CHESS CLUB HOME PAGE                       CHESS HOME PAGE

CCF SUPER LEAGUES COMPETITIONS 2019-20

CCF runs these events for the purpose of encouraging good quality competition but also for good social interaction between chess players who attend the club. Although it appreciates that the competitions will be taken very seriously by many of the players involved, CCF is at pains to point out that, as the organisers, our priority is to encourage the playing of chess and as such, we will assist all of the teams as we deem it appropriate and fair within the rules and we ask that all captains respect this.

GENERAL RULES FOR ALL EVENTS

GR1 All players must be current bona fide Full or Associate Members of CCF before playing in any of the Super League Competitions - and also Gold members of the English Chess Federation.  Teams may be penalised where players are not registered properly and manage to play; the Winter Season Checker generally shows up to date information with regard to CCF membership whereas their ECF grading page (linked from the Winter Season Checker) shows their current level of ECF membership (within a few days).  Although the Winter Season Checker lists the team players are expected to play for, they not listed on their team page (and therefore eligible) until they have paid up.  Membership fees must be paid by the time that the teams are named to ensure that a player is correctly registered to play the following week.

GR2 FIDE laws of chess shall apply as appropriate to each competition and the decision of the Controller shall be final in all matters, whether related to these rules or where an issue is not covered by these rules. All players are expected to play within the spirit of the competition.

GR3 Captains must name their players and/or board orders in full by email by 9am on the Friday immediately preceding the match.  Changes to the personnel after 9am Friday may only be made where players have subsequently notified CCF that they are then unavailable - teams will be given a penalty point (see below) if a player then pulls who has already used up their 3 lives for cancelling individual matches.  

GR4 Where a player named in the starting line up fails to arrive, teams shall be allowed to put in a bone fide substitute at any time before the original player(s) default(s). Where there is more than one player missing, substitutes must fill in on the highest boards first unless mutually agreed between the captains.  Where there is more than 1 substitute, the stronger player(s) (within the allowances of board order rules) shall play on the higher board.  Standard defaulting rules will apply to the individual players if they do not turn up.

GR5 In scoring a match, one board point shall be awarded for each individual board. Where a team wins the overall match, they shall be awarded 3 match points.  Where a match is drawn, teams will be awarded 2 points each. A team loss will record 1 point. Where a team defaults all 4 boards, they shall score 0 (and suffer penalty points). 

GR6 Once a player has played for a team in one of the competitions, he/she is then tied to only play for that team for the remainder of the season.  

GR7 Nobody shall be allowed to be the named captain for more than one team in the same competition, except where the team is a nominated 2nd team under the same name. CCF reserves the right to refuse an individual to be a captain or to replace an ineffective captain if necessary as teams belong to CCF and captains are appointed with their permission.

GR8 The details of a new player joining a squad less than a week before a match must be advised to the opposing captain. Once a team has been published, any new names included in the match that team is named for, may only be used with the permission of the opposing captain. 

GR9 Default times shall be 8pm Long Play Super League and 7-45pm for Rapid Play Super Leagues, but only in the case of players who have not arrived to play and who have not notified us that they are definitely coming.  Where we are aware a player is on their way, they shall only default if their clocks runs out of time prior to their arrival.

GR10 Where a team is knowingly defaulting boards, the captain of that team must notify CCF by email by Noon on the day of the match. 

GR11 In league matches, a penalty points scheme will operate to penalise teams who become unreliable in organising their line-ups properly. If a team defaults top board, they shall receive 4 penalty points (these are nothing to do with match points). If they default board 2, they shall receive 3 penalty points. If they default board 3, they shall receive 2 penalty points. If they default board 4, they shall receive 1 penalty point. A team shall be deducted 1 match point for 5 penalty points, and a further match point for every 5 penalty points thereafter.

GR12 In league events, positions shall be decided on 1) Most Match Points, 2) Best "Goal Difference!" (Board Points Scored minus Board Points Conceded), 3) Most Board Points Scored, 4) If a Swiss system tournament, sum of progressive score, 5) Result of Direct Match(es) involving teams tied (including board count and bottom board elimination if necessary).

LONG PLAY SUPER LEAGUE

LR1 Players shall start with 90 minutes each on the clock and be given 30 seconds extra per move Fischer Timings from move 1.  The controller may penalise a team on the clock where teams have not been notified by the deadline.

LR2 Teams shall play in descending order of current chess playing strength - where 2 teams are running off the same squad, the captain will effectively be naming a team of 8 players when advising his/her team. The latest monthly ratings will apply for each month's super league.  CCF does not accept any responsibility for incorrect/late publishing of ratings on the team pages.   FIDE Ratings (or ECF converted equivalents or CCF estimate - see rule LR3) shall define their playing strength. Players may only inter-change board positions if they are graded 75 points or less apart (150 points for juniors). If teams are short of the 4 players required, they must default on the lowest board(s) possible.  

LR3 Squads may not have more than 5 players in it at the start of the season - or 10 players if the squad is supporting 2 teams.  New players may only join after that time if CCF's records show that a squad will be short of players to fulfil the boards it needs to fill to have a full team.

LR4 Where both teams from the same "double" team end up in the same division, the captain shall (for the duration of that season) split the players and run the teams as 2 different sides - as Team A and Team B.  He/She may continue to be captain of both teams but must ensure that once a player has played for for the A team, that they cannot play for the B team, and vice-versa.

RAPID PLAY SUPER LEAGUE

RR1 Each team shall have a maximum rating total of 30,000 available to them for the whole season. Every time a player plays, the value of their September 2018 rating shall be deducted from the available total.  Where a team defaults a board, that players total shall still be deducted.  If no player was named in the team for the defaulted board, then the value of the highest non-used player shall be deducted.  A team breaking their limit shall be docked 1 match point plus a further match point for every 50 FIDE points the total is broken by.

RR2 Players shall start with 20 minutes each on the clock and be given 10 seconds extra per move Fischer timings from move 1.

RR3 Teams shall play in descending order of current chess playing strength. Players’ latest FIDE Rapid Play Ratings (or ECF converted equivalent - or CCF estimate) shall define their playing strength.  Players may only inter-change board positions if they are graded 75 points or less apart (150 points for juniors). CCF shall allocate what will be a changeable estimated grade for ungraded players. If teams are short of the 4 players required, they must default on the lowest board(s) possible.

RR5 Players must play in a minimum of 50% of the matches that they are present for a Speed Chess evening.  (This is a change whereas before, players joining a team before the start of the season must play in 3 of the 5 matches, now if players register and then only attend 2 Speed Chess nights, the captain is only obliged to play him/her in 1 of them).  Failure to do so will result in 1 match point being deducted from their team's score, unless the player only attended the 1st Speed Chess night of the season and did not play in their team (this is to allow for the fact a player may join a team, not be selected for match 1, but then legitimately have to leave the club for whatever reason). 

RP6 Where a player's rating value is used in respect of a default, that shall not count as a used appearance.

CHESS CLUB HOME PAGE                       CHESS HOME PAGE