Women's League Competition Rules 2019-20
 

1

General Arrangements

 

 

1.1

 The 4NCL Women’s League season will be played as at least one, and ideally three, independent weekend events as determined by the 4NCL Management Board.
   

1.2

 The 4NCL Women’s League will comprise a single division.
   

1.3

 Players may enter either as individuals or as part of a team. In the former case, the Chief Arbiter will arrange for those players entering individually to play in teams of roughly equal strength at the weekend and arrange for a team manager to be appointed from the players in each such team.
   

1.4

 No player, whether entering individually or as part of a team entry, may have a FIDE rating in excess of 2199.
   

1.5

 Any player entering as an individual rather than as part of a team entry needs to have had an ECF grade (or other international or national Elo equivalent) of 80 or higher in the last ten years.
   

1.6

 Team entries should register at least four players, but no more than six players, with an average ECF grade of at least 70 (or other international or national Elo equivalent). The four highest-graded players in the team must have an average ECF grade of at least 80 (or other international or national Elo equivalent).
   

1.7

 The exact format and structure of the 4NCL Women’s League will be determined by the 4NCL Management Board once final entries are known.
   

1.8

 FIDE-rated friendly games will be organised by the Chief Arbiter on a best endeavours basis for any players in a team who are not playing for their team in that round.
   

2

Ratings and Grades

 

 

2.1

 Players registered to England are, by concession from the ECF, not required to be Gold members of the English Chess Federation
   

2.2

 Players must have:

  1. A FIDE rating; or

  2. An ECF grade or other national rating; or

  3. An ECF rapidplay grade other national rapidplay rating; or

  4. Permission from the Chief Arbiter to play as part of a team. Players or team managers as appropriate must submit a formal request to the Chief Arbiter before entering. The Chief Arbiter will then either accept or decline the request. If accepted, the Chief Arbiter will provide an estimated rating that will be used for the purposes of the weekend. This registration is only valid for the weekend, and not for an entire season. The Chief Arbiter may amend the assigned rating at any point.

2.3

 For the purposes of team strength under 1.2 and board order under section 4, ECF grades will be converted to FIDE equivalent ratings using the formula 7.5*ECF+700 = FIDE.
   

2.4

 Individual entries may be made until the Monday before the weekend, to allow the teams to be created. Team entries may be made until the Wednesday before the weekend.
   

2.5

 Players will be automatically assigned the rating in 2.2(a). Managers may elect to use the latest published ECF grade for conversion to an equivalent FIDE rating for any player, provided this is declared in accordance with the deadline under 2.3.
   

3

Match Arrangements

 

 

3.1

 Matches will be played over four boards.
   

3.2

 The first-named team in each pairing will have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and black on the even-numbered boards.
   

3.3

 The starting times of each round will be as set out in the entry guidelines published at the start of each season.
   

3.4

 The time limit for each game will be all moves in 60 minutes plus 30 seconds per move from move 1.
   

3.5

 All results, including friendly games, will be submitted for FIDE rating and ECF grading. Results may be submitted to other national federations upon request.
   

4

Team Lists

 

 

4.1

 Team managers must submit their team list using the online system at least 30 minutes before the start of the round. The submission must also list all of the reserve players who are available for friendly games.
   

4.2

 Where there is a difference of more than 100 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. If a team list is submitted in breach of this rule, then the submitted team will be amended to play in descending rating order; where two or more players have the same rating, those players will play in alphabetical order. For the purposes of this rule, the following approach will be used:

  1. Weekend 1 – the FIDE rating list for October 2019 or converted grade under 2.3 above;

  2. Weekend 2 – the FIDE rating list for April 2020 or converted grade under 2.3 above.

4.3

If a team manager has not submitted a team list for round 1, the Chief Arbiter will assume the four highest rated players in the squad will play in the team, in descending assigned rating order. Where two or more players have the same assigned rating, those players will play in alphabetical order. For all other rounds, the Chief Arbiter will assume that the team will be unchanged from the previous round.
   

4.4

 A team list may only be changed after the deadline specified in 4.1 if:

  1. The opposing team manager agrees that the team composition or board order may be amended after the team was selected in accordance with 4.3. Such an amendment will result in a 1-gamepoint penalty counting towards the score of the match; or

  2. There was an administrative error by an arbiter in the publication of the team lists.

4.5

 Any protest about the composition of a team must be made before the scheduled start of the round.
   

4.6

 Known defaults must be on the lowest boards.
   

5

Game Arrangements

 

 

5.1

 The default time shall be 30 minutes.
   

5.2

 A team manager may replace an absent player with another of that team’s registered players provided this is done not more than 30 minutes after the scheduled start of the round, and that the replacement player has not already played in that match.
   

6

Pairings & Rankings

 

 

6.1

 Match points will be used to determine team rankings using the following system:

  1. 2 match points for a won match, where a team scores more points than their opponent.

  2. 1 match point for a drawn match, where a team scores the same number of game points as their opponent.

  3. 0 match points for a lost match, where a team scores fewer game points than their opponent.

  4. 1 match point for a bye, where a team was not paired against an opponent.

6.2

 For the purposes of Swiss pairing, teams will be seeded within match point score groups by the number of game points scored, and if still tied, their initial seeding.
   

6.3

 For the purposes of the final ranking, ties on match points will be split by:

  1. Gamepoints. This will be the sum of the game points scored in each match. A team that has a bye will be deemed as having scored 2 game points.

  2. Direct Encounter. The result of the head-to-head match(es) involving the tied teams on Matchpoints and Gamepoints will determine which team finishes highest. All teams tied after (a) must have played each other in order for this tie-break to be used, except in the case where any unplayed matches would not have impacted upon the ranking of a particular team or teams involved in the tie. For example, in a three-way tie, if A beat B and C; but B did not play C, then A will be ranked highest, and B and C will move on to the next tie-break.

  3. Average Rating of Opponents (Division 1), or Average Grade of Opponents (Division 2). This is the mean rating or grade of all of the opposing players a team has played during the tournament. For the purpose of this calculation, the rating or grade to be used is the one assigned by a team manager before the start of the tournament in 2.6. Games won or lost by default are counted in this calculation using the rating or grade of the player who was nominated to play. If no player is nominated, then the game will not count towards the calculation.

7

Other

 

 

7.1

 The 4NCL reserves the right to refuse any entry without explanation.
   

7.2

 The arbiting team may apply penalties as it sees fit for any flagrant or premeditated breaches of the spirit as well as the letter of the rules.
   

7.3

 An appeal against a decision of the arbiting team may be made to the 4NCL Management Board. Notice of such an appeal must be made in writing and received within seven days of the original decision.
   

7.4

 All registered players in the 4NCL Women’s League shall consent to their name and grade being shown on the 4NCL website. Those wishing to withhold their consent will not be permitted to play in the 4NCL Women’s League.
   

7.5

 A player may ask his team manager or an arbiter for any score in any match at any time. No other information may be provided by a team manager to any player. Players must not ask their team managers about whether or not they should offer, or accept the offer of, a draw.
   

7.6

 Players are permitted to play in the 4NCL and in the J4NCL as well as in the 4NCL Women’s League. Players in the 4NCL Women’s League are free to play in any team in the 4NCL and in the J4NCL.
   

7.7

 As regards junior players, parents/guardians/teachers are assumed to consent to having photographs of participants taken; if they object to this they should raise the matter either with the arbiting team or the photographer concerned. Copyright to photographs remains with the photographer concerned.
   

7.8

 The 4NCL Management Board and the arbiting team accept no responsibility for any damage, theft, injury or accident in relation to the person or property of anyone attending this event. They are unable to act in loco parentis for children and are not able to take responsibility for any child’s actions, or for the actions of anyone that may affect a child. Parents, guardians and teachers as appropriate agree to the terms and conditions as set out in the entry guidelines and these rules as a condition of entry. Parents/guardians/teachers are responsible for their children throughout the entire duration of the event.
   

7.9

 The 4NCL Anti-Cheating Policy will apply to this event.
   

8

Website Terms and Conditions

 

 

8.1

The Four Nations Chess League does not accept responsibility for the content of other websites, to which the site links.
   

8.2

 This website includes information on participants in the Four Nations Chess League in respect of name, grade, title, nationality and sex (team registration lists), as well as telephone number(s), email address(es) and postal address(es) in certain circumstances (team captains/managers, management board members, arbiters etc).
   

8.3

 Participants wishing this information not to be included on the website should contact the webmaster to have it removed, but should be aware that in this event they will not be permitted to play in the league.
   
   
 
  Women's League Rules

 

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Four Nations Chess League

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