Rules

Our championship is open to all members of the club (free of charge).
The Championship is a 7 round Swiss-style tournament played over the chess season with a round on the first Thursday of every month. ( Exception - Thursday January 10th, 2019. )

Time Controls

Players have the choice of two time controls:

1. Standard Time Control

The first 36 moves must be completed in 75 minutes, the next 24 moves in 60 minutes, all remaining moves in a 15 minute QuickPlay finish. If the game is not completed after 2.5 hours, either player may elect to adjourn the game by completing and sealing an adjournment envelope; both players’ scoresheets should go into the envelope. Players must agree on a time and date for the continuation of the game immediately after the adjournment, and must inform the Controller. Each adjourned game should be completed and reported to the Controller by at least 1 day before the next round (or in the case of round 7 before the AGM).

2. Single-session Time Control

If both players wish to complete the game in a single session, then all the moves must be completed in 75 minutes.

In the case where a game is not completed before the beginning of the next round, the game will be given a temporary score for pairing purposes as decided by the Controller. This is to encourage punctual completion of games. All games must be finished by the time of the AGM: the Controller will determine the result of uncompleted games.

Byes, re-pairing, and postponed games

No new entries will be accepted after the start of round 3. Players entering after one or two rounds have been played will be given a half-point bye for the missed rounds.

A player who has not paid a subscription by round 3 will be disqualified from the Championship and will not be paired in any further rounds.

Any player who cannot attend on the date of the Championship round must notify the Controller at least 1 day in advance. The player may request a bye for the round. Only the first 3 byes for each player will be awarded a half-point, thereafter 0 points will be awarded for a requested bye.

Players who do not turn up without notifying the Controller are liable to receive a score of 0 for that round and after a repetition may be disqualified from the Championship.

Under certain circumstances games may be postponed. This can only be done with the agreement of both players and the Controller.

Players who cannot attend on the date of the Championship round may be eligible for re-pairing with anyone else who has also notified the Controller of inability to play on that date, as long as these players have not already played each other. Players will normally be re-paired only if there is at most a 1 point difference in their scores. Re-pairing can only be done with the agreement of both players and the Controller. If a player is not eligible for any re-pairing, then that player must accept a requested bye for that round.

Controller

The current Championship Controller is Dairena Gaffney. In the case of any disputes, the Controller’s decision is final.

Prizes

The Lyon Trophy will be awarded to the winner, and the MacMartin Trophy to the best-performing player graded under 1600. In the case of a tie, the sum-of-progressive-scores method will be used to decide the winner. All results will be submitted to Chess Scotland for grading.