1. The closing date for entries is the third Sunday in September.
2(a). Each club must pay the appropriate annual entry fee for their teams by not later than 31st December. Payment by bank transfer, reference DCCA and club name. Treasurer to supply details.
2(b). Any player wishing to play in the Durham County Chess League must take out Bronze Membership of the ECF (as a minimum). Although a non-member may play up to 3 games in the League, but before playing a 4th game they must take out Bronze Membership (as a minimum).
3(a). Matches must be played as laid down in the fixture lists unless both teams agree to play on a different date.
3(b). The first of each pair of teams on the fixture lists is considered to be the home team.
4(a). A team consists of 4 players.
4(b). Players must switch off/mute their mobile phones prior to starting a game and only turn on/unmute once their game has finished.
5(a). The rate of play per player will be either 1 hour 30 minutes for the whole game, or 1 hour 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment after each move (starting from move 1). In either case, ECF quickplay rules apply.
5(b). Either team can insist on using the incremental time control, provided suitable clocks are available — these can be provided by either the home or the away team.
5(c). Normally the same time control should be used for all boards in a match. It is permissible to use different time controls on different boards, provided both team captains agree and it is made clear to all players which time control they are playing to.
5(d) Once a player has less than five minutes left on this players clock, this player is not obliged to continue recording the moves, even if his clock time subsequently rises above five minutes.
6(a). The away team players will have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards.
6(b). Players will be listed in order of rating strength, with the highest rated player on board 1 etc.
6(c). Players can swap between boards, providing the difference between their rating strengths is between +/-75 ECF points; e.g. a player rated 1825 can only change places with a player with a rating of between1750 and 1900.
6(d). ECF ratings are taken from the 1st September.
A player that is unrated or have a P rating on the 1st September but subsequently receives their 1st K rating on a later ECF Ratings list will use this 1st K rating at that point.
Until the unrated or P rated player receives their 1st K rating, an estimated grade from their captain shall be used.
6(e). In the case of the unexpected, but bona fide absence of a player, a substitute may be provided 30 minutes after the start of play.
6(f). If a higher rated player plays below a lower rated graded player, except as allowed by rules 6(c) & 6(e), the higher rated player will score 0 regardless of the actual result of that game.
6(g). In any one season no player may play for more than one club in the league. If a player moves his home a significant distance during the season, he must obtain the prior approval of the League Secretary before changing clubs and re-registering to play for the new club.
7(a). Any club having more than one team in the league needs to seed 2 players
for each of their teams except for the team in the lowest division. The exception to this rule, see 7(c).
7(b). Any club having more than one team in the league need to seed their 2
players who would normally play on boards 1 and 2 for this team that
cannot play for a team in the same or lower divisions.
7(c). If a club has two or more teams in the same division, then each team will have to seed the 2 players who would normally play on boards 1 and 2 for that team and these 2 seeded players cannot play for any other team in the same or lower divisions. This is to be repeated for as many team’s that the club have in the same division.
7(d). If at any time during the current playing season a team finds that a new or existing player will be playing regularly for their team on either board 1 or 2 then this teams seedings are to be changed and emailed to the league
secretary.
7(e). Clubs must submit a list of their seeded players to the League Secretary by 31st October.
8. The home team captain must enter the results on the ECF League Management System as soon as possible after a match.
9(a). League positions will be decided by the total of match points, (Win 2 points, Draw 1 point, Loss 0 points).
9(b). In the event of two or more teams finishing tied on match points, the league positions will be decided in favour of the team with the largest total of game points.
9(c). In the event of two or more teams finishing tied on both match and game points, for deciding league winners or qualification for promotion or relegation, the League Secretary will arrange play-offs as necessary.
10. In the event of a disagreement arising as to the correct interpretation of these Rules, the Association’s ruling will be final, but in the absence of an Association meeting and until such a meeting takes place, the League Secretary’s ruling will be adopted.