2012 Annual Meeting

Page published 18 June 2012

PROPOSED RULES FOR EMAIL INDIVIDUAL EVENT

ELIGIBILITY and PAIRINGS and TRANSMISSION of MOVES

The MCCU Individual Email Correspondence Championship is open to all players subject to the entrant being eligible to selection for one of the counties affiliated to the Union.
Should there be more than 12 entrants to the event, pairings will be drawn up with the aim of providing each entrant with a similar cross-section of opponents. The competitor achieving the highest points score will be declared the Champion. In the event of 2 or more players achieving the highest total, they will be declared joint champions.

PLAY AND CONTROL

Games shall be played in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
The Controller is responsible for the proper conduct of the tournament. For this purpose he may use any means he considers appropriate. These must of course not be in contradiction to the rules of play and the Tournament rules.

TRANSMISSIONS

Moves shall be numbered and sent in algebraic or a mutually agreed notation
Moves shall be transmitted by email, fax or using a webserver (e.g. chessworld etc). The players sould inform the controller as a matter of courtesy the method by which the games are being conducted.
Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days, the player waiting for a reply shall contact his opponent and the controller. Any reply must be copied to the controller. Where a player intends to take a prolonged period (i.e. over 10 days) over a move, the opponent should be informed.
Games in which no moves have been played for four months may be scored as a loss to both players.

MOVES AND CONTINUATIONS

No legal move shall be retracted after sending, clerical errors are binding if they are legal moves. A correct repetition of the latest move is necessary for the sender's reply move to be valid.
Illegal moves shall be referred back to the sender without any obligation to move the piece in question.
The omission or addition of chess indications (such as "check", "captures", "en passant") is without significance.
Proposals of conditional continuations are binding until the recipient, makes a different move from that proposed.
Any accepted continuation move shall be correctly repeated with the reply

RECORDS AND REPORTS

All transmissions from the opponent concerning the game and a record of the moves and dates shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the controller upon request.
Changes of permanent address shall be notified to the controller and opponent.
The controller must be notified immediately of any disagreement between the competitors about the game.

TIME ALLOWED AND PENALTIES

Each competitor is allowed 30 days per 10 moves.Time saved shall be carried forward
The time used is the difference in days between the date on which the opponent's last move was received and the date of the reply. Emails sent after 9.00 p.m.will be counted as being sent the following day. 
Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.

The starting date of the Tournament (1st August) or when the White player receives the pairing notice, whichever is later.
Players who get the pairing notices before the start date may start play; in that case time of reflection will not be counted until the starting date.

TIME EXCEEDING

Claims that the time imit has been exceeded shall be sent to the controller with full details at the latest when emailing the 10th 20th etc move.
At the same time, the opponent shall be informed
Any protest shall be sent to the tournament controller within 14 days of receiving the information otherwise the claim shall be deemed to be conceded.
The controller shall inform both players of the decision
If a claim for exceeding the time limit is upheld then the player who has exceeded the time limit shall forfeit the game

LEAVE

Each competitor may take up to 14 days leave during the stipulated period of play.
Players taking leave must inform their opponents and the controller in advance
 In addition the controller may grant up to 14 days additional leave which in exceptional circumstances may be backdated
If a player answers a move during leave the leave is cancelled and normal time shall be counted

WITHDRAWAL

In the event of withdrawal or death of a competitor before the completion of half or more of the games, the results are eradicated for the purpose of determining final standings, but any such results stand for grading purposes. Once half his games are complete, remaining games may be adjudicated, but adjudicated games may not be graded.

ADJUDICATION

If no result has been agreed by 31st May players must submit by 5th June a record of the moves played
The position reached
A statement claiming either a win or a draw which may or not be be supported by analysis.
The controller shall notify the adjudicators decision to both players indicating whether the result is subject to appeal

ADJUDICATION APPEALS

Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be posted to the controller within seven days of receiving the notification. The controller will forward the appeal to the ECF adjudication service.
Analysis or additional analysis and a fee which is returnable if the appeal is successful must accompany an appeal.

REPORTING RESULTS

As soon as possible after ending a game each player should send the result and a clear record of the moves made to the controller
The result is officially recorded only after the receipt of this record.
Should no record be received from either player, the result may be scored as lost to both.

DECISIONS AND APPEALS

The Controller may penalise or disqualify competitors who break these rules 
Any matter not covered by them shall be decided by the controller. (If the controller is a competitor any dispute involving the controller's game(s) will be referred to The Chief Executive Officer who will refer to an ECF Arbiter not involved in the dispute.)
Any player may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the controller to the Chief Executive Officer of the MCCU. The appeal may be referred to the appropriate committee of the MCCU whose decision shall be final