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Dear Coulsdon Chess Members (Past, Present & Maybe Future!)

WINTER CHESS INFORMATION: SEASON 2021-22 - click here for entry page

This is your welcome & invitation letter for the 2021-22 winter chess season at Coulsdon Chess.  Our club is designed that players can regulate the amount of chess they play by picking and choosing the competitions that they play in, but the best value comes for most players by signing up for everything.  It is very important that everyone registering for any competition/activity understands that by registering, they do so on the basis that:

1    You cannot make conditional entries or stipulations as to which division/section of a competition you play in (eg. there are only 12 slots in every LP division of the club championship divisional structure and this will not be enlarged just because someone thinks they should be allowed to play in a higher division than we can offer them.  Those who played last season know that we cannot force anyone to be relegated if they finished 8th or above - and consequently, this means that there are limitations on numbers of new/returning players slotting in where they want/need to, along with players seeking special consideration for an extra promotion based upon grade), so even if the world's top 5 clamoured to enter, we could not guarantee all of them places in the Premiership!  Basically players enter by the entry deadline and must accept the division they are given and play in it (there are no refunds if you are disappointed and choose to then pull out).

2    From the moment that your position(s) in competitions are given, you agree to complete all your fixtures and not to withdraw prior to achieving this.  (Please do not enter the World Cup AND Club Championship unless you are sure that you will not be taken more than 2-3 nights off in the season (even that could be too many!)......because you will need to be available most weeks of the season if you reach the final).

3    You agree that your chess priority is to play at Coulsdon on Monday evenings as required by the Coulsdon Chess controller and agree to not take any Mondays off to play other chess activities; indeed that you are prepared to forego other activities if required by the Coulsdon Chess Controller to complete matches.  We appreciate that some players have links and involvement with other clubs, but the quality of our club is going to be damaged if we allow the club to grow on the basis that players can take Mondays off of their choosing to go and play Monday matches for other clubs.  As such, we would like to strongly encourage you to play inter-club chess for us (if you want to do team chess) rather than other clubs, as we always ensure that clashes are minimal and we can adapt the teams should you be behind on your games and need to catch up.  You will accept whatever penalties are deemed fit by the Coulsdon Chess controller if you break those rules.

4    You accept your total responsibility to be aware of the rules (for yourself - or your child (if appropriate)) and that you understand that rules will be strictly enforced, especially in relation to defaults and postponements.  You accept that phoning the office (or not texting the correct mobile number) on any given Monday cannot be guaranteed to cover you for pulling out of a match.  To cancel before the day of a game, an email to chess@ccfworld.com is required (which will be replied to - you must make sure you receive that reply).  On the day, an email is only OK only if it is received AND you get an acknowledgement, but the only way you can be sure of cancelling properly on a Monday is to text the stated mobile number (which you should load onto your phone).  The text will be acknowledged.

Please consider that some players travel long distances to play here - and not taking your responsibilities seriously can leave them without a game and will be severely frowned upon by the controller! That is why we have to be draconian, so that everyone knows where they stand.

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The activities we have are detailed more completely on their web site pages - click the links for more. In brief, we have:

EVENT

TYPE

ENTER

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE EVENT

Long Play Club Champs

Individual event

by 9th Aug

Players play in Divisions of up to 12 players.  Players will be paired subject to availability.  Expect matches on any Monday in the season; we will play them as quickly as we can.

Long Play Super League

Internal Team event

arranged by captains

There will be divisions of up to 8 teams in each, with extra teams in the bottom division (which will then run on a Swiss system) if needs be.  Teams will be of 4 players and each squad will have a size limit of 5 players (or 10 where 2 teams are being run out of the same squad) at the start of each season.  Teams will only be allowed to sign new players if they are going to be short of a player on a given night according to the records held by Coulsdon Chess.

Inter-Club Teams

(SCCA & Croydon League)
Home & Away team competitions

by 9th Aug

Home and away matches in the Surrey County Chess Association competitions - and some Croydon League matches (although we will use Croydon League home matches to give others games as well where inter-club players are behind on their internal games).  We will run as many teams as necessary to accommodate the number and standard of players wishing to play inter-club chess. Home matches will generally be Mondays.  Inter-Club players will have to accept that they may sometimes have to be left out of a team to ensure they complete their internal matches;  regular involvement in inter-club chess will be Open to all Full Members provided they will (in principle) commit to all home and away matches.

World Cup

Individual: K-O event with Plate & Saucer for those who get knocked out early.

by 9th Aug

Everyone enters the main event in a round befitting their rating (stronger players phase in as the rounds go by).  Players dropping out in earlier rounds will drop into either the Plate or Saucer, depending on grades/ratings and/or which round they exited.  Exact details cannot be confirmed until we know number of entries and have worked out logistics.  Please note that there will NOT be any LP replays for drawn games; all ties will be decided on the night using RP and/or Blitz.

Dicky White Club Tournament

Individual: including ALL internal matches

any time

This was previously the Coulsdon & Purley Club Championship event before Coulsdon Chess introduced divisions in the mid 1990's.  Every LP match you play in any of the long-play events (except the inter-club scene) will count towards this competition, as well as extra games we arrange as part of the Pairing Service (see below).

Pairing Service

Internally arranged rated & graded matches for players otherwise without a game.

any time

Full members may "Opt In" or "Opt Out" of our pairing service if they are registered for Long Play Chess with us.  On any "one off" week, a player may reverse his/her option (ie. a player off the list may ask to be paired and a player on the list may ask for a week off) by emailing Coulsdon Chess by 9am on the Friday.  On the day, we will automatically make pairings for those players who are on our list to pair but do not otherwise have a scheduled match.  Players will be removed from this service if they lose the right to postpone a match after 9am Friday.  Associate members cannot now join this scheme, but can request to be given a game on a Super League night on a "night by night" basis.
NEW: With the new Speed Chess logistics, some Rapid Play Super League players (who dot wish to play individual Speed Chess matches) may want to play RP Super League then play a (shorter time control) long play game at 8.30pm.  We will be happy to accommodate this.

You may miss out on a number of the activities if you fail to meet entry deadlines.

We have a lot of preparation work to do; it would be appreciated if anyone who receives an invite but is not interested in playing this season lets us know as soon as possible so that we can take this into account. Please do not hesitate to email our activities coordinator, Daniel Gliddon, should you have any questions or wish to discuss the different competitions.

Yours sincerely

Coulsdon Chess

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COULSDON WINTER CHESS - SEASON 2021-22 - GENERAL BULLET POINTS

1    There is no withdrawal accepted from any event unless there are exceptional circumstances.  By entering, you are agreeing to complete the required number of games without default.  As such we would ask everyone to consider carefully before entering that they can commit to the full season as required.  It is not acceptable to enter both the World Cup AND Club Championships unless you will be missing a VERY small number of weeks.
2    Players will not be allowed to register for nights off for any other chess matches. If they happen to be free on any given Monday they are welcome to play for another club, but must be prepared to pull out if Coulsdon Chess (even on the day) requires you for an internal match.
3    Matches will no longer be arranged for other nights of the week as a rule.  This is because we have a very strict process for recording FIDE Rated games - and have difficult logistical issues (that usually cannot be resolved) with matches played on other nights.
4    Players will only be allowed to record 1 long play game per week because of the reporting system.
5    The Coulsdon Chess competitions do not clash with each other, so you can, if you want a high intense season of chess, put your name down for every event.  But if you do, make sure you are available enough to fit all your potential matches in - and with a little leeway to allow for things going wrong.
6    The Dicky White tournament includes ALL results from ALL internal long play matches you play here, whether individually or in Super Leagues.  The only long play games that will not be included are inter-club games.
7    Players are reminded that in LP games, they must record moves clearly AT ALL TIMES in long play matches where you have Fischer timings with increments of 30 seconds or more. There is no moment in the game where you are allowed to stop recording.
8    Please check the rules very carefully on when and how you can cancel individual matches.  You must use the correct route of contact!
9    Every player must be a GOLD level member of the English Chess Federation. This is obligatory as everything we run is FIDE Rated.
10  If you bring a mobile phone onto the premises, it must be switched off whilst you are in the hall - and it must be placed faced down next to the chess clock at your board.  we feel this is safer (in our venue) than leaving it in a bag under the chair (which is how most FIDE events do it!).

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