Rules

1. Each participant must create a team of four Top Chef cheftestants. This team must be submitted by posting no later than 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 18, 2008 (which is the date the second episode of Season 4 will air).

2. Points for your team will accrue as follows until only 6 cheftestants remain (once an episode begins with six contestants, Rule #3 will govern point accrual):

A. 20 points for each member of your team that is not the winner, but is one of the top 3 favorites of the elimination challenge.
B. 40 points any time a member of your team wins the elimination challenge.
C. 30 points any time a member of your team was on the winning team of a team elimination challenge. This is in lieu of the 20 points you get for A.
E. 10 points any time a member of your team wins an elimination challenge two times in a row and an additional 10 points for any consecutive wins thereafter.
F. 10 points anytime a member of your team wins a quick-fire and an elimination challenge in the same episode.
G. -20 points for each member of your team that is not eliminated, but falls in the bottom 3 of the challenge.
H. -40 points for any member of your team that is eliminated.
I. -10 points any time a member of your team is in the bottom three of an elimination challenge or quick fire 2 times in a row (this can occur if your member is in the bottom three of a quick fire and then an elimination challenge in the same episode or in the bottom three of an elimination challenge and then a quick fire in the next episode or is in the bottom three of an elimination two times in a row or is in the bottom three of a quick fire two times in a row).
Note: No additional deduction if your team member is in the bottom three 3 times in a row. So if your team member is in the bottom three for the first four episodes, you would lose 10 points based on episode 1-2, and another 10 points based on episode 3-4.
J. -20 points any time a member of your team fails to present a dish for any reason for any challenge elimination, quick fire, or otherwise.
K. 20 points any time a member of your team wins a quick-fire challenge.
L. 10 points any time a member of your team that is not the winner, but is in one of the top 3 favorites of the quick-fire
M. -20 points any time a member of your team loses a quick-fire challenge
N. -10 points any time a member of your team is not the loser of a quick-fire but is in the bottom 3
O. 30 points if your entire team makes it to the final six.

3. When there are only 6 contestants remaining, points will accrue as follows:

A. By 5 p.m. of the day on which the new episode will air, each participant must post on the blog with the name of the contestant the participant predicts will win the elimination challenge. Once a name is given, there can be no changes.
B. If the participant guessed correctly, the participant will win 50 points. If the participant guessed correctly for the final show, the participant will win an additional 10 points.
C. In addition to posting your selection for the elimination challenge winner – you may also select someone as the quick-fire challenge winner. If you select correctly you will win 10 additional points. There is no penalty for not selecting a quick-fire winner nor is there a penalty for guessing incorrectly.
D. If the contestant chosen by the participant to win the elimination challenge is eliminated, the participant will lose 30 points.
E. -20 points for failure to submit any name as the winner of the elimination challenge
F. 50 points for correctly selecting the fan favorite – not submitting a selection for fan favorite results in -20 points, -10 points if the person you selected is not the fan favorite (the reunion show where the fan favorite is selected will act as the challenge for that week).

4. If there is any dispute over whether points have been earned or lost, the grievance shall be aired by a post on the website which must be posted within 24 hours of the current points total posting. Other participants have 5 days from the date of the post to comment on what they believe the correct result is and why. The dispute will then be settled by the majority result of votes on the website from Katie, Shyla, and Nikki. This decision is final and cannot be challenged.

5. Any amendments or additions to the rules must be proposed by Nikki and accepted by a majority vote of the participants.