As was foretold almost a year ago, the time for maintenance has come! You can go to JudgeApps today to start filling out your checklist.
One of Judge Foundry’s core values is Quality. Quality means showing tournament organizers and publishers that judges aren’t just resting on their laurels after achieving a level, but continuing to grow, improve, and keep their skills sharp. Our trade is, by its very nature, ever-changing – while the “comprehensive rules” of chess have been the same since the 1860’s, the games we judge tend to come out with new products regularly that mean having to learn new rules and policy.
Maintenance isn’t just about keeping up with rules and policy changes, though – it’s also about keeping up with best practices in logistics philosophy, regularly demonstrating leadership, and mentoring other judges. Events today are run very differently than events in 2019, and we expect they’ll be run differently in 2030, and when judges apply to work events, we want their levels to reflect their current value to an organizer.
This article will outline what you need to know to maintain your level this year. While we’re trying to make it comprehensive, we still expect questions to come up. If it’s a specific case related to you and you alone, email Levels Manager Joe Klopchic about it. If it’s something you believe is ambiguous or which might affect a lot of judges, you can ask about it on the JudgeApps forums.
Note that throughout this article, we’ll refer to “last year” – the maintenance year runs from April 1st to March 31st of the following year. For this window only, update quizzes from the beginning of Judge Foundry count toward requirements, even though they’re technically outside the window.
Who needs to do maintenance?
Almost all Judge Foundry members need to fill out a maintenance checklist. If you’re a Level One+ judge, you need to fill out a checklist to maintain your level, unless one of these things is true:
- You leveled up since October 1st, 2024. If you recently gained a new level, congratulations! Also, you can skip maintenance this year. It should be obvious to tournament organizers that a judge who just achieved Level Two is still meeting the standards we expect for Level Two. This also avoids some awkwardness around timing – we didn’t want judges to delay leveling up because they wouldn’t meet the new requirements (which assumed you had plenty of time in-level) and get knocked right back down, at which point they’d presumably be able to interview, test and level back up again.
- You were deployed overseas by the government and unable to meaningfully judge events for at least four months in the last year. This primarily applies to judges in the military, but if you’re working for the State Department, CIA, or any other government agency that has the power to tell you “You go live here for a while” without it being a suggestion, we recognize that you might not have been able to complete your requirements through no fault of your own. Thank you for your service, and we hope to see you at events at home soon!
- You were on parental leave during a portion of the last year. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy and/or responsibility! Just as people take parental leave from their jobs after having a kid, it’s reasonable for them to take parental leave from judging. We don’t expect you to strap on that Judge Foundry-branded baby-bjorn (currently out of stock) and get back out on the floor right away, and your level will be waiting for you when you’re ready. In the meantime, it’s never too early to start teaching rules and policy to your little future judge…
If you’re not in one or more of those categories, you must complete a maintenance checklist by March 31st, 2025. That includes everyone – even Judge Foundry’s directors need to fill out our own maintenance checklists!
How do I complete my checklist?
Go to JudgeApps and create a checklist for your level. A big thank you to the JudgeApps team for updating the checklists feature to accommodate Judge Foundry’s maintenance.
All levels have some elective requirements and some mandatory requirements. For example, every Level One Judge must complete the L1 refresh exam. Every Level One Judge must also do one of a few things to demonstrate their continued activity.
The checklist is structured such that you only need to fill out the appropriate number of elective items to complete that section – there’s no extra credit for filling out extras beyond the requirement. In the Level One example, if you worked three events, you do not need to fill out any events played or reviews written or received.
JudgeApps does its best to help you fill out your checklists with things it knows. All reviews written and received will be available for you to just check off. We know that not as many events as we’d like are currently listed in JudgeApps for you to just check off – it’s our hope that in future years, more tournament organizers will go back to using JudgeApps as their tool for event recruitment and communication, making this process easier. You can just manually fill in events that aren’t currently listed on JudgeApps.
Remember as you fill out your events list that events you judged for most major trading card games count toward maintenance. As a general rule, any game that’s offered at an SCGCON or LDXP counts. If it’s a game that isn’t offered by those organizers, email us at testing@judgefoundry.org and we’ll take a look. But the philosophy here is analogous skills, so we’re probably going to be pretty lenient here.
How can I complete my Refresh Exam?
One of the most common questions we’ve been receiving is “Hey, where can I find the Lx Refresh Exam.” The answer, until today was “We’re still working on it, thanks for your patience.” But the time for patience is at an end – the Refresh Exams are live!
As a reminder, Refresh Exams are required for all Level One Judges. They are only required for Level Two+ Judges if you didn’t complete three or more Update Quizzes with Judge Foundry. You’re welcome to take them even if you aren’t required to do so, but don’t be surprised if you see some questions you’ve seen before – these exams were built as a “best of update quiz” smorgasbord.
Much like the Update Quizzes, the Refresh Exams are open-book (but not open-friends) and taken online. You have 240 minutes to submit your Refresh Exam from the time you start it, so make sure you do so at a time when you can focus. All Refresh Exams have a seven-day cooldown, so don’t wait until March 29th to take yours unless you’re extremely confident. And, like all our exams, the questions are considered confidential – some questions on these exams are also in the pools for other exams and it would be unfair to future candidates to leak these questions, thereby reducing their ability to test.
Here’s the breakdown of each Refresh Exam for the 2025 Maintenance. There’s no guarantee that these numbers will be the same in future years – they depend, in large part, on the results of our Update Quizzes.
Level One Refresh
Number of questions: 10
Breakdown of questions: All rules
Passing score: 70% or higher
Total attempts available per judge: 3
Level Two/Level Three Refresh
Number of questions: 10
Breakdown of questions: 8 rules, 2 policy
Passing score: 80% or higher
Total attempts available per judge: 2
Level Four/Level Five Refresh
Number of questions: 10
Breakdown of questions: 7 rules, 3 policy
Passing score: 80% or higher
Total attempts available per judge: 2
What happens if I don’t submit a checklist by March 31st?
If you don’t submit a checklist, we’ll assume that you didn’t maintain your level (see below). We understand that things can happen, and have a one-month grace period from April 1st to April 30th to get your checklist in. You can’t complete any new items (besides the Refresh Exams) during this time – if you were short a few events, the time to have done them was before March 31st.
Consider this period the “heart” part of our tardiness policy. After April 30th, we don’t expect to provide any exceptions and will follow the procedure below for judges who didn’t maintain.
What happens if I’m having technical issues submitting my checklist?
If it’s a JudgeApps issue, please use the JudgeApps support forum.
If it’s a question about whether something fulfills a requirement, please email testing@judgefoundry.org.
What if I don’t maintain my level?
First of all, it’s okay to not meet the maintenance requirements – it doesn’t mean you’re a bad judge. It most likely means that you just judged less than you did in previous years, which can be okay. One sign of maintenance working as intended is that judges are stepping down a level, and being comfortable with that. Maybe you’ll stay at your new level, or maybe you’ll decide to get back to your previous level once you have a chance to judge more (see below on that).
Our maintenance follows a “soft landing” rule. That is, if you don’t fill out your checklist, you’ll be reassigned one level lower than your current level – a Level Three Judge who didn’t complete maintenance will be set to Level Two. That’s reflective of the fact that while some skills atrophy, others don’t, and that a one-level downgrade probably reflects skills on balance – rules and policy will be a little more out of date than most L2s, but leadership and mentoring will probably be better than most L2s. If the judge in this scenario doesn’t complete Level Two maintenance the next year, they’ll be reassigned to Level One.
Level One Judges who don’t complete their checklists will become affiliate members with no certification, but you’ll still be Judge Foundry members and still eligible for the fast track back to your previous level.
If I don’t maintain my level, can I regain it later?
Yes! We want judges to be okay with not maintaining their levels, where those levels don’t currently match their activity level and skills. A part of that is making an expedited path back to their previous level in these circumstances.
Each level is slightly different, but the principle is the same: demonstrate increased activity level, demonstrate rules and policy mastery appropriate to your sought level, while avoiding the most time-consuming or difficult-to-repeat aspects of earning a level.
In all cases, there is a requirement to wait three months before applying to regain your previous level. We wanted to make the path to reinstatement fairly painless, but we don’t want it to be preferable to just not completing maintenance in the first place.
Level One
If you’ve been relegated to uncertified and were previously a Level One Judge, you can return to Level One by…
- Passing the Level One Refresh Exam
- If you used up all three attempts on this exam and did not succeed on any of them, you must take a new Level One Certification Exam.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam, but did not maintain your level due to lack of activity, this requirement is considered to be completed.
- Judging an event
- This event must be after April 1, 2025.
- It does count toward your 2026 Maintenance requirements.
- Waiting until at least July 1, 2025
Level Two
If you’ve been relegated to Level One and were previously a Level Two Judge, you can return to Level Two by…
- Passing the Level Two/Level Three Refresh Exam
- If you used up both attempts on this exam and did not succeed on any of them, you must pass two update quizzes after April 1, 2025.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam, but did not maintain your level due to lack of activity, this requirement is considered to be completed.
- Judging a competitive event
- This event must be after April 1, 2025.
- It does count toward your 2026 Maintenance requirements.
- Waiting until at least July 1, 2025
Level Three
If you’ve been relegated to Level Two and were previously a Level Three Judge, you can return to Level Three by…
- Passing the Level Two/Level Three Refresh Exam
- If you used up both attempts on this exam and did not succeed on any of them, you must pass two update quizzes after April 1, 2025.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam, but did not maintain your level due to lack of activity, this requirement is considered to be completed.
- Receiving a recommendation from a Level Three+ Judge after working a competitive event together
- This recommendation should be pretty short (one to two pages) and should focus on logistics and leadership skills.
- This event must be after April 1, 2025.
- Waiting until at least July 1, 2025
Level Four
If you’ve been relegated to Level Three and were previously a Level Four Judge, you can return to Level Four by…
- Passing the Level Four/Level Five Refresh Exam
- If you used up both attempts on this exam and did not succeed on any of them, you must pass two advanced update quizzes after April 1, 2025.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam, but did not maintain your level due to lack of activity, this requirement is considered to be completed.
- Receiving a recommendation from a Level Four+ Judge after team leading at a competitive Event
- This recommendation should be pretty short (one to two pages) and should focus on logistics and leadership skills.
- You must lead a team of at least two other judges. The recommendation should come from a judge on your team or from the Head Judge or Appeals Judge
- This event must be after April 1, 2025.
- Waiting until at least July 1, 2025
Level Five
If you’ve been relegated to Level Four and were previously a Level Five Judge, you can return to Level Five by…
- Passing the Level Four/Level Five Refresh Exam
- If you used up both attempts on this exam and did not succeed on any of them, you must pass two advanced update quizzes after April 1, 2025.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam, but did not maintain your level due to lack of activity, this requirement is considered to be completed.
- Receiving a recommendation from a Level Five Judge after working in an appropriate role at a competitive Event
- This recommendation should be focused on an event where you held a role that demonstrated skills that differentiate Level Four and Level Five, such as Head Judge or Appeals Judge for events on their respective lists. Leading especially challenging teams, like End of Round for a Regional Championship or Deck Checks for a Limited Spotlight Series, may also be considered.
- The recommendation should come from the Head Judge or an Appeals Judge.
- This event must be after April 1, 2025.
- Waiting until at least July 1, 2025
What happens if I voluntarily retire and want to return later?
This item isn’t strictly related to maintenance, but it’s close enough that we wanted to address it here. Sometimes, judges want to stop judging entirely and relinquish their certification. And in some cases, those judges decide to return.
We wanted to determine a policy here that gives a path back for judges who decide to return, while simultaneously not encouraging judges to yo-yo back and forth between being certified and not, in order to avoid paying dues or to skip maintenance or to avoid accountability or for whatever other reason. Because our members enjoy games, we want to make sure we don’t accidentally set the optimal game decision to be an undesirable one.
In all cases, if you retire and want to return within the same maintenance year (April 1st to March 31st), you can do so by paying your back dues and indicating a desire to return. You’ll be reinstated at the same level you previously attained, without having to complete any other requirements. After the passing of a maintenance year, this option is no longer available – we don’t think it’s reasonable to expect someone to pay back years of dues when they weren’t judging in order to return.
Because this is a new policy and we’re nearly at the end of the maintenance year, this policy will delay going into effect until July 1st for judges who, before today, resigned their certification and who want to return. Those judges may do so by simply catching up on two months of dues. For judges who choose to remain uncertified or judges who choose to relinquish their certification today or later, these policies will be in effect.
If you stop paying your dues and become uncertified, you can return later by fulfilling the following requirements. Note that you can only return to the highest level you previously earned.
Level One
If you become uncertified due to lapsed membership and want to return to judging as a Level One Judge, you can do so by…
- Becoming a member of Judge Foundry by paying your dues.
- Judging an event.
- Interviewing with a Level Two+ Judge. This interview should include discussion of what’s changed since you stepped away and why you want to return as a judge.
- Passing the Level One Refresh Exam.
- If you do not have any available attempts remaining on this exam, you must instead take the Level One Certification Exam.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam in the last year, this requirement is considered completed.
Level Two
If you become uncertified due to lapsed membership and want to return to judging as a Level Two Judge, you can do so by…
- Becoming a member of Judge Foundry by paying your dues.
- Judging a competitive event.
- Interviewing with a Level Three+ Judge. This interview should include discussion of what’s changed since you stepped away and why you want to return as a judge.
- Passing the Level Two/Level Three Refresh Exam.
- If you do not have any available attempts remaining on this exam, you must instead take the Level Two Rules and Policy Certification Exams.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam in the last year, this requirement is considered completed.
Level Three
If you become uncertified due to lapsed membership and want to return to judging as a Level Three Judge, you can do so by…
- Becoming a member of Judge Foundry by paying your dues.
- Judging two multi-day events.
- Interviewing with a Level Four+ Judge. This interview should include discussion of what’s changed since you stepped away and why you want to return as a judge.
- Passing the Level Two/Level Three Refresh Exam.
- If you do not have any available attempts remaining on this exam, you must instead take the Level Three Policy Certification Exam.
- If you already passed your Refresh Exam in the last year, this requirement is considered completed.
Level Four and Level Five
It is difficult to enumerate a “one-size fits all” return path for the highest judge levels, because each case is so different based on time away from judging. If a former Level Four or Level Five Judge wishes to reinstate their certification, they should contact the Levels Manager to work out a plan to do so. This plan will likely require working multiple events and demonstrating familiarity with policy, logistics, leadership and personal skills to step back into their previous role.
What if I still have more questions about maintenance?
We would be shocked if you didn’t! This is the first time judges have had to demonstrate continued education and excellence in many years, and we endeavored to design a system that would be fair and unburdensome, but also a reliable indicator to tournament organizers of continued quality.
If you have questions about your own case, please email the Levels and Testing Managers at testing@judgefoundry.org.
If you have more general questions or feedback about the system as a whole, please start a thread or contribute to an existing thread on the Feedback Forum on JudgeApps. You can also ask a question at our next board meeting or talk to us at an event.
Thanks for reading, and we look forward to hearing from you! Remember to head to JudgeApps so you can start filling out your maintenance checklist.