National Correspondence Chess Club General Rules

1) These General Rules apply to all Tournaments except where otherwise provided in the Tournament Rules.

2) Except as otherwise provided in these Rules; games shall be played in accordance with the ICCF Playing Rules for postal play in being at the start of play. The use of first or second-class mail shall be optional but at any time the Controller may rule that a game shall be continued by first class mail. Games shall be played in a mutually agreed notation. If no agreement is reached, then short Algebraic shall be used.

a)       There shall be no requirement to use the special delivery service.

b)       Illegal or illegible moves shall be referred back to the sender for correction and ambiguous moves for clarification. Additional time of reflection shall count for the guilty player as if for separate moves but no other penalty shall apply.

c)       Each competitor shall be allowed 20 days for every 10 moves and up to 14 days Leave/Holiday. 'Time taken on days where there are no postal collections do not count (NB: Normal Sunday collections count as collections for this purpose)

d)       Players claiming that the time limit has been exceeded must send the games Card to the Controller immediately with full details.

e)       If a first claim for exceeding the time is upheld, then the player who has exceeded the time limit shall be deemed to have lost the game.

 f)        All references to ‘Tournament Director’ shall be construed to mean ‘Controller’

3) Pairings are sent out by the Controllers:

4) Members shall be credited with one point for a win and half a point for a draw. Results on score sheets shall be sent to the relevant Controller within 1 month of the result or by adjudication date by the winner of the game, whichever is the earlier.

5) Drawn games are to be reported by the player who proposed or announced the draw. Results may also be reported by the loser or the other player in a draw. Failure to report the game within the specified time may mean that the result is declared a loss to both players unless there are extenuating circumstances.  

6) Unless otherwise stated all members may play in any tournament subject to the Controllers' discretion.

7) Any matter concerning the organization of the tournament not covered in these Rules shall be decided at the discretion of the Controller, subject to the right of appeal to the Committee, whose decision shall be final.

8) Extraneous assistance (for example; computers etc) or advice concerning the play must not be sought or accepted but books of reference may be consulted.

9) All disputes, including matters not covered by these rules, will be decided by the Tournament Controller.

10) Ties:

a)       Ties shall be broken by the Sonneborn-Berger system.

b)       If the tie is not broken, then the tie shall be awarded to the player involved who has won the more/most games with black.

c)       Ties still not broken shall be resolved by awarding the tie to the person with the lower CT position at the start date of the tournament. For players not in the CT the lower graded member shall be awarded the tie.

  The Tom Morris Championship Tournament (TMC) Rules

1) Entries shall be received by the Tournament Controller by the date announced by the Controller. Play shall commence from the date given and the adjudication date shall be 10 months after the start date.

2) Entry shall be open only to fully paid-up Members of Natcor Resident in the British Isles.

3) First Class Mail shall be used for all games in the Premier Division.

4) Play by email is by mutual agreement.

5) The Premier Division Winner will be known as ‘The Tom Morris Champion of Natcor’.

6) Division One Winner will be known as ‘The League Champion’.

7) The Premier Division shall consist of 6 players.

8) Each player shall play a Double Pairing, one with the WHITE Pieces and the other with the Black Pieces against each of the other players in the same Division.

9) The other divisions shall also consist of six players. Each player shall play a double pairings, one with the WHITE Pieces and the other with the Black Pieces against each of the other players in the same Division.

10) The two highest placed players in each division shall be promoted to the Division above. Promotion may, at the Tournament Controllers discretion, be carried further by jumping one or more divisions, provided there is a vacancy and that such a promotion does not infringe the rights of others.

11) The two lowest players in each division shall normally be relegated to the division below.

12) Vacancies in any division shall be filled at the Controllers discretion in a consistent manner.

13) A prize shall be awarded to the winner of each division.

14) Ties:

a)       Ties shall be broken by the Sonneborn-Berger system.

b)       If the tie is not broken, then the tie shall be awarded to the player involved who has won the most games with black.

c)       Ties still not broken shall be resolved by Awarding the tie to the person with The lower CT position at the start date of the Tournament. For Players not in the CT the lower Graded Member shall be awarded the tie.

15) Any matters concerning the organization and running of the Tournament not covered in these Rules or the relevant playing Rules shall be decided at the discretion of the Tournament Controller.

Special Instructions for the Tom Morris League Championship Rules

All games played in the TMLCT can be counted in the Continuous Tournament subject to Rule 1 of the RGCT Rules

1) CT games shall be arranged by the CT Pairings & Results Secretary. Members in other Correspondence events or privately arranged correspondence pairings may have the results of such games counted in the CT if:

a)      The CT Pairings & Results Secretary is informed within 10 days of the commencement of the games.

b)      It is agreed by both players to play a double pairing and: -

c)       The games are NOT barred by CT Rule 4.

Email Play:

Email Play to be agreed to by both players.

Disputes and time Claims:

If you disagree with your opponent on any aspect of the game, please try to resolve the problem between yourselves. If this is not possible, notify the Controller Immediately.

For time claims please give 16 days plus postal time. Any Dispute when claiming the time limit as been exceeded, your opponents score sheet must show that the time as been exceeded. when sent to the Controller. If contact is lost between players, notify the Controller after the 16 day time limit. Please give the Controller up to three weeks to make enquiries.

Illegal, Ambiguous and Unclear moves:

Any move which is illegal, ambiguous or unclear shall be referred back to the Player for clarification or amendment.

Results:

Please submit results within a month after the end of the game quoting reference number. Results are published in Natcor’s En Passant and the web site.

The Reg Gillman Continuous Tournament (RGCT) Rules

1) CT games shall be arranged by the CT Pairings & Results Secretary. Members in other Correspondence events or privately arranged correspondence pairings may have the results of such games counted in the CT if: -

a)       The CT Pairings & Results Secretary is informed within 10 days of the commencement of the games.

b)       It is agreed by both players to play a double pairing and: -

c)       The games are NOT barred by CT Rule 4.

2) There shall normally be no restriction on the number of pairings, which may be allocated to a member, but the CT Pairings & Results Secretary may exercise his discretion in this matter, particularly where new members are concerned.

3) The first game in the pairing shall be started by the player to whom the CT Pairings & Results Secretary sends the Pairing Notice. The opponent shall answer the move and at the same time make the first move in the second game of the pairing.

4) So far as is possible the CT Pairings & Results Secretary shall arrange that no Member shall play the same opponent twice in any 20 games, nor be paired with any player whose score differs from his own by more than 4 points. The latter condition shall not apply to Members who have completed less than 10 games, nor to a player rejoining under Rule 5c.

5) A table of results and positions shall be prepared each month in the following way: -

a)       Members shall be placed in order according to the points scored. Where there are equal points and games, the player with the fewer losses shall be placed higher.

b)       The points shall be computed according to General Rule 4 from the latest 20 games finished in the order in which they are received by the CT Pairings & Results Secretary.

c)       Any Member not playing in the CT for 3 months shall be excluded from the table until he resumes play when he shall be credited with his last 15 games.

d)       Any Member whose membership lapses will be removed from the table. Should he subsequently renew his membership he shall be treated as a new Member.

6) A Member’s name shall be shown in capital letters in the table when he wins 20 points from 20 games. Any Member who achieves CAPITALS will retain them for life irrespective of whether that member lapse's then re-joins The CT Competition (Or Natcor).

7) Each player shall send to the CT Pairings & Results Secretary a report on each game after 18 months play and subsequently at 6-monthly intervals. After 2 years play the CT Pairings & Results Secretary may; at his discretion, give players a minimum of 6 weeks notice of adjudication.

8) If a game ceases before 15 moves, then the CT Controller will declare the game void unless there is an adjudicable position on the board.

9) All disputes, including matters not covered by these rules, will be decided by the CT Controller.  

Natcor’s Norman Bond Knockout (NBKO) Tournament Rules

1) Play shall be by rounds and 2 games shall be played with each opponent. The games shall be designated MAJOR and MINOR respectively.

2a) The winner of the MAJOR game passes into the next round. If the MAJOR game is drawn, then the winner of the MINOR game passes into the next round. If both games are drawn, then the player with the Black pieces in the MAJOR game passes into the next round. If both games of the Final are drawn, then they shall be replayed with the colours reversed.

2b) The Runners-up in the first round games will go into a "B" event. To be played along side the main event

3) There shall be 16 players per K.O. Tournament.

4) The playing period shall be announced by the Controller and all unfinished games shall be forwarded to him for adjudication at the end of the period.

5) Ties:

a)       Ties shall be broken by the Sonneborn-Berger system.

b)       If the tie is not broken, then the tie shall be awarded to the player involved who has won the most games with black.

c)       Ties still not broken shall be resolved by Awarding the tie to the person with The lower CT position at the start date of the Tournament. For Players not in the CT the lower Graded Member shall be awarded the tie.

6) Any matters concerning the organization and running of the Tournament not covered in these Rules or the relevant playing Rules shall be decided at the discretion of the Tournament Controller.

  Natcor’s Team Tournament (TT) Rules

1) Entries shall be received by the Tournament Controller by the date announced by the Controller. Play shall commence from the date given and the adjudication date shall be 12 months after the start date.

2) Teams shall consist of 4 players and shall be formed into divisions of approximately 6 Teams per division.

3) At the end of the season, the Highest/Lowest placed teams in each division shall be Promoted/Relegated to the division Above/Below. The Controller may make additional changes to the composition of each division as necessary, provided that the rights of the Teams to promotion are not infringed.

 4) A Player shall not represent more than one team in the same division.

5) For each division each player shall play 2 games simultaneously, one with White Pieces and the other with Black Pieces, against each player of the other teams and on the same board number 

6) Where teams have the same number of points at the end of the season, the tie(s) shall be broken by weighing the results of the top boards relative to those of the lower.

7) The Captain of each team shall be responsible for liaison with the Controller and all results, claims, position for adjudication, etc., shall be supplied by the Captains to the Controller and not by individual players.

Natcor’s All Play All (APA) Tournament Rules

1) Each Tournament shall be divided into 4 sections of 4 Players. Each player shall play 2 games, one with White Pieces and one with Black Pieces, against each of the other players in the same section.

2) Entrants shall be allocated places in sections in order of entry; Members with standing orders for regular entry into APA Tournaments shall be allocated places in Sections A, B, C and D at random when the Tournament lists are opened.

3) Pairing Notices for Sections shall be issued as soon as the list for that Section is complete, The Pairing Notice shall record: - a) The APA Tournament and Section Number. b) The Name and Address of each competitor in that Section, together with an indication as to which player should start play in each Pairing and: c) The Commencement date. Play may start immediately upon receipt of the Pairing Notice, but reflection time shall not be counted for moves posted before the commencement date.

4) Games in the qualifying sections which are unfinished 1 year after the commencement date for the section shall be sent to the APA Controller for adjudication in accordance with the ICCF Playing Rules.

5) Section winners shall play 2 games in the final against each other as outlined above. If a section winner is unable or unwilling to take place in the final, then the vacancy shall be offered to the runner up in that section. Any further vacancy from that section shall not be filled.

6) Games in the final shall be played to completion.  Trophies shall be awarded to the winner; in the event of a tie, each player shall receive a Trophy.

7) The commencement date will be announced by the Tournament Controller; normally at least four weeks following the dispatch of the Pairing Notice.

8) Ties:

a)       Ties shall be broken by the Sonneborn-Berger system.

b)       If the tie is not broken, then the tie shall be awarded to the player involved who has won the most games with black.

c)       Ties still not broken shall be resolved by Awarding the tie to the person with The lower CT position at the start date of the Tournament. For Players not in the CT the lower Graded Member shall be awarded the tie.  

Natcor Rules for ICCF Web Server Play

1.    A Webserver Tournament Controller shall be appointed to organise tournaments via the BCCF.

2.    Entry is open to all paid-up NCCC members.

3.    Players not having an ICCF ID and password will be allocated these before play commences.

4.    Games played in this section are not eligible to count towards an ICCF grading.

5.    Method of play will be as per the current ICCF rules for server play unless stated otherwise in these General Rules.

6.    Tournament formats will be announced by the Tournament Controller as appropriate

7.    The TD will organise new tournaments as appropriate.

8.    TIME CONTROL AND PENALTIES

a)    Players will be allowed 35 playing days for every 10 moves.

b)    All unused time will be carried forward.

c)    Players will be allowed 15 days’ reflection time for any single move (provided time in hand is available) without further penalty. Thereafter reflection days will count double. This means a player taking 20 days to reply to a move will be charged 30 days (15 allowable plus 5x2 additional).

9.    Games not completed within 1 year of commencement will be adjudicated.

10. TIES

a)    Ties shall be broken by the Sonneborn-Berger system.

b)    If the tie is not broken the result shall be awarded to the player with the most wins as black.

c)    If the tie is still not broken the result shall be awarded to the player with the highest position in the RGCT table at the start of play provided all of the tied players are listed therein.

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