WCL 2019: Rules

World Cities League (WCL) Rules (updated September 2018)

1. General principles

• The World Cities League (WCL) is a team match tournament between city teams on chess.com. Its main purpose is to give chess.com members the opportunity to compete with players from other cities in a friendly sphere.
• The board of the WCL consists of the admins of the chess.com group “World Cities League HQ”. All details of the league organisation not specified in the rules are under the discretion of the board. The board will let its decision be guided by the principles of inclusion (make matches happen!) and fair play.
• One single team per city is invited to the World Cities League. If there are several teams for a city, the best ranked one on the team match leaderboard is invited first.
• Region teams can participate if there are no participating teams from cities within the respective region. When conflicts between overlapping regions and cities arise, the board decides on a case-to-case basis.
• All teams should mention a city in their name. The suggested text for the team profile description is: “This team represents [city or regional name] in the World Cities League.”

2. Set-up of the league

• The WCL is played out on an annual basis, with the first round starting in November and the last round starting in July. The year of the season is the year in which the last round starts.
• 2019 is a transition season in which the number of teams in Divisions 1 and 2 will be reduced from 12 to 10. This gives the following divisions:
  • Division 1 with 12 teams (will be 10 in 2020).
  • Division 2 with 12 teams (will be 10 in 2020).
  • Division 3 with 20 teams in two parallel groups.
  • Division 4 with all remaining teams in several parallel groups.
• All (groups in) divisions play a Round Robin tournament with approximately equal time between rounds.
• After the finish of season 2019, teams are promoted and relegated:
  • Four teams are relegated from Div. 1 to Div. 2.
  • Two teams promote from Div. 2 to Div. 1.
  • Six teams are relegated from Div. 2 to Div. 3.
  • Two teams promote from Div. 3 to Div. 2.
  • Eight teams are relegated from Div. 3 to Div. 4.
  • Four teams promote from Div. 4 to Div. 3.
• The Chess960 World Cities League (Chess 960 WCL) and the European Cities League (ECL) follow the rules of the WCL closely. They have their own formats and schedules as described in Appendix F (Chess 960 WCL) and G (ECL). Schedules are set up to complement the WCL so that city matches are ongoing throughout the full year.

3. Announcement of rounds and match challenges

• Date and time of the start of a round are announced by a news item in the WCL HQ group two weeks in advance.
• Match challenges should be issued (by either of the teams) and accepted as fast as possible, but one week before the start of the round at the latest. See Appendix A for the necessary match parameters.
• If for unforeseen reasons the match challenge is accepted later than one week before the start of the round, the match start can be delayed by one week at most (so that there remains one week for registering players). This is under the discretion of the WCL board and must be co-ordinated by message exchange.
• If a challenge is not accepted at the announced start of the round, the team that has received the challenge loses by forfeit (match result: 1 for the challenger, 0 for the challenged).
• If neither of the teams issues a challenge until the announced start of the round, both teams lose by forfeit (match points: 0 for both teams).
• If the match starts and ends regularly, match points are allocated 1-0 for the winner or ½-½ in case of a draw. The match result may be corrected for several reasons, see Sections 4-6.
• Teams are not allowed to lock their rosters before the scheduled start of the match.
• Unaccepted challenges may be cancelled after the announced start date of the round.

4. Minimum number of players

• In each division, there is a minimum number of players for each match
  • for Division 1: 15 players (WCL), 12 players (ECL), 15 players (Chess 960 WCL)
  • for Division 2: 12 players (WCL), 10 players (ECL), 8 players (Chess 960 WCL)
  • for Division 3: 7 players (WCL), 5 players (ECL), 5 players (Chess 960 WCL)
  • for Division 4: 5 players (WCL)
• A team that does not reach the player minimum at the scheduled date, loses the match by forfeit.
• A forfeit loss can be overruled if both teams agree to start the match with the required number of players later. A delayed match start may not be later than the start of the following round.
• Forfeited matches may be cancelled after the announced start date of the round.
  

5. Foreign flag players

• The flag of the country the city is located in is considered the home flag of the team.
• All players with a different flag than the home flag are considered “foreign flag players”. This also applies to the international flag.
• The number of foreign flag players is limited to 25% in each cumulative (possibly incomplete) block of 12 players (i.e. max 3 players on boards 1-12, max 6 players on boards 1-24 etc. and max 25% in total).
• Foreign flag players in excess of these maximum are considered irregular players and their results are corrected according to Appendix D. The players identified as irregular are successively #2, 4, 6 etc. (and if this is not sufficient, #3, 7, 11) of all foreign-flag players of  a team.
• A violation of the foreign flag player rule must be claimed in the forum of the respective league/division. It is not checked automatically.
• For a number of teams additional flags are recognised as home flags. These teams and the additional home flags are listed in Appendix C.
• If a team thinks that its characteristics warrant its addition to this list of exceptions, it can send a request to the WCL board. Granting this request is under discretion of the WCL board.

6. Multi-team players

• Each player is only allowed to play for one team during one season in one league.
• A player who has played at least twice for each of more than one team is considered an irregular multi-team player and his game results are corrected according to Appendix D.

7. Match result correction for closed accounts

• If players’ accounts are closed -- either by chess.com or by the players themselves -- these players are considered irregular players and their results are corrected according to Appendix D.

8. Removal of players

• In general, admins are not allowed to remove players from the rosters of their teams.
• As an exception to the general rule, admins may remove players in the following cases:
  • Players with a timeout percentage of at least 25%.
  • Players with a different home team.
  • Foreign flag players in excess of the foreign flag maximum.

9. Final results of a season

• For a season starting in November, the cut-off date for promotion and relegation is October, 15th. The match results at this cut-off date determine promotion and relegation of teams for the following season.
• The final standings of the season will be determined after all games of all matches have been finished or ultimately on December, 31st. Promotion and relegation decisions will be unaffected by this.
• The ranking of the teams both at the cut-off date as in the final standings will be determined by the following criteria in descending order:
  • Number of match points.
  • Neustadtl (Sonneborn-Berger) score.
  • Results in the direct encounters of the tied teams.
  • Total game points balance (total points scored less total points scored by the opponents in all matches).
  • Random draw.

10. Rule changes

• Rule changes appear as updates in the forum thread “WCL rules” and are announced as a group news item.
• Rule adjustments are preferably performed at the start of a season, but might also take place during the season.
• Rules can be discussed in the forum thread “WCL rules: discussion”.

Good luck to all teams in their matches and to all players in their games!

Appendix A: Match parameters

• Match Name: WCL[year] R[round]: first city vs. second city (for example, WCL2017 R1: Moscow vs. Zagreb)
• Game Type: Standard Chess
• Days per Move: 3 days
• Rating Range: none
• Minimum Games: 0
• Players per Club: min: differs by division, see below; max: leave free
• Concurrent Games: 2
• Start Date: [as announced by WCL board]
• Start Time: 09 AM 00
• AUTO-START: off
• Games are RATED: on

Appendix B: Team power

Wildcard granting and team allocation to the parallel groups of one division is based on past performance in the WCL or other city team competitions. If information of this sort is not available, a tentative indicator of the team strength is calculated: Average rating of the group + number of members of the group.

Appendix C: Foreign flag exceptions

• Teams of English cities (London, Bristol, Birmingham, Solihull, Hastings): British and English flags count as home flags.
• Teams of Scottish cities (Glasgow): British and Scottish flags count as home flags.
• Teams of Catalan cities (Barcelona): Spanish and Catalan flags count as home flags.
• Teams of French cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Metz, Montauban): French, Monaco and Guadeloupe flags count as home flags.
• Team Sevastopol: Ukrainian and Russian flags count as home flags.
• Team Prishtina: Kosovo and Albanian flags count as home flags.
• Team Tabriz: Iranian and Azerbaijan flags count as home flags.
• Vatican City: Vatican and Italian flags count as home flags.
• Team Bijeljina: Flags of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia count as home flags.

Appendix D: Match result corrections

The following players are considered “irregular players”:

• Players whose account is closed by whatever reason.
• Excess foreign flag players (see Section 5).
• Multi-team players (see Section 6).

The results of irregular players will be corrected in the following way:

• Irregular player against regular player: 0-2.
• Irregular player against irregular player: 1-1.

Appendix E (Chess960 WCL):

• The Chess960 WCL is played out on an annual basis in addition to WCL, with the first round starting in April.
• League will be played in 3 divisions
  • Division 1 with 10 teams (last 4 teams are relegated to Division 2)
  • Division 2 in 2 paraller groups with 10 teams (top 2 teams are promoted to Division 1, last 2 teams are relegated to Division 3)
  • Division 3 with 10 teams (top 4 teams are promoted to Division 2)
• Match Name: 960 WCL[year] R[round]: first team vs. second team (for example, 960 WCL2018 R1: Team Moscow vs. Team Zagreb)
• Minimum players: Division 1 (15+), Division 2 (8+), Division 3 (5+)
• Ultimated deadline for the season is June 30th

Appendix F (European Cities League):

F1) Set-up of the league

• The ECL is played out on an annual basis in addition to WCL, with the first round starting in November and the last round starting in August. The year of the season is the year in which the last round starts. Season 2018 will be transitional with start in February, but last round in August
• League will be played in 3 divisions
  • Division 1 with 12 teams (last 2 teams are relegated to Division 2
  • Division 2 with 12 teams (top 2 teams are promoted to Division 1, last 4 teams are relegated to Division 3)
  • Division 3 in 2 parallel groups depending on number of participants (top 2 teams are promoted to Division 2)
• Match Name: ECL[year] R[round]: first team vs. second team (for example, ECL2018 R1: Team Moscow vs. Team Zagreb)
• Minimum players: Division 1 (12+), Division 2 (10+), Division 3 (5+)

F2) Merging of WCL and ECL matches

• If both teams play in the same division of WCL and ECL, than WCL match is counted for ECL by default too (all rounds of 2018 season will be considered - included already started matches of R1/R2/R3 of WCL).
• If both teams agree, then they can set up a separate match as per ECL schedule.
• Setting up of the match on ECL schedule with proper name is considered as agreement to play a separate match for ECL.

The rules for the 2019 season contain some slight changes and updates. In particular:

• Division sizes are updated. We go for a uniform division size of 10 starting in season 2020.
• Rules for the minimum number of players are adjusted to the situation that in the current set-up of chess.com it is not possible any more to lock the registration when the number of players is below the minimum.

Anyone who is interested in helping with the organisation of the Cities Leagues is invited to contact @Dale00007 or @RainPiper.

I have a complaint about this add-on. and other suggestion

Appendix C: Foreign flag exceptions    ....  look up

Some exceptions are quite understandable, some completely illogical.

Instead of showing this illogicality, I have a question.

Why the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a home flag for Team Belgrade and Team Zagreb. Why the flags of other states of the former Yugoslavia are not home e flags of Team Belgrade and Team Zagreb. Why flag of Slovakia is not home flag for Team Prague. Why the flag of Kazakhstan or other countries of the former CCCP are not home flag, for Team Moscow or Team St. Petersburg
There are maybe more exceptions but why should more exceptions?

Only one rule is needed.

If a player plays for a national team in which that city is, is not important which flag is, each flag is a domestic flag. (also an international tag)

We have no fully consistent, encompassing guideline for granting flag exceptions. This is decided on a case-by-case basis. If one team approaches us, asks for an exception and tells us as broadly reasonable story about why this is appropriate, we usually grant the exception.

 I did not find the topic "WCL rules: discussion", so I will present here my proposal, to increase the minim number of players, especially in the higher divisions, as follows:

• for Division 1:  20 (15) players (WCL), 20 (12) players (ECL), 15 players (Chess 960 WCL)
• for Division 2:  15 (12) players (WCL), 12 (10) players (ECL), 10 (8) players (Chess 960 WCL)
• for Division 3: 10 (7) players (WCL), 7 (5) players (ECL),  6 (5) players (Chess 960 WCL)
• for Division 4: 5 players (WCL)

I had a quick check for Division 1 last season: of the 69 matches that took place, 24 had less than 20 players. This is more than a third. This share might decrease next season, as we have reduced the number of teams. Still, I'm very reluctant to increase the minimum number of players as long as actual participation has not risen.

In Division 2 (2018) it's even more extreme: 33 out of 67 matches have had less than 15 players. So switching to a minimum of 15 does not seem to be appropriate.

I understand the reasons explained by Rainpiper, but agree with Radmar. Teams in 1st division that can't get 20 boards or 15 in 2nd can't be there.

Team's admins have to do a best effort to put enough boards and the teams that frecuently (more than 2 rounds) don't get the minimum could be underpromoted to the lowest division.

@RainPiper, some teams prefer not to rise their number of players more than the imposed limit. That's why we have to rise the minimum number first.

We have to decide what we want from these competitions. Competitions with a high rate of filled matches, or competitions with the strongest teams and big matches in higher divisions? I would prefer the second part and I think we have to drive the competitions in this way, by rising the minimum players, even with the risk of not getting 100% full slots next seasons. From my point of view, the actual limits are good for national competitions, rather then World, European or global competitions. For global competitions it has to be an honor to play in higher leagues with numerous players, rather then a privilege of using few players, as it is now.

In the higher divisions, where it suppose to play strongest teams, it is a pity that strong teams have to play at 25% of their capacity because the opponents uses the lower limits of players. In WCL and ECL div A, were played matches with more than 70-80 boards. Those were very nice matches where each team involved with all its available force. So, I did not asked to rise the minimum players for top division to 50, but just to 20, for now.

So, where would we drive the global competitions?

One member of my team is asking a question regarding the rules.

He is a member of Lyon who is playing in Division 4 and also a member of Quebec playing in Division 2.

Is it possible for him to play in both teams as we are in a different division or is it strictly forbidden ?

This is not allowed. See paragraph 6 of the rules. Each player must choose for one single WCL team only.

OK I just wanted to be sure.. As I don't see any clear impact (we don't compete in the same division).. But OK rules are rules

Thanks 

Otherwise someone from Australia could play for a club in every division from Australia.  We have many in this league.  People should live or have allegiance to one location.  Not multiple cities. 

With the foreign flag rule is it 1 in 4, 2 in 8 and 3 in 12 or when the rules say 3 in an incomplete group of 12 does that mean you can have 3 in 5. As 5 is the minimum and it is an incomplete group of 12.

No, the maximum is 25%. Only one foreign-flag player is allowed in a team of 5.

Thanks 

Matches need not to be finished before the next round starts. They just go on.

Dear organizers, please advise why not all teams follow the main criteria of participating in Cities Leagues? (see the screenshot)?

Sorry, but we don't know why not all teams follow this suggestion. We don't consider this a major problem.

Is it a Rule or not? I don't think Rules can be rephrased as suggestion

It is common to use "should" for suggestions and "must" for requirements. (I'm not a WCL competition administrator, merely a team representative, but have no problem with either the suggestion or any clubs which for one reason or another are not named as per that suggestion but which have been accepted into the competition.)