The format for the 2016-17
season will be as follows:
Divisions 1 and 2 and
Division 3 South will comprise 16 teams
each.
Divisions 1 and 2 and
Division 3 South will comprise two
preliminary pools of eight for the first
seven rounds, with the two pools in each
division of broadly equal strength as
determined by the Management Board. The top
four and bottom four teams in each
preliminary pool will form two final
championship/promotion and relegation pools
respectively. With regard to the teams in
each final pool, only matches played between
themselves during the first seven rounds
will be carried forward to the final pools
(i.e. matches played by teams against teams
in the other final pool during the first
seven rounds will not be carried forward).
We will publish a seeding
order based solely on
performance in the 2015-16 season for
comment by team captains/managers so that
Divisions 1 and 2 and Division 3 South can
be split as fairly as possible and so that
the Swiss system in Division 3 North and
Division 4 South also starts as fairly as
possible.
Four teams will be relegated
from Division 1, four teams will be promoted
from Division 2, four teams will be
relegated from Division 2, and two teams
will be promoted from each of Division 3
South and Division 3 North. The number of
teams promoted from Division 4 South to
Division 3 South will depend on the
geographical distribution of teams demoted
from Division 2 (see table below).
Number of Div 3 South teams before
promotion/relegation
16
16
16
16
16
Number of southern teams relegated
from Division 2
0
1
2
3
4
16
17
18
19
20
Number of teams promoted to Division
2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
14
15
16
17
18
Number of teams relegated to
Division 4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
10
11
12
13
14
Number of teams promoted from
Division 4 South
6
5
4
3
2
16
16
16
16
16
New teams may enter either Division 3
North or Division 4 South.
Teams allocated to Division 3 South and
4 South may request a transfer to Division 3
North. When a team withdraws or transfers
from Division 1, 2 or 3 South, rule 13.4 of
the 2015-16 season rules will be applied.
Division 3 North and Division 4 South
will be run using a Swiss format.
Dates and Venues
Dates and venues for the 4NCL’s
2016-17 season can be found by following the
“2016-17” link in the “Dates and Venues”
section of the 4NCL website www.4ncl.co.uk. The
“Hotels 16-17” section of the website gives
further information on the various venues.
Entry Requirements
All entries, whether for
existing teams or for new entrants, need to be
received together with the appropriate entry fee
by Friday 30
September 2016. Please either:
Make a direct transfer to
the 4NCL bank account (the preferred
method); details can be obtained by
contacting Mike Truran (contact details on
the Management Board
page of this website). Please include
sufficient accompanying narrative to allow
the payment to be identified.
or
Make cheques payable to
'4NCL' and send along with your entry to
Mike Truran at The Old Farmhouse, 7 Church
Street, Ducklington, Witney, Oxon, OX29 7UA.
Confirmed team registration
lists should also be sent to the Registrations
Secretary Dave Thomas and
the Assistant Registrations Secretary Matthew Carr by Sunday 16 October 2016.
The 4NCL rules set out the information required
for each player.
Players
named on the initial registration list must
either be registered with FIDE prior to the list
being submitted or eligible and willing to be
registered with them as English players. Players
registered as ENG, or not registered, must be
ECF Gold or Platinum members (including juniors)
at the time the registration list is submitted.
This rule will be strictly enforced.
In early September the
Registrations Secretary will send to each team
manager/captain (based on last season’s
managers/captains list) a spreadsheet for
completion and return showing details of players
registered for the 2015/2016 season on which
players can be added or deleted as appropriate.
Managers of new teams will receive a blank
spreadsheet with the requisite column headings.
Entry fees are as follows:
Division 1: £250
Division 2: £200
Division 3 South and North:
£100
Division 4 South: £100
Teams who commit to field at
least four juniors (i.e. under eighteen years
old on 1 January 2017) in every match of the
season in Division 4 can also claim a £25
discount on their entry fee.
Entry fees entitle teams to
nominate up to 16 players (Divisions 1 and 2)
and 12 players (Division 3 South and North,
Division 4 South) in their team lists. Nominated
players taking team lists over 16 (Divisions 1
and 2) or 12 (Division 3 South and North,
Division 4 South) in total will be subject to
the usual registration fee.
Registration fees and wildcard
fees are as set out in the rules.
Please note
that all outstanding registration and wild card
fees must be settled without exception before
start of play for the relevant round.
Prizes
The prize fund for the 2016-17
season will be as follows:
All fines and penalties incurred
in the 2015-16 season must be settled before a
team’s entry will be accepted.
Please bring to your players’
attention that they should not consume food and
drink on hotel premises that has been brought in
from outside the hotel. Any players who are
found doing so run the risk of being
disqualified.
Could team captains/managers of
entering teams please check their contact
details in the “Team Captains” section of the
4NCL website and confirm that they are shown
correctly. Please notify Steve Connor,
the webmaster
and Dave Thomas, the Registrations
Secretary, of any changes.
If entering teams would like a
link to their own website from the 4NCL website,
please let Steve Connor know.
Queries
If there are any points that you
wish to discuss further then please get in touch
with Mike Truran.