In cooperation with Mahjongtime.com the European Mahjong Association (EMA) has established a special ranking system for online competitions which are held on the online platform of Mahjongtime.

1. BASIC ISSUES

1.1.
The European Mahjong Association (EMA) in cooperation with Mahjong Time (San Diego, CA, USA) will establish a ranking system for Mahjong online competitions – the Mahjong Online Ranking System Europe (MORSE). It is based on the results of online tournaments that are certified by the EMA. 

1.2.
The EMA can acknowledge online tournaments held at the online platform MahjongTime.com to be rated as MORSE competitions. All certifications are decided by the board of the EMA. 

1.3.
MORSE competitions will be organized and promoted by Mahjong Time or in cooperation with Mahjong Time by the EMA or a member organization of the EMA. A maximum of six competitions a year can be certified. A member organization can organize one MORSE competition a year. One tournament a year can be held as the European Online Championship; this competition must be organized by Mahjong Time in cooperation with the EMA.

1.4
The Mahjong Online Ranking System Europe (MORSE) will not be mixed up with the Mahjong Ranking System Europe (MERS) that is based on national and local European tournaments. 

1.5.
The Mahjong Online Ranking System Europe (MORSE) comes into effect with the first MORSE competition held at MahjongTime.com in September 2007.

2. REQUIREMENTS FOR TOURNAMENTS

2.1.
A MORSE competition must apply the Mahjong Competition Rules (MCR) as published by the World Mahjong Organization in July 2006. 

2.2.
It must be open for participation for all players from European countries.

2.3.
It must be announced at least two months ahead on an EMA acknowledged Mahjong calendar (e.g. mahjongnews.com) and at MahjongTime.com. 

2.4.
At least four sessions of 90 minutes must be played.

2.5.
At least 12 participants from EMA member countries must have signed in at the beginning of the competition.

2.6.
Money prizes are not allowed.

2.7.
A subscription fee can be required. The fee must be mentioned in the application (see 4.1.).

2.8.
MORSE tournaments are not allowed be held at the same date as MERS competitions. For that reason the EMA strives for an overall planing of MERS and MORSE competitions.

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR PLAYERS

3.1.
Players who are residents of an EMA member country are listed in the MORSE. 

3.2.
To be listed, a player must have participated in at least two MORSE competitions as active player. Players who don’t finish the competition are not rated. 

4. PROCEDURE OF CERTIFICATION

4.1.
Mahjong Time or an EMA member organization can apply for a certification of a tournament. The well-founded application must be sent to the president of the EMA at least six weeks ahead of the tournament. 

4.2.
The certification ‘MORSE Competition – certified by the European Mahjong Association (EMA)’ is granted to the tournament after the decision of the board. The certificate can be used for promotion by the organizers of the tournament. 

4.3.
The president of the EMA will appoint an observer for the tournament. The observer should check the requirements for the tournament and report the results to the EMA. The observer can participate in the tournament. 

5. RANKING CALCULATION

5.1.
The MORSE ranking calculation is based on the ranking calculation for MERS competitions. The tournament weight of MORSE competitions is 1 for all tournaments except for the European Online Championship which has the weight of 2.

European Mahjong Association (EMA)

May 1, 2007