WORLD CHESS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP / DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

Basic Rules

1. The World Finest Chess League is the league of the finest National teams in the world playing team match tournaments on Chess.com. Countries compete in this intense worldwide chess team competition, with an internal ranking system and different divisions.

2. Only one team per country will be allowed to play in the World Finest Chess League. In case there is more than one team claiming to represent a single country, those teams will be given a chance to show their strength and will have special tournament and the winner will represent that country.

3. All the players in the National team must register in the World Finest Chess League before joining the tournament.

4. All Chess.com members with the minimum rating of 1400 are qualified to play in the Division and World Championship. In the case of dual citizenship, the player must choose one national team for each year.

5. It is strictly forbidden to refuse entry to any eligible player or to set any kind of restrictions to improve the potential or performance of a country's team. Any team found to be breaking this rule will be subject to whatever penalties the WFCL Management decides upon, including loss of match points or forfeiture. The Management will do its best so that this rule is being complied with.

6. At the time of locking their roster, Team Leaders are allowed to remove players with a 25% or greater time out performance. Under no circumstances may any other eligible players be removed.

Tournament Regulations

7. The WFCL is conducted fully in line with the Chess.com Rules and Terms of Service and these are applicable in the same way and to the same extent to all teams and players.

8. In case two teams in a division have the same final points score in the standings table, then the Neustadtl score system is used to resolve this tie. If the teams are still tied then their individual match point totals are used to determine the result.

9. When the dates and pairings for each round are announced, the team on the A Group should send the challenge to the B Group, which must accept the challenge within 48 hours after it received or else suffer a default or 0 point while the opposing team will get 1 point.

10. If B Group does not receive a challenge from A Group within 24 hours after the Challenge Date, then they must issue the challenge and when A Group receives the challenge they must accept it within 12 hours or else the A Group will suffer a default or 0 point while the opposing team will get 1 point..

11. Teams must lock their rosters by UTC 23:59 on the Start Date, after which play will begin. If a team has not locked its roster, it is still strictly forbidden to add more players after the time for locking has passed. Any team which breaches this rule will incur whatever penalties the WFCL Management decides upon, including loss of match points or forfeiture. An opposing team seeking the benefit of this rule must inform the WFCL Management using the address shown in Regulation 16 as soon as possible, and must provide proper evidence to support their claim.

12. The Team Leader for the A Group is to send the match link to the WFCL Management within two days after play begins.

13. Once a team match is completed, any points received by a team from a member who has been banned for cheating will be reversed in favor of the opposing team. All claims under this regulation must be forwarded to the WFCL Management using the address shown in Regulation 16 within seven days after the end of the match.

14. Each Chess.com member is allowed to play for one World Finest League team at a time and they may only play for that team for the whole year's matches, except that a player is allowed to play for two teams if those teams are not in the same division. If a player is a member of the country for two teams which are paired together in any round, then that person may not play for either team in that particular match.

15. All groups and teams participating in the World League agree to comply with these Rules and Regulations. Team Leaders are responsible for extending and implementing these Rules and Regulations within their respective groups.

16. All claims in relation to these Rules and Regulations should be addressed to one of the WFCL Admins, ring0v, rose99 or missV.

Tournament Overview

The WFCL Division Championship starts on January and the World Chess Team Championship on April each year. The exact date and updates of the tournament shall be announced by the WFCL Management.
Each round must be started every week, Round 1 must be started at the first week, Round 2 in the second week and so on.
Teams are divided into four divisions (East Division, West Division, South Division, North Division). East Division is composed of eastern countries, North Division for Northern countries and so on or as arranged by WFCL Management.
Every Division is divided into two groups ( The A Group and the B Group)
There are two championships of WFCL: The Division Championship and the World Chess Team Championship.
The top two teams of each Division Championship automatically qualify to the World Chess Team Championship.
For each match won, the winning team receives 1 point.
For each match lost, the losing team receives 0 point.
For each match drawn, the teams receive 0.5 each point.
No points are scored by any team for a bye.
The Neustadtl score system is used for resolving ties.
The round robin tournament system is used in all four divisions.

Settings:

For Division Championship:

The Match names should be: WFCL ____ Division Championship 2012 Round ____ "Team ______" vs "Team ______"Example: WFCL East Division Championship 2012 Round 1 Russia vs. China

Days per move: 3 days/move
Minimum Rating: 1400
Maximum players per team: 100

Concurrent games: 2
No Auto Start
Vacation Time is allowed
Games are rated
The date for the A Group to send a challenge is the Challenge Date
The date to lock a match is the Start Date
The A Group challenges the B Group.
If no challenge is received by the team on the B Group, then that team must issue the challenge to the other Group.

For World Chess Team Championship:

The Match names should be: World Chess Team Championship 2012 Round ____ "Team ______" vs "Team ______"Example: World Chess Team Championship 2012 Round 1 Russia vs. Libya

Days per move: 3 days/move
Minimum Rating: 1400
Maximum players per team: 100

Concurrent games: 2
No Auto Start
Vacation Time is allowed
Games are rated
The date for the A Group to send a challenge is the Challenge Date
The date to lock a match is the Start Date
The A Group challenges the B side
If no challenge is received by the team on the B Group, then that team must issue the challenge to the other Group.

Philippine Chess League National Team

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