rules

SHEFFIELD AND DISTRICT CHESS ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION AND RULES 2003

WITH SEPTEMBER 2003 AND 2004 AMENDMENTS

THE CONSTITUTION

1. NAME

The Association shall be known as "The Sheffield and District Chess Association".

2. OBJECTS

The objects of the Association shall be to:

(a) enter teams in county or national competitions

(b) organise local team and individual competitions

3. MEMBERSHIP

(a) Membership shall be open to all chess clubs approved by the Annual General Meeting (referred to as "AGM" hereafter). Individual members of member clubs shall be associate members of the Association.

(b) Individual membership shall be open to all players approved by the AGM or the Executive Committee, whether or not they are members of member clubs. Individual members are not eligible to vote, except by virtue of holding office.

(c) In these Rules, the word "member" denotes an individual or associate member, and the words "member club" denote a club in membership, of the Association.

4. OFFICERS

(a) The Officers of the Association shall be as follows: a President, Past-Presidents, Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, a General Secretary, a Tournament Controller, a Bulletin Secretary, a Chair of the Executive, a University Chess Supervisor and one Secretary for each division of the League. The Chair of the Executive must be elected from the Vice-Presidents.

(b) The Officers, except Past-Presidents, shall be elected at the AGM from the members; or, if a vacancy arises during the year, by the Executive.

5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

(a) The AGM shall be held not later than September 15th in each year.

(b) The agenda shall include the following:

(i) minutes of the previous AGM

(ii) financial statement for the previous financial year

(iii) election of Officers, Auditors and Match Captains

(iv) fees and subscriptions for the ensuing season

(v) election of teams to the League

(vi) proposed alterations to the Constitution or Rules

(vii) election of four members to serve on the Executive

(viii) organisation of teams into divisions, and

(ix) any other business, covering minor items taken at the discretion of the Chair.

(d) Nine voting members shall form a quorum.

(e) The AGM may appoint sub-committees for special purposes, and may co-opt any member of the Association to serve on such sub-committees.

6. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS

(a) A Special General Meeting shall be called when requested by the Executive, or on 21days written notice being given to the General Secretary, signed by 20 members.

(b) Business at a Special General Meeting shall be limited to the business for which the meeting was called.

(d) Nine voting members shall form a quorum.

(e) A Special General Meeting shall normally be chaired by the Chair of the Executive.

7. FIXTURE MEETING

The Fixture Meeting shall be a Special General Meeting held in September, after the AGM, to:

(i) distribute fixture lists in accordance with Rule 16(a)

(ii) make the draw for the first two rounds of the Richardson Cup competition

(iii) register players in accordance with Rule 17, and

(iv) entertain applications for double point matches under Rule 14(d).

8. EXECUTIVE

(a) The Executive shall consist of the Chair of the Executive, the Treasurer, the General Secretary, the Divisional Secretaries, the Bulletin Secretary, the Tournament Controller and four members elected annually by the AGM.

(b) The Executive shall meet when required by a General Meeting, when deemed expedient by the General Secretary or when petitioned by ten members in writing.

(i) authorise expenditure for any purpose within the scope of Rule 2

(ii) make arrangements for successive rounds of the knock-out competitions

(iii) interpret and apply the Rules of the Association and the FIDE Laws of Chess and decide any matter not covered therein

(iv) deal with complaints from, or disputes between, officers, clubs or players, and, where appropriate, impose penalties

(v) investigate defaulted or unreported matches and, where appropriate, impose penalties

(vi) transfer players according to Rule 18(c)

(vii) carry out such other functions as may be delegated to it by a General Meeting

(viii) appoint sub-committees for special purposes, and co-opt any member to serve on such sub-committees

(ix) investigate non-payment of the annual fees and impose such penalties as are appropriate (see also Rule 11(b)).

(d) A quorum for the Executive shall consist of half the members or five members, whichever is the less.

9. PROCEDURE FOR MEETINGS

(a) The General Secretary shall give at least 14 days written notice to all member clubs, officers and individual members of all General Meetings. The notice shall include a full agenda and details of any proposed changes to the Constitution or Rules. For the AGM, the notice shall be 30 days.

(b) The General Secretary shall give at least seven days written notice to all members of the Executive of Executive Meetings, except that in an emergency the Executive may be called together without formal notice. Where Executive Meetings are called in this

way, the General Secretary shall, as far as possible, notify all members of the Executive of the time and place of the meeting.

(c) At General Meetings, each officer and member club shall have one vote, except that on matters relating to team competitions, including proposed alterations to the Rules for team competitions, non-competing member clubs shall not be eligible to vote.

(d) At Executive meetings each member shall have one vote.

(e) If voting is tied, the Chair of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(f) No votes by proxy shall be allowed.

(g) Provided that the procedure in (a) or (b) above has been followed, no decision taken at any meeting shall be invalid because of the failure of any member to receive notice of that meeting.

10. ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION OR RULES

(a) Any member may propose an alteration to the Constitution or Rules at the AGM, provided that notice of the proposed change has been given to the General Secretary by 30th June before that AGM.

(b) A proposal for alteration of the Constitution or Rules shall, in order to be carried, be supported by at least two thirds of the votes cast.

11. FINANCIAL

(a) All the fees and subscriptions shall be fixed at the AGM. The Association may levy:

(i) annual club membership fees

(ii) annual individual membership fees

(iii) annual League team entry fees

(iv) annual fees for Richardson Cup teams, other than the first entered by each club

(v) match fees, payable by players who represent the Association

(vi) entry fees to the individual tournaments

(vii) such other fees or levies as may be imposed by a General Meeting

(viii) such fines as may be imposed by the Executive or are incurred under Rule 11(b) below.

(b) Annual fees shall apply from one Fixture Meeting to the next, and must be paid before 31st December. Discount of 10% shall be allowed, if the annual fees due from member clubs are paid before 15th November. If they are not paid before 31st December, a fine of 10% of those fees shall be automatically levied. Any clubs, which have not paid all annual fees and fines before 31st March following, shall be reported to the Executive for action.

(d) The Association's financial year shall end on 30th June.

(e) Audited accounts for the previous financial year shall be circulated to all member clubs at least 14 days before, and presented to, the AGM.

(f) The Treasurer, President, General Secretary and Chair of the Executive Committee shall be appointed trustees for the bank accounts, the signatures of any two being necessary for the authorisation of withdrawals and payments.

12. REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES

(a) Association teams may be entered in any competition, with the approval of the AGM, at which Match Captains shall be elected and match fees fixed.

(b) The General Secretary may arrange friendly fixtures for Association teams, for which he may appoint Match Captains and fix match fees, subject to confirmation by the Executive.

(c) Match arrangements, including the selection of teams and the collection of match fees, shall be entirely the responsibility of the Match Captain.

(d) Members representing the Association in matches played outside the Sheffield area may claim a refund of reasonable travelling expenses. Such refunds shall be at the discretion of the Match Captain.

13. ASSOCIATION BULLETIN

(a) An Association Bulletin shall be published regularly during the season.

(b) The Bulletin shall be distributed free of charge to the Officers, members of the Executive, the secretaries of member clubs, individual members, captains of Association teams and such other persons as the Executive may decide.

(i) detailed results of representative matches

(ii) detailed results of League and Richardson Cup matches

(iii) results of individual tournament games, and

(iv) such other news and information as the Secretary may decide.

RULES FOR TEAM COMPETITIONS

14. ORGANISATION OF THE LEAGUE

(a) The Association shall organise a League for competition between member clubs, arranged in a number of divisions determined by the number of teams.

(b) All divisions, except possibly the lowest, shall consist of nine teams, each of which shall play two matches (home and away) with each other team.

(c) The lowest division shall be arranged to accommodate the varying number of teams from year to year; and shall consist of a minimum of six teams and a maximum of fourteen teams.

(d) The Fixture Meeting may allow clubs to arrange one match for double points in place of home and away matches, provided that their opponents agree.

(e) In the first division, a team shall consist of eight players.

(f) In all other divisions, a team shall consist of six players.

15. ELECTION OF TEAMS TO THE LEAGUE

(a) Election of teams to play in the League competition shall be for one season only.

(b) Applications for election must be made at the AGM, to whose approval they are subject.

(d) A new entrant shall normally be admitted only to the lowest division, but it may be elected to a higher division, if there is a vacancy, provided that such election is approved by two thirds of all competing clubs represented at the meeting.

(e) No club may have more than two teams in any one division, other than the lowest.

16. LEAGUE FIXTURES

(a) At the Fixture Meeting, each club shall receive a fixture list from the General Secretary.

(b) League matches shall take place during the months of October to April inclusive.

(c) No league matches shall be arranged in the weeks beginning on the second Monday of October, November, January, February or March, unless both teams concerned have already been eliminated from the Richardson Cup competition.

(d) When a club has two teams competing in the same division, the league matches between them must be completed by 31st December.

(e) By mutual consent and with the approval of the Divisional Secretary, the clubs concerned may:

(i) alter the venue of any match

(ii) arrange one match for double points, in place of home and away matches, or (iii) alter the date of any match, provided that the new date is notified by both clubs to the Divisional Secretary not later than five days after the previous date fixed.

17. REGISTRATION OF LEAGUE PLAYERS

(a) Clubs with teams competing in different divisions shall register with the Association the names of the strongest regular players for each team, except the team or teams in the lowest division. The number of players to be registered for each team shall be equal to half the number of players which constitute a team in that division.

(b) Except as provided under Rule 17(c) and (d), registration of players shall be subject to approval by the Fixture Meeting.

check whether the actual strongest regular players are registered. If, after consultation with the club concerned, it appears not to be the case, the Secretary may register one or more

additional players, such registrations taking effect seven days after written notice to the

club by the Secretary.

(d) Any player, who plays three or more matches in the top half of any team, shall be automatically registered for that team.

(e) If a player registered for one team, also becomes registered for a team in a higher division, then that player ceases to be registered for the lower team, and, after consultation with the club concerned, the Divisional Secretary may register an additional player for the lower team, taking effect seven days after written notice to the club by the Secretary.

18. ELIGIBILITY OF PLAYERS

(a) Registered players are ineligible to play in any team in a division, lower than the one for which they are registered.

(b) A player is ineligible to play for a team, after earlier in the season playing for a different team of the same club in the same division.

(c) Once a player has represented a club in any competition organised by the Association, that player is ineligible to represent another club in Association competitions in the same season, unless officially transferred by the Executive.

(d) The penalty for playing an ineligible player shall be that, the game concerned and all games on lower boards are declared lost.

19. CONDUCT OF MATCHES

(a) The home club shall provide boards, sets and clocks suitable for match play, and scoresheets.

(b) Matches shall start at 7.30pm or any other time by mutual agreement.

(d) The captains shall spin a coin for choice of colour on the top board and arrange the colours in the other games alternately.

(e) If a nominated player is absent, another player may be substituted at any time before thirty minutes have elapsed on the clock; if neither the nominated player nor a substitute is ready to start play within that time, the game shall be lost by default.

(f) No smoking is allowed in the match room, unless agreed by both, or all, captains present.

20. CLOCK AND TIME LIMITS

(a) Each game shall be played under the time limit using a clock.

(b) In all team matches, each player shall have 60 minutes, in which to make 30 moves. If the game has not been completed by black's 30th move, each player shall be granted a further 15 minutes in which to complete the game. This allegro finish shall be conducted in accordance with BCF Quickplay Finish rules.

(d) If an absent player is replaced by a substitute, any time already recorded on the clock shall stand.

(e) A claim for a win under the time limit may only be made by the player concerned and no other person may draw attention to the clock.

21. MATCH RESULTS

(a) One game point shall be scored for each game won and half a game point for each game drawn. A match is won by the team, which scores more game points than the other team. If the game points are equal, the match is drawn.

(b) The detailed results must be sent by both clubs to the Divisional Secretary, within five days of the match.

(c) Details of any dispute or complaint regarding the match must also be sent to the Divisional Secretary, within five days; otherwise, such dispute or complaint shall not affect the result of the match.

(d) If no results are sent by either club within five days, the match shall be declared lost to both sides. Extenuating circumstances may be accepted by the Divisional Secretary or referred to the Executive.

22. WITHDRAWALS AND DEFAULTS

(a) A team shall have one match point deducted for every ten games lost by default, including losses by default for failing to submit the results. If half or more of a team is prevented from attending a match by circumstances beyond its control, the Executive may, at its discretion, waive the penalty. Any team, whose aggregate defaults for the season exceed 30, must seek re-election at the next AGM.

(b) Any team failing to fulfil a fixture shall lose the match by default. Additionally, unless the opposing team is given 48 hours notice, the defaulting team shall have a penalty match

point deducted. Any extenuating circumstances shall be referred to the Executive in

accordance with Rule 21(c).

(d) If a match is not played, or is declared lost to both sides under Rule 21(d), both clubs shall provide written explanations. The Executive may call the officers of the clubs concerned before them, if deemed necessary.

23. LEAGUE POSITIONS, PROMOTION AND RELEGATION

(a) Teams shall be awarded two match points for each match won, and one point for each match drawn.

(b) The team scoring most match points in each division each season shall be declared champions and hold the appropriate trophy until the end of the following season. The two teams scoring most points in each division, other than the highest, shall be entitled to play in the next higher division in the following season, unless disqualified under Rule15(e).

(c) The two teams scoring least match points in each division, other than the lowest, shall be required to play in the next lower division in the following season, unless they are elected to fill a vacancy in their existing division.

(d) If match points fail to determine the champions, or the teams to be promoted or relegated, the teams involved in the tie shall play off at a neutral venue, unless either club agrees to play at the premises of its opponents. Only players, who have played at least three times previously during the season in the same competition, shall be eligible to take part.

(e) In the event of a tie in the play-off match, the winners shall be decided by board count and, if necessary, by elimination. If all games are drawn, the match shall be replayed.

24. RICHARDSON CUP COMPETITION

(a) A knock-out competition shall be held annually for teams of six players, rounds being held in the weeks commencing on the second Monday of October, November, January, February and March. Each member club must enter at least one team.

(b) A subsidiary knockout competition shall also be held for teams which lose in the first round, called the Plate. However, any team which defaults its first round match shall not be eligible.

(c) The Plate shall be played at the same time and under the same conditions as the main competition.

(d) The winners of the main competition shall hold the Richardson Cup, the runners-up the YMCA Trophy, and the winners of the Plate the Talbot Trophy, until the end of the following season.

(e) When a team is entered for the main competition, the club concerned shall state whether they wish it to be entered in the Plate, if it loses in the first round.

(f) The draws shall be made either by the Fixture Meeting or the Executive, except that the draw for the first round of the Plate shall be made by the Richardson Cup Secretary.

(g) If there is an odd number of teams entered, a bye shall be given in first round to the holders of the Richardson Cup. All other byes necessary shall be given in the second round [Added/amended 2003] (first round of the Plate). [Added Sept. 2004]

(h) The first team drawn in any pairing shall have choice of venue.

(i) The Richardson Cup Secretary shall notify each team of its opponent, who has choice of venue and when the match is to be played. The Bulletin may be used for this purpose.

(j) Matches shall be conducted in accordance with Rules18 to 23 inclusive, except those sections which relate only to league matches, and the following subsections of this Rule.

(k) Drawn matches shall be decided by board count and, if necessary by elimination. If all games are drawn, the match shall be replayed. A drawn match in the final shall be replayed.

(l) The final shall be played at neutral premises, unless either team agrees to play at the premises of its opponents.

(m) Only players, who have played in at least one previous round of this competition during the current season, shall be eligible to play in the final.

(n) No player shall be eligible to play for more than one team in this competition.

(o) The following teams shall be kept apart in the first round: winners from the last 3 years, losing finalists from the last 2 years, losing semi-finalists from the last year. [Sept. 2004]

RULES FOR INDIVIDUAL COMPETITIONS

25. SHEFFIELD INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP

(a) A six round Swiss tournament shall be held annually and the winner shall hold, until the end of the following season, the title of "Sheffield Chess Champion" and the Bruce Trophy.

(b) Entry shall be open to any member.

(i) the six highest rated, or if less than six, one third of the entrants, and

(ii) the six next highest rated, or if less than six, a further third of the entrants.

(d) The highest placed entrant, not in the first list of seeded players, shall hold the Holroyd Trophy and the highest placed entrant, not in either list, the Shapero Trophy, until the end of the following season.

(e) The highest placed junior entrant (under 18 years old on preceding 1st September) shall hold the title "Sheffield Junior Chess Champion" and the Junior Individual Trophy, until the end of the following season.

(f) Medals or other prizes, according to funds available, shall be provided for the winner and runner-up.

26. CONDUCT OF TOURNAMENTS

(a) Entries shall be sent to the Controller, together with the appropriate fees.

(b) The closing date for entries shall be 15th October.

(c) Before play begins, the Controller shall send all entrants a full list of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all other entrants.

(d) The draw for successive rounds shall be made by the Controller, using the standard Swiss system rules of pairing.

(e) Players given black shall have choice of venue.

(f) Responsibility for notifying the result to the Controller shall rest with the winner, or if drawn with both players.

27. CONDUCT OF TOURNAMENT GAMES

(a) The first session of play shall last for at least three hours, or until the end of the game.

(b) The time of adjournment shall be fixed before play starts.

(c) A board, set and clock suitable for match play should be provided by the home player. If the home player is unable to provide a clock, the opponent must be notified in advance; so that the away player has an opportunity to provide the clock.

(d) The time limit for each player shall be 24 moves in the first hour and 12 moves in each succeeding half hour, both players keeping a record of the game.

(e) If a game is unfinished when the adjournment time is reached, the player, whose turn it is to move, shall make a sealed move within 15 minutes.

(f) When clocks are used, 15 minutes, or whatever time is available up to the next time check, whichever is the less, shall be allowed for a player to make a sealed move, the time taken to make the move being included in that player's clock time.

28. DEFAULTING PLAYERS AND UNFINISHED GAMES

(a) If a player, who has choice of venue, fails to invite his opponent to play within seven days of receiving notification, or, if the opponent fails to respond within seven days, or if either, having made arrangements to play, fails to attend, the other player shall notify the Controller and claim the game.

(b) If the Controller receives no communication from either player before the closing date for the round, both players shall be defaulted.

(d) In any dispute, the Controller's decision shall be final.