2015 Championship New Proposals

I am writing some new proposals for the 2015 season, please discuss and contribute.

1. I am willing to take the lead with the group unless anyone has any objections, but would appreciate help running the competition from others.

2. The league should be split into 2 equal groups - League A and League B. Teams will be allocated to each league randomly. If we had a top and a 2nd division I think it will be too difficult to fairly decide who should play in each. At the end of the season the team top of each league play each other to decide the overall winner. For 2016 we can decide whether to carry on with equal divisions or a 1st and 2nd.

3. We should play 2 simultaneous games at a time in all matches, ie play your opponent with white and black at the same time. This will speed 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 December 2015, in order to start a new competition in 2016.

4. The time limit will remain 3 days per move.

5. Teams must field at least 5 players or forfeit the match.

6. 2 points will be scored for a win, 1 for a draw.

7. All results must be reported to a results forum by a team leader in order for the controller (myself) to add points to the league table.

8. The deadline for entering the league will be December 1st 2014.

9. I will create a list of fixtures in December, will the aim of the league starting in January.

10. All matches must be started by the final Saturday in the allocated month for the match.

Please discuss and contribute, the above are just ideas to help things run smoothly and not set in stone. Thanks Matt

I'm fine with it. Do you think we should have knockout stages instead of 2 leagues?

Looks OK to me Matt

Is everyone happy with the 5 player qualification. Don't think it's an issue for Terriers but some of the smaller teams may find that tight.

I do see the point of a minimum else it comes down to a very small number of matches.

Thanks for the feedback, what does everyone else think about the 5 player qualification? Are there any teams who think they will struggle?

I think 3 might be a better minimum because we so many teams of varying sizes

Ok, let's adjust the proposal to say 3 players.

3 players seems very low to me for team matches and a decent league. At the minute 'The Lothians' only has 10 members and I was thinking we desperately needed to recruit more but apparently not. I think 5 is a more sensible minumum otherwise it makes it feel like less of a competition.

Realisticly how many teams can't manage to field 5 players? I wouldn't expect the English County teams to have any issues which are the majority of the teams. Given English counties are massive compared to that of Wales, Rep.Ireland, N.Ireland and Scotland it shouldn't pose any issues fielding 5 players? Even 5 seems a relatively low number, but 5 just somehow seems more sensible and worthwhile.

I really hope no teams will have to forfeit matches because of a lack of players and the rule won't need to be applied. But it is a team competition, and a minimum number of players needs to be decided. Let's hope we can have matches like the current Norfolk - Yorkshire match which is a 16 board affair. I am happy to go with the majority on this issue.

As a comprimise point 5 will now read "Teams must field at least 4 players or forfeit the match. "    

Thanks for your efforts in getting things going matt1979. The Group A/B format seems fair. Perhaps after the 2015 season the 14 teams could be seeded and we could move towards 2 Divisions, with promotion and relegation. Hopefully it is a real success next season and we see some new teams to further expand the numbers.