The TICA Scoring Formula

On the show reports, the cats in each class are listed in descending order by the points earned in finals. The points are calculated according to the TICA Scoring System--the same formula that's used for calculating regional and international awards. The TICA Scoring System is described in the Standing Rules document on the TICA Executive Office Web Site:

For convenience, the points for Allbreed and Specialty rings have been compiled into compact tables:

Many exhibitors are unaware of two details regarding the scoring of cats and kittens for regional and international awards:

  1. Scores for regional and international awards include one point for each cat defeated in breed, division or color (whichever is higher). These points are not included when calculating scores for titles.

  2. There is a deduction of finals points for rings with less than 10 cats competing. Specifically, 10 points are deducted for each number of cats less than 10 competing. Again, this deduction is not included when calculating scores for titles.
For the benefit of programmers, here is the formula that produces the Finals Point Charts, expressed mathematically: 
  <score> = <finals_points> + <cats_defeated> - <low_count_deduction>

  where,
    <finals_points> = 210 - (10 x <award>)     for Allbreed
    <finals_points> = 160 - (10 x <award>)     for Specialty

    <cats_defeated> = <count> - <award>

    <low_count_deduction> = 10 x (10 - <count>)   if (<count> less than 10)

    <award> is the rank of the final (1=Best, 2=Second, ... 10=Tenth)

    <count> is the number of cats present and competing in the ring

"That's not how they gave out Best of the Best"

There is no show rule that specifies how Best of the Best should be calculated. As a result, clubs are free to use a variety of methods (and some are pretty strange). In particular, they frequently do not take the number of cats competing into account, so there may be a bias toward longhair or shorthair, if there is a significant difference in the counts or the counts are low. Still, they can do it however they wish. Best of the Best doesn't count for anything with regard to titles or regional and international awards, so it's not worth arguing about it.