COMPETITION RULES

 

Rules applicable to all competitions

 

1. The controller has full authority to penalise teams for breaking the below rules, by banning players, deducting match points or taking any other action, as they deem appropriate.

 

2. All entry fees should be paid by 31st October of the current season.

 

3. (a) clubs entering teams in the league or knock-out should notify the controller of four or five nominated players respectively at the start of the season.

(b) For matches, players should play in ECF normal play rating order. Any substitute must not be rated more that 100 points higher without the prior agreement of the opposing captain.

(c) Where a player is ungraded, the club shall estimate their grade on the basis of knowledge of their current playing strength. The estimated grade should be used until grade is fixed by the LMS system.

(d) To allow for variations in current playing strength; a pair of players may play in reverse order to their published or estimated grades provided that their grades do not differ by more than 100 points for each junior player in the pair. This rule can be ignored if agreed by both captains.

 

4. No player shall play for more that one club in a season.

 

5. All competitions must be completed by 30th June of the current season.

 

6. Opposing teams may agree a postponement of a match as a whole provided they arrange a new date before 30th June of the current season, and notify the controller accordingly within one week of the new date being agreed. If the postponed match is not completed by the end of June, the captains should present the controller evidence of their attempts to rearrange. The controller may award match points to either team at their discretion based on this evidence.

 

7. (a) All matches shall commence at 7:30 PM (except Rushden home games which start at 7:00 PM) and shall be played with clocks. The time limit shall be 70 minutes with a 10 second increment.

(b) It is the responsibility of the home side to have the venue and boards ready for a start at 7:30 PM (if Rushden at home, by 7:00 PM). If the venue is not ready for play at 7:30 PM (or 7:00 PM if applicable), the clocks are to be adjusted on the home side's time to compensate for the late start.

(c) The clocks should be started at 7:30 PM whether or not the opponents have arrived. If an opponent has not arrived after one hour, he shall have forfeited the match. Captains may substitute prior to the clocks being started or, if a player has not arrived, after 30 minutes but before 1 hour has expired.

 

8. (a) In the course of play, each player is strongly advised to record their own moves and those of their opponent as clearly and legibly as possible, on a scoresheet that is clearly marked. Failure to do so will make it very difficult to claim foul, illegal moves or a different result than claimed in the event of a misreported result.

(b) If a player has less than 5 minutes left on their clock, they are not obliged to follow rule 8 (a) as it should be possible to reconstruct what has happened from the rest of the game and it is understood that time pressure can cause errors.

 

9. The result of the match must be recorded on the ECF League Management System (LMS) by the home captain following the match. The away captain must verify the result in the system once entered. Captains should then inform the controller of the result within one week.

 

10. Mobile phones must be either switched off or silenced and be visible throughout the match.

 

11. If a tie-break is required (for play-offs or the knock-out cup), the tie shall be decided by adding the board numbers of the decisive games for each team, the lower sum giving the winning team. If this fails to produce a result, the scores shall be recomputed disregarding the result on Board 5, or if this game is drawn, Board 4 and so on. In the event of a match in which all games are drawn, the fixture will be replayed.

 

Silver King League

 

12. Standard number of players in each team is four but may be increased with the agreement of both team captains. If the number of players is increased then only the standard boards will determine the result, but lower boards may be entgered in the LMS as graded friendly games.

 

13. Board colour shall be determined by the home team taking black on Board 1 and colours alternated thereafter.

 

14. The Silver King Trophy shall be awarded to the team scoring the most match points at the end of the season in Division One. Two points shall be awarded for a match win and one point for a match draw. If two or more teams finish on the same number of match points, then the match points scored in the individual matches between the teams shall be used to determine the higher placing. In the event of this not giving a decisive result for the league champion in any division, a "play-off" match shall be played. In the case of Division One, if this "play-off" is drawn, then the two teams shall be declared to share the title. In the case of lower division, the tie shall be decided by the tie break rule (11).

 

15. The bottom team in each division, except the lowest division, shall be relegated at the end of the season. The highest team in each division, except Division One, shall be promoted.

 

John Robinson Knock-Out Cup

 

16. Standard number of players in each team is five but may be increased with the agreement of both team captains. If the number of players is increased then only the standard boards will determine the result, but lower boards may be entered in the LMS as graded friendly games.

 

17. Board colour shall be determined by the toss of a coin on the night on Board 1 and colours alternated thereafter.

 

18. In the event of a drawn match, the tie shall be decided by the tie break rule (11).

 

19. The winning team in each match progresses to the next round of the cup. The John Robinson Trophy will be awarded to the team which wins the final.