Rules 2019
Please read the rules for 2019, they remain basically the same as 2018. There are minor changes- see rules 2a, 2b, 5 and 14b Please comment with any suggestions. Thanks.
The rules for the 2019 Season
1a. All teams must represent a county, a region, a city or a town in the UK and Ireland. Players can choose to represent any team of their choice. There are no restrictions concerning being born, living or working in the team's area.
1b. Players can be members of two or more county groups, but a player cannot play for more than one team in the county championship league and cup competitions in a single season, even if they are in different divisions. It is the responsibility of the team admins to make sure that their members are aware of this rule and to report when it is broken. Once a player has played for one team that is his/her team for the rest of the season and any results gained for any other team will be forfeited if the controller of the division is made aware. If it is unclear who the first team the player played for eg they play for two teams in the same month, then all their results will be forfeited.
2a. The league will be divided into 3 divisions, divisions 1, 2 and 3, unless the number of teams reaches 28, in which case a new division 4 will be created. Teams will be allocated to divisions using their finishing places in the 2018 season. All new teams will start in the lowest division. It is the aim that two teams will be promoted and relegated from each division at the end of the season. But this may change if new teams join or teams leave the competition.
2b. There is now an under 1600 competition which will run from August onwards to fill the gap between seasons in the main competition. Teams can choose or choose not to sign up for this competition separately each year. This competition is separate to the main league and cup. A player can’t play for two different teams in this competition but may play for a different team in the main league and cup. All other rules for 2019 will apply to this competition.
3a .There will be a knock out cup competition in 2019. Teams need to inform the controller if they don’t wish to take part. Each match will start as soon as possible. Once a team has an unassailable lead the result can be declared. Please report results promptly.
3b. If a match is drawn, the result of the last board will be eliminated, and so on until their is a winner. If board elimination still doesn't provide a winner (i.e. all games end 1-1) then the team with the most time outs in the match will lose. Finally if the teams still can't be separated then a team will be chosen at random to progress to the next round as a replay would hold up the rest of the competition. The only exception to all the above is...If a draw occurs in the final round of the cup, both teams share the title of Cup Champions.
4. The controller will be responsible for organising the fixtures and compiling the results. In the first instance, any issues or disagreements should be discussed on the county council forum for all to see in an open manner, rather than contacting the controller directly. The controller’s decision after discussion is final. If an issue affects the controller’s team then the matter will be need to be decided by impartial members of the council. Ideally, each division will have its own controller who doesn’t have a team in that division.
5. The deadline for new teams entering the league competition will be the 30th November 2018. Any new teams entering the competition will compete in lowest division. The deadline for entering the 2019 cup will be October 31st 2018. The aim is to start the cup in November 2018. At this point the 2019 season will start and once a player plays in any league or cup match from this point that is their declared team.
6a. The minimum number of players for division 1 matches will set to 6. The minimum number of players for the lower divisions will be 4. Teams who qualify for division 1 can elect to play in division 2 if they don’t think they can field 6 players consistently. There will be one match per month, the fixtures will be published in December 2018. Challenges should be sent at least 2 weeks before the match is due to start and the matches should be locked by the final day of the month. Either team can send the challenge. All matches should have a start time (eg the final Saturday of the month) included, so the match will start automatically on that date. If a team does not have enough players on the day the match is due to start then they will be given one extra week to find the extra players. After this week is up the opposing team can choose to claim the match by default.
6b. Everyone in a county group should have the opportunity to play in matches. No player should be removed from a match once they have registered, unless they have a timeout percentage higher than 25%. If a player is removed for this reason it should be noted in the notes below the match details. If a team is found to be removing players unnecessarily or to gain an advantage they will forfeit the match.
Matches should be set to 2 concurrent games at, ie play your opponent with white and black at the same time, this speeds up the completion of matches and bring it into line with the international group competition. The aim will be that all matches will be completed by 30thNovember 2019, in order to start a new competition in 2020.
If matches are still in progress on November 30th, then the controller will review the remaining matches and predict the likely result based on the position. If the matches involve the controller’s team or will affect the league position of the controller’s team then another member of the council will be asked to judge.
9.The time limit will remain 3 days per move.
10. 2 points will be scored for a win, 1 for a draw.
11. If teams have an equal number of points at the end of the season, then the following in order will be taken into account to determine finishing places: a) The match result(s) between tied teams, if a team has beaten all those teams they have tied with, they will finish above them in the league. b) The total number of games won minus the total number of games lost in the season, by each team. The team with the highest score will take the top position. c) The total number of timeouts in a season, the time with the least will finish top if points a and b can't separate the teams.
12. If a player is found to be cheating by chess.com, then they will forfeit all their games for the season and results will be reversed where necessary. All reports of cheating or suspected cheating should be sent to chess.com.
13. Results will be declared once a team has unassailable lead, but these results can be overturned if a player is found to be cheating. However, once the last result of the season in each division is declared no other results in that division can be overturned, even if a player is found to be cheating after this date. In the cup competition results can't be overturned once a team has been progressed to the next round.
14a. All players and teams should play in a sporting manner, should promote friendship and encourage others to join.
14b. If a player representing a team in the championships does not follow the principles above (eg they are rude to another player or make public unfounded accusations of cheating) the team concerned will receive a warning and any further infringements will result the team in question being asked to remove the said player from their team or leave the championship
(From matt1979)
