BRITISH CORRESPONDENCE CHESS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP RULES
1. The League Team Championship of the BFCC shall be known as the British Correspondence Chess Team Championship.
2. A Tournament Director shall be appointed by the BFCC. There shall be a committee of three responsible for the general supervision of the Championship, of which one member shall be the Tournament Director, one a representative of the BFCC and one a representative of the British Correspondence Chess League.
3. The Championship shall be contested annually by nine teams each of eight players and up to two reserves all residing in the British Isles (except Irish Republic). In the event of the withdrawal or death of a team member during the first three months of play, his place may be taken by one of the reserve players who shall continue the game(s) from the position(s) and time(s) reached. Such substitution shall be made within fourteen days of the Team Captain being informed that his player has stopped answering or has withdrawn. If necessary, a copy of the game score(s) and time(s) used shall be supplied by the opponent. If a game score cannot be supplied, then the game(s) shall be scored as a loss to both teams. When the reserves are in play, or after three months of play, any subsequent case of withdrawal shall result in the loss of the game(s). If a player dies after this period, the Tournament Director shall decide whether the game(s) shall be adjudicated or continued by an additional substitute player. Reserves need not be announced in advance though it is strongly recommended that they are. No additional time will be allowed for a substitution when the reserve is not known in advance.
4. Games shall be played in accordance with the ICCF Playing Rules (for team tournament games normally played by post, or normally played by server) in being at the commencement date except as may be otherwise provided in these rules. There shall be no requirement to use the registration or recorded delivery services. There shall be no requirement to send an informational copy of a repeat or the reply to it to the Tournament Director.
5. Moves shall be sent in the algebraic or a mutually agreed notation for those games played by post or e-mail.. Scoresheets or scorecards may be used only if both players agree; they must understand that this method of transmission does not provide positive proof of the moves played or the dates of transmission or receipt. This rule does not apply for games played on the server.
6. Impossible, illegal or illegible moves shall be referred back to the sender for correction and ambiguous moves for clarification. Additional reflection time shall count for the guilty player as if for separate moves but no other penalty shall normally apply. This rule does not apply for games played on the server.
7. The permitted time of reflection for transmission of moves by post is twenty-five days for the first ten moves and each succeeding ten moves. Time saved shall be carried forward. Should the transmission of moves by email be agreed between the players, the permitted time of reflection is thirty days for the first ten moves and each succeeding ten moves. Time saved shall be carried forward. Should the transmission of moves be made by webserver, the permitted time of reflection is thirty-five days for the first ten moves and each succeeding ten moves with doubling of time after fifteen days. Time saved shall be carried forward.
8. Players claiming that the time limit has been exceeded need only send to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain in the first instance, the card or scoresheet on which the opponent has indicated an accumulated time in excess of the permitted number of days. For those games played on the server where the time control has been exceeded, players should send a claim to their Team Captain by e-mail who will forward the claim to the Tournament Director.
9. If a first claim for exceeding the time limit is upheld, then the player who has exceeded the time limit shall be deemed to have lost the game.
10. A player may take up to 14 days’ leave during the game.
11. All correspondence with the team captains and the Tournament Director shall be by first class post or by email. The transmission of moves shall be by first class post unless both players agree to use email.
12. Each player shall play two games simultaneously, one as White and one as Black, with one opponent and the pairings shall be so arranged that no two teams fail to be opposed to each other. All results and game scores must be notified to the Tournament Director within seven days of the completion of the game.
13. At the end of the playing season ties shall be broken by adding to the score of each team concerned the sum of the board numbers on which its players have won and half the sum of those on which they have drawn. The team with the lowest figure shall be the winner. If these figures are the same the tie shall be broken by eliminating the score on the bottom board, the bottom-but-one board and so on until a decisive result is reached.
14. The teams finishing in places 1 to 8 shall be eligible to play in the next Championship. The British Correspondence Chess League shall nominate one team to fill the vacant place and a team shall not be ineligible because it played in the previous Championship.
15. Each team’s entry fee shall be sent with the team list to the Tournament Director. All games shall start on 1st December and the adjudication date is 30th September. Claims for adjudication together with the adjudication fee shall be submitted to the Tournament Director within two weeks of the date set for close of play. Cheques should be made payable to “BFCC”. The adjudication fee of the player whose claim is upheld shall be returned. Should an appeal against the adjudicator’s decision be upheld, the claimant’s appeal fee and adjudication fee shall be refunded.
16. The winning team shall hold the title of British Correspondence Chess Team Champions and receive medals and a cash prize as decided by the BFCC.
17. No player may play for more than one team in any one Championship.
18. Any matters concerning the organisations and running of the tournament not covered in these rules or the ICCF Playing Rules shall be decided at the discretion of the Tournament Director.
19. Competitors may appeal against the decisions of the Tournament Director to the BFCC Secretary whose address shall be shown on the pairing notice. Such appeal shall be posted within seven days of receiving the decision in question. The appeal shall be referred to the appropriate committee of the BFCC whose decision shall be final.
20. The BFCC reserves the right to decline an entry or entries without stating a reason or entering into any further correspondence.
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