This rules summary is solely intended as a general guide to the Nazarene USA/Canada set of quizzing rules for informational purposes only, and should not be substituted for the complete rules set. You can download the official rules and guidelines for youth Bible quizzing at YouthQuiz.com downloads.

The Team:

Quizzers:
A regular team has five members. A team can have fewer or more than five members, but only five may participate in any one round. During quiz rounds, there are four quizzers and one substitute. Substitutes can only replace an active quizzer during time-outs or when an active quizzer has answered four toss-up questions correctly or three incorrectly, or has committed three fouls. One quizzer is designated the captain. Only the captain may address the officials regarding appeals, challenges, rebuttals, or time-outs.

Coaches:
Each team can have one adult serve as a coach during a quiz. The coach can request time-outs and make substitutions during them. Only the designated coach may be in the quiz area with the quiz team. The coach cannot talk to the team during questions.

The Officials:

Competition Director:
The competition director organizes the quiz and recruits other officials, meeting with them to determine rule interpretation. The competition director is responsible for getting the questions to be used to the quizmasters and content judges. The competition director is responsible for publicity, location, awards, and other aspects of the quiz.

Quiz Master:
The quizmaster reads each question for the quizzers, and recognizes the first quizzer to jump after the start of the question. The quizmaster rules on the correctness of answers to toss-up and bonus questions, and on appeals. The quizmaster calls any fouls, and may call fouls for conduct. The quizmaster's interpretation of the official rules is final.

Content Judge:
The content judge assists the quizmaster with rulings on challenges and rebuttals, and listens for misreads or errors in questions. The content judge informs the quizmaster of any fouls. The content judge can also serve as a timekeeper.

Scorekeeper:
The scorekeeper records the official team lineups, points gained or lost, and final individual and team scores. The scorekeeper supplies the quizmaster with score updates, and notifies the quizmaster when a quizzer has answered four questions correctly or three incorrectly, or committed three fouls; and when a team has five errors, two overruled challenges, or has requested a substitution.

The Quiz:

Questions:
All English language questions should be based on The Holy Bible, New International Version. Toss-up questions are read only once. If no quizzer answers within five seconds, the quizmaster reads the answer, and then the next question. Questions can be appealed based on misreading or erroneous information among other things. The quizmaster must announce what type of question each question is before reading it.

Quiz Area:
All quizzers have to sit facing the quizmaster. Only officials, coaches, quizzers and substitutes may be in the quiz area during a quiz, including during time-outs.

Team Lineups:
Each team turns in its lineup before each round. Lineups can't be changed once they're turned in. Late lineups result in point deductions. Teams that are over ten minutes late forfeit the round. Teams found violating the lineup receive a foul.

Time-outs:
In a two-team quiz, each team gets two 60-second time-outs. In a three-team quiz, each team gets one 60-second time-out. Only officials, coaches and captains can call time-outs. No time-outs can be taken after question 18 has been pre-announced.

Quiz Length:
A quiz is 20 toss-up questions long (11 general and 9 specialty questions). If there is a tie after 20 questions, single general questions are asked until there is not a tie at the end of a question. No lineup changes can occur during tiebreakers.

Jumping:
The first quizzer off the seat is recognized and given the opportunity to answer the question. Either electronic equipment or three jump judges are used to determine who jumped first. The quizmaster stops reading the question as soon as a quizzer jumps. The quizzer has 30 seconds to answer. If the question was not completed when stopped, the quizzer must finish the question as part of the answer.

Scoring:
Correct answers to toss-up questions are worth 20 points. Correct answer to bonus questions are worth 10 points. There are various bonus scores available as well. Fouls, incorrect/over-ruled challenges and rebuttals, and some errors cause a 10 point deduction. Points scored or deducted during tiebreaker questions do not affect scores for that quiz, and are only used for tiebreaking purposes.

Team Standings:
The most popular methods for determining team standings in a competition are Round Robin Win/Loss Record, Round Robin Olympic Points, Round Robin Modified Olympic Points, and Single-/Double-/Triple-Elimination Tournament. However, alternate methods can be used as long as they're agreed upon by all participants. 

For information on quizzer eligibility or participation in quizzing past the local level, contact your District or Regional quizzing coordinator.

For more specific rule details, download the NYI Teen Bible Quizzing Official Rules at YouthQuiz.com downloads.

For questions on specific rulings, visit our Feedback page and submit your question.