| 1 | Management |
| 1.1 | Each year the Management Board shall announce the arrangements for the following season including the entry fees, the official closing date for the receipt of entries and registration lists, and the name and address of the person appointed to receive entries. |
| 1.2 | The Chairman shall arrange meetings for captains/managers, as and when required, at which matters of current interest and future policy shall be discussed. |
| 2 | Registration Lists |
| 2.1 | A club shall enter the League by payment of the designated fees and the registration of one or more squads of players who are expected to play during the season. Each squad may provide the players for one or more teams. No team may contain players who are not registered in the appropriate squad. |
| 2.2 | The registrations list shall be sent by letter or email to the registrations secretary, and contain the following information for each player: (a) full name (b) FIDE code (if rated) (c) ECF grading code (if ECF graded) (d) nationality (e) estimated or foreign grading/rating (if neither FIDE rated or ECF graded) (f) ECF membership number (if player’s nationality is English). |
| 2.3 | Players with English nationality must have membership of the ECF valid on 31 August 2008 for registration lists submitted before that date. For later registrations, membership must be valid on the date that the registration is submitted. A player not of English nationality must be either a member of his/her own national federation or of the ECF. |
| 2.4 | Each team's entry fee shall cover the registration of up to sixteen players in Divisions 1-2 and up to twelve players in Division 3. |
| 2.5 | If a squad provides players for more than one team, the 80 point rules under section 8 below will apply. |
| 2.6 | If a player appears on the registration list of more than one team at the start of the season, the player in question will be registered to the team for whom he/she first plays. |
| 2.7 | Clubs entering more than one team in the league may, at their discretion, play on a combined squad basis (in which case the 80 point rules under section 8 below apply) or on a split squad basis (in which case players having once played for their nominated team may no longer play for another team, subject to the rules under section 5 below). The decision to play on a combined or split squad basis is irrevocable for the season in question. |
| 3 | Additions to the Registration List |
| 3.1 | Additional names may be added to a squad’s list of registered players and shall be sent to the Registrations Secretary either by letter or e-mail. The information required in 2.2 above will also be required for additional registrations. |
| 3.2 | The date of application shall be taken as either the postmark of the letter or the send date of the e-mail. |
| 3.3 | The player will become fully registered 14 days after both (a) notification of and (b) payment for the registration are received by the Registration Secretary. A player registered on a Saturday therefore completes the 14-day qualification period two Saturdays later. |
| 3.4 | If a player has not been registered in accordance either with rules 2.1/2.2 or rules 3.1/3.2/3.3 the player will be considered to be a Wildcard. |
| 3.5 | A fee of £5 shall be paid for each registration above a team’s allocation under 2.4 above. Players previously registered for a team may not be deregistered to avoid payment of this fee unless such deregistration takes place before the end of the first playing weekend. |
| 4 | Wildcards |
| 4.1 | A Wildcard is a player who is not registered for any squad in the League. |
| 4.2 | A fee of £10 shall be paid for each Wildcard, payable no later than the start of play of the match in which the Wildcard plays. The Wildcard fee is levied on a per player basis according to the number of individuals appearing as Wildcards for a squad over the course of a weekend. |
| 4.3 | A Wildcard will become fully registered 14 days after both (a) notification of and (b) payment for the Wildcard are received by the Registration Secretary. |
| 4.4 | A player of English nationality is not required to be a member of the ECF for the weekend at which he/she appears as a wild card, but must join the ECF before playing again in the current season’s competition. Similarly, a player not of English nationality must become a member either of his/her own national chess federation or of the ECF. |
| 4.5 | A team in Division 1 or 2 may play one Wildcard in each match. |
| 4.6 | A team in Division 3 may play up to three Wildcards respectively in each match provided not more than one of the Wildcards plays in the top half of the team. Bottom half Wildcards need only fulfil the 80 point rule requirement within their own team and other teams in the same squad playing at the same weekend. |
| 4.7 | Unless he/she has applied for a transfer, a player named on a squad’s list of players is not available as a Wildcard for other squads. |
| 5 | Transfers during the Season |
| 5.1 | A player who is named on a squad’s list of players may transfer to another squad provided he/she has not played during the current season. |
| 5.2 | The transfer request must be agreed by the Registrations Secretary. |
| 5.3 | The squad to which the player is moving must fulfil all the requirements for additional registrations, including the payment of a £10 administration charge. |
| 5.4 | The player will become registered for the new squad 14 days after a valid application is received. The player may play as a Wildcard for the new squad (but for no other squad) in the intervening period. In this instance, a Wildcard fee of £10 is payable in addition to the £10 administration charge. |
| 5.5 | If a team withdraws from the league, players who have played only for that team become free agents and may choose to play either for other teams in the squad if applicable or to join another team/squad. In such cases registration fees under rule 5.3 will apply. |
| 6 | Fixtures and Format |
| 6.1 | Each division’s fixtures shall be played over eleven rounds and over five weekends, with one round being played on Saturday and one round on Sunday. A third round shall be played on the Monday of designated Bank Holiday weekends. |
| 6.2 | The first-named team in each pairing shall have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and black on the even-numbered boards. |
| 6.3 | Divisions 1 and 2 will comprise 16 teams each. Divisions 1 and 2 will comprise two preliminary pools of eight for the first seven rounds, with the two pools in each division of broadly equal strength as determined by the Management Board. The top four and bottom four teams in each preliminary pool will form two final championship/promotion and relegation pools respectively. With regard to the teams in each final pool, only matches played between themselves during the first seven rounds will be carried forward to the final pools (i.e. matches played by teams against teams in the other final pool during the first seven rounds will not be carried forward). |
| 6.4 | Division 3 shall be played as a Swiss tournament. |
| 7 | Match Arrangements |
| 7.1 | In Division 1 each match shall be played over eight boards and each team must include at least one male and one female player. |
| 7.2 | In Division 2 each match shall be played over eight boards and each team must include at least one representative from two of the following three groups: (a) male players (b) female players (c) junior players who are under sixteen years on the date of the match. |
| 7.3 | In Division 3 each match shall be played over six boards. Teams in Division 3 are free to field players regardless of sex or age. |
| 7.4 | The starting times shall normally be 2 pm on the first day of the weekend, 1 pm on the middle day of a three-day weekend and 11 am on the last day of the weekend. |
| 7.5 | The rate of play shall be 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves in one hour and an extra 30 minutes for each player to complete the game. This is a seven-hour session. |
| 8 | Team Lists |
| 8.1 | For Saturday games, team lists must be submitted to the Chief Arbiter by midnight of the Thursday before (i.e. 38 hours before the scheduled start of play), with any defaults declared to the opposing captain by the same deadline. Any changes to these lists may be made without penalty up to midnight of the Friday before (i.e. 14 hours before the scheduled start of play). For Sunday games (and for Monday games on bank holiday weekends), team lists must be submitted to the Chief Arbiter between the publication of the day’s fixtures and start of play on the previous day, with any defaults declared to the opposing captain by the same deadline. Any changes to these lists may be made without penalty up to midnight of the previous day. All team lists must give the full names of the players clearly in board order. |
| 8.2 | Team lists may be amended without penalty for circumstances beyond captains’ control provided this is done at least two hours before the scheduled start of play. |
| 8.3 | In all divisions FIDE ratings will be used to determine the order of strength of a team. For a player without a FIDE rating, an ECF grade will be converted to an equivalent FIDE rating using the appropriate conversion formula. For players who are not English and do not have FIDE ratings, their national ratings will take precedence over ECF grades. All games in all divisions will be submitted for both FIDE rating and ECF grading. |
| 8.4 | Where there is a difference of more than 80 FIDE rating points under rule 8.3 between two players in the same team, the higher rated player must play on a higher board than the lower rated player. In squads with more than one team a player is only eligible for a lower team if his rating under rule 8.3 is not more than 80 FIDE rating points higher than the rating of any person playing in a higher team in the same numbered round. |
| 8.5 | When applying the 80 point requirement for squads with more than one team under rule 8.4, the male and female player "pools" are considered separately (NB junior players in Division 2 under rule 7.2 above are considered part of the female player "pool" for this purpose). It should be noted, however, that all teams must comply with the 80 point requirement for all players in the team regardless of sex or age. It should also be noted that for the purposes of applying the 80 point rule across squads with more than one team, lower teams in a squad may not have a higher average FIDE rating than higher teams in the same squad. When calculating team average FIDE ratings, board 8 in teams in Divisions 1 and 2 will not be included. |
| 8.6 | As a concession to allow teams in combined squads in the higher divisions to field weaker players if necessary to avoid defaults, the 80 point rule above will not apply across split weekends (eg it would be permissible to have a top board in Division 3 more than 80 points higher than a bottom board in Division 2 if this were required to avoid a default in the higher team). However, the average team FIDE rating requirement in rule 8.5 must still be adhered to. Please note that rule 13.5 will be applied where it is apparent that team lists, board orders etc have been flagrantly manipulated under this concession. |
| 8.7 | Any complaint about the composition of a team must be made before the scheduled start of the round. |
| 8.8 | Where both captains and the Chief Arbiter agree in advance, penalties under the 80 point rule may be waived, if this is in the best interests of the 4NCL. |
| 8.9 | Known defaults must be on the lowest boards of the lowest possible team. |
| 8.10 | The Chief Arbiter will endeavour to publish team lists ninety minutes before the start of play, and in any event no later than one hour before the start of play. |
| 8.11 | If the late submission of all or part of a team list causes one or more pairings to be published late, the arbiter may, at his discretion, deduct time from the clock of each member of the team whose name was not published on time. |
| 9 | Reserves |
| 9.1 | Prior to the deadline for the submission of team lists a team may nominate one male and one female player (Division 1), one male and one female or junior player (Division 2), or two players regardless of gender (Division 3) as reserve players. |
| 9.2 | A nominated reserve may replace an absent player provided this is done not more than 55 minutes after the scheduled start of the round. |
| 9.3 | The clock of the reserve shall be adjusted to show the elapsed time subject to a minimum of 30 minutes. |
| 9.4 | The improper use of reserves may result in the Chief Arbiter imposing a penalty as he deems appropriate on the offending team. |
| 10 | Defaults |
| 10.1 | A team will be penalised one match point for every three default penalty points it incurs during the season. |
| 10.2 | A team will incur one default penalty point if the absence of a player is communicated to the arbiters and to the opposing captain at or before the time that team lists are submitted under rule 8.1. Where captains know in advance of the weekend that they will be affected by defaults, they are expected to communicate this to the arbiters and to the opposing captain in good time so as to allow changes to travel and accommodation arrangements. In these circumstances it is permissible for the player affected by the default not to appear at the match in question. |
| 10.3 | A team will incur two default penalty points if, a player having been named on a team list, that player fails to appear for the match in question. In these circumstances, players affected by defaults will wherever possible be offered a rated/graded game against another player in a similar position. Pairings for these games will be matched for rating/grading purposes as far as possible. Pairings will be made one hour after the start of play, and the time control for these games will be 40 moves in two hours, followed by an extra one hour per player to complete the game. |
| 10.4 | When a team indicates that it has a default, the opposing team may adjust its board order to minimise any inconvenience caused (but may not breach any rules in so doing). |
| 10.5 | If both teams default on the same board, no default penalty point will be incurred. |
| 10.6 | A team cannot incur a negative match points total overall through incurring default match point penalties. |
| 10.7 | In the event that a team in the view of the Management Board has an unsatisfactory default performance during a season, the Management Board may at its discretion insist that that team post a bond in the amount of £250 as a condition of its entry being accepted in the following season. The bond, which will be held by the 4NCL, shall be used at the Management Board's discretion to defray any financial costs incurred by opposing teams should the team, or any other team in the squad of which the team forms a part, default games in that following season. The bond will be returned to the team once in the Board’s view sufficient evidence has been provided that the team’s default performance has improved to an appropriate standard. |
| 10.8 | A team defaulting a game for whatever reason will incur a penalty of £20 per defaulted game. Any penalty so incurred must be paid no later than one week before the weekend following the weekend at which the default takes place. Failure to pay the penalty by the due date will lead to expulsion from the league. This penalty will not apply to the first game defaulted by a team during the season. |
| 11 | Split weekends |
| 11.1 | No player may play twice in the same numbered round. As an example, a player appearing only on the Saturday of the first split weekend may not play on the Saturday of the second split weekend, but may play on the Sunday. |
| 12 | Promotion and Relegation |
| 12.1 | Four teams will be relegated from Division 1, four teams will be promoted from Division 2, four teams will be relegated from Division 2 and four teams will be promoted from Division 3. |
| 12.2 | End of season team placings in Divisions 1 and 2 will be decided in the first instance on match point totals. If at the end of the season teams are tied on match points, the tie shall be broken in favour of the team having (a) the greatest number of game points (b) the result(s) of the match(es) between the teams still tying (c) board count (d) elimination from the bottom board upwards (e) the toss of a coin. Tie breaks shall be applied in order until all ties are broken. |
| 12.3 | End of season team placings in Division 3 will be decided in the first instance on match point totals. If at the end of the season teams in Division 3 are tied on match points, the tie shall be broken in favour of the team having (a) the greatest number of game points (b) the highest sum of opponents’ match points (c) the highest sum of opponents’ game points (d) the toss of a coin. |
| 12.4 | In the event that existing teams decide not to renew their entries, teams in the relevant division that would otherwise have been relegated at the end of the season will not be relegated (starting with the relegated team finishing in the highest position, and so on down the relegated teams). In the event that the number of teams not renewing their entries exceeds the number of relegated teams, extra teams will be promoted from the lower division after applying the provisions in the first section of this rule, and so on down the divisions as necessary. |
| 13 | Other |
| 13.1 | The Chief Arbiter, or in his absence the Senior Arbiter for the weekend, shall be empowered to administer the rules of the League. |
| 13.2 | An appeal against a decision may be made to the Management Board. Notice of such an appeal must be made in writing and received within seven days of the original decision. |
| 13.3 | A £100 fee will be payable where a change to a team name is made during the season. |
| 13.4 | All outstanding fees from prior seasons (eg for wild cards, registrations, defaults or default bonds) must be settled in advance of an application to re-enter the league. |
| 13.5 | The Board may apply penalties as it sees fit for any flagrant or premeditated breaches of the spirit as well as the letter of the rules. |
| 13.6 | All participants in the 4NCL National Chess League shall consent to their name, sex, nationality, title and grade, and if required their telephone number(s), email address(es) and postal address(es) being shown on the 4NCL website, such consent being a requirement of the Data Protection Act. Those wishing to withhold their consent shall not be permitted to play in the league. |
| 13.7 | In Divisions 1 and 2 no more than two teams in any squad will be permitted to play in the same division. |
| 13.8 | A player may ask his/her captain if he/she may offer or accept a draw. The captain may agree, refuse or tell the player to refer to the match result sheet. In no circumstances may the captain look at any game between receiving the request and giving his/her decision. |
| 13.9 | A team, once it has had its entry accepted, is not entitled to a refund of entry fees should it subsequently withdraw. |
| 13.10 | In all cases the decisions of the Management Board shall be final. |
