TOURNAMENT RULES

Mid-Atlantic Chess League Tournament Rules

Updated 10/04/21.
  1. Application of the Rules
1.These rules govern any season League Tournaments of the
MidAtlantic Chess League.
2.These rules may be amended only after a review of motions initiated by team captains and submitted to the League Commissioner (LC).  If a majority of team captain propose changes to the league rules, a vote will be conducted by the LC and include all team captains.  Majority vote results will constitute a change to be made in the appropriate Rules section.
  1. League Commissioner
1.The League Commissioner (LC) as tournament director (TD) shall implement these rules.
2.The LC may supplement these rules with statements of policy, interpretations, and precedents, such rulings to be published in the next bulletin.
3.The LC shall see that a bulletin is published by 48 hours prior to each match, to contain at least current team standings for all sections, results for each match, pairings for the coming round, and any rulings made by the LC.
  1. Team Captains
1.The team captain is the official team representative to the League.
2.The team captain is responsible for the conduct of matches and must see that Chess League and relevant USCF rules are enforced.
3.The team captain is responsible for ensuring that all team players are USCF members when they compete. Team captains will be held financially responsible for players who are not USCF members. If a player has a USCF ID that is not current and active, this players captain must seek approval from the Commissioner to play.
  1. Both captains and their designated representatives must be present during all phases of a match.
  2. A captain may advise his players as to general conduct and respond to questions of whether to offer or accept a draw and may answer questions about rules but may not give advice as to a position, strategy, or choice of move.
  3. Team captains must notify the TD of a list of players (i.e. Names, USCF ID numbers, current ratings as published in the most closest month prior to the start of the tournament by USCF, Chess.com username, player’s email to be used as login address for Zoom meeting, and board order).  Notification is typically done via the Registration process online. This grouping of players (4 players + up to 3 alternates) constitutes the team Roster. A team’s Line-up represents the list of actual 4 players who will play in any given round.
  4. Any changes to the lineup before the start of a round must be made at least 48 hours prior to the start of the round.  See line 6 above on how/whom to contact.
  5. The team captain must provide their contact information including full name, mobile number, email, to the tournament director.
  6. The team captain is responsible for informing their team’s players of the opponent team name and the opposing team’s chess.com usernames.  This will insure an easier start to each round.
  7. Teams
  8. Teams will consist of 4 players and up to 3 alternates.  The average rating for the team determines which section of the league that team will participate in.  Lower rated teams have the option of playing in any section above their team average. 
  9. The highest 4 player ratings (out of a possible 7 players on a team’s roster) will be used to calculate average team rating. USCF Regular On-line ratings will be used. If a player does not have one, then the league follows USCF ratings rules as explained in detail in this link:

https://new.uschess.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/the-us-chess-rating-system.pdf3

3.Team Captains must submit a roster (in board order) upon entry into the league. This will be done during the online registration process.
  1. Teams from any part of the world may play. However, the round will begin at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on a Friday. Match schedules are posted on the league website.
  2. Team Lineups
1.Rating limits for each section are:
    1. Open section: Open to all. Average team rating must be below 2199.
    2. U1800 section: Average team rating must be below 1800.
    3. U1500 section: Average team rating must be below 1500.
    4. U1000 section: Average team rating must be below 1000
    5. A captain will assign his players to boards in order of the last official published USCF Online Regular ratings. If two players have the same rating, their board assignments will be left to the discretion of the captain.
    6. With the consent of both team captains, players may play out of rating sequence in order to avoid forfeits.
    7. An unrated player may be assigned a tentative rating (750) with the approval of the LC. Unrated players may play on any board. Unrated players do not affect the team’s average rating as per USCF rules.
    5.Unrated players may play in any section.
    1. Computers are not allowed to play.
    2. Players
    1.A player must be a current USCF member whenever she/he competes in any given round.
2.A player may play for only one team in a section except when the LC determines that a player has been unfairly prevented from playing, in which event he may switch to another team. Also, a player may play for more than one team (considered to be a special circumstance) when requested by a team Captain and approved by the LC to help facilitate a team having all possible players play thus avoiding byes and/or forfeits.
3.A player may play only one game per round.
  1. Fees
1.The registration fee for a team is shown on the league website.
  1. Match Schedule
  2. Matches may be rescheduled with consent of both teams’ captains and the LC. It is the responsibility of the Captain to manage their player’s reassignment. Players are encouraged to communicate freely with their opponent to help facilitate a new date/time to play the rescheduled game.
  3. The LC may consider postponing a match at the request of either captain if weather conditions or other emergencies require it or if insufficient notice has been given for the match..
  4. Match Play including use of Zoom cameras.
  5. A match shall consist of four boards per team against another teams’ four boards.
  6. The TD will determine the color assignment for each team prior to the start of the round.  When a team is assigned White, this means that their Board 1 has white and Board 2 has black, board 3 has white and board 4 has black.  It is the reverse when a team is assigned Black.
  7. All games will be played online at chess.com.
4.Time control shall be G/60 with a 15 second increment.
  1. Games will be played on Fridays and begin at 7pm.   A player may claim a forfeit only after 30 minutes has expired after the challenge was issued on chess.com.
  2. Exceptions may be made to Rule I.5 by agreement of the captains.
  3. Time is managed by the game in process on-line.  Time remaining will be shown on the screen.
  4. Players must join the Zoom meeting by logging onto their free zoom account and entering in the meeting ID. The meeting ID will be communicated by the LC at least 12-24 hours before the start of the round.
  5.  All game results must be entered by the team captain within 24 hours of the time the final game is finished. Use the website and click on the link for reporting results.  Deadlines to report are Wednesdays at 8pm.
  6. Upon joining the Zoom meeting, players must rename themselves to include their full team name, and player name. This is designed to get players to their breakout rooms quickly. The Zoom meeting begins at 6:30pm – in advance of the game start time.  This is designed to allow the LC to assign players to their breakout rooms if the player was not already pre-assigned.
  7. Disputes
  8. All disputes must (A) Be attempted to be resolved between the team captains and then (B) In the event it cannot, each captain must contact the TD immediately to resolve the dispute.  All decisions made by the TD are final and binding to each team.
  9. Penalties
1.A team forfeits on a board when its player has a higher USCF rating than one of its players on a higher board. (Exception, Rule E.4)
  1. Both teams forfeit on a board when a match is played on fewer than four boards.
3.The Executive Director may declare a match forfeited by both teams if the result is not reported by the Wednesday following the match.
4.Forfeits made in advance of a match will be made on the lowest boards.
5.If a player or a team member who is not playing interferes with a game in violation of the rules of chess, his/her own game (if still in progress) may be declared lost by his team or the opposing team be awarded an extra game point.
  1. The LC has the power to bar:
  2. From playing or captaining during the subsequent season, a captain failing to provide 48 hour notice of his team’s forfeiture of a match to the opposing team captain
  3. From League play for the rest of the season, a team forfeiting all of its games in a match, or 50% of its games in two consecutive matches, or a total of 10 individual games during a season.
  4. From League play for the subsequent season, a team forfeiting all its games in either of the last two matches of the current season.
  5. From League play for the rest of the season, a player forfeiting two games in a season.
  6. From League play until he is reinstated at an annual meeting, any player who is penalized twice, and from League play, for the rest of the season, any team not paying league fees within one week after the completion of the second round of the season.
  7. From League play for the current and/or future seasons, any player found to have cheated during any of their games.
  8. The Executive Director shall have the power to impose any penalty authorized by USCF Tournament Rules.
  9.  If a team forfeits a match, the team captain must have informed the opposing captain of this forfeiture at least 24 hours prior to the match.  If the captain fails to inform the opposing captain by this time, the captain will be penalized $3.00 per forfeited game.  The penalty fee will be due prior to the captain’s participation in any future season.
  10. Game results not submitted by each caption as listed in Rule I.9 will result in a forfeit for that team players games, regardless of the actual outcome of the game played itself.
  11. Prizes
1.The League shall award trophies to the 1st and 2nd place teams in each section and trophies to the individuals with the highest score in each section.
  1. Additional prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the LC
  2. Tiebreakers and Scoring
1.The following are the list of tiebreakers for teams:
  1. Match Score,
  2. Board game Score
  3. Head to Head.
  4. Match Wins
  5. Board Wins
  6. US Amateur Team System
  7. Modified Median (Swiss Only)
  8. Solkoff (Swiss Only)
  9. Cumulative (Swiss Only)
  10. Coin Flip
2.Before advancing to the next tiebreaker, we drop every team eliminated in the previous round.
  1. Playoffs
1.If at the end of the season there are two teams in the same section, which are tied for first in score and tiebreakers, the LC may ask the teams to play one round in a playoff match to declare the winner.
  1. Only players who have played at least once for their team during the season may participate in a playoff match.
  2. MATCH SCHEDULE
  3. See website for information on Season schedules.
  4. How to Play a Game online at chess.com
1, Create account by registering yourself.  This username will be utilized by your opponent to find you and request a game.
  1.  Befriend your opponent.  Your captain should have the names of your team’s opponents and each team member’s usernames on chess.com.
  2. Create a challenge; Decide time control as “custom”, (G60; increment of 15) Then choose “unrated” option.  Your opponent will “check mark” the option to accept the challenge.
  3. Play the game.
  4. Report your result to your team captain.
  5. How To Register your Team
See website for details.
  1. How To Report your Team’s individual game results.
See website for details.
Mid Atlantic Chess is an organization dedicated
to the advancement of chess.
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