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1 |
Management |
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Each year the Management Board shall announce the arrangements for the
following season including the entry
fees, the official closing date for the
receipt of entries and registration
lists, and the name and address of the
person appointed to receive entries.
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1.2 |
The Chairman shall arrange meetings for captains and managers, as and
when required, at which matters of
current interest and future policy shall
be discussed.
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2 |
Registration Lists |
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2.1
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A club shall enter the 4NCL National Chess League ("the League") by
payment of the designated fees and the
registration of one or more squads of
players who are expected to play during
the season. Each squad may provide the
players for one or more teams. No team
may contain players who are not
registered in the appropriate squad
(unless they qualify under the Wildcard
rules in section 4 below).
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2.2: |
After the registration list deadline as announced per rule 1.1 above,
a player who has explicitly consented to
play for a team may not move to another
team unless (a) the captain of that team
voluntarily deregisters him/her or (b)
the Chief Arbiter considers that it
would be inequitable to hold the player
to his/her previous commitment, taking
into account the circumstances in which
the commitment had been given and any
relevant evidence subsequent to the
giving of the commitment. It is the
responsibility of the captain of a team
wishing to retain the registration of a
player who has agreed to play for that
team to obtain firm evidence of explicit
agreement (which should be in writing or
by email, should be dated before the
registration list deadline in 1.1 above
and should record that the player has
been informed of the consequences of
giving explicit consent), such evidence
to made available to the Chief Arbiter
and/or the Management Board if required.
[i] A player who
has given explicit consent to play for a
team but who changes his/her mind must
contact the Registrations Secretary
before the registration list deadline. A
player who has not given explicit
consent will be considered to be validly
registered for the team including
him/her on its registration list, but
until he/she has played for the team
he/she remains free to play for other
teams subject to the requirements of
sections 3 and 4 of these rules.
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2.3 |
The registrations list shall be sent by email (preferred) or by letter
(if email is not available)
[ii] to the
registrations secretary, and contain the
following information for each player:
(a) full name (b) FIDE code (if rated)
(c) ECF grading code (if ECF graded) (d)
nationality (e) estimated or foreign
grading/rating (if neither FIDE rated
nor ECF graded) (f) ECF membership
number (if player not registered with
another federation for FIDE rating
purposes) (g) expiry date of ECF
membership (h) date of birth
[iii] (i) whether
explicit consent under rule 2.2 has been
obtained. Players registered as ENG
should be ECF Gold members at the time
the registration list is submitted.
[iv] If a squad
has teams both in Division 3 North and
in the rest of the League, a player may
be designated as northern or southern.
In this event a northern-designated
player can only play for a northern team
and a southern-designated player cannot
play for a northern team at any weekend,
and both northern-designated and
southern-designated players form
separate "pools" for the purposes of
rule 8.5.
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2.4 |
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. In the case of existing
Standard members, the ECF recognise this
as Gold membership until the Standard
membership would have expired. Such
players should take out top-up Gold
membership if their present membership
expires before May 2014.
[v]
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2.5 |
Each team's entry fee shall cover the registration of up to sixteen
players in Divisions 1-2 and up to
twelve players in Division 3 South and
North.
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2.6 |
If a squad provides players for more than one team, the 80 point rules
under section 8 below will apply.
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2.7 |
If a player appears on the registration list of more than one team at
the start of the season, the player in
question will be registered to the team
for whom he/she first plays.
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2.8 |
Clubs entering more than one team in the League may, at their
discretion, play on a combined squad
basis (in which case the additional 80
point rule in the second sentence of
rule 8.4 below should be borne in mind)
[vi] or on a split
squad basis (in which case players
having once played for their nominated
team may no longer play for another
team, subject to the rules under section
5 below). The decision to play on a
combined or split squad basis is
irrevocable for the season in question.
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2.9 |
The Management Board may at its absolute discretion refuse to accept a
player’s registration. |
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3 |
Additions to the Registration List |
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3.1 |
Additional names of players expected to play during the season
[vii]
may be added to a squad’s
list of registered players and shall be
sent to the Registrations Secretary
either by email (preferred) or by letter
(if email is not available).
[viii] The
information required in 2.3 above will
also be required for additional
registrations, and it is the
responsibility of the team captain to
obtain and make available to the Chief
Arbiter and/or the Management Board
documentary evidence of explicit consent
obtained before the registration
deadline per rule 3.3 below in the same
way as for rule 2.2 above.
[ix]
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3.2 |
The date of application shall be taken as either the postmark of the
letter or the send date of the e-mail.
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3.3 |
To play as a registered player at a particular weekend the player must
be registered no later than midnight of
the Thursday of the week before the team
lists need to be submitted under rule
8.1 below, i.e. nine days before the
first round of the weekend. Any payment
due under rule 3.5 below must be
received before the player starts play,
and if paid at the weekend itself must
be paid at the relevant venue.
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3.4 |
If a player has not been registered in accordance either with rules
2.1/2.2/2.3 or rules 3.1/3.2/3.3 the
player will be considered to be a
Wildcard.
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3.5 |
A fee of £5 shall be paid for
each registration above a team’s
allocation under 2.5 above. Players
previously registered for a team may not
be deregistered to avoid payment of this
fee unless such deregistration takes
place before the end of the first
playing weekend.
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4 |
Wildcards |
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4.1 |
A Wildcard is a player who is not registered for any squad in the
League. No player whose registration has
been refused
[x] pursuant to
rule 2.9 may be a Wildcard.
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4.2 |
A fee of £10 (Divisions 1 and 2) or £5 (Division 3 South and Division
3 North)
[xi]
shall be paid for each
Wildcard, payable no later than the
start of play of the match in which the
Wildcard plays. The Wildcard fee is
levied on a per player basis according
to the number of individuals appearing
as Wildcards for a squad over the course
of a weekend.
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4.3 |
A Wildcard will become fully registered after the weekend at which
he/she plays as a Wildcard.
[xii]
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4.4 |
A player is not required to be a member of the ECF for the weekend at
which he/she appears as a Wildcard.
After this first weekend the player must
adhere to the requirements of rule 2.4
above.
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4.5 |
A team in Division 1 may play one Wildcard in each match.
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4.6 |
A team in Division 2 and Division 3 South and Division 3 North may
play up to two and three Wildcards
respectively in each match provided not
more than one of the Wildcards plays in
the top half of the team.
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4.7 |
Unless he/she has aplied for a transfer, a player named on a squad’s
list of players is not available as a
Wildcard for other squads.
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5 |
Transfers during the Season |
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5.1 |
A player who is named on a squad’s list of players may transfer to
another squad provided he/she has not
played during the current season and is
not subject to the provisions of rule
2.2 above.
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5.2 |
The transfer request must be agreed by the Registrations Secretary.
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5.3 |
The squad to which the player is moving must fulfil all the
requirements for additional
registrations, including the payment of
a £5 administration charge.
[xiii]
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5.4 |
The player must be registered for the new squad no later than midnight
of the Thursday of the week before the
team lists need to be submitted under
rule 8.1 below, i.e. nine days before
the first round of the weekend.
Transfers later than this deadline will
be subject to the Wild Card rules in
section 4 above. In this instance, a
Wildcard fee of £10/£5 is payable in
addition to the £5 administration
charge.
[xiv]
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5.5 |
If a team withdraws from the League, players who have played only for
that team become free agents and may
choose to play either for other teams in
the squad if applicable or to join
another team/squad. In such cases no
registration fees are payable (but
Wildcard fees will apply if
appropriate).
[xv]
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6 |
Fixtures and Format |
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6.1 |
Each division’s fixtures shall initially be played over eight rounds
and over four weekends, with one round
being played on Saturday and one round
on Sunday. Three further rounds shall be
played on a designated Bank Holiday
weekend.
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6.2 |
The first-named team in each pairing shall have the white pieces on
the odd-numbered boards and black on the
even-numbered boards.
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6.3 |
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). Team placings at the end of
the first seven rounds will be decided
in the first instance on match point
totals in the preliminary pool. If at
the end of the first seven rounds teams
are tied on match points, the tie shall
be broken in favour of the team having
(a) the greatest number of game points
in the preliminary pool (b) the result(s)
of the match(es) between the teams still
tying (c) board count (d) elimination
from the bottom board upwards (e) the
toss of a coin. Tie breaks shall be
applied in order until all ties are
broken. Tie breaks shall be applied in
order until all ties are broken.
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6.4 |
Division 3 South and Division 3 North shall be played as a Swiss
tournament in which pairings for both
rounds of the first three two-day
weekends will be determined in advance.
If entries do not permit a Swiss
tournament, an alternative arrangement
will be determined by the Management
Board.
[xvi] At the two
final weekends (rounds 7-11) Division 3
South and Division 3 North will combine
into a single division, with match and
game points carried over from the first
three weekends. During these final
weekends best endeavours will be made to
maximise the number of matches played
between Division 3 South and Division 3
North teams.
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7 |
Match Arrangements |
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7.1 |
In Division 1 each match shall be played over eight boards and each
team must include at least one male and
one female player.
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7.2 |
In Division 2 each match shall be played over eight boards and each
team must include at least one
representative from two of the following
three groups: (a) male players (b)
female players (c) junior players who
are under eighteen years on 1 January
2014.
[xvii]
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7.3 |
In Division 3 South and Division 3 North each match shall be played
over six boards. Teams in Division 3
South and Division 3 North are free to
field players regardless of gender or
age.
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7.4 |
The starting times shall normally be 2 pm on the first day of the
weekend, 1 pm on the middle day of a
three-day weekend and 11 am on the last
day of the weekend.
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7.5 |
The rate of play shall be 40 moves in 1 hour 40 minutes plus 30
seconds per move, followed by the rest
of the game in 50 minutes plus 30
seconds per move.
[xviii]
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8 |
Team Lists |
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8.1 |
For all fixtures in a given weekend, team lists must be submitted to
the Chief Arbiter or his nominated
representative by midnight of the
Thursday before (i.e. 38 hours before
the scheduled start of play of the
Saturday match), with any defaults
declared to the opposing captain by the
same deadline. Any changes to these
lists may be made without penalty
(provided they do not introduce further
defaults) up to midnight of the day
before the fixture. All team lists must
give the full names of the players
clearly in board order.
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8.2 |
Team lists may be amended without penalty (providing further defaults
are not introduced) for circumstances
beyond captains’ control provided this
is done at least two hours before the
scheduled start of play.
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8.3 |
In all divisions FIDE ratings will be used to determine the order of
strength of a team. For a player without
a FIDE rating, an ECF grade will be
converted to an equivalent FIDE rating
using the appropriate conversion
formula. For players without both a FIDE
rating and ECF grade, their national
rating will be converted if they have
one. Captains may elect to use the
latest published ECF grades or other
national ratings for conversion to an
equivalent FIDE rating using the
appropriate conversion formula for any
player, provided this is declared prior
to the player playing in that season.
Such an election is irrevocable for the
season.
[xix]
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8.4 |
Where there is a difference of more than 80 FIDE rating points under
rule 8.3 between two players in the same
team, the higher rated player must play
on a higher board than the lower rated
player. In squads with more than one
team a player is only eligible for a
lower team if his rating under rule 8.3
is not more than 80 FIDE rating points
higher than the rating of any person
playing in a higher team in the same
numbered round.
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8.5 |
When applying the 80 point requirement for squads with more than one
team under rule 8.4, the male and female
player "pools" under rule 7.2 and the
northern-designated and
southern-designated player "pools" under
rule 2.3 are considered separately (NB
junior players in Division 2 under rule
7.2 are considered part of the female
player "pool" for this purpose). It
should be noted, however, that all teams
must comply with the 80 point
requirement for all players in the team
regardless of sex or age. It should also
be noted that for the purposes of
applying the 80 point rule across squads
with more than one team, lower teams in
a squad may not have a higher average
FIDE rating than higher teams in the
same squad. When calculating team
average FIDE ratings, board 8 in teams
in Divisions 1 and 2 will not be
included.
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8.6 |
Any complaint about the composition of a team must be made before the
scheduled start of the round.
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8.7 |
Where both captains and the Chief Arbiter agree in advance, the
requirements of rules 8.3 to 8.6 may be
waived, if this is in the best interests
of the League.
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8.8 |
Known defaults must be on the lowest boards of the lowest possible
team.
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8.9 |
The Chief Arbiter will endeavour to publish team lists ninety minutes
before the start of play, and in any
event no later than one hour before the
start of play.
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8.10 |
If the late submission of all or part of a team list causes one or
more pairings to be published late, the
arbiter may, at his discretion, deduct
time from the clock of each member of
the team whose name was not published on
time.
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9 |
Reserves |
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9.1 |
Prior to the deadline for the submission of team lists a team may
nominate one male and one female player
(Division 1), one male and one female or
junior player (Division 2), or two
players regardless of gender (Division 3
South and Division 3 North) as reserve
players.
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9.2 |
A nominated reserve may replace an absent player provided this is done
not more than 55 minutes (or such later
time as the two captains concerned and
the Chief Arbiter may have agreed before
commencement of the game)
[xx]
after the scheduled start of
the round.
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9.3 |
The clock of the reserve shall be adjusted to show the elapsed time
subject to a minimum of 30 minutes. |
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9.4 |
The improper use of reserves may result in the Chief Arbiter imposing
a penalty as he deems appropriate on the
offending team.
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10 |
Defaults |
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10.1 |
A player will be deemed to have defaulted a game if he/she fails to
appear for the game in question within
one hour of the start of play (but see
rule 9.2 above).
[xxi]
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10.2 |
A team will incur half a game point penalty per default in addition to
scoring zero on the board(s) concerned
if their absence is communicated to the
arbiters and to the opposing captain at
or before the time that team lists are
submitted under rule 8.1, i.e. midnight
of the Thursday before the fixture,
except when the pairings are not known
at that time. As an example, a team in
Division 1 with one such default will
have a 0-1 result on bottom board (under
rule 8.8, assuming no other teams in the
squad) and also lose a further half
point, turning a 4-4 draw into a 3½-4
loss for the team and a 4-3½ win for the
opposing team. Where captains know in
advance of the weekend that they will be
affected by defaults, they must
[xxii] communicate
this to the arbiters and to the opposing
captain in good time so as to allow
changes to travel and accommodation
arrangements. In these circumstances it
is permissible for the player affected
by the default not to appear at the
match in question.
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10.3 |
A team will incur one game point penalty per default in addition to
scoring zero on the defaulting board(s)
if, having been named on a team list, a
player(s) fail to appear for the match
in question within one hour after the
start of play or arrives but is not
prepared to play, or if a default is not
notified until after the deadline under
rule 8.1. As an example, a team in
Division 1 with one such default will
have a 0-1 result on the board concerned
and also lose a further point, turning a
4½-3½ win into a 3½-3½ draw (for both
the team and the opposing team). In
these circumstances, players affected by
defaults will wherever possible be
offered a rated/graded game against
another player in a similar position.
Pairings for these games will be matched
for rating/grading purposes as far as
possible. Pairings will be made one hour
after the start of play, and the time
control for these games will be 40 moves
in two hours, followed by an extra one
hour per player to complete the game.
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10.4 |
Appeals against game point penalties will be considered only in
exceptional circumstances, for example
the hospitalisation of a player or the
death of a close family member on the
morning of the match. Appeals against
game point penalties caused by car
breakdowns, traffic delays, public
transport delays or cancellations, bad
weather (except where a severe weather
warning can be shown to have been issued
by the Meteorological Office) etc will
not be considered. Appeals against game
point penalties must be made before the
start of the match in question to the
Chief Arbiter, whose decision, in the
interests of providing certainty to the
teams involved, will be final and not
subject to referral to the Management
Board or the appeals committee.
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10.5 |
When a team indicates that it has a default, the opposing team may
adjust its board order to minimise any
inconvenience caused (but may not breach
any rules in so doing).
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10.6 |
If both teams default on the same board, no default penalties will be
incurred.
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10.7 |
A team defaulting a game for whatever reason will incur a penalty of
£20 per defaulted game unless a
successful appeal has been made under
rule 12.3. This penalty will not apply
to the first game defaulted by a team
during the season. If a Division 1 or 2
team defaults an entire match for
whatever reason a fine of £200 will be
incurred unless a successful appeal has
been made under rule 12.3. If a Division
3 South or Division 3 North team
defaults an entire match for whatever
reason it will (a) not incur a fine so
long as the intention to default the
match is notified to the Chief Arbiter
no later than one week before the team
list submission deadline under rule 8.1
above (b) incur a fine of £50 in all
other circumstances unless a successful
appeal has been made under rule 12.3. In
all instances where a Division 3 South
or Division 3 North team defaults a
match other teams will be re-paired
making use of triangular matches as
necessary.
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10.8 |
In the event that a team in the view of the Management Board has an
unsatisfactory default performance
during a season, the Management Board
may at its discretion insist that that
team post a bond in the amount of £250
as a condition of its entry being
accepted in the following season. The
bond, which will be held by the League,
shall be used at the Management Board's
discretion to defray any financial costs
incurred by opposing teams should the
team, or any other team in the squad of
which the team forms a part, default
games in that following season. The bond
will be returned to the team once in the
Board’s view sufficient evidence has
been provided that the team’s default
performance has improved to an
appropriate standard.
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11 |
Promotion and Relegation |
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11.1 |
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
four teams will be promoted from the
Division 3 combined division.
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11.2 |
End of season team placings in Divisions 1 and 2 will be decided in
the first instance on match point totals
in the final pool. If at the end of the
season teams are tied on match points,
the tie shall be broken in favour of the
team having (a) the greatest number of
game points in the final pool (b) the
greatest number of match points
including all matches played during the
season (c) the greatest number of game
points including all matches played
during the season (d) the match points
between the teams which remain tied (e)
the game points between the teams which
remain tied (f) board count (g)
elimination from the bottom board
upwards (h) the toss of a coin. Tie
breaks shall be applied in order until
all ties are broken.
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11.3 |
End of season team placings in the Division 3 combined division will
be decided in the first instance on
match point totals. If at the end of the
season teams in the Division 3 combined
division are tied on match points, the
tie shall be broken in favour of the
team having “(a) the highest sum of
opponents’ match points (b) the greatest
number of game points (c) the highest
sum of opponents’ game points (d) the
toss of a coin.
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11.4 |
Once the requirements of rule 11.1 have been fulfilled, in the event
that existing teams decide not to renew
their entries teams in the relevant
division that would otherwise have been
relegated at the end of the season will
not be relegated (starting with the
relegated team finishing in the highest
position, and so on down the relegated
teams). In the event that the number of
teams not renewing their entries exceeds
the number of relegated teams, extra
teams will be promoted from the lower
division after applying the provisions
in the first section of this rule, and
so on down the divisions as necessary.
Therefore the number of promoted teams
between adjacent divisions will only
exceed four if no team has been
relegated from the higher division.
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11.5 |
In Divisions 1 and 2 no more than two teams from any club will be
permitted to play in the same division.
Where this situation is caused by a club
team/teams finishing in a promotion
place, the next eligible team will be
promoted instead. Where this situation
is caused by a club team/teams being
relegated into a lower division, the
necessary number of teams from that club
will be relegated from that division and
the highest placed team/teams that would
otherwise have been relegated will
escape relegation. The top placed
eligible teams in Divisions 2 and/or the
Division 3 combined division will be
offered promotion as required to ensure
that the complement of sixteen teams in
the top two divisions is maintained.
[xxiii] |
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12 |
Other |
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12.1 |
The Chief Arbiter, or in his absence the Senior Arbiter for the
weekend, shall be empowered to
administer the rules of the League.
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12.2 |
The League shall be conducted according to the most recently published
FIDE laws of chess. In particular, it
should be noted that FIDE rules on
mobile phones and other electronic means
of communication will be applied without
exception. The Chief Arbiter will not
normally give permission for any player
or spectator to bring any mobile phone
or electronic communication device or
computer into the playing hall. Players
should also refrain from bringing
baggage in to the playing hall.
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12.3 |
An appeal against an arbiter’s decision must be made to the Chief
Arbiter (or another on site Senior
Arbiter if the Chief Arbiter himself
made the decision). If permitted by the
rules, a review of the outcome of the
appeal may be made to an appeals
committee (consisting of a third party
arbiter and two independent
captains/players chosen from a panel) on
payment of a £50 deposit. The decision
of the appeals committee will be final.
The £50 deposit will be returned if the
appeals committee finds in favour of the
party requesting the review. Any review
request accompanied by a £50 deposit
must be made to the Management Board
within seven days of the weekend in
question.
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12.4 |
A £100 fee will be payable where a change to a team name is made
during the season.
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12.5 |
All outstanding fees from prior seasons (e.g. for wild cards,
registrations, defaults or default
bonds) must be settled in advance of an
application to re-enter the League. No
team belonging to a club playing on a
combined squad basis will be allowed to
re-enter until all outstanding fees
relating to all teams in the squad have
been settled.
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12.6 |
The Management Board may apply penalties as it sees fit for any
flagrant or premeditated breaches of the
spirit as well as the letter of the
rules.
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12.7 |
All participants in the League shall consent to their name, gender,
nationality, title and grade being shown
on the 4NCL website, such consent being
a requirement of the Data Protection
Act. Those wishing to withhold their
consent shall not be permitted to play
in the League. Team captains and
managers are also expected to have their
contact details shown on the 4NCL
website. Players are also assumed to
consent to having their photographs
taken; if they object to this they
should raise the matter either with the
arbiters or the photographer concerned.
Copyright to photographs remains with
the photographer concerned.
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12.8 |
[xxiv]
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12.9 |
A player may ask his/her captain if he/she may offer or accept a draw.
The captain may agree, refuse or tell
the player to refer to the match result
sheet. In no circumstances may the
captain look at any game between
receiving the request and giving his/her
decision.
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12.10 |
A team, once it has had its entry accepted, is not entitled to a
refund of entry fees should it
subsequently withdraw.
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12.11 |
The entry guidelines for each season form part of these rules.
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12.12 |
In all cases the decisions of the Management Board shall be final. |
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[i] |
Clarification of
documentary evidence
requirements. |
|
[ii]
|
Change to existing rule
(email rather than
letter preferred). |
|
[iii] |
Additional information
requirement. |
|
[iv] |
Addition to existing
rule. |
|
[v] |
Change from ‘2013’. |
|
[vi] |
Clarification of
existing rule. |
|
[vii] |
Addition to existing
wording for greater
clarity. |
|
[viii] |
Change to existing rule
(email rather than
letter preferred). |
|
[ix]
|
Clarification of
documentary evidence
requirements. |
|
[x] |
Change to existing
wording for greater
clarity. |
|
[xi] |
Change to existing rule
(from £10 to £5 for
Division 3). |
|
[xii] |
Change to existing rule
(simplification). |
|
[xiii] |
Change to existing rule
(from £10 to £5). |
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[xiv] |
Changed to bring in line
with 4.2 and 5.3. |
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[xv] |
Change to existing rule. |
|
[xvi] |
Extension to existing
rule. |
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[xvii] |
Change from ‘2013’. |
|
[xviii] |
Change to existing rule. |
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[xix] |
Change to existing rule. |
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[xx] |
Additional words added
in brackets. |
|
[xxi] |
Addition to existing
wording to cover rule
9.2 exception. |
|
[xxii] |
Change from ‘are expected
to’. |
|
[xxiii] |
Now combined with rule
12.8. |
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[xxiv] |
Now combined with rule 11.5. |
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Download the 2013/14
rules |
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