Reasons for the change:

1. For the final round, 15-20 is the maximum number of contestants that can be judged fairly and accurately.
2. We cannot fit ALL National Champions into finals anymore.
3. We want the winners and high-ranking players of National Contests to have some benefit.
4. In actuality, really only the top 10 in each Championship Division of each National Contest should be capable/eligible to compete at the level of World Contest.
5. However, we still want EVERYONE to have a chance to come and try for the World Title.

2014 World Contest Round Structure

Day 3: FINAL (3-min) TOTAL 15-20 (1A) / 8-10 (2A-5A)

Last-Year’s World Champion x 1

Multi-National Contest (AP, EYYC, NA) Champions x 3

Winners of Semi-Final x 11-16 (1A) / 4-6 (2A-5A)

Day 2: SEMI-FINAL (1.5-min) TOTAL 40-60 (1A) / 15-30 (2A-5A)

National Champions x 15-25 (1A) / 5-10 (2A-5A)

Winners of Preliminary x 25-35 (1A) / 10-20 (2A-5A)

Day 1: PRELIMINARY (1-min) TOTAL 100-150 (1A) / 30-60 (2A-5A)

Top 10 of all Nationals x 70-110 (1A) / 20-40 (2A-5A)

Winners of WildCard x 30-40 (1A) / 10-20 (2A-5A)

If you are the World Champion, you compete in Finals directly.

If you are the Asia-Pacific, EYYC, PanAm Champion, you compete in Finals directly.

If you are a National Champion, you compete starting in Semi-Finals.

If you are in the top ten players in your country, you compete starting in the Preliminary round.

If you had never won or ranked for the year, you still have a chance to compete starting in the WildCard round.

Picture below doesn’t represent actual numbers of players in each round.