On Wednesday, March 10th, the U.S. Tak Association (USTA) made a first-of-its-kind statement, announcing that a participant in the Intermediate Invitational Tournament had been disqualified from play and banned from all future USTA tournaments.

Community members quickly reacted with surprise and dismay. The USTA’s statement explained that the player was disqualified for “unauthorized external assistance” and that he had declined to appeal the decision. Such swift and decisive action from the USTA has never before been seen in the Tak world. No cases of confirmed violations of tournament rules have been publicly announced in the history of Tak, and no player has ever been banned from participating in USTA tournaments. History has been made and how the Tak community will be affected by this unfortunate event is still unknown.

The Intermediate Invitational Tournament continues play after this minor, but notable, setback. With only 27% of matches played as of time of publication, no player has yet clinched a spot in the playoffs. Spectators can follow the tournament results in the Tak Talk Discord and on the tournament’s main page.