Andorra Chess - Explaining the Catalan League (aka the 3W-6B tournament)

Originally, this blog was meant to focus on chess activity in Andorra. However, with Andorra competing in the 2025 Catalan League, it is impossible to ignore the chaos surrounding it. The Catalan League has been one of the biggest February highlights, alongside our junior championships. To help those unfamiliar with the league (including many Catalans themselves), let’s break down its structure before diving into the drama that has unfolded since January 2024.

TL;DR:

The Catalan Chess League's top division is a complex mess, riddled with confusing rules and controversial decisions. In 2024, a series of disputes, including incorrect player lineups and venue changes, led to chaos and accusations of unfairness. Andorra, a team in the league, found itself at the center of several controversies, including a reversed decision by the Appeals Committee and a questionable final round. The league's governing body, the Catalan Chess Federation, faced criticism for its inconsistent rulings and lack of transparency. A legal battle ensued, resulting in a tribunal ruling in favor of Andorra, but also leading to a hastily devised and even more complicated league format for 2025. Now, in 2025, Andorra faces more travel disadvantages and the threat of a repeat of the unfair centralized final round, potentially leading to further disputes. Basically, the Catalan Chess League is a soap opera with chess pieces.

Part 1: Understanding the League's Complex Structure

The Basic League Format

Most Catalan chess divisions follow a simple format:

• 10 teams play a 9-round Round Robin (9 Sundays).
• The winner gets promoted.
• The second-place team may also be promoted or enter a playoff.
• The bottom two (or more) teams are relegated.
• Each team consists of 10 players, though in lower leagues this number can be reduced to 8, 6, 5, or even 4.

This seems straightforward, right? Unfortunately, the top division—Honor Division (Divisió d'Honor)—follows a vastly different, and unnecessarily complex, format.

The Honor Division Format

• 16 teams
• 11 rounds (Saturdays)
• A two-stage system full of unexpected complications

Stage 1: Group Phase

• Two groups of 8 teams
• Each group plays a 7-round Round Robin

Stage 2: Playoff and Relegation Battles

• The top 4 teams from each group enter a knockout-style playoff for the league title, with even losing teams continuing to compete for final rankings.
• The bottom 4 teams from each group enter a 4-round mini-league where past results carry over. The teams ranked 14th, 15th, and 16th are relegated.

Still with me? Good. Because now we introduce yet another layer of complexity.

The X Players Rule

Honor Division teams must pre-select 17 players at the beginning of the season, and only these players can play on boards 1 to 9 (aka X Players).

• Board 10 is open to any non-X player during the first stage.
• In the second stage, only non-X players who have already participated can play on board 10.

On top of that, there are nationality restrictions:

• At least 6 players must be Spanish/Andorran.
• At least 8 players must be from the EU.
• Only 2 spots are available for non-EU players without settled status.

Failure to comply results in an automatic 10-0 forfeit loss.

Home/Away System (or Lack of One)

The league uses a home/away format—except for the last round, which is played at a neutral venue. This results in some teams playing as few as 4 home games out of 11, a clearly unbalanced system.

Disputes and the 3-Step Appeal Process

If a dispute arises, teams must navigate a lengthy appeal process:

1. Competition Committee – Defined by the Catalan Chess Federation.
2. Appeals Committee – Also defined by the Catalan Chess Federation.
3. Catalan Sports Tribunal – Defined by the Catalan Administration.

This convoluted system would play a crucial role in the drama that unfolded in 2024.

Part 2: Season 2024 - The Best One for Chess Drama Addicts

Finally, the season begins. The first stage is a seven-round league split into two groups. No major drama expected, right?

RIGHT?

Well… the warning signs appeared early in Round 5, during the Barberà vs. Platja d’Aro match.

Both teams were title contenders. Barberà had nearly secured a playoff spot, while Platja d’Aro had no margin for error. The match ended in a 5-5 draw, keeping Platja d’Aro’s hopes alive—until Barberà noticed an issue with their opponent’s lineup.

Remember the nationality restrictions? Platja d’Aro had a player under the Monégasque flag. This sparked a debate about FIDE flags vs. nationality and whether Barberà should have been informed of how the player was categorized under Catalan chess rules.

Initially, the Competition Committee awarded Barberà a 10-0 win, crushing Platja d’Aro’s playoff chances. But then, the Appeals Committee reversed the decision (get used to this), reinstating the 5-5 result. Barberà chose not to challenge the ruling.

Ironically, Platja d’Aro went on to dominate the playoffs and win the 2024 title.

The Relegation Stage and Andorra’s Role

The next controversy erupted when the Catalan Federation announced the venue for the final round: Manresa, 140 km from Andorra. Not ideal, but considering we’re used to travelling +400km during a league day, not the worst.

The real issue? Andorra had home status in the relegation stage, meaning this was a clear disadvantage—three away games out of four while fighting relegation? Unfair by any standard.

I raised the case to the Competition Committee, but the resolution never saw the light of day. Instead, the Catalan Chess Federation President asked Andorra to withdraw the case. Andorra agreed—on the condition that this unfair handicap would be corrected in future editions. Remember this for 2025.

THE CASE – The Decision That Changed the 2025 Format

Now, let’s talk about THE CASE—the ruling that forced a provisional format for the 2025 edition.

Round 9 (Relegation Stage): Andorra vs Mollet

The match ended in a 5-5 draw, but Andorra claimed a 10-0 victory due to an incorrect lineup from Mollet.

The X Players Rule Strikes Again

Mollet fielded a non-X player on board 10. This would have been fine in the first stage or if the player had already played a previous match. But neither applied—a clear violation of the rule.

You might be wondering: why did Mollet make this mistake? Believe it or not, most teams had simply ignored this requirement. Instead of pushing to correct the rule book, there was an unspoken agreement not to raise the issue.

The Competition Committee ruled in favor of Andorra, granting the 10-0 win.
**However—yes, you guessed it—**the Appeals Committee overturned the decision.

As Andorra prepared to escalate the case to the Catalan Sports Tribunal, the final round of the league took place…

The Darkest Day in Catalan Chess (A Bit Dramatic, But It Might Be True)

The Catalan Federation requires all teams to play in the same venue for the final round—a supposed celebration of Catalan chess... but in 2024, it became one of the most shameful days in league history.

Under normal circumstances, the biggest headline would have been Platja d’Aro winning their first-ever Catalan League title. Instead, two other matches stole the spotlight:

1 - The Relegation Battle: Game Theory on Steroids

By the final round, Llinars and Terrassa were almost certainly relegated. But who would be the third team to join them?

Everything depended on Andorra vs. Olot, while Vila Olímpica and Mollet were also at risk.

What Did Each Team Need?

Everyone assumed:
“Andorra will never win the Mollet case.”
(A direct quote from Catalan Federation members on radio shows and social media.)

Here’s what was at stake:

• Olot needed at least a 5-5 draw to stay safe. Losing to Andorra put them at high risk of relegation.
• Andorra needed a win or to improve Vila Olímpica’s result.
• Vila Olímpica, against Terrassa, needed to match Andorra’s score.
• Mollet faced relegation only if Andorra won both their appeal and their match while Vila Olímpica won—especially since Mollet kept violating the Board 10 non-X rule.

What Happened? A Game Theory Classic: Nash Equilibrium.

• Olot—favorites against Andorra—offered a 5-5 draw to guarantee safety.
• Andorra, the underdogs, accepted, believing they’d win their extra point from the Mollet case.
• Vila Olímpica also took a 5-5 against Terrassa, trusting the Federation’s assurance that Andorra would never win their appeal.

Mollet avoided relegation thanks to the ambiguity of the 0.5 points in dispute, but one fact was impossible to ignore: Mollet’s delegate was a member of the Catalan Chess Federation Board who induced to all teams the idea that “Andorra will never win the Mollet case”.

And so, what should have been an exciting final round turned into a series of anticlimactic, short, quiet games—while Platja d’Aro and Sabadell battled for the title.

2 - Playoff B-Drama: A New Controversy

Meanwhile, another scandal broke out in a seemingly meaningless playoff match: Barcelona vs. Cerdanyola.

Neither team had a shot at the title. But there was an important match the following day:
Cerdanyola B vs. Tres Peons B (for promotion to the First Division).

What Happened?

• Cerdanyola blatantly ignored team composition rules and fielded unrestricted players.
• Tres Peons accused them of cheating, claiming they did this to strengthen their B team the next day.
• Cerdanyola defended themselves, arguing those players were unavailable on Saturday but free on Sunday.

Another case for the committees.

In a rare twist, both the Competition and Appeals Committees sanctioned Cerdanyola B.

But then—plot twist—the Catalan Sports Tribunal ruled that these sanctions weren’t explicitly stated in the regulations and therefore couldn’t be applied.

Part 3 The Aftermath: A clueless League

By the end of the season, it was unclear how the Catalan League had even reached a conclusion.

• Many teams were furious.
• The competitive integrity of the tournament was in question.
• The Federation’s credibility had taken a major hit.

All eyes were now on the Catalan Sports Tribunal. Would they uphold the Federation’s ruling, or would chaos escalate further? Then, in June 2024, the verdict came in.

You won’t believe it: What the Catalan Federation claimed was impossible turned out to be possible after all.

Not only did the tribunal rule in favor of Andorra, but they also criticized the Federation for its inconsistency and failure to enforce its own regulations—especially considering they had been warned months earlier about the risks of not fixing their rulebook.

What Did This Mean?

• Andorra would get the extra point from the case, securing their spot in the 2025 Honor Division.
• Vila Olímpica would take the final relegation spot… but the case wasn’t over yet.

The Off-line Mystery: What Happened Next?

Once the administrative process was exhausted, there was a two-month window (technically three, since August doesn’t count) for legal action.

Unfortunately, there was no transparency about what happened during this period. The situation became so unclear that the Catalan Federation refused to publish the tribunal’s resolution until November. Most clubs were left completely in the dark.

The Federation’s Version of Events

The Federation claimed that Vila Olímpica was preparing to take legal action to avoid relegation. To avoid legal battles, they struck a deal:
If Vila Olímpica dropped the case, the Federation would change the league format to include them in 2025 edition.

And that’s why, in October, the Federation suddenly organized a meeting with all Honor Division teams to propose a new league format.

A Thought Experiment: How Would You Solve This?

Now, suddenly, there were 17 teams instead of 16.

So… how would you fix this problem?

A logical solution (according to my logic, sorry) would have been something similar to the 2022 Catalan League format (the first post-COVID edition):

• Two groups of 10 teams.
• Final or semifinal matches to decide the title.
• Relegation matches to determine who stays up.

Despite the Federation’s promise to eliminate the single-venue-final-round, this system would still allow for a unified opening round while ensuring a fair home/away balance; as Round 1, which gives the extra home match, could become the single-venue round; even if played last.

But that would be too simple, right?

The 2025 Solution: This is the Catalan League—expect the unexpected!

Instead of a logical fix (IMO), the new format would now have 18 teams playing just 9 rounds.
And the 18th team? A newly promoted club.

So, stop for a second and think:

How do you fit an 18-team league into a 9-round format, with no playoffs or extra matches?

Introducing…

The Temporary Double-Triple League Format.

Did you guess it? Here’s how it works:

1. 18 teams are divided into 3 groups of 6.
• Each team plays a 5-round mini-league.
• The top 2 teams from each group advance to the Title League.
• The bottom 4 teams enter the Relegation Leagues.
2. Title League:
• The 6 top teams play a second-stage round.
• They only play against teams from the other groups (avoiding a rematch with the team from their initial group).
• The team with the best-combined score from both stages is crowned the 2025 Catalan League Champion.
3. Relegation Leagues:
• The remaining 12 teams are split into two groups of 6.
• Each team plays 4 additional matches (again, avoiding a rematch with the team from their initial group).
• The bottom 2 teams from both groups are relegated.

The provisional format had to be officially approved during the Autumn assembly, and its timing raised some concerns.

Why wasn't the Tribunal’s Resolution publicly published until November?

The tribunal’s ruling, which confirmed Vila Olímpica’s relegation, was released just two days before the assembly.

With such short notice, there was little opportunity for teams to discuss or propose alternatives before the decision was finalized.

The proposal for an 18-team format was approved with the following votes:

• 24 in favour
• 11 abstentions
• 9 against

Special thanks to WIM & FA Patricia Llaneza for summarizing the assembly proceedings.

Part 4 - Catalan League 2025 – Fighting Against 3W-6B

The 2025 Catalan League is currently underway, and so far, everything seems to be running smoothly. No major controversies, no unexpected rulings—just chess.

But is this the calm before the storm?

This weekend marks Round 7, which means that in just two weeks, the final round will be "played".

Why Did I Say "Played"?

Well, let’s not forget an important agreement from last season.

Remember how Andorra withdrew a case after reaching an agreement with the Catalan Federation to fix the disadvantage caused by a single-venue final round?

Now, with only two weeks left, the Federation has yet to make an official statement—but they’ve been hinting that the single-venue system will be used again for 2025.

Why Is This a Problem?

A single-venue final round can distort the fairness of the competition, but despite the concerns raised last season, no official communication has been made.

Andorra’s Unlucky Pairings

This year, Andorra has already faced a challenging travel schedule:

• First stage: We traveled to three of the furthest locations (Figueres, Platja d’Aro, and Barcelona) in just five rounds.
• Second stage: More long trips—Vendrell (far) and next week, Manresa (at least closer).

The final round should be a home match against Ateneu Colón, a great team from Barcelona.
But if the single-venue system is enforced again, Andorra will lose its home advantage—once again.

In a Swiss-style tournament, this would be equivalent to playing 3 games with White and 6 with Black—a serious competitive disadvantage.

What Happens Next?

Right now, it's uncertain what the Federation will decide.

But if the final round is centralized again, as Andorra’s captain, I will have no choice but to raise another case to the committees.

However, given how slow the system has been in past editions, it’s possible that the case won’t be resolved before the league ends.

It may sound like fiction now, but who knows? Maybe, unexpectedly, the 2025 edition will turn out to be even messier than 2024.

Stay tuned to Andorra Blog to find out how this unfolds!