Ladder Rules

U1650 Standard Play Ladder All Year Round Tournament Rules

1) A new ladder shall start not before the 1st September in any given year for players rated below ECF rating 1650 or its equivalent as at that date. Entry to the tournament and initial placements on the ladder shall be determined by the then published grading lists for members of the Club with the lowest graded player placed on the top rung and the highest graded player on the bottom rung and otherwise at the discretion of the Tournament Secretary.

2) Any subsequent published grading lists shall be disregarded for the purpose of participation eligibility.

3) The tournament shall run until the last Tuesday in July.

4) Late applications for admission to the tournament will be sympathetically dealt with by the Tournament Secretary. However all late participants will join the ladder below the lowest rung on which there is a player who has participated in a challenge.

5) The ladder shall be displayed on the Club’s website and at the Club. These rules and results shall be available on the website.

6) Any applicable entry fees and prizes (if any) shall be set by the Committee and published at the start of the competition.

7) The rate of play shall be all moves in 90 minutes per player (3 hour session) starting no later than 7:40pm if played on a club night. If both players agree, a shorter playing session of all moves in 75 minutes per player (2 ½ hour session) starting no later than 8:15pm can be used. Adjournments are not permitted. Guidance section III of the FIDE Laws of Chess shall apply [see further rule 23) below]. Standard or digital clocks can be used. If using the DGT select setting 3 and set to 1:30.00 or by agreement 1:15.00.

8) Allocation of the white pieces shall be determined by lot or toss.

9) Players are reminded that they must record the moves save where a player has less than 5 minutes remaining on his/her own clock.

10) All games must be played on a Club Night unless agreed by the Tournament Secretary. For pre-arranged games played at the Club the default time is 8:15pm.

11) Requests to play a challenge game on other occasions may be permitted in advance at the discretion of the Tournament Secretary. Any player who fails without good reason communicated in advance to attend a pre-arranged game shall be defaulted.

12) Any defaulted player shall be relegated to the bottom of the ladder. Persistent offenders shall be withdrawn from the tournament.

13) Once a challenge has been made the challenged player may not make a challenge until the accepted challenge has been played. The challenged player may however accept another challenge provided it is scheduled to be played at a later date in accordance with Rule 16c).Re-challenges between the same players shall not be permitted within three weeks of a game being played.

14) Club Matches, Club Championship games and pre-arranged Ladder challenge games shall take precedence.

15) A player may challenge any other player on the 5 rungs above.

16) To make a challenge:

a) Identify the players you can challenge [applying rules 15) and 13) above];

b) See which of them is available to play [having regard to rule 14)] and challenge them;

c) Otherwise, a challenge can be scheduled by agreement for the first available date [having regard to rule 14)] provided the date is notified without delay to the Tournament Secretary, who may direct alternative arrangements.

17) Any player who in the opinion of the Tournament Secretary unreasonably declines a challenge shall be relegated to the bottom of the ladder.

18) Results of games must be communicated to the Tournament Secretary by both players without delay (and in any event within 48 hours) either in person or by message to the designated phone number and e-mail address.

19) Results shall include the names of both players, who had the white pieces, the date played, the time concluded and the result. A single score or other notification sheet signed by both players will suffice.

20) Results shall be submitted by the Tournament Secretary for grading.

21) If the lower player wins, then the lower player is moved into the higher player position who is then moved down one position. All the players in between these two players are also then moved down one position.

22) If the higher player wins or the game is drawn there are no position changes.

23) Save as varied by these rules, the FIDE laws of Chess including the quick play finish rules in Guidance section III (but excluding Article III.4) apply. See our Ladder Quick Play Finish Guidance as to when a draw can be claimed in your last two minutes. For the purposes of Article III.5 any member of the Committee graded above ECF 1650 present may act as arbiter. Where no Committee member is available a claim can be made under Article III.6 which shall then be submitted to the Tournament Secretary for a decision applying the FIDE Laws. Their decisions shall be final.

24) Disputes where at least one complete record of the moves is available shall be determined by the Tournament Secretary or by any member of the Committee present where no score is available. Their decisions shall be final.

25) Any point not covered by these Rules shall be determined by the Tournament Secretary whose decision shall be final.

Adopted by the Committee on 4th September 2012
Amended by the Committee on 16th May 2017 with effect from 1st September 2017
Amended by the Tournament Secretary from 2021-22 competition to change from ECF Grade/Rating U126 to U1650