Reconnaissance Blind Chess
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC RECONNAISSANCE BLIND CHESS COMPETITION LEGAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
THESE LEGAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE INCORPORATED INTO AND MADE A PART OF THE RECONNAISSANCE BLIND CHESS COMPETITION RULES (https://rbc.jhuapl.edu/tournament/competitionRules) AND GAME RULES (https://rbc.jhuapl.edu/gameRules) (COLLECTIVELY, "RULES"). In the event of a conflict, these terms and conditions govern.
ENTRIES ARE FREE OF CHARGE. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER. ODDS OF WINNING DEPEND UPON THE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS IN THE COMPETITION. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR OTHERWISE RESTRICTED BY LAW.
By registering for or participating in The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC Reconnaissance Blind Chess Competition ("Contest"), you agree to these legal terms and conditions ("Terms") in addition to the Rules. In the event of any discrepancy between the Terms and the Rules, the Terms shall control and govern. Please read the Terms carefully before participating. You must follow the directions provided within these Terms to be eligible to receive a Prize in connection with the Contest.
In the event of any discrepancy between Sponsor's Privacy Policy and these Terms, Sponsor's Privacy Policy shall control and govern.
SPONSOR: This Contest is sponsored by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC located at 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, Maryland 20723, U.S.A. ("Sponsor").
ELIGIBILITY: The Contest is open only to individuals who are eighteen (18) years of age or older (except in the case of legal residents of certain states where the legal age of majority is greater than eighteen (18) years of age, who then must meet the state's legal age of majority) at the time of entry. Notwithstanding the prior sentence, this Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law, rule, or regulation. Officers, directors, and employees of Sponsor Entities (defined below), members of these persons' immediate families (spouses and/or parents, children, and siblings, and their spouses, regardless of where they reside), and/or persons living in the same households as these persons (whether or not related thereto) are not eligible to win Prizes for the Contest. "Sponsor Entities" shall mean the Sponsor and its parent, subsidiary, and affiliate companies, and administrative, advertising, and promotion agencies, and any other entity involved in the development, administration, promotion, or implementation of the Contest, including Ashley Llorens, Todd Neller, Raman Arora, Bo Li, and Mykel Kochenderfer.
HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST: The Contest will begin on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 10:00 am, Eastern Daylight Saving Time ("EDST") and will end on October 31, 2022 at 11:59pm EDST ("Contest Period").
Those eligible individuals or teams who register for the Contest ("Entrants") will be entered into the Contest, as described in these Terms. To enter the Contest during the Contest Period: 1) Entrants must go to the Sponsor's website (https://rbc.jhuapl.edu/) ("Sponsor Platform"); 2) register on the Sponsor Platform ("Entry"); and 3) follow all Rules for participation in the Contest specified on the Sponsor Platform and any instructions provided in communications from the Sponsor. Upon registration, each Entrant will set a password, which will be used to authenticate that Entrant's messages to the server. Failure to follow any instructions provided in these Terms or the Rules may result in disqualification. There is a limit of one (1) Entry per Entrant during the Contest Period. Multiple Entries from the same Entrant for the Contest will not be accepted.
ADDITIONAL RULES: All Entrants agree that all decisions of the Sponsor shall be final and binding with respect to all matters related to the Contest, and Entrants waive any right to challenge any decisions made by the Sponsor, and waive any right to claim any ambiguity in the Terms, Rules, or any Entry.
Sponsor is not obligated to acknowledge or return any Entries. You are responsible for your costs of entering, including online access charges, other information technology expenses, long distance telephone charges, etc. The time of receipt of any valid Entry shall be the time such valid Entry becomes available to Sponsor. Sponsor's computer shall be the official clock of the Contest.
By entering this Contest, an Entrant gives express permission to be contacted by Sponsor.
SELECTION OF PRIZE WINNERS: Within seven (7) days following the end of the Contest Period, Sponsor will compile a list of the final standings of the Entrants and the overall winner ("Winner") and any Runners Up for the Contest will be chosen based on the criteria specified in these Terms and the Rules. The Winner shall be the top-ranked Entrant in the final standings, excluding any Entries that have been created and entered by a Sponsor Entity ("Organizer Bot"). Winning is subject to verification of eligibility. The decisions of Sponsor are final and binding with respect to all matters related to the Contest.
PRIZES ("Prizes"):
The first-place Winner (excluding any Organizer Bots from the rankings)
will be awarded a prize of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00)
and the second-place Winner (excluding any Organizer Bots) will be awarded a prize of five
hundred dollars ($500.00).
Several Entrants (exact number unknown) may be selected to present information on their approach at the NeurIPS 2022 Conference to be held virtually in December 2022 ("NeurIPS"). The selection of NeurIPS speakers will be completely up to the discretion of the Sponsor and is intended to be based on Entrants' respective rankings in the final standings along with the techniques they employed. Sponsor Entities and authors of Organizer Bots are eligible to speak at NeurIPS about their approach and other topics as the Sponsor determines. By entering this contest, you agree to speak about your bot as part of NeurIPS or arrange to have an appropriate presentation about your bot given, if selected.
In order to build collective knowledge following the tournament:
Sponsor expects Entrants with the top performing bots to present their approach during the competition session (dates not final) at NeurIPS, or, if unable to attend, find someone who can present their approach. As a last resort, Entrants may work with Sponsor to ensure that an appropriate presentation can be given.
Sponsor highly encourages successful Entrants (including those for Organizer Bots) to share their approaches in open venues of their choice after the competition.
PUBLICITY RELEASE: By submission of its Entry, an Entrant (and each member of Entrant's team, if not an individual Entrant) grants to Sponsor, and each of its respective designees, the right to use or publicize such Entrant's name, affiliation, address (city and state of residence), voice, statements, photograph and/or other likeness, for advertising, promotional, trade and/or any other purpose in any media or format now known or hereafter devised, throughout the world, in perpetuity, without limitation, and without further compensation, consideration, permission or notification, unless prohibited by law.
NOTIFICATION: Sponsor will notify each potential Winner and Runner Up at the e-mail address provided on the Sponsor Platform. Sponsor will make three attempts to contact a potential Winner or Runner Up via e-mail within seventy-two (72) hours from the time the potential Winner or Runner Up was selected. If Sponsor is unable to reach a potential Winner or Runner Up by e-mail within such seventy-two (72) hour period, then that potential Winner or Runner Up will be disqualified and an alternate potential Winner or Runner Up may be selected by Sponsor. At the time of Sponsor's contact with the potential Winner or Runner Up, the potential Winner or Runner Up will be asked to provide proof of their age, and a government-issued photo ID. If the potential Winner or Runner Up fails to abide by the Terms, or is ineligible, Sponsor may select an alternate potential Winner or Runner Up from all remaining eligible Entrants. Sponsor is not responsible for and shall not be liable for unsuccessful efforts to notify a potential Winner or Runner Up.
LICENSE: By submitting an Entry, you irrevocably grant to Sponsor and its affiliates, legal representatives, assigns, agents and licensees, the unconditional, perpetual, non-exclusive, no cost, royalty-free license to reproduce, encode, store, copy, transmit, publish, post, broadcast, display, publicly perform, adapt, exhibit and/or otherwise use or reuse (without limitation as to when or to the number of times used), each element of your Entry and all information and data related to or derived from any moves, notifications, selections, or other elements of your game play or strategy submitted to or provided by Sponsor during the Contest. Ownership of all intellectual property rights, including any intellectual property rights associated with software developed by Entrants, shall be retained by the Entrants, subject to any applicable third party rights.
ENTRANT’S WARRANTIES, INDEMNITY AND RELEASE: Each Entrant (and, in the case of a team Entry, each member of such team) warrants that its Entry is Entrant’s own original work and, as such, Entrant is the sole and exclusive owner and rights holder of the Entry, and Entrant has the right to make the Entry and grant all required licenses. Entrant agrees not to make any Entry that: (i) infringes any third party proprietary rights, intellectual property rights, industrial property rights, personal or moral rights or any other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity or confidentiality obligations, or defames any person; or (ii) otherwise violates any applicable U.S. or foreign state or federal law.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Entrant agrees to indemnify all Sponsor Entities at all times from and against any liability, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from any of Entrant’s acts, defaults or omissions and/or a breach of any warranty set forth herein. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Entrant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsor Entities from and against any and all claims, actions, suits or proceedings, as well as any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or accruing from: (a) Entrant’s Entry or other material uploaded or otherwise provided by Entrant that infringes any third party proprietary rights, intellectual property rights, industrial property rights, personal or moral rights or any other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity or confidentiality obligations, or defames any person; (b) any misrepresentation made by Entrant in connection with the Contest; (c) any non-compliance by Entrant with these Rules or any applicable U.S. or foreign state or federal law; (d) claims brought by persons or entities other than the parties to these Rules arising from or related to Entrant’s involvement with the Contest; and (e) Entrant’s acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any Prize, or Entrant’s participation in the Contest and any Contest-related activity.
NO LIABILITY FOR INTERNET FAIILURES: Sponsor Entities are not responsible for any malfunction of the Sponsor Platform or any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, undeliverable, or destroyed Entries or entry materials due to system errors, failed, incomplete or garbled computer or other telecommunication transmission malfunctions, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, typographical or system/human errors and failures, technical malfunction(s) of any telephone network or lines, cable connections, satellite transmissions, servers or providers, or computer equipment, traffic congestion on the Internet or at the Contest Platform, or any combination thereof, which may limit a participant’s ability to participate.
RELEASE/WAIVER OF LIABILITY: By submitting an Entry, participating in the Contest, or accepting a Prize, each Entrant expressly agrees to forever waive, release, discharge, and covenant not to sue the Sponsor and/or the Sponsor Entities and each of their respective parents, affiliated companies, subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, agents, licensees, distributors, dealers, retailers, printers, representatives and advertising and promotion agencies, and any and all other companies associated with the Contest, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, "Released Parties") of, for, and from any and all claims, debts, liabilities, demands, obligations, costs, fees, expenses, actions and causes of actions whatsoever, of every nature, character and description (collectively, "Claims"), known or unknown, including, but not limited to, all those arising out of or in any way related to the Contest; the Sponsor Platform; these Terms or the Rules; Entrant's Entry; the negligence of Sponsor or any of the Released Parties; and any participation in the Contest.
PRIVACY POLICY: Information collected in connection with this Contest will be used in accordance with Sponsor's Privacy Policy (https://www.jhuapl.edu/Home/Privacy) and these Terms. In the event of any discrepancy between Sponsor's Privacy Policy and these Terms, Sponsor's Privacy Policy shall control and govern.
GENERAL CONDITIONS: Released Parties are not responsible for late, incomplete, illegible, inaccurate, undelivered, or garbled Entries, interrupted or unavailable network or other connections; misdirected, blocked, or delayed notifications; printing, typographical or other errors appearing within these Terms or the Rules, in any Contest-related advertisements or other materials; or any other errors, problems or difficulties of any kind relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing of entries, the operation of the Sponsor Platform, the announcement of the Prize Winner or Runners Up, or in any Contest-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to Entrants or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest. Released Parties (i) make no warranty, guaranty or representation of any kind concerning any Prize (or any portion thereof), and (ii) disclaim any implied warranty. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of any such term. All disputes will be resolved under the laws of the State of Maryland, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles, and the laws of the United States. All disputes arising out of or with respect to this Contest or these Terms shall be heard exclusively in the courts, state and Federal, located in Baltimore, Maryland.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER OR NOT AN ENTRANT, TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR PLATFORM ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CONTEST OR UNDERMINE THE CONTENT OR LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR WILL DISQUALIFY ANY SUCH ENTRANT, AND SPONSOR AND/OR ITS AGENTS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES) AND OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY PERSON OR PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend the Contest (or any portion thereof) at any time. In the event of cancellation, Sponsor may elect to identify the Winner and any Runners Up by the then-current standings in the Contest at the time of such cancellation. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Terms for clarification purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Contest.
LIST OF THE WINNER AND RUNNERS UP: For a list of the Winner and Runners Up (available after November 7, 2022), mail a request and self-addressed stamped envelope to: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, Maryland 20723, U.S.A., ATTN: Ryan Gardner, M/S 4-335. Requests must be received by December 31, 2022.