Rapidplay Championships 2017

The 4NCL will be holding its seventh team and individual rapidplay championships for which entries are invited from all interested teams and players.

Details are as follows:

1. The championships will take place on the weekend of 7-8 October 2017 at De Vere Wokefield Estate. More details on the venue can be found here.

For team entry accommodation (whether playing on the Saturday only, or on both Saturday and Sunday), please contact our partners Guaranteed Events. Please go here for contact details. Please do not book accommodation directly with the hotel, as you will not get the 4NCL agreed preferred rates. If you wish to enter the Sunday individual rapidplay championships only and want accommodation, the online entry form allows you to specify your accommodation requirements.

We recommend that you book rooms early, as unbooked rooms from our allocation will be released by the venue some weeks beforehand.

2. The event is open to any team (Saturday) or individual (Sunday), whether or not a participant in the 4NCL itself. As with the 4NCL, teams can be existing clubs, new clubs, groups of friends etc.

3. Both events will be submitted to the ECF for FIDE rapidplay rating and ECF rapidplay grading. Players in both events should be ECF members at Silver level or above. If they are not, a £7.50 charge per day will apply to cover the ECF’s “pay to play” levy.

4. The entry fees are:

• £50.00 per team (£75.00 for two teams, £100.00 for three teams) plus £7.50 “pay to play” fee per nominated player per day. The £7.50 per day charge is waived for players with ECF membership at Silver level or above. This covers entry to both the team and the individual championships.

• £15.00 per individual plus £7.50 “pay to play” fee. The £7.50 per day charge is waived for players with ECF membership at Silver level or above. This covers entry for Sunday’s individual championships only.

5. Entry fees should be received by 29 September 2017 please (this deadline applies to the Team event only).

or (preferably) please make a BACS transfer account to the 4NCL bank account (for bank account details, please contact Mike Truran). If paying by BACS transfer, please include sufficient accompanying narrative to allow the payment to be identified.

Entries will be accepted on a “first come first served” basis.

If you wish to enter the Sunday individual championships only, please use the online entry form. Entries are still being accepted.

6. The team entry form below should be emailed to Dave Thomas at d.r.thomas@virgin.net  no later than 29 September 2017. Team lists should contain the following information for each player:

• Full name

• Date of birth (if no FIDE code available)

• FIDE federation (players must have a FIDE registration number prior to the event unless they are willing to be registered as English)

• At least one of the following if possible:

  ECF membership number and level (e.g. G22555)

  ECF grading code

  FIDE code

• Otherwise, one of:

  Chess Scotland/WCU standard grade

  Chess Scotland rapidplay grade

  Estimated strength

• Whether or not that player is also entering the Individual Rapidplay

7. Each match in the team championships will comprise four players per team. A team may nominate up to six players for the weekend. 4NCL combined squad rules will NOT apply, so no nominated player may play for more than one team over the weekend.

8. Player ratings will be determined in the following order: (a) FIDE rapidplay ratings; (b) ECF/national rapidplay ratings; (c) FIDE standard ratings (d) ECF/national standardplay ratings; (e) ratings as assigned by the Chief Arbiter.

Players with an ECF grade only (and no FIDE rating) will have their grades converted to FIDE equivalent ratings using the formula FIDE = (ECF x 7.5) + 700.

Where there is a difference of more than 80 FIDE rating points between two players in the same team, the higher rated player must play on a higher board than the lower rated player.

September 2017 FIDE lists and August 2017 ECF lists will be used.

9. The time limit will be 10 minutes +10 seconds per move.

10. The tournament will be run under FIDE rapidplay rules unless otherwise specified in these entry guidelines and/or as announced by the arbiters before start of play. Appendix A4 of the Laws of Chess will apply.

11. It is a condition of entry that players agree to their grading information being published on the ECF website and read the tournament Terms & Conditions.

12. The championships will consist of 7 rounds on the Saturday (team championships) and 7 rounds on the Sunday (individual championships). The schedule for the two days will be as follows:

13. There will be a guaranteed prize fund of £1,125, allocated as follows:

Prizes will be paid by direct transfer within a week of the event on notification of the requisite bank account details to Mike Truran.

14. No team (Saturday) or player (Sunday) may win more than one prize. All prize money will be shared equally between tied teams (Saturday) and players (Sunday).

15. Mobile phones and electronic devices are only permitted in the playing area provided the device is completely switched off. During play, such devices must be placed in a bag as agreed with the arbiter. Both players are forbidden to use this bag without permission of the Chief Arbiter.

16. It is a condition of entry that players agree to information being published on the 4NCL website in accordance with rule 15.2 of the main 4NCL.

Click to download the below Team Entry Form in Word

1. Team entries

Team members:

Key:

(a) Full name

(b) Date of birth

(c) FIDE Federation

(d) ECF membership number and level

(e) ECF grading code

(f) FIDE code

(g) Estimate of strength (if neither FIDE rated nor ECF graded)

(h) Origin of figure in column (g) (CS / WCU / estimate)

(i) Also entering the individual Rapidplay on Sunday

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