Rapidplay Championships 2016

The 4NCL will be holding its sxth team and individual rapidplay championships for which entries are invited from all interested teams and players.

Winners will hold the title of 4NCL Team and Individual Rapidplay Champion respectively for 2016-17.

Details are as follows:

1. The championships will take place on the weekend of 1-2 October 2016 at Harben House. More details on the venue can be found here.

For team entry accommodation, please contact our partners Bridge Overseas. Please go here for contact details. Please do not book accommodation directly with the hotel, as you will not get the 4NCL agreed preferred rates. If you wish to enter the Sunday individual rapidplay championships only and want accommodation, the online entry form allows you to specify your accommodation requirements.

We recommend that you book rooms early, as unbooked rooms from our allocation will be released by the venue some weeks beforehand.

2. The event is open to any team (Saturday) or individual (Sunday), whether or not a participant in the 4NCL itself. As with the 4NCL, teams can be existing clubs, new clubs, groups of friends etc.

3. Both events will be submitted to the ECF for FIDE rapidplay rating and ECF rapidplay grading. Players in both events should be ECF members at Silver level or above. If they are not, a £7.00 charge per adult per day (£5.00 per junior per day) will apply to cover the ECF’s “pay to play” levy.

4. The entry fees are:

• £50.00 per team (£75.00 for two teams, £100.00 for three teams) plus £7.00 “pay to play” fee per nominated player per day (£5.00 per nominated junior per day). The £7.00 per day (£5.00 junior per day) charge is waived for players with ECF membership at Silver level or above. This covers entry to both the team and the individual championships.

• £15.00 per individual (£10.00 junior) plus £7.00 (£5.00 junior) “pay to play” fee. The £7.00 per day (£5.00 junior per day) charge is waived for players with ECF membership at Silver level or above. This covers entry for Sunday’s individual championship only.

5. Entry fees must be received by 23 September 2016.

or (preferably) please make a BACS transfer account to the 4NCL bank account (for bank account details, please contact Mike Truran). If paying by BACS transfer, please include sufficient accompanying narrative to allow the payment to be identified.

Entries will be accepted on a “first come first served” basis.

If you wish to enter the Sunday individual championships only, please use the online entry form.

6. The team entry form below should be emailed to Dave Thomas at  no later than 23 September 2016. Team lists should contain the following information for each player:

• Full name

• Date of birth (if no FIDE code available)

• FIDE federation

• At least one of the following if possible:

  ECF membership number and level (e.g. G22555)

  ECF grading code

  FIDE code

• Otherwise, one of:

  Chess Scotland/WCU standard grade

  Chess Scotland rapidplay grade

  Estimated strength

• Whether or not that player is also entering the Individual Rapidplay

7. Each match in the team championships will comprise four players per team. A team may nominate up to six players for the weekend. 4NCL combined squad rules will NOT apply, so no nominated player may play for more than one team over the weekend.

8. Team board order will be determined on the following basis: (a) FIDE rapidplay ratings (b) ECF or Chess Scotland rapidplay grades (c) FIDE standard ratings (d) ECF, Chess Scotland or Welsh Chess Union standard grades. Non-ECF grades and ratings will be converted to FIDE equivalent grades using the formula: FIDE = (ECF x 7.5) + 700. Where there is a difference of more than 80 FIDE rating points between two players in the same team, the higher rated player must play on a higher board than the lower rated player.

9. The time limit will be 10 minutes +10 seconds per move.

10. The tournament will be run under FIDE rapidplay rules unless otherwise specified in these entry guidelines and/or as announced by the arbiters before start of play. Appendix A4 of the Laws of Chess will apply.

11. It is a condition of entry that players agree to their grading information being published on the ECF website and read the tournament Terms & Conditions.

12. The championships will consist of 7 rounds on the Saturday (team championships) and 7 rounds on the Sunday (individual championships). The schedule for the two days will be as follows:

13. There will be a guaranteed prize fund of £1,125, allocated as follows:

Prizes will be paid by direct transfer within a week of the event on notification of the requisite bank account details to Mike Truran.

14. Placings will be decided on the following basis:

• Team championships: Total match points, with ties being broken in the following sequence: (a) total game points (b) match points between the teams that remain tied (c) game points between the teams that remain tied (d) board count among tied teams (e) elimination from the bottom board upwards.

• Individual championships: Total number of points, with ties being broken by the sum of progressive scores. Any teams or players who remain tied after this will share the prize money.

15. During play, a player must not have any access to mobile phones, electronic means of communication or devices capable of suggesting chess moves. Such devices, if brought into the playing venue, must be completely switched off and placed in a bag on or under the player's table before play starts. A player, when still in play, is forbidden to leave the playing area with such a bag, unless an arbiter gives permission. Any request for any part of this rule to be relaxed must be made to the Chief Arbiter before the start of play. Even an accidental breach of this rule will normally lead to loss of the game. Any noise emanating from one of the above devices will also normally lead to loss of the game.

Click to download just the Team Entry Form.

1. Team entries

Team members:

Key:

(a) Full name

(b) Date of birth

(c) FIDE Federation

(d) ECF membership number and level

(e) ECF grading code

(f) FIDE code

(g) Estimate of strength (if neither FIDE rated nor ECF graded)

(h) Origin of figure in column (g) (CS / WCU / estimate)

(i) Also entering the individual Rapidplay on Sunday