The Judge’s role is to resolve disputes between opponents regarding rules interpretations and game procedures and to maintain files of official rule interpretations and rulings for each game. An additional role of the Judge is to resolve any complaints of discourteous behavior lodged between members. A complete explanation of the latter Complaint Procedure can be found in the AHIKS Bylaws.
Above all, writing to the Judge should be the last resort. Members are encouraged to negotiate compromises with opponents over differences of opinions on rules and procedures. The same goes for any complaints of discourteous behavior which can consist of a whole host of issues. If a compromise cannot be reached in either situation, the dispute must then be submitted to the Judge for resolution.
Because of the large number of games available for the members to play it is impossible for the Judge to be familiar with the rules of each one.
The Judge is the FINAL ARBITER for all disputes concerning the rules and procedures for the game.
All rule interpretations must be approved by the Judge BEFORE they become “official.” This includes rulings issued by the game publishers. These rulings do NOT automatically supersede rulings previously made by the Judge. Infrequently, the publisher’s ruling may have to be modified to be consistent with all prior rulings. If the Judge does change a previous ruling, existing matches must be completed under the old ruling, UNLESS both players agree to use the new ruling. If you write to the game publisher for a ruling, you should then send the Judge a copy of the publisher’s answers because the answers are not official UNTIL the Judge approves them for AHIKS. Rulings or ruling updates may appear periodically in the Judge’s column, “Approach the Bench,” in The Kommandeur.
Any ruling on a game dispute will be made with the following in mind:
1) Consistency – the Judge has on file all previous rulings and if so will abide by these in deciding the dispute.
2) Literal Interpretation – whenever possible, rulings are made on the basis of the rules themselves, not on “how it really happened” or “what the rule should say.”
3) Uniformity – the Judge will attempt to keep the rulings identical to those of the game publisher, whenever possible. Players are not required to use the rules “as written.” As long as they BOTH agree, in writing, they may change the rules, procedures, and scenarios to their hearts content. However, the Judge must have these written changes and agreements before a ruling can be made. Depending on the extent of the changes, the Judge is NOT obligated to make a ruling for a dispute about a changed rule or procedure. In addition, if the opponents agree to use a specific version of the rules, to use special rules, and/or to use variations of the rules, this agreement must be submitted to the Judge when a request is made to resolve a dispute.
If players agree to compromise on a rule dispute or game procedure without asking the Judge to intervene, neither player can ask the Judge to overrule the compromise at a later date.