Quizbowl

Quizbowl (or Quiz-bowl or quiz bowl) is a family of games of questions and answers on all topics of human knowledge, commonly played in high school and college. In brief, the game is played with buzzers between (usually) 2 teams of (usually) 4 players each. Each match has (usually) 15 to 20 tossup questions which are read to all players. The first player to buzz-in correctly gets 10 points and the opportunity for his team to hear a bonus worth up to 30 points. An incorrect buzz loses 5 points and the question is completed for the other team. Some formats make use of other types of questions. The game is commonly referred to as College Bowl or "Academic Competition," or variants thereof. "Quiz Bowl/QB" will be the generic term used here.

Contents

1 Subject areas

2 Question style

3 Gameplay

3.1 Tossup questions
3.2 Bonus questions

Subject areas

At the college and high school level, most questions are on subjects generally covered in a liberal arts education, or the liberal arts component of a degree. These include literature; history; science and math; social sciences; fine arts; geography; religion, mythology, and philosophy; and general knowledge. The choice of subjects and number of questions on each is called question distribution. To a lesser extent, questions are asked on engineering topics (including computer science), and popular culture, referred to as "Trash."

"Trash" subjects are generally considered to be current events, sports, pop culture, and some parts of the "general knowledge" catch-all. Much of traditional non-academic trivia falls under this heading. The use of the word "trash" in reference to these subjects was originally derogatory, but "trash-lovers" have reclaimed the word, and many label themselves "trash-meisters" or similarly with pride.

Question style

Questions in college level Quiz Bowl rarely look like this: "Who is the original maker of Macintosh computers?"

Instead, they resemble this tossup question:

Q: In 1977, this Silicon Valley garage startup sold its computers for $666.66. In late 1997, it is a Fortune 500 company led by one of its two founding Steves, hoping the public will "Think different" and buy more of "The computer for the rest of us.". For ten points, name this company which in 1984 introduced the Macintosh.

A: Apple Computer

College quizbowl questions differ from direct, Trivial Pursuit-style questions in the following ways:

Test depth as well as breadth of knowledge
Usually have several clues (the more the better).
Clues are arranged by difficulty or other patterns (eg. hardest first).
Last clue is usually the easiest, and called a 'giveaway'
Resemble puzzles more than direct questions.
Are comparatively long.

Because players can buzz in at any time to answer the question before the opposing team does, the increasingly direct clues are key to gameplay.

Gameplay

There are several different variants (or formats) of Quiz Bowl, but they share the following rules for playing.

Two teams of (typically) 4 players each sit at a buzzer set, which is like a set of TV game show buzzers. Anyone who 'rings' or 'buzzes' in prevents anyone else from doing so. If a round is timed, a countdown timer is used. Each game is played with a packet of questions, which a moderator reads.

There are two basic types of questions asked: tossups (typically worth 10 points) and bonuses (worth a maximum of 20-30 points). Other types of questions include written or worksheet rounds (in which each team writes its answers down on separate pieces of paper) or "lightning" or "rapid-fire" rounds, which usually consist of ten questions and sixty seconds, with only one team given the chance to respond. The other team may have the chance to answer the questions the first team missed; then the second team gets its own set of questions, and the first team may get to answer any missed questions.

Tossup questions

Tossup questions (or tossups) can be answered by any player from either team. Tossups must be answered individually, without the aid of teammates or the audience (Just like Jeopardy!). Aid by teammates is known as conferring and is not allowed. The first person from either side to buzz in may attempt to answer the question. Unlike the current version of Jeopardy!, one may interrupt the moderator and give an answer. If the answer given is incorrect, then no other member of their team may attempt to answer and only players from the other team may ring in. Only one player per team may try to answer a given question.

Scoring:

Question interrupted, wrong answer given: -5 points (In some tournaments and formats, there is no penalty for an interrupted question.)
Wrong answer given after end of tossup: 0 points
Right answer given, any time during/after question: 10 points

Some formats add an additional possibility, known as a "power" tossup, that rewards a buzz made before the easier clues have been read:

Question interrupted early, right answer given: 15 points

If a tossup is successfully answered, the answerer's team is given a bonus question.

Bonus questions

Bonuses can only be answered by one team. The team may work together (confer) to answer the bonus question. Usually, bonus questions require multi-part answers, and tossups single-part answers.

Scoring:

Total of 20 to 30 points possible (ACF and NAQT formats currently set all bonuses at 30 points)
Often have multiple parts, each worth a small number of points (most typically, three parts, each worth 10 points)
No penalty for wrong answers
Scoring is only done in multiples of 5

Games are either played in timed halves, or until a set number of tossups are read (usually 10). In the case of a tied score, a tiebreaker is used. The nature of the tiebreaker varies by tournament and format. If a player or team feels that a question is in error, a protest may be made. This causes the question to be held for reevaluation, at which time points are adjusted. Rules for protests vary.

Formats

For tournament purposes, a format covers rules of play and question structure/content. For questions, this includes question topics, clue difficulty, order of clues, and writing style. Most questions contain multiple clues. Rules of play include player eligibility, scoring of questions, acceptable answers, and procedures for protesting a question.

In particular, ACF, CBCI, HCASC, NAQT and UC each have distinctive formats. Also, certain tournaments and programs have developed their own distinctive formats. A few of them include the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Bowl), University of Michigan MLK, Stanford University, and Deep Bench (University of Minnesota/Carleton College).

ACF format has a rigorous emphasis on academics, specifically Western Civ. There is no limit on grad participation. Questions are almost all on academic topics, and are more difficult than other formats. Clues are layered; more difficult clues come first, and a question should be answerable from any clue read. ACF is untimed; questions are generally much longer than CBCI questions. Games are usually played to a total of 20 tossups read.

CBCI or College Bowl format emphasizes comparatively short questions on academics, current events, pop culture, and general knowledge. The limits on participation are 6 years total in CBCI tournaments and only one grad student per team. Questions tend to be structured so that most of the players know the answers to tossups read in their entirety. It is played in 8 minute halves, to a usual total of 22-24 tossups read, though there's no actual limit and 30-toss-up games, though quite rare, have occurred. Game play is relatively quick as a result. Related formats are HCASC (Honda Campus All Star Challenge) and UC (University Challenge).

NAQT format balances the diversity of subjects found in CB packets with question difficulty often seen in the ACF format. The limits on participation are complex; in a nutshell, as long as you're earning a degree, you can play. It is based on the Penn Bowl/MLK format. Game play is markedly different from ACF or CB. Timeouts and player substitution during timeouts is allowed. The NAQT also uses power tossups. Game length can vary a little, but a standard length for NAQT is 9 minute halves and a total of 28 tossups. National/Regional tournaments follow these formats very closely, while invitationals often modify these formats for their own use.

Other competitions evolved from these formats include competitions testing knowledge in the Bible, Latin, modern foreign languages, nursing, business ethics, athletic training, cooking, and literally hundreds of others. Many medical schools use quiz bowl-style competitions as part of their "grand rounds" specialty training for students and interns. In the 1990's, "Deaf College Bowl" for university teams with hearing-impaired students emerged.

In addition, other variants on the above quiz bowl formats are used at the high school level, including such formats as those of the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence (PACE) and the Panasonic Academic Championship (PAC or simply "Panasonic").

Tournaments

Quiz Bowl is generally played at tournaments. Many schools hold on-campus tournaments (intramurals) where anyone can play. Some schools have programs which practice weekly (or more) during the school year. These programs are generally open to all students. They often include in their names "College Bowl," "Academic Competition," or "Quiz Bowl." They send teams to invitational tournaments sponsored by other schools or organizations.

For Quiz Bowl, a tournament is a gathering of teams who engage each other in several rounds of games. A tournament winner is determined using some criteria (win-loss record, playoff record, etc....). There are several classes of tournaments, which may use one of several formats.

Intramural tournaments invite students on a given campus to form teams and play. They are often called campus tournaments. On occasion, such tournaments may be open to teams of graduate students, and/or campus staff.

Invitational tournaments involve teams from various schools. They are run by the Quiz Bowl team/program at a given school. Invitations are sometimes sent to individual programs. However, most tournaments give out open invitations for any school to accept.

Major variants of Invitational tournaments include National/Regional, Junior Bird, "Masters", and "trash" tournaments.

National/Regional tournaments are academic tournaments run by organizations not affiliated with a given school. These organizations include:

College Bowl Company Inc. (CBCI) - (Its Campus Programs and Regional/National Tournaments are run in cooperation with the Association of College Unions International (ACUI))
National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT)
Academic Competition Federation (ACF)
TRASH--Testing Recall About Strange Happenings, which runs trash tournaments open to all individuals, including college and university teams

In addition, CBCI administers the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and licenses University Challenge (UC) in the United Kingdom.

Such tournaments often have qualification requirements, sometimes including purchase of intramural tournament packets, or participation in regional tournaments (or other tournaments). They have unique rules above their associated formats, usually concerning eligibility and number of teams per school.

Junior Bird tournaments are restricted to collegiate players in their first or second season. Freshmen and sophomores are the intended targets, but upperclassmen or grad students who meet the criteria are sometimes allowed to play. The intent of these tournaments is to support player development by providing experience against other teams of similar skills, and to give newer players a chance to compete without being dominated by long-time veterans.

Masters tournaments are tournaments which do not place any restrictions on who may play. They are intended for those who want to play with people from other schools, have graduated, or are otherwise ineligible for college play. The intent behind them varies.

Trash tournaments are similar to Masters tournaments, except that all the questions are on trash subjects. Because of the non-academic format and lack of eligibility restrictions, a few trash teams consist of people (especially bar trivia enthusiasts) who have never competed in the academic side of quiz bowl.

Eligibility

Eligibility rules depend on the game. For the college game, in official College Bowl, NAQT or other events, there are severe eligibility rules, while other tournaments differ on whether senior or only junior undergraduate, graduate, and even non-students can play. In general the less skilled players can always compete, there is a debate about how much more experienced players should be involved (analogous to the hypothetical question of whether NBA players should be able to play college games, or even high school games).

First and second year undergraduates can always play. Junior and Senior undergraduates are typically excluded from junior bird type tournaments. Graduate students are excluded from undergraduate-only tournaments. Non-students are excluded from college tournaments.

The general intent is to ensure a degree of fairness, by preventing teams from having too many players who have too much experience who can swamp the entire field. College Bowl in particular allows only one graduate student per team. This is a controversial point.

Non students generally are restricted to certain tournaments, which are open to everyone. These tournaments include "Masters" tournaments, "Trash" tournaments, and the occasional intramural tournament.

Question sources

Questions come from one of three sources.

1. Organizations such as CBCI and NAQT, or other vendors sell packets for use in intramurals and invitationals. These are written by a small group of professional writers. They also write all of the packets used in tournaments they run, e.g. CB Regional Tournaments, and NAQT Sectionals.

2. The school hosting a tournament may choose to write all the packets used. Members of the host school's team generally write the packets. Typical of many invitationals.

3. Every team which participates in a tournament is expected to write a packet of questions. Typical of most invitationals.

Media coverage

No form of quiz bowl at the college level is broadcast regularly in the United States on a national basis. The "College Quiz Bowl" was broadcast on NBC radio from 1953 to 1955, General Electric College Bowl was televised on CBS then NBC from 1959 to 1970, College Bowl returned to CBS radio 1974-76, and HCASC was broadcast on BET until 1995. University Challenge is licensed from CBCI by Granada TV Ltd. and broadcast in the United Kingdom.

There are several local broadcasts of college and high school level quiz bowl.

There is no relationship between Quiz Bowl and Jeopardy! or any of the other TV trivia game shows out there, other than that many of the contestants may be the same. NAQT has a list (http://www.naqt.com/game-show-appearances.jsp) of current and former quizbowl players at any level who have appeared on TV game shows.

External links

Official NAQT website (http://www.naqt.com)
Official CBI Website (http://www.collegebowl.com/)
Official ACF Website (http://www.acf-quizbowl.com/)
Yahoo Quizbowl Newsgroup (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quizbowl/)
Stanford Question Archive (http://quizbowl.stanford.edu/archive/)
The Maize Pages (http://www.collegequizbowl.org/Maize/)
College Bowl History through 1977 (http://www.zebra.net/~tfm/cbvalhal.html)
Federation of Academic Quiz Teams (http://www.faqt.org)
The World of High School Quiz Bowl (http://www.hsquizbowl.org)
Open Directory Project: Quiz Bowl (http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Organizations/Student/Academic/Competitions/Quiz_Bowl/)
TRASH - Testing Recall About Strange Happenings (http://members.aol.com/trashionals)
CAQL - Canadian Academic Quiz League (http://www.caql.org)
BuzzerQuiz (http://www.buzzerquiz.com)
Official NAC Website (http://www.qunlimited.com)

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Categories: Quizbowl