team is given five seconds to confer on each Bonus. The presenter will allow for a natural pause but no stalling. Once the presenter has prompted for an answer (“Your answer please”), the team must begin the answer immediately.
Acceptable answers
  1. The correct answer and acceptable alternatives are given to the presenter.  The necessary information is underlined. The presenter and judge will determine if the player has answered giving clear and precise knowledge of the information requested, or if the player is just guessing in an effort to hit the required answer.
  2. Answers which show clear and precise knowledge will be judged correct. For example, if a question lists famous guitarists and the given answer is "guitar", then "guitars" and "guitarist" or "guitarists" are also acceptable answers.
  3. On a Face-Off, the first response given is the one that counts. If a player gives more than one piece of information, the presenter and judge will evaluate the first answer only.
  4. Unless otherwise stated in the question, players may use abbreviated answers, such as last names only, acronyms, etc.
  5. For all married women, we will not accept the form of her husband’s name. “Mrs. Jakayo Kikwete” would not be an acceptable answer for Mama Salma Kikwete.
  6. Proper names, quotations and titles must be exact. Neither “Sonnets In the Portuguese” nor “Sonnet From the Portuguese” are acceptable for “Sonnets From the Portuguese,” for example.
  7. When the presenter gives a list of choices for answers, the player must give the specific answer. Answers like “the third one” or “the last one” are not acceptable.
  8. If the presenter's question card includes the word “Prompt” as a note below the answer, the presenter can ask the player for “more specific information” to determine if an answer was correct.  A presenter may only prompt once per question.  For example, if the player answers “Kabila,” the presenter may ask for more information, to elicit “Laurent” or “Joseph.” A presenter may ask a player to spell a response to determine if s/he was correct on phonetically similar answers, i.e. “Manet” or “Monet”.
  9. Conversely, if a player spells an answer to a question which does not ask for spelling, it should be considered correct, as long as s/he spells the answer correctly.
Correcting presenter errors
  1. If the presenter inadvertently gives an answer to a Face-Off without giving either team a chance to respond, the presenter simply reads the next Face-Off in the same category. If the problem occurs on a Bonus, the presenter uses the next Face-Off/Bonus pair in the same category. The presenter reads the Face-Off, gives the team the answer, then reads the new bonus.
  2. If the presenter gives the answer to a Face-Off after one player has answered incorrectly, without giving the second player the chance to respond, the presenter reads the next Face-Off in the same category for the second player only.
  3. If someone in the audience shouts out an answer, the presenter throws out the question and reads the next Face-Off or Face-Off/Bonus pair in the same category.
  4. If, however, all questions in the category have been used, the presenter will select a replacement from the remaining questions available in the round.
Playing the Ultimate Challenge
  1. In the Ultimate Challenge, each team has 60 seconds to answer 10 questions, worth 50 points each.
  2. The team that’s behind goes first. If there’s a tie score at the end of the three rounds, a coin toss determines which team will play first.
  3. There are four categories from which to choose. When it’s a team’s turn to play, the players confer and select the category. Once a category is selected it is no longer available.
  4. The questions are read rapid-fire one after the other. Team members may confer on answers. Any team member may call out an answer. The first answer heard by the presenter is the one that will be accepted.
  5. The presenter will acknowledge if an answer was correct or incorrect.
  6. Any member of the team may “pass” on any question if they do not have or know the answer. If a team says "pass" the presenter will go to the next question.
  7. As long as there is time remaining, teams can keep coming back to questions which they missed or on which they passed.
  8. If a team answers all 10 questions correctly it scores 500 points.
  9. Regardless of score, both teams always play the Ultimate Challenge. For televised matches, as a reward for answering all 10 questions correctly, each student team member receives a $500 Bonus.
  10. The team with the most points at the end of the Ultimate Challenge wins the game.
Player eligibility & substitution
  1. The Zain Africa Challenge Scholars Team consists of four players (three players and an alternate).
  2. Teams may substitute freely between games, but may not substitute during a game, except in the case of incapacitating illness or injury.
  3. Only undergraduate students who have never received an undergraduate or bachelor's degree at participating universities are eligible to compete. Students must be registered at the university and must be full-time students. Schools may add additional eligibility requirements.
  4. Students must be full time as defined by the university. Registrar verification that a lower second term course load completes all degree requirements is acceptable in lieu of the term credit requirement.
  5. Each member of the Zain Africa Challenge Scholars Team must be registered in school for the semester or term during which the National Qualifying Tournament or International Championship Festival is conducted in order to be eligible to compete.
  6. Players may compete at the National Qualifying Tournament in successive years until their team advances to the International Championship Festival.
  7. All players are limited to one year of Zain Africa Challenge International Championship Festival attendance/play, regardless of institutional affiliation. Once a player has attended/played at an International Championship Festival, they may not play in any successive National Qualifying Tournament or International Championship Festival.
  8. A player whose conduct is unsportsmanlike or who disrupts game play will be warned once. This warning is in effect for the duration of the competition.  A second violation will result in the player’s ejection from the match in progress. The team may substitute this player at the end of a round. An ejected player may return in subsequent matches; however, a third violation will result in a player’s expulsion from the competition. This pertains to conduct of the entire team (including the Coach and Liaison) during the entire tournament (including at the hotel, etc.). Warnings may be issued by any tournament official.
Resolving game discrepancies
  1. The programme producers have ultimate authority in all matters during the competition. Their decisions are final.
  2. Every attempt will be made to rectify procedural discrepancies (discrepancies concerning the implementation of the game rules and procedures) quickly and fairly.  During the games, the game officials will talk to the captain and coach of each team, one team at a time, away from the rest of the players. They will then attempt to decide if the discrepancy is valid and if so what adjustments should be made.
  3. At the end of each round, the game officials should review the round amongst themselves to ensure that no errors were made. They should also approach each team and ask if they have any questions.
  4. If a player or coach feels an error has been made, s/he must wait until the end of the round to bring this to the attention of the game officials.
  5. The game officials will review the discrepancy and adjust the point totals in accordance with their decision. The outcome of the review and resultant score changes should be announced before the start of the next round.
  6. The only points in question are those points awarded or not awarded in error.  Intangible issues like momentum are not considered.
  7. In most cases, discrepancies will be resolved by the addition or subtraction of points and/or the playing of additional questions without the clock. Replaying a round or game will only occur in extreme situations, such as one plagued by numerous discrepancies, poor officiating or equipment malfunctions.
  8. At the end of the game the captains initial the scoresheet.
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