After some discussion amongst the SA's we have agreed on some policies some of which has been in place for a while.

Team Notes

TE notes shall only be used to discuss club and general chess discussion. All other notes will be deleted by the admin team.

Match Participation

All matches are open to every member to register for but anyone with a Time Out ratio above 25% will be removed before the match starts. Who gets to play then depends on the numbers our opponents field e.g. Country A out-numbered us so everyone gets a game, Country B we will out number them so that determines the number of boards we will have. The stronger the ratings of our players who register, the higher the rating of our lowest board to get a game will be.

WL & EL Match Policy

The admin team shall accept any challenge for the designated fixture as soon as received or in the case of sending the challenge at least 10 days before the schedule start of the match but leaving 3 clear days between WL & EL matches starting and opening up another roster. Recruitment to the Match Roster shall be as the discretion of the SA's.

Time Outs

Team England prides itself on having the lowest number of players losing matches through timing out in the World League. This makes a vital contribution to our results and to team morale.

As a result of chess.com moving from v2 to v3 we have had to change our approach to our managing this issue. From the 2018 season the following will apply.

1. The TO% of members will be tracked on a monthly basis

2. In the event that a member with a TO% 25+ joins a match, they will be removed from it prior to the match commencing (in line with The World League policy)

3. In the event that a member who has been removed from the match re-joins it, they will be removed from Team England membership

4. In the event that any member has 6 consecutive months with their ratio above 25% or has 3 separate occasions where there ratio exceeds 25% in any rolling 12 month period, they will be removed from Team England membership

5. The number of points lost by a member when timing out in a Team England match will also be tracked. Any member conceding 3 points in a rolling 12 month period will be removed from Team England membership.

6. Anyone whose ratio moves above 25% or who times out in a Team England match can contact the Admin team via personal message to explain the circumstances of their timing out and exceptions to the above policy will be made where it is felt appropriate.

7. Previous offenders be given a second chance on the clear understanding that any further violation runs the risk of a permanent ban.

Cheating

Team England strongly condemns cheating and has recruitment policies designed to identify and prevent suspected cheats from becoming members.

Any member who suspects his/her opponent is cheating is to make one of the SA's aware asap. No member shall openly accuse, infer or comment about his/her suspicions regarding another chess.com player.

SA's will report suspected cheats to chess.com via appropriate channels to ensure they are properly investigated. Chess.com will decide on outcomes once their investigation has taken place.

Vote Chess

All members shall follow the following guide;

1. Discussion 2. Vote Call. 3. Voting.

Team Members:

consider the position, put forward ideas, if possible a candidate move(s),
compare suggestions, variations and plans, try to refine options.
appreciate playing styles differ, alternate approaches may be equally valid.

Support the captains vote signal. If on rare occasion necessary to vote before the call, as a matter of courtesy the vote cast to be confirmed at the time within team comments. Persistent early voters removed from Vote Chess Matches will be banned from further matches unless agreed otherwise by a SA.

Team Captains:

encourage dialogue in working towards agreement,
post the vote now sign around halfway into the time control, a move(s) based upon the content and merit of the discussion, time may vary subject to complexity of the analysis.
monitor the voting period, should an improved move be posted amend the call.

Team England HQ

Super Admins

Admins