the teachers tournament follows the same 10-game format as the tournament of champions, college championship, and teen tournament. the first five games are the quarterfinals, where all fifteen participants play in groups of three. the winners of the five games advance to the semifinals. the players with the four highest scores among non-winners advance as "wild card" players. the nine semifinalists compete in the next three games. then the three semifinal winners advance to the two-day finals, in which cumulative scores from the two games are added to determine the championship (contestants' scores start at $0 in each game).