Columbus Chess League

Rules For the 2011-2012 Season

 

1.      The Official Rules of Chess as currently set forth by the United States Chess Federation shall govern all aspects of play, unless specified otherwise.

 

  1. League play shall take place monthly from October through April.  Games shall be canceled any day on which a Level 3 snow emergency is in effect after 9am, there is a power outage at the site, or for other circumstances preventing play.  In such cases, the Match Director shall determine how the missed games will be made up in consultation with the Captains of the teams affected, whose unanimous agreement shall be required to add a date to the schedule.

 

  1. All games shall be played at the time and place announced by the organizer or Match Director.  If necessary, individual games may be played in advance of the designated time (not after) if both Team Captains agree and the Match Director approves.

 

  1. For league purposes, player ratings refer to each team member’s rating as of the USCF rating supplement in effect the month they are added to the team roster (but not earlier than September).  For league purposes, a player’s rating will not change for the duration of the league season, unless and until the Match Director assigns a higher rating to maintain fair and competitive matches.

 

  1. A team’s rating shall be the average of the four highest-rated team members’ ratings as determined above.

 

  1. The league shall be divided into Sections of six or eight teams each, divided according to team rating.  If there is not an even multiple of six or eight teams, the Match Director shall determine how to organize the sections.

 

  1. Pairings in each section shall be made as a double round robin, two rounds against every other team in the section, alternating colors.  The Match Director may alter the format to accommodate the league schedule and/or number of teams in a section.

 

  1. In the event a section does not require the entire league season to complete a double round robin, the remaining dates will be filled with additional rated games and at such time controls as determined by the Match Director.  Such additional rounds may or may not count toward league standings, at the discretion of the Match Director.

 

  1. Teams shall consist of no fewer than four players and no more than eight, allowing for alternates.  There shall be no geographic or demographic restrictions on players who may join together to form a team.  Teams are encouraged not to be overly top-heavy with high-rated players, to make matches with other teams competitive, challenging and enjoyable for all.

 

  1. Each team shall designate a Captain to be its representative.
    1. A team may change its Captain at any time upon notice to the Match Director.
    2. A team may designate an Alternate Captain(s) to serve in the Captain’s absence.
    3. If necessary to promptly resolve a time sensitive league matter, a TD or the Match Director may appoint an alternate Captain if the team cannot or does not.
    4. The Match Director may ban or remove a person from serving as Team Captain for reasons having a negative impact on the league.
    5. The Team Captain is responsible to ensure his or her entire team understand and comply with all league rules.

 

  1. Each Captain shall register his or her team for the tournament at least two weeks prior to the first scheduled round.  A registration is not complete and the team not entered, until the organizer has received a complete team roster (see next), payment of the entry fee, and payment of a $50 deposit.  The deposit shall be refunded at the end of the season net of deductions (see details below).  Payments are due in one sum from the Team Captain and will not be accepted individually from team members.

 

  1. To be complete, a team roster must include all of the following information for each team member, and be submitted electronically using the Excel spreadsheet provided by the organizer for this purpose:
    1. Name;
    2. USCF id number;
    3. USCF membership expiration date (must be after the end of the league season);
    4. Phone numbers: cell (mandatory for the team captain), home and work;
    5. Email address (mandatory for the team captain); and
    6. Postal address.

 

  1. Changes to a team roster may be made by the team Captain in writing to the Match Director, subject to the following conditions:
    1. Changes may be made freely until the registration deadline.
    2. After the registration deadline and until January 30th, changes which would alter the team rating by more than 30 points shall require Match Director approval.
    3. No changes shall be allowed after January 30th except due to unusual and unforeseen circumstances, and only with approval of the Match Director.
    4. All player additions shall be submitted to the Match Director far enough in advance to allow for verification of player eligibility prior to the next round.
    5. No player shall be removed from a team roster once he or she has played for the team in any round (extra rated games excluded).
    6. After the registration deadline, a player removed from a team roster shall not be added to the same team’s roster again for the remainder of the season.
    7. No player shall be added to a team roster whose USCF membership expires prior to the end of the league season.
    8. A player may appear on more than one team roster only if he or she is not among the five highest rated players on any such teams, and provided such players may compete for only one team in any given round on the same day.
    9. At no time shall any team roster include more than eight players. 

 

  1. All games in the announced schedule shall be played using the time control of Game in 75 minutes, with a 5-second delay.  Time shall not be deducted from clocks using delay, except in unusual circumstances at the TD’s discretion.  The Match Director may use his or her discretion to alter the time control for a limited number of rounds in order to add additional rounds if needed to accommodate the league schedule or number of teams in a section, or to make up games cancelled for weather or other circumstances as described earlier.  Dates other than those as originally announced shall not be added to the schedule without the unanimous agreement of all team captains in the section(s) affected.

 

  1. Each round shall be a one-game match between 4-board teams.  In each round, those team members designated by the Team Captain to compete shall play on boards 1-4 in descending rating order, except team members within 75 points of each other may switch.  Unrated players may play in any position within the lineup, unless they have been assigned a rating by the Match Director (see above), in which case they may play on any higher board according to rating order, but none lower (ie, their assigned rating shall determine the lowest board on which they may play).  The players designated to play each round need not be the four highest rated players available to play. When multiple rounds are played on the same date, a Team Captain may alter his or her team lineup for each.    

 

  1. A claim that the board order rules above have been violated may be made by any person to the Chief TD of the round in question, or the TD may rule on his or her own initiative.  Such claims/rulings may not be initiated with respect to any round once the following month’s rounds for that section have begun.  At the time the TD rules a violation occurred:
    1. if more than half the applicable time control has elapsed (or the games are complete), the affected games (ie, only those games where players should have been different) shall be treated as forfeits for league scoring purposes, but shall be played to completion and submitted to USCF for rating; or
    2. if less than half the applicable time control has elapsed, the TD may follow the rule above and impose a time penalty deduction on the offending players of up to 15 minutes each (but not more than half their remaining time), or void the affected games and restart them anew with the correct players, and impose a time penalty deduction on the offending players of up to the total time elapsed since the start of the round or 15 minutes (whichever is greater); non-offending players will restart the game with the full time control on their clocks.

 

  1. If one or more team members designated to play a particular round are not present at the scheduled start time, the Team Captain shall substitute other available players.  If fewer than four are present, they shall play the topmost boards, and games on remaining boards shall be forfeited.  The TD may, but is not required to, delay the start of a round by no more than 15 minutes to allow for late arrivals.  If the TD has reason to believe an absent player will indeed arrive albeit late, he or she may allow the round to begin with the absent player’s clock running on the appropriate board.  If the player does not appear, normal USCF time forfeit rules shall apply, and violations of the board order rule may apply based on where players would have been assigned without leaving a gap for the absent player.

 

  1. If any game of a match is played prior to the scheduled round with the Match Director’s approval, that game shall be assigned a board number by the TD or Match Director for the appropriate round once players on the remaining boards are identified.  The game on the assigned board number shall be treated as complete (important primarily for board prize eligibility).  In assigning a board number to such games (and prior to approving the game to be played in advance in the first place), the TD or Match Director will take board order rules into consideration, but it may not be possible to assign a board number in compliance with such rules perfectly.

 

  1. Each team shall supply at least two boards, two sets, and two delay-capable chess clocks for each round. If sufficient equipment is not available, the deficient team(s) shall forfeit the number of games lacking equipment, starting from the lowest board up. Double forfeits may be issued according to this rule.

 

  1. All game results shall be submitted by each respective team Captain to the Chief TD at the completion of each round on the form provided.

 

  1. Team members present at a round but not playing for their team (whether due to more than four team members present or games forfeited by the opposing team), may be paired against other available players by the Chief TD for extra rated games as space permits.  Such extra rated games shall not count for team or league purposes in any way.  Players of extra rated games shall submit game results directly to the Chief TD rather than through Team Captains.

 

  1. Results of individual games will generally be submitted to USCF for rating shortly after all rounds in a given month are complete.  In no case shall the results of any game be submitted for rating later than the end of the following month.

 

  1. Current league standings will be updated and posted on the league website by the end of each respective month.

 

  1. Scoring for each round shall be as follows:
    1. For each game, a player shall receive one game point for a win, one game point for a forfeit by the opponent, one-half game point for a draw, and no game point for a loss or forfeit.
    2. A team whose members receive two and one-half (2.5) or more game points shall receive one match point, one-half (.5) match point if two game points, and no match point if fewer than two game points.
    3. A team receiving a bye shall receive one match point and four game points.
    4. Extra rated games shall not count for scoring purposes.

 

  1. Team standings shall be determined by total Match Points.  In the case of a tie, tie break systems will be used in the order listed below.  Systems (a) thru (d) will determine both place awards and trophy awards; methods (e) thru (k) will determine trophy awards only, and the teams named as co-winners of the same place award:
    1. If time permits in the regular league schedule, the Match Director may design a playoff using the normal league time controls (or different time controls with the affected teams’ consent)
    2. Total game points
    3. Match points earned in head to head competition
    4. Game points earned in head to head competition
    5. Cumulative score, match points (N/A for round robin format)
    6. Solkoff system (match points)
    7. Sonnenborn-berger system (match points)
    8. Cumulative score, game points (N/A for round robin format)
    9. Solkoff system (game points)
    10. Sonnenborn-berger system (game points)
    11. Coin toss.

 

26.  Team prizes shall be awarded to the top two scoring teams in each section.

 

27.  No team may receive more than one prize, and no prize at all if deductions in excess of that team’s deposit remain outstanding (see below).  Such prizes shall be awarded to the next highest-scoring eligible team or, if none, shall be forfeited.

 

28.  Board prizes shall be awarded in each section for the top scoring player on each board (1-4).  A player is eligible to win a board prize only for the lowest board number on which he or she played during the season.  Extra rated games shall not be considered in awarding board prizes.  Ties will be broken based on prior results of head to head games between those players tied, then standard USCF tie breaks if needed.

 

29.  Additional team or individual awards may be given at the organizer’s discretion.

 

30.  Deductions from a team’s deposit will be made under the following conditions:

a.       If a team forfeits more than two individual games during the season: $5 each for the third and fourth game forfeits, $7 each for the fifth and sixth game forfeits, and $10 for each additional game forfeit. 

b.      If a team forfeits all four games in the same round without giving the Match Director notice at least 24 hours in advance: $25 in addition to applicable game forfeit deductions above.

c.       If a team member is found to have an expired USCF membership when games in which that person played are submitted for rating (including extra rated games): $15 per date for each such team member.

d.      If there is a shortfall in the minimum food purchase required at the site on any given date: the shortfall shall be divided by the number of teams scheduled to play that day, and deducted from those teams’ deposits.

e.       If team member(s) cause damages at the site or other unexpected league expenses: actual expenses plus 10%.

f.       If a team withdraws from the tournament after the registration deadline and prior to the last round: $50

 

31.  If at any time there are insufficient funds in a team's deposit to cover the above deductions, the team will be required to pay to the organizer the amount necessary to cover the deductions and restore their deposit balance to $50, prior to the next month’s round. Failure to do so may result in suspension or expulsion for the remainder of the season. The Team Captain is responsible for making such payment upon notice by the Match Director or organizer.

 

32.  Any team deposit remaining after deductions shall be refunded to the respective Team Captain within two weeks of the final round of the season.

 

33.  The Match Director is responsible to conduct the league in compliance with these rules, and to ensure a smooth, competitive and enjoyable league season for the benefit of all participants.  The Match Director may also serve as Chief TD for the season or specific rounds, or may arrange for other appropriately certified TDs to do so.

 

34.  A TD or the Match Director may suspend or ban a player or team from league play for flagrant or repeated rules violations, disruptive behavior, or unsportsmanlike conduct.  In such an event, at the Match Director’s discretion, restrictions on roster changes may be suspended or modified to allow a Captain to field a full team.

 

35.  Decisions and rulings may be appealed by any team(s) or player(s) affected by them, as follows:

a.       Team Captain decisions may be appealed to a TD or the Match Director only if they are in violation of league or USCF rules.

b.      TD rulings under USCF rules may be appealed using normal USCF procedures.

c.       TD decisions or rulings under league rules may be appealed only to the Match Director.

d.      Match Director decisions or rulings concerning the conduct of the league or the application, interpretation or change of its rules, may be appealed only to a committee consisting of all Team Captains.  A three-fourths (3/4) majority vote of the entire committee shall be required to overrule a decision or ruling of the Match Director.

 

All rules are based on estimated response for the 2011-2012 inaugural season.  The Match Director may make changes prior to the first round if needed to accommodate the number of teams which enter.

 

Food & Beverage Policies:

In consideration for using their party room, Donatos requires our group to purchase at least $50 of food each time we meet.  We do not plan to coordinate orders for the entire group; you may make purchases individually or coordinate with others as you wish.

 

All orders must be placed through store personnel on duty in the party room to count toward the daily order total, not at the normal store counter upstairs.  Orders may be placed any time throughout the day.  15% gratuity will be added to all purchases.

 

Please note Donatos serves alcohol in the party room.  We encourage those who wish to partake to do so in the regular dining room upstairs, rather than in our party room.  We also prefer players not eat at the boards during tournament games.

 

Donatos does allow outside food to be brought into the party room, and has a commercial cooler for storage as space permits; but please plan to contribute toward the purchase commitment regardless.

 

On any date the minimum purchase requirement isn’t met, the shortfall will be divided equally among the teams scheduled to play that day, and deducted from each team’s deposit.  Which individuals or teams did or did not make purchases that day will generally not be taken into consideration unless a team agrees to contribute a larger share, or an absent team is assigned a larger share by the Match Director.

7-3-11