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The Four Nations Chess League does not accept responsibility for the content of other websites, to which this site links.

This website includes information on participants in the Four Nations Chess League in respect of name, grade, title, nationality and sex (team registration lists), as well as telephone number(s), email address(es) and postal address(es) in certain circumstances (team captains/managers, management board members, arbiters etc). Participants wishing this information not to be included on the website should contact the webmaster to have it removed, but should be aware that in this event they will not be permitted to play in the league.
Rules for the 2010/11 season

1Management
1.1Each 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.
1.2The Chairman shall arrange meetings for captains and managers, as and when required, at which matters of current interest and future policy shall be discussed.
2Registration Lists
2.1A club shall enter the 4NCL National Chess League ("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 (unless they qualify under the Wild Card rules in section 4 below).
2.2After the registration list deadline as announced per rule 1.1 above, a player who has explicitly consented to play for a team may not move to another team unless (a) the captain of that team voluntarily deregisters him/her or (b) the Chief Arbiter considers that it would be inequitable to hold the player to his/her previous commitment, taking into account the circumstances in which the commitment had been given and any relevant evidence subsequent to the giving of the commitment. It is the responsibility of the captain of a team wishing to retain the registration of a player who has agreed to play for that team to provide firm evidence of explicit agreement (which should be in writing or by email, should be dated and should record that the player has been informed of the consequences of giving explicit consent). A player who has given explicit consent to play for a team but who changes his/her mind must contact the Registrations Secretary before the registration list deadline. A player who has not given explicit consent will be considered to be validly registered for the team including him/her on its registration list, but until he/she has played for the team he/she remains free to play for other teams subject to the requirements of sections 3 and 4 of these rules.
2.3The 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 nor ECF graded) (f) ECF membership number (if player’s nationality is English or the player is registered with FIDE through England) (g) whether explicit consent under rule 2.2 has been obtained. If a squad has teams both in the Northern League and in the rest of the League, a player may be designated as northern or southern. In this event a northern-designated player can only play for a northern team and a southern-designated player cannot play for a northern team at any weekend, and both northern-designated and southern-designated players form separate "pools" for the purposes of rule 8.5.
2.4Players with English nationality must have membership of the ECF valid on 31 August 2010 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.
2.5Each 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 and the Northern League.
2.6If a squad provides players for more than one team, the 80 point rules under section 8 below will apply.
2.7If 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.
2.8Clubs 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.
3Additions to the Registration List
3.1Additional names may be added to a squad’s list of registered players and shall be sent to the Registrations Secretary either by letter or by e-mail. The information required in 2.3 above will also be required for additional registrations.
3.2The date of application shall be taken as either the postmark of the letter or the send date of the e-mail.
3.3To play as a registered player at a particular weekend the player must be registered no later than midnight of the Thursday of the week before the team lists need to be submitted under rule 8.1 below, i.e. nine days before the first round of the weekend. Any payment due under rule 3.5 below must be received before the player starts play, and if paid at the weekend itself must be paid at the relevant venue.
3.4If a player has not been registered in accordance either with rules 2.1/2.2/2.3 or rules 3.1/3.2/3.3 the player will be considered to be a Wildcard.
3.5A fee of £5 shall be paid for each registration above a team’s allocation under 2.5 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.
4Wildcards
4.1A Wildcard is a player who is not registered for any squad in the League.
4.2A 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.
4.3A Wildcard will become fully registered 14 days after both (a) notification of and (b) payment for the Wildcard are received by the Registration Secretary.
4.4A 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.
4.5A team in Division 1 may play one Wildcard in each match.
4.6A team in Division 2 and Division 3/the Northern League may play up to two and three Wildcards respectively in each match provided not more than one of the Wildcards plays in the top half of the team.
4.7Unless 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.
5Transfers during the Season
5.1A 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 and is not subject to the provisions of rule 2.2 above.
5.2The transfer request must be agreed by the Registrations Secretary.
5.3The squad to which the player is moving must fulfil all the requirements for additional registrations, including the payment of a £10 administration charge.
5.4The player must be registered for the new squad no later than midnight of the Thursday of the week before the team lists need to be submitted under rule 8.1 below, i.e. nine days before the first round of the weekend. Transfers later than this deadline will be subject to the Wild Card rules in section 4 above. In this instance, a Wildcard fee of £10 is payable in addition to the £10 administration charge.
5.5If 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.
6Fixtures and Format
6.1Each division’s fixtures shall initially be played over eight rounds and over four weekends, with one round being played on Saturday and one round on Sunday. Three further rounds shall be played on a designated Bank Holiday weekend.
6.2The first-named team in each pairing shall have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards and black on the even-numbered boards.
6.3Divisions 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). Team placings at the end of the first seven rounds will be decided in the first instance on match point totals in the preliminary pool. If at the end of the first seven rounds teams are tied on match points, the tie shall be broken in favour of the team having (a) the greatest number of game points in the preliminary pool (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.
6.4Division 3 and the Northern League shall be played as a Swiss tournament in which pairings for both rounds of a two-day weekend will be determined in advance. At the final weekend (rounds 9-11) Division 3 and the Northern League will combine into a single division, with match and game points carried over from the first four weekends During this final weekend best endeavours will be made to maximise the number of matches played between Division 3 and Northern League teams.
7Match Arrangements
7.1In Division 1 each match shall be played over eight boards and each team must include at least one male and one female player.
7.2In 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 1 January 2011.
7.3In Division 3 and the Northern League each match shall be played over six boards. Teams in Division 3 and the Northern League are free to field players regardless of gender or age.
7.4The 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.
7.5The 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.
8Team Lists
8.1For all fixtures in a given weekend, team lists must be submitted to the Chief Arbiter or his nominated representative by midnight of the Thursday before (i.e. 38 hours before the scheduled start of play of the Saturday match), with any defaults declared to the opposing captain by the same deadline. Any changes to these lists may be made without penalty (provided they do not introduce further defaults) up to midnight of the day before the fixture. All team lists must give the full names of the players clearly in board order.
8.2Team lists may be amended without penalty (providing further defaults are not introduced) for circumstances beyond captains’ control provided this is done at least two hours before the scheduled start of play.
8.3In 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.
8.4Where 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.
8.5When applying the 80 point requirement for squads with more than one team under rule 8.4, the male and female player "pools" under rule 7.2 and the northern-designated and southern-designated player "pools" under rule 2.3 are considered separately (NB junior players in Division 2 under rule 7.2 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.
8.6Any complaint about the composition of a team must be made before the scheduled start of the round.
8.7Where both captains and the Chief Arbiter agree in advance, the requirements of rules 8.3 to 8.6 may be waived, if this is in the best interests of the League.
8.8Known defaults must be on the lowest boards of the lowest possible team.
8.9The 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.
8.10If 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.
9Reserves
9.1Prior 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 and the Northern League) as reserve players.
9.2A nominated reserve may replace an absent player provided this is done not more than 55 minutes after the scheduled start of the round.
9.3The clock of the reserve shall be adjusted to show the elapsed time subject to a minimum of 30 minutes.
9.4The improper use of reserves may result in the Chief Arbiter imposing a penalty as he deems appropriate on the offending team.
10Defaults
10.1A player will be deemed to have defaulted a game if he/she fails to appear for the game in question within one hour of the start of play.
10.2A team will incur half a game point penalty per default in addition to scoring zero on the board(s) concerned if their absence is communicated to the arbiters and to the opposing captain at or before the time that team lists are submitted under rule 8.1, i.e. midnight of the Thursday before the fixture, except when the pairings are not known at that time. As an example, a team in Division 1 with one such default will have a 0-1 result on bottom board (under rule 8.8, assuming no other teams in the squad) and also lose a further half point, turning a 4-4 draw into a 3 ½-4 loss for the team and a 4-3 ½ win for the opposing team. 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.
10.3A team will incur one game point penalty per default in addition to scoring zero on the defaulting board(s) if, having been named on a team list, a player(s) fail to appear for the match in question within one hour after the start of play or arrives but is not prepared to play, or if a default is not notified until after the deadline under rule 8.1. As an example, a team in Division 1 with one such default will have a 0-1 result on the board concerned and also lose a further point, turning a 4 ½-3 ½ win into a 3 ½-3 ½ draw (for both the team and the opposing team). 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.
10.4Appeals against game point penalties will be considered only in exceptional circumstances, for example the hospitalisation of a player or the death of a close family member on the morning of the match. Appeals against game point penalties caused by car breakdowns, traffic delays, public transport delays or cancellations, bad weather (except where a severe weather warning can be shown to have been issued by the Meteorological Office) etc will not be considered. Appeals against game point penalties must be made before the start of the match in question to the Chief Arbiter, whose decision, in the interests of providing certainty to the teams involved, will be final and not subject to referral to the Management Board or the appeals committee.
10.5When 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).
10.6If both teams default on the same board, no default penalties will be incurred.
10.7A team defaulting a game for whatever reason will incur a penalty of £20 per defaulted game unless a successful appeal has been made under rule 12.3. This penalty will not apply to the first game defaulted by a team during the season. If a Division 1 or 2 team defaults an entire match for whatever reason a fine of £200 will be incurred unless a successful appeal has been made under rule 12.3. If a Division 3 or Northern League team defaults an entire match for whatever reason it will (a) not incur a fine so long as the intention to default the match is notified to the Chief Arbiter no later than one week before the team list submission deadline under rule 8.1 above (b) incur a fine of £50 in all other circumstances unless a successful appeal has been made under rule 12.3. In all instances where a Division 3 or Northern League team defaults a match other teams will be re-paired making use of triangular matches as necessary.
10.8In 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 League, 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.
11Promotion and Relegation
11.1Four 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/the Northern League.
11.2End of season team placings in Divisions 1 and 2 will be decided in the first instance on match point totals in the final pool. 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 in the final pool (b) the greatest number of match points including all matches played during the season (c) the greatest number of game points including all matches played during the season (d) the result(s) of the match(es) between the teams still tying (e) board count (f) elimination from the bottom board upwards (g) the toss of a coin. Tie breaks shall be applied in order until all ties are broken.
11.3End of season team placings in the Division 3/Northern League combined division will be decided in the first instance on match point totals. If at the end of the season teams in the Division 3/Northern League combined division 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.
11.4Once the requirements of rule 11.1 have been fulfilled, 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.
12Other
12.1The Chief Arbiter, or in his absence the Senior Arbiter for the weekend, shall be empowered to administer the rules of the League.
12.2The League shall be conducted according to the most recently published FIDE laws of chess. In particular, it should be noted that FIDE rules on mobile phones and other electronic means of communication will be applied without exception. The Chief Arbiter will not normally give permission for any player or spectator to bring any mobile phone or electronic communication device or computer in to the playing hall. Players should also refrain from bringing baggage in to the playing hall.
12.3An appeal against an arbiter’s decision must be made to the Chief Arbiter (or another on site Senior Arbiter if the Chief Arbiter himself made the decision). If permitted by the rules, a review of the outcome of the appeal may be made to an appeals committee (consisting of a third party arbiter and two independent captains/players chosen from a panel) on payment of a £50 deposit. The decision of the appeals committee will be final. The £50 deposit will be returned if the appeals committee finds in favour of the party requesting the review. Any review request accompanied by a £50 deposit must be made to the Management Board within seven days of the weekend in question.
12.4A £100 fee will be payable where a change to a team name is made during the season.
12.5All outstanding fees from prior seasons (e.g. for wild cards, registrations, defaults or default bonds) must be settled in advance of an application to re-enter the League. No team belonging to a club playing on a combined squad basis will be allowed to re-enter until all outstanding fees relating to all teams in the squad have been settled.
12.6The Management 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.
12.7All participants in the League shall consent to their name, gender, 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.
12.8In Divisions 1 and 2 no more than two teams from any club will be permitted to play in the same division. Where this situation is caused by a club team/teams finishing in a promotion place, it/they will not be promoted. Where this situation is caused by a club team/teams finishing in a relegation place, the requisite number of teams from that club will be relegated to a lower division in their turn to satisfy the requirements of the rule. The top placed eligible teams in Divisions 2 and/or the Division 3/Northern League combined division will be offered promotion as appropriate to ensure that the complement of sixteen teams in the top two divisions is maintained.
12.9A 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.
12.10A team, once it has had its entry accepted, is not entitled to a refund of entry fees should it subsequently withdraw.
12.11The entry guidelines for each season form part of these rules.
12.12In all cases the decisions of the Management Board shall be final.
Summary of Rule Changes

2.3Clarification of ECF membership, Northern League and Division 3 designated players as separate "pools".
2.5Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
3.3Registration fee payments to be paid at correct venue if paid at weekend.
4.6Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
6.1Rewording of rule.
6.4Inclusion of Northern League in rule and rule expansion to describe arrangements for combined Northern League/Division 3 division at final weekend.
7.2Change to junior age cut-off definition.
7.3Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
8.5Inclusion of northern- and southern-designated player "pools" in rule.
9.1Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
10.2, 10.3Clarification of result outcomes.
10.4Clarification of game point penalty appeals.
10.6Clarification (penalty points > penalties)
10.7Clarification of appeals procedure.
11.1Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
11.2Change to tie break rules ((a) and (b) reversed).
11.3Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
12.3Creation of independent appeals committee.
12.8Inclusion of Northern League in rule.
12.11Confirmation that entry guidelines form part of rules.

Division 1

WGHK 1
Pride and Prejudice
Barbican 4NCL 1
White Rose 1
WGHK 2
Guildford-A&DC 1
Cambridge Univ. 1
The ADs
Betsson.com
Barbican 4NCL 2
Oxford 1
Pandora's Box Grantham
S. Wales Dragons
Guildford-A&DC 2
Poisoned Pawns 1
Jutes of Kent

Division 2

Sambuca Sharks
Cheddleton
Warwickshire Select 1
e2e4.org.uk 1
Barbican 4NCL Youth
AMCA Dragons
Kings Head
Poisoned Pawns 2
Anglian Avengers
Wessex 1
Celtic Tigers 1
Bristol 1
White Rose 2
Brown Jack
Guildford-A&DC 3
FCA Solutions 1

Division 3

Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg
Sambuca Black Sheep
3Cs
Cambridge Univ. 2
Wessex 2
Warwickshire Select 2
KJCA Kings
FCA Solutions 2
The Full Ponty
Sussex Smart Ctls.
e2e4.org.uk 2
Iceni
Nottinghamshire 1
Nottinghamshire 2
Oxford 2
AMCA Rhinos
Braille Chess Assoc.
AMCA Hippos
Glos. Gambits
Bristol 2
KJCA Knights
Guernsey Mates
Bristol 3
SCS
Hackney
e2e4.org.uk 3
Beauty and the Beasts
Celtic Tigers 2
Oxford 3
Halesowen
Guildford-A&DC 4
AMCA Cheetahs