Protmušis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Protmušis (which means Mindfight in Lithuanian) is a team quiz-type game (where the teams play against each other) that takes place in Vilnius, Lithuania. The organisers and participants of Protmušis are mainly students of various universities of Vilnius. As of now, all major universities and colleges of Vilnius are represented in Protmušis (including all the faculties of Vilnius University, some faculties of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Mykolas Romeris University and the Vilnius Pedagogical University); in addition, some people who had already graduated and those who are not yet studying in universities take or were taking part in the competition as well. Protmušis was organized for the first time in 1997. About 200 people (28 teams) have chosen to participate in the eight season of Protmušis, which started in October of 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Rules
Traditionally in every match of Protmušis two teams play against each other (due to the ammount of teams this rule was altered in the eight season however and three teams plays in a single match of the regular season instead; in the playoff matches the rules did not change). At any given moment no less than three and not more than five people could play for a single team (although it is permitted to register up to eight team members in which case different team members could play at different matches). During the match ten pre-prepared questions are shown on the large screen in the front of the hall (the questions are of such a style that in order to answer them one needs both general knowledge and the ability to think logically). After the host reads each question, the one-minute timer is started. During that one minute players are permitted to discuss the possible answers with the fellow members of their team and to think. Once one of the teams believes that it already knows the correct answer, the team presses a button to stop the timer and calls out the answer. If the host and/or the referee accepts the answer as correct, the full answer is shown on the screen and the team is awarded a point. If not, the one-minute timer is restarted and the other team is permitted to continue searching for the answer and to tell their attempt to answer the question. The team that has more points after all ten questions are read is declared the winner. If both teams have an equal amount of points at that time, the match ends in a draw. A draw is only possible in the regular season; if such a situation occurs during the playoffs, an overtime is played: additional questions are presented to the teams until the first correct answer is given - at that point the team which answered correctly is declared to be the winner.
In the semi-finals 12 questions are presented in each game rather than 10. In the finals there are 15 questions.
[edit] System of the championship
Every year two championships (seasons) are held, each one lasting for approximately four months (one in the winter and spring and one in the autumn and winter; the seasons are separated by the winter and summer holidays and the student exams).
Each season consists of the regular season and the playoffs. In the regular season all the participating teams are put into groups. All teams in the same group has to play against each other. Traditionally during these games, the winning team is given two points, and both teams are given one point each for a draw. The number of groups and the number of teams in each group depends on how many teams participates in Protmušis that particular season, therefore, the system varies somewhat from season to season.
According to the rules of the eight season however three teams plays at once in the matches of regular season. In such games the team who is able to answer the most questions is awarded two points, the second team - one pint and the third team - zero points. In case of a draw where all the teams manages to answer the same number of questions, each team is awarded a single point. If two teams answers the same number of questions, but this number is larger than that of the third team, the two teams are awarded 1,5 points each, while the third team gets 0 points. If two teams answers the same number of questions and this number is smaller than the number of the third team, then the two teams are awarded 0,5 points each while the third team receives 2 points. In the eight season there are 4 groups with 7 teams in each of them. Taking the first place in a group allows the team to advance directly to quarterfinals, while the second and third places in groups allows to play the eight-finals (the winners of which advance to quarterfinals). The teams that ends up in 4th-7th places of their groups do not advance to the playoffs.
In addition to the main championship, various smaller games are being held: when neither of the playing teams answer the question correctly the spectators of Protmušis are permitted to give a try (the spectators who answered the most questions are being listed in the official website), the best questions are voted for and the spectators and players who had created the most questions are named, all the players and spectators are asked additional questions where it is possible to win special prizes.
At present Protmušis is being held each Wednesday at 18:30 (Vilnius time) in the great hall of the Faculty of the Natural Sciences of Vilnius University. Anybody (including non-players and non-students) is permitted to come and watch the games, try their luck in answering the questions that teams are unable to answer or to support the teams of their faculty or institute. Each Wednesday four matches are played (whole event of four matches lasts for approximately two hours). All the questions and answers during the game are presented in the Lithuanian language.
[edit] Questions
The questions that are presented in the Protmušis games requires both general knowledge and the ability to think logically. They might be related to various fields (such as history, geography, arts, physics, biology and so on), but may not require a very specific knowledge in those fields. Usually, the questions are about more or less minor topics that are not known to most people, but after thinking logically it is possible to guess the answer based on one's general knowledge about various similar more important subjects. The goal of a good Protmušis question is to make it so that nobody would answer it immediately, but the team members would need to discuss among themselves and only after each member said his/her suggestions or thoughts regarding the question it would be possible to find the best answer. The amount of questions that are answered correctly by the teams per each match varies greatly (from 10% when the weaker teams play to 90% when the major teams face each other), but usually the teams are able to find the correct answer for approximately 50%-60% of the questions.
Each question as is shown on the screen consists of two slides, one for question and one for answer. The question slide usually includes introduction that is meant both to help find out the answer to the question and to describe the subject more, and the question itself. The answer slide includes a detailed explanation of the answer. The goal of Protmušis is not only to entertain but to expand the knowledge of the players and the spectators as well, therefore, the questions that are related to interesting subjects that are not widely known to the general public, but are worth to be known, are especially valued. Both the question slide and the answer slide are usually illustrated with pictures related to the subject.
Everybody (both players and spectators) is permitted to send in the questions for Protmušis (the questions are not presented during the matches of the team of the player who had created the question).
[edit] History
Protmušis was organised for the first time in 1997. It is organized regularly, two seasons a year, since 2003. Over the time Protmušis have expanded and improved greatly. The number of participating teams increased and so did the number of universities and faculties represented. The technology have improved (for example, special buttons that are available for teams changed simple hand-raising that used to be the only way of telling one's wish to answer), the number of organisers and the question authors have increased. Protmušis found many sponsors (such as Vaga, one of the biggest publishing houses in Lithuania) and therefore prizes are given now. The official internet website and forums were established and had improved, Protmušis was featured many times in the student press. In the autumn of 2006, Protmušis was also featured in the Sostinė supplement of the leading Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos Rytas and on the Lithuanian national television (LRT). In the spring of 2006 the cooperation of Protmušis and the International Quizzing Association started and the Lithuanian branch of the World Quizzing Championships 2006 was organised using the organisational basis of Protmušis. In december 2006 during the European Quizzing Championships in Paris, a very successful demonstration of Protmušis was given, introducing the gameplay to other European nations.
In the second season (autumn of 2003) 10 teams participated, all players were students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Vilnius University.
In the third season (spring of 2004) 16 teams participated, representing various faculties,
In the fourth season (autumn of 2004) 15 teams participated.
In the fifth season (spring of 2005) 21 team participated.
In the sixth season (autumn of 2005) 22 teams participated.
In the seventh season (spring of 2006) 26 teams (representing all the faculties of Vilnius University and the other universities of Vilnius) expressed their will to participate. Due to such a large number of teams the preliminaries had to be organised. After the preliminary games, 20 teams won the right to participate in the main tournament.
In the eight season (autumn of 2006) 28 teams participate.
As of now, each team may consist of five to eight players (no more than five players could play for the team in a match at any given time however). Some teams are participating for many years (there are players who have participated in every season since 1997). Each season at least several new teams registers for participation. Many teams represent some particular faculty or institute, while other teams are mixed.
[edit] External links
- Official website of Protmušis—includes news, articles about the matches, current standings, official rules, history of the teams, questions that were asked in past matches, polls (among other things)
- The forum of Protmušis
- The official website of the Scientific Community of the Students of Natural Sciences (includes some Protmušis-related material)
