Different advancement conditions for Championships

wca-guidelines.md

@@ -130,6 +130,9 @@ To be more informative, each Guideline is classified using one of the following
 - 9f4+) [CLARIFICATION] The result of an attempt should be a DNF if the competitor began the attempt by indicating that they are ready (see [Regulation A3b2](regulations:regulation:A3b2)) but the attempt was disqualified.
 - 9f5+) [CLARIFICATION] The result of an attempt is DNS if the competitor was eligible for the attempt and did not start it (see [Regulation A3b2](regulations:regulation:A3b2)). If the competitor did not qualify for an attempt (e.g. in a Cutoff Round), they have no result for the attempt.
 - 9p2+) [CLARIFICATION] Result refers to the single or average that determines the ranking of the corresponding round.
+- 9p2b+) [ADDITION] If there are not enough competitors representing the relevant region to fill the reserved spaces, they are replaced with the best competitors representing any region.
+- 9p2b++) [ADDITION] For a competition designated as both a World Championship and a Continental Championship and/or National Championship, this exception does not apply. For a competition designated as both a Continental Championship and a National Championship, spaces may only be reserved for competitors representing the relevant continent.
+- 9p2b+++) [RECOMMENDATION] Any use of reserved spaces should be clearly announced before the competition.
 - 9q+) [RECOMMENDATION] Events and rounds should have at least 2 competitors.
 - 9t+) [EXPLANATION] Because of [9t1](regulations:regulation:9t1) and [9t2](regulations:regulation:9t2), rounds may look like they do not comply with [9p1](regulations:regulation:9p1), [9m1](regulations:regulation:9m1), [9m2](regulations:regulation:9m2) or [9m3](regulations:regulation:9m3). However, making changes to comply to these rules would affect innocent competitors, which is why the results must stay the same.
 - 9t++) [ADDITION] If the change of results happens during the competition, this rule must also be applied. In that case, [9t1](regulations:regulation:9t1), [9t2](regulations:regulation:9t2) and [9t3](regulations:regulation:9t3) should also be followed, at the discretion of the WCA Delegate.

wca-regulations.md

@@ -281,6 +281,7 @@ Note: Because Article and Regulation numbers are not reassigned when Regulations
     - 9p1) At least 25% of competitors must be eliminated between consecutive rounds of the same event.
     - 9p2) The competitors who advance to the next round must be determined by ranking (best X competitors) or by result (all competitors with a better result than X) in the preceding round.
         - 9p2a) For each round, advancement conditions must be announced before the round starts, and should not be changed after it has begun. Changes must be made at the discretion of the WCA Delegate, who must carefully consider the fairness of the change.
+        - 9p2b) Exception: For competitions designated as a National Championship or Continental Championship, the organization team may amend advancement conditions to reserve spaces for competitors representing the relevant region. A maximum of 8 spaces or 50% of spaces in the following round, whichever is the lower, may be reserved in this way. For a round with reserved spaces, the competitors advancing from the previous round are a reserved number of best competitors representing the relevant region, followed by the remaining best competitors representing any region.
     - 9p3) If a qualifying competitor withdraws from a round, they may be replaced by the best-ranked non-qualifying competitor from the preceding round.
 - 9s) Each round of each event must have a time limit (see [Regulation A1a](regulations:regulation:A1a)).
 - 9t) If any change occurs to the results of a competitor after the competition has ended (e.g. score-taking mistake, retroactive penalty), such that the competitor should not have advanced to the next round (or was not allowed to take part in the round), all results of this competitor for all subsequent rounds must be removed (see [Regulation 9u](regulations:regulation:9u)).