Playing in a Box League

In a Box League your organizer puts you in a box with three or four players of about your level. Once a round — usually a week — your box meets for an hour or two, at a time and place it picks, and plays its whole round robin: everyone partners everyone once. In a box of four that is 3 games and you play all of them; in a box of five it is 5 games, and each player plays 4 and sits 1. When every box is done, the boxes re-form from the updated ratings and the next round starts.

There is no app and no account. Everything happens on your box page, which opens from the link in your email or from a QR code your organizer shows you. It is the same personal link as your score page.

Your box page

The page shows your box ("Box 2"), your box-mates, your box's games with who partners whom, and the day the round ends ("3 days left"). At the top is your meetup: the one time your box plays.

• Set our time. Any box-mate can set it: a day, a time and, if you like, a place. Your box-mates get a buzz.
• I'm in / Can't make it. Everyone else answers, and the page shows who's coming: "3 of 4 in · Di hasn't answered". If the time changes, everyone answers again.
• A box of four needs all four, because everyone plays every game. A box of five needs all five: each game sits a different player, so with only four there, just one game could be played.

Your organizer may also turn on these:

• Days that work. Tap the mornings, afternoons and evenings that work for you this round. The grid shows where your whole box overlaps; on a slot that works for everyone, tap Set this time.
• Box notes. Short notes to your box: "I booked court 4 at Elm Park". Your box-mates get a buzz if they turned notifications on; the others get an email, at most one a day. You can delete your own notes.
• How your box can reach you. An optional line you write yourself, such as a phone number. Only your box sees it, only while the round runs, and you can clear it any time.

Nobody's email address is ever shown to anyone.

Reporting the scores

At the end of the meetup, one of you taps Report scores and enters the whole sheet: every game, with the day you played. Mark Didn't play this one for a game you skipped; a game you leave out stays open, so a box that ran out of time can report it after another meetup. Until a box-mate confirms, the reporter can still Edit sheet.

Everyone else in the box gets a buzz to confirm. Any one of you can tap Confirm all; the games are saved and rated at once, and your box's results card appears. You can't confirm a sheet you reported yourself.

If you remember one game differently, tap That's not right on that game and enter the score you remember. That game goes to your organizer to settle and doesn't count until they do; the rest of the sheet is confirmed as usual.

When the round ends

The round closes when every box is done, or on its last day. Games your box never played are marked not played and count for nobody. If any score in the league is still unsettled, your page says "Round 2 starts once your organizer settles the last scores"; nobody's name is shown.

When the next round starts you get your results and your new box: Moved up to Box 2, Moved down to Box 4, Stays in Box 3, or simply your box if you're new. Then set a time with your new box-mates.

You get a handful of buzzes a round (when it starts, when your time is set, on the day, if the scores aren't in, and when it ends) and at most two emails. To stop the emails, use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any of them; see Managing your emails.