Mid-Sussex Chess League

revised 21 May 2002; September 2008;  operative from September 2002

1

Entry shall be open to one or more teams of six players from each club in the League. Teams wishing to enter shall inform the League Secretary Tournament Controller of their intention to do so not later than 1st 14^th September. It is a condition of entry that each team nominates a team captain, and submits his/her contact details.

2

A tournament controller (TC) shall be appointed by the league. The TC shall be responsible for maintaining the competition as both a smooth-running and an amicable event, and he/she shall be accorded reasonable discretion in the interpretation of these rules to further these ends.

3

The TC shall draw up a pairing tree for the entire competition. Random means shall be used to allocate teams to their initial positions in the tree. The TC shall also draw up a schedule of dates by which each round shall be completed, such that the final round is finished by 15 April. The pairing tree, the schedule for the completion of the rounds, and a list of the contact details for all team captains shall be sent to all clubs by 1st October.

4

In each match the team that appears higher in the pairing tree shall play at home, unless the lower-placed team has already played one or more away games than the higher-placed one, in which case the venue is reversed.

5

Captains should strive to keep themselves informed of the outcome of matches in collateral branches of the pairing tree, and to make arrangements for the following round at the earliest opportunity. Nevertheless, the TC shall contact captains of victorious teams to inform them of their next opponents. It is then the responsibility of the captain of the home team to contact the captain of the away team within 7 days, and offer at least two dates on which the match can be played within the schedule.

6

Once a player has played in this competition, that player may not subsequently play for another team in this competition in the same season.

7

For the purposes of this competition a player's grading shall be their official BCF grading.

If a player has no BCF grading, it shall be based on the highest division in which in which he/she has appeared in a MSL match in the current season, as follows:

8

Each team shall total the gradings of the players actually playing in a match, excluding any player winning or losing by default.

9

If the difference between the total grading of the teams is 25 or more, the match shall be handicapped according to the following table.

10

If the difference between the total gradings of the teams is less than 25, a level match shall be played, with a 3–3 draw being resolved by board count, and, if the board count is equal, by board elimination.

Board count: Each team sums totals the numbers on the boards on of which it won, and the team with the lower count wins the match. E.g. Team A wins on boards 3 and 4; team B wins on boards 2 and 6; boards 1 and 5 are drawn. A has a board count of 3 + 4 = 7; B has a board count of 2 + 6 = 8; A has the lower count, and wins the match.

Board elimination: The result on board 6 is eliminated, and, if this is drawn, the result on board 5 is eliminated, and so on until one team is winning on the remaining boards. E.g. Team A wins on boards 3 and 4; team B wins on boards 2 and 5; boards 1 and 6 are drawn. The board count is equal at 7 each, but after board 6 and then board 5 are eliminated, A has the better score, and wins the match.

11

The rate of play shall be 30 moves in 1 hour, after which both players' clocks shall be turned back half an hour, and all the remaining moves played. The FIDE Laws of Chess on quickplay finishes shall apply.

12

The rules covering team order, ineligible players eligibility of players, playing times and notification of results shall be the same as those of the league.  If a League player's club does not enter a teamthey may play for another club's K/O team irrespective of League rule 3.2.

13

Results (including the computation of handicaps) shall be sent to the TC by the captain of the winning team within 3 8 days of completing the match.