Club Blitz Championship – 2020-21

Tuesday 10 August 2021.

Like fine wine…

A week after securing the Lightning Championship, Terry Whitton added the Blitz Championship, on tie-break. Terry finished level on points with John Cawdery – in his first season with the Club – each scoring 6/7; congratulations to both. They met in Round 3 and Terry secured the point on a swindle (his own words). While John won all his other games, he required a slip-up from Terry to wrest the trophy. In Round 4, Terry allowed a draw against Philip, but won his next two, finally allowing a second draw in the last round against Mark, knowing that he would win on tie-break. So hearty congratulations to Terry on a rare speed double: Lightning and Blitz.

There was a further tie for 3rd place between Mark Murrell and Paul Barclay on 4½.

=1 Terry Whitton – Blitz Champion, John Cawdery, 6/7; Tie-break – Sum of Progressive Scores: Terry 25½, John 23.

=3 Mark Murrell, Paul Barclay, 4½/7;

22 entries

Round-by-round Pairings and Results, together with Cross Table etc., can be accessed from the **Blz Ch** menu above, click the dropdown “Blitz Championship (Vega)”. This is also accessible from the main Activities menu under the “OTB Club” sub item.


Blitz Championship conditions

Number of rounds Thre were seven rounds in the Blitz Championship.

Rate of play Games were played with 8 (eight) minutes on each clock, with NO increments (G8+0).

Tie-breaks for the trophy, and for use in all pairings: in the event of two or more players finishing on the same points score: i) Sum of Progressive Scores; if two or more players are still tied, ii) Sum of Opponents’ Scores. If there is still a tie, any further tie-breaking will be announced by the Controller. The first two creteria are used by the pairing program throughout the event to sort players within the same score group when arranging the pairings for each round.

Rating of games; Rules applicable Blitz games over-the-board are NOT rated by the ECF. The FIDE Blitz Laws applicable are given below.

The FIDE Laws for Blitz games will apply

Link: Full FIDE Laws of Chess

Appendix B. Blitz

B.1 A ‘blitz’ game is one where all the moves must be completed in a fixed time of 10 minutes or less for each player; or the allotted time plus 60 times any increment is 10 minutes or less.

B.2 The penalties mentioned in Articles 7 and 9 of the Competition Rules shall be one minute instead of two minutes. [Article 7.5 – illegal move; Article 9 – the drawn game.]

B.3.1 The Competition Rules shall apply if:

B.3.1.1 one arbiter supervises one game and

B.3.1.2 each game is recorded by the arbiter or his assistant and, if possible, by electronic means.

B.3.2 The player may at any time, when it is his move, ask the arbiter or his assistant to show him the scoresheet. This may be requested a maximum of five times in a game. More requests shall be considered as a distraction of the opponent.

B.4 Otherwise, play shall be governed by the Rapid chess Laws as in Article A.2 and A.4.

B.5 The regulations of an event shall specify whether Article B.3 or Article B.4 shall apply for the entire event.

In accordance with Article B3, as we will not have one Arbiter for each board, B4 applies for the entire event, being Articles A2 and A4 of the Rapid Laws, which are quoted below.

FIDE Guidelines III (games without increment, including the ‘2 minute draw claim’ rule) will NOT apply.

Appendix A. Rapid chess

A.1 … (Not applicable)

A.2 Players do not need to record the moves, but do not lose their rights to claims normally based on a scoresheet. The player can, at any time, ask the arbiter to provide him with a scoresheet, in order to write the moves.

A.3.1 … (Not applicable)

A.3.1.1 … (Not applicable)

A.3.1.2 … (Not applicable)

A.3.2 … (Not applicable)

A.4 Otherwise the following apply:

A.4.1 From the initial position, once 10 moves have been completed by each player,

A.4.1.1 no change can be made to the clock setting, unless the schedule of the event would be adversely affected

A.4.1.2 no claim can be made regarding incorrect set-up or orientation of the chessboard. In case of incorrect king placement, castling is not allowed. In case of incorrect rook placement, castling with this rook is not allowed.

A.4.2 If the arbiter observes an action taken under Article 7.5.1, 7.5.2, 7.5.3 or 7.5.4, he shall act according to Article 7.5.5, provided the opponent has not made his next move. If the arbiter does not intervene, the opponent is entitled to claim, provided the opponent has not made his next move. If the opponent does not claim and the arbiter does not intervene, the illegal move shall stand and the game shall continue. Once the opponent has made his next move, an illegal move cannot be corrected unless this is agreed by the players without intervention of the arbiter.

A.4.3 To claim a win on time, the claimant may stop the chessclock and notify the arbiter. However, the game is drawn if the position is such that the claimant cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves.

A.4.4 If the arbiter observes both kings are in check, or a pawn on the rank furthest from its starting position, he shall wait until the next move is completed. Then, if an illegal position is still on the board, he shall declare the game drawn.

A.4.5 The arbiter shall also call a flag fall, if he observes it.

A.5 The regulations of an event shall specify whether Article A.3 or Article A.4 shall apply for the entire event.

Link: Full FIDE Laws of Chess