Regulations
May 26, 2008
1. Participation
1.1 Participation in the European Club Cup is open to:
1.1.1 Two teams per ECU Chess Federation in which a national team championship is organised.
1.1.2 One team per ECU Chess Federation in which no national team championship is organised.
1.1.3 The previous European Club Cup winner.
1.1.4 The organising federation shall be entitled to enter an additional team. If there is an odd number of participating teams the organising federation has the right to enter a second additional team. If this second additional team is paired and plays round 1 it shall remain in the tournament to the conclusion even when a team or teams dropping out or a new team or teams arriving subsequently would result in an odd number of teams still in competition.
1.1.5 Each club is allowed only one team in each competition.
1.1.6 The clubs which play in a federation in which a national team championship is organised, must have ended in the top-half of the ranking of the highest division of this championship organised within one year before the start of the current European Club Cup.
1.1.7 The clubs which play in a federation in which no national team championship is organised, may only enter a team in which at least 6 players have a FIDE-rating. All players have to be listed in the most current FIDE-rating list of this federation
1.1.8 For the European Club Cup for Women, clubs playing in a federation in which no national team championship is organised, may only enter a team in which at least 4 players have a FIDE-rating. All players have to be listed in the most current FIDE-rating list of this federation.
1.1.9 The clubs which play in a federation in which no national team championship is organised, and which have not the required number of FIDE-rated players as defined in F.1.1.7 or F.1.1.8, may ask the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union for dispensation. The request shall be accompanied by all relevant information and must be supported by the federation of the club(s) involved.
1.1.10 The federations in which a national team championship with at least ten teams in the highest division is organised, are entitled to enter a third club provided that at least 20 grandmasters and/or players with a FIDE-rating over 2600 have participated in this championship one year prior to the current European Club Cup.
1.1.11 For the European Club Cup for Women, the numbers specified in F.1.1.10 are 5 women grandmasters, respectively a FIDE-rating over 2400.
1.1.12 Each federation that is ranked in the first five places of the federation ranking list is entitled to enter one additional team. The federation ranking list is made by the ECU Tournament Director according to F.7.
1.2 The teams shall be composed of six players all of whom must be members of the club and were entitled to play for the club in the national team championship of the federation which was organised within one year before the start of the current European Club Cup. However, players who are foreigners to the federation in which the national team championship is organised, must have played at least two games in this championship. Foreigners are defined as those which are either belonging to another federation in the FIDE Rating List valid at the start of the national team championship or have a permanent residence outside the federation in which this national team championship is organised.
1.2.1 Players with a rating of 2700 (2500 for the women’s event) or more in one of the last three rating lists published before the announcement of the event need not to follow the rule F.1.2 (minimum two games) if the club pays 2500 Euro (1000 Euro for the women’s event) to ECU. These players have to be announced to the Tournament Director before the deadline for nomination of teams and the extra fee has to be paid to ECU before 1 July.
1.2.2 Players, who are considered as foreigners according to F.1.2, and who have been playing at least three times for the same club in previous European Club Cup competitions are exempted from the obligation to play at least two games in the championship of the federation for this club.
1.2.3 Each team is entitled to have two reserve players who must fulfil the conditions stipulated in F.1.2.
1.2.4 The players and the reserve players can represent only one club at the same time. If a player has been playing national team competitions in more than one federation he has to decide before the time of subscription by writing for which team he will play.
1.2.5 For the European Club Cup for Women, the teams shall be composed of four players. Each team is entitled to have one reserve player. All players have to fulfil the conditions stipulated in F.1.2.
1.3 The basic players’ list of a participating club (cf. F.2.5) must be sent at the latest one month prior to the start of the competition to the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union. After verification the team lists will be published on the web site of the European Chess Union. The Tournament Director will immediately send a copy of the team lists by fax or email to the organisers.
All clubs have to finish their final players’ lists before the captain’s meeting at the start of the tournament.
2. Organisation
2.1 The tournament shall take place between September 15th and October 15th of each year. In exceptional cases the Board may accept other dates.
2.2 Bids
2.2.1 Each bid has to specify whether the organising federation will organise either both competitions or either only the European Club Cup, respectively the European Club Cup for Women.
2.3 The dates and the venue of the tournament(s) have to be fixed and sent out to all federations not later than March 1st of the year in which the competition is taking place.
2.4 Notice of participation
Not later than April 30 of the year in which the competition is taking place, every federation that intends to participate with one or more teams in either both competitions or either only the European Club Cup, respectively the European Club Cup for Women, must inform the organising federation of its acceptance of the invitation specifying the number of teams in each competition. Copies of the letter of acceptance should at the same time be sent to the Secretary General and to the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union.
The letter of acceptance shall include the full name, address, telephone and fax number, and the email address of the participating club(s) and its contact person.
2.5 The basic players’ list of a participating club must notify the following details to the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union:
(a) name of each team member (surname, one first in full, initial of additional first names);
(b) FIDE rating and title of each team member (according to the most recent FIDE rating list);
(c) FIDE ID number of each team member;
(d) nationality of each team member;
(e) date of birth of each team member.
2.5.1 The basic players’ list shall include the board order of each club.
2.5.2 The basic players’ list shall be accompanied by the declaration of the national federation that the players fulfil the requirements under F.1.2.
2.5.3 The basic players’ list shall be accompanied by the declaration of those player(s) who has (have) been playing national team competitions in more than one federation.
3. Tournament Regulations
3.1 Number of rounds.
The competition will be played in a 7 rounds tournament. No free day is foreseen.
3.2 System of play.
3.2.1 The competition shall take the form of a Swiss system tournament.
3.2.2 If there are eight teams or less in a competition, the competition will be played as a Round Robin tournament. In such case the drawing of lots will take place at the Captain’s Meeting.
3.3 Schedule.
The matches shall be conducted according to a playing schedule which must be distributed to the participants before the start of the tournament. Only in exceptional cases may the Chief Arbiter, in consultation with the Tournament Director, make alterations to the times of play. If this is done, all those concerned are to be informed directly.
However, the cases foreseen in Article 8.1 of the Laws of Chess will not be accepted as an exceptional case as defined above.
The following time schedule must be adapted:
Day 1: Saturday Arrival of participants
Captain’s meeting
Day 2: Sunday Opening Ceremony
Round 1
Day 3-7 Monday-Friday Rounds 2-6
Day 8 Saturday Round 7
Closing Ceremony
Day 9 Sunday Departure of participants
4. Titles and prizes
4.1 Prize fund.
4.1.1 The organiser has to provide a prize fund of minimum 12.000 ? which will be given to the clubs on place 1 to 6 of the final ranking (40% to place 1, 20% to place 2, 15% to place 3, 10% to place 4, 10% to place 5 and 5% to place 6). In the case that teams end with the same number of match points, money prizes shall be shared.
4.1.2 For the European Club Cup for Women the organiser has to provide a prize fund of minimum 5.000 ? which will be given to the clubs on place 1 to 4 of the final ranking (50% to place 1, 25% to place 2, 15% to place 3 and 10% to place 4). In the case that teams end with the same number of match points, money prizes shall be shared.
4.2 Titles.
4.2.1 The winner receives the title “European Club Champion 20..”
4.2.2 For the European Club Cup for Women the winner receives the title “Women’s European Club Champion 20..”
4.3 Trophies.
4.3.1 The winning club shall receive a Challenge Cup provided by the European Chess Union. This Challenge Cup is won if a club has won it three times in perpetuity.
4.3.2 For the European Club Cup for Women another Challenge Cup shall be provided by the European Chess Union. This Challenge Cup is won if a club has won it three times in perpetuity.
4.4 In contrast to 1.7.1. only the players obtaining the best individual results on their respective assigned boards shall receive gold medals.
5. Appeals Committee
5.1 The elected Appeals Committee members have to belong to four different clubs and to four different federations.
6. Financial matters
6.1 The entry fees will be collected with the registration of participants if not transferred before to the ECU account. If the entry fee is not paid until end of round 2 these participants will not be paired in subsequent rounds.
6.2 The organiser will offer suitable board and lodging for the visiting clubs at the lowest possible price and the visiting clubs pay for it.
6.3 The organiser shall also provide suitable accommodation for the ECU President or his nominee and the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union. The organiser will also pay their travel expenses.
7. Federation ranking list
7.1 After the European Club Cup each club is attributed a number of points corresponding to its place in the final ranking:
1st place: 100 points 11th place: 58 points
2nd place: 90 points 12th place: 56 points
3rd place: 85 points 13th place: 54 points
4th place: 80 points 14th place: 52 points
5th place: 75 points 15th place: 50 points
6th place: 72 points 16th place: 48 points
7th place: 69 points 17th place: 47 points
8th place: 66 points 18th place: 46 points
9th place: 63 points 19th place: 45 points
10th place: 60 points Following places: 1 point less
7.2 The sum of the points attributed according to 5.7.1 is made for each federation and divided by the number of participating clubs for that federation.
7.3 The scores obtained according to 5.7.2 for the last three European Club Cups are added for each federation.
7.4 The federation ranking list is obtained by ranking the scores obtained according to 5.7.3