Introduction

The format for the 2012/2013 season will be as follows:

Divisions 1 and 2 will comprise 16 teams each.

• Divisions 1 and 2 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 2011/2012 season for comment by team captains/managers so that Divisions 1 and 2 can be split as fairly as possible and so that the Swiss system in Division 3 also starts as fairly as possible.

• Four teams will be relegated from Division 1, four teams will be promoted from Divisions 2, four teams will be relegated from Division 2 and four teams will be promoted from Division 3 (see below).

• Division 3 North and Division 3 South will be a Swiss format.

• Division 3 North and Division 3 South will combine for the fourth and fifth weekends, with match and game points carried forward from the first three weekends. Promotion places to Division 2 will be from the combined Division 3 for those teams that want it.

Dates and Venues

Dates and venues for the 4NCL’s 2012/2013 season can be found by following the 2012/13 dates link. The Hotels page 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 Sunday 30 September 2012. 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 Neville Belinfante by Sunday 30 September 2012 (contact details on the Arbiters page). Team captains and managers must ensure that, with the exception of players registered with another federation for FIDE rating purposes, players in the 4NCL must be ECF members at Gold or Platinum level on the date of submission of the registration list. For English players, the ECF membership code number and membership expiry date must be included on the submitted registration list.

Entry fees are as follows:

• Division 1: £250

• Division 2: £200

• Division 3: £125

Teams wishing to enter Division 3 North may claim a £50 discount on their entry fee. Teams who commit to field at least four juniors (i.e. under eighteen years old on 1 January 2013) in every match of the season in Division 3 can also claim a £50 discount on their entry fee. Entry fees entitle teams to nominate up to 16 players (Divisions 1 and 2) and 12 players (Division 3) in their team lists. Nominated players taking team lists over 16 (Divisions 1 and 2) or 12 (Division 3) in total will be subject to the usual registration fee.

Registration fees (£5) and wildcard fees (£10) remain at the same level.

Prizes

The prize fund for the 2012/2013 season will be as follows:

Other

See the latest version of the 4NCL rules here.

Could team captains/managers of entering teams please check their contact details in the Team Captains page and confirm that they are shown correctly.

Please notify the 4NCL webmaster Steve Connor, of any updates required by using our Contact Us page. Alternatively send an email to him at sjcon@btinternet.com.

If entering teams would like a link to their own website from the 4NCL website, please let Steve know.

Queries

If there are any points that you wish to discuss further then please get in touch with Mike Truran, contact details for whom can be found on the Management Board page.

4NCL Entry Guidelines 2012/13