ECU tournament Rules

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EUROPEAN CHESS UNION TOURNAMENT RULES

A. Preface
B. General Tournament Regulations
C. Bid Procedure
D. Individual European Chess Championship
E. European Team Championship
F. European Club Cup and European Club Cup for Women
G. European Youth Championship
H. European Youth Team Championship
I. European Rapid and Blitz Championship and
European Rapid and Blitz Championship for Women
K. European Amateur Chess Championship
L. MonRoi European Grand Prix
M. European Internet Rules
N. Swiss System for Team Competitions
Annex 1: Catalogue of criteria for the bid procedure
Annex 2: Entry Fees and their Distribution
Annex 3: Bid Fees and Deposit Fees

Version 2008/01

At the occasion of the General Assembly 2001 of the European Chess Union (ECU) in Leon (Spain) the tournaments rules for all ECU competitions are re-written. The ECU Board requested the International Arbiters Dirk De Ridder and Werner Stubenvoll to fulfil this task for two main reasons: 1) since the change of the FIDE-statutes in 1998 the continents obtained more independence which has its consequences on the financial regulations of the continental championships. 2) the ECU Board aims to streamline all specific tournaments rules as much as possible.

Therefore all interested organisers (federations, clubs,?) should first start reading the general rules and then the specific rules for one of the ECU competitions. Thereafter bids can be put forward according to the procedure described in the relevant chapter.

Organisers should bear in mind that the rules of a given tournament are composed of the General Tournament Regulations and the Specific Tournament Rules and therefore both should be distributed to participants!

In these Rules the words "he", "him" and "his" include "she" and "her".

1. Participation

1.1 A European Chess Union (abbreviated hereinafter to "ECU") chess federation is a federation that belongs to one of the FIDE Zones 1.1 to 1.9.

1.2 All ECU Chess Federations shall have the right to participate in the European Individual and Team Competitions, irrespective of gender or age.

1.2.1 Women or girls competitions are exclusively for female players. Female players are allowed to participate in any competition.

1.3 All players participating in the European Individual and Team Championships must be entitled by birth, citizenship or naturalisation to represent their Federation.

1.3.1 A player who has resided for at least three years in a country of which he is not a citizen after the date on which FIDE shall have received notification of change of Federation and who proves that he has applied for citizenship in that country or intends to do so as soon as the legal requirements are fulfilled may become a team member of a Federation after a thorough examination and clearance of the case by the FIDE President.

1.3.2 Provided that a player did not participate in a FIDE competition including continental Individuals and Team events 5 years prior to the date of notification, the period of residence shall be reduced to 2 years in his new Federation before he can play for this Federation.

1.3.3 Players who are up to and under the age of 14 years prior to the day of notification, the period of residence shall have reduced to 1 year in his new Federation before he can play for this Federation.

1.3.4 A player with dual citizenship may only represent one Federation and is eligible by citizenship to participate on condition that he has not represented any other Federation in any FIDE team or individual competition at any time in the preceding year.

1.4 Players not belonging to an ECU chess federation shall have the right to participate in the European Club Cups on the condition that they fulfil the rules regarding foreigners of this ECU competition.

1.5 Teams or players of ECU Federations may be excluded by the ECU Board from ECU competitions if they are not in order with their payments to ECU of FIDE.

2. Frequency of the championships

2.1 Each ECU competition is organised annually.

2.2 The European Team Championship is organised biennially, namely in the year in which no FIDE Chess Olympiad is held.

3. Laws of chess

3.1 The general FIDE laws shall be applied with their supplements and interpretations as laid down by the "FIDE Rules Commission".

4. Tournament systems

4.1 Individual competitions have to be played according to one of the Swiss Pairing Systems approved by the "Swiss Pairing Committee of the FIDE".

4.2 Team competitions have to be played according to the "Swiss System for Team Competitions" (chapter M).

4.3 Pairings are allowed to be done by computers on the condition that the computer programme has been accepted by the "FIDE Swiss Pairing Committee".

5. Rate of play

5.1 In each ECU competition only electronic clocks shall be used. Consequently a rate of play in which a player receives additional time before making each move should be applied.

5.2 The electronic clocks have to be endorsed by the ECU or FIDE; as of July 2002 "DGT"- (DGT-Projects) and "Schach Time Silver"- (Euro Schach Dresden) clocks are accepted.

5.3 In general the rate of play will be the same as in the respective World Championship. Exceptions can be made by the ECU Board. By no means the total duration of a game will exceed 7 hours of play (e.g. 40 moves in 2 hours + 20 moves in 1 hour + 30 minutes quick-play finish).

5.3.1 The rate of play in team competitions (except Senior Team Championship) is 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes to finish the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one.

5.4 No games will be adjourned.

6. Scoring and tie-breaking system

6.1 The score in each game is 1 for a win, ½ for a draw and 0 for a lost game.

6.2 Tie-breaking in individual competitions.

The order of players that finish with the same number of points shall be determined by application of the following tie-breaking procedures in sequence, proceeding from (a) to (b) to (c) to (d) the extent required:

(a) Median-Buchholz 1, the highest number wins;

(b) Buchholz, the highest number wins;

(c) Number of wins, the highest number wins;

(d) Progressive Score, the highest number wins.

In the case of unplayed games for the calculation of (a) and (b) the current FIDE tournament rules shall be applied.

6.3 Scoring and tie-breaking in team competitions.

6.3.1 The sum of scores of each game in a match is referred to as the board points.

The team which scores more board points in a match than its opponents receives two match points, the opponents receives no match points. In the case a match ends in such a way that the sum of the board points is equal to that of its opponents, each team receives one match point.

The ranking will be made according to match points, the team obtaining the highest number of match points being declared the winner of the competition. In case of equality, B.6.3.2 shall be applied.

6.3.2 The order of teams that finish with the same number of match points shall be determined by application of the following tie-breaking procedures in sequence, proceeding from (a) to (b) to (c) to (d) the extent required:

(a) by the number of board points won, the highest number wins;

(b) by the sum of the board points of all team's opponents, the highest number wins;

(c) by the sum of the board points of all opponents defeated plus one half of the board points of all the opponents with which a tied result was achieved, the highest number wins;

(d) by the sum of the board points of all the team's opponents, excluding the opponent who scored the highest number of board points and the opponent who scored the lowest number of board points, the highest number wins.

7. Individual prizes in team competitions

7.1 The players who obtained the best individual results on their respective boards shall receive gold medals. Silver and bronze medals shall be awarded to the second and third place winners.

7.1.1 For this purpose the players percentage score is calculated if the player takes part in at least 60% of the rounds. The highest percentage wins. In case of a tie it shall be broken by:

(a) number of games, the highest number wins;

(b) mutual results (if all played each other);

(c) tournament performance rating.

8. Organisation

8.1 Each of the ECU competitions is organised by one of the ECU Chess Federations. Every ECU Chess Federation is entitled to organise an ECU competition itself or attribute the organisation to another body, e.g. a club or a private organisation. In the following, however, reference will always be made to the organising ECU Chess Federation, hereafter abbreviated "organiser".

8.2 The organisation of an ECU competition is appointed by the ECU Board based on bid applications received by a due date set by the specific tournament regulations or the ECU Board.

8.2.1 The organisation of the ECU Team Championship is designated by the ECU General Assembly at least two years in advance.

8.3 Duties of an organiser.

8.3.1 If an offer to organise an ECU competition has been accepted by the Board or by the General Assembly the organiser concerned has to transfer the deposit fee according to art. 4.5 and annex 2 of ECU Financial Regulations within two months after receiving the information.

8.3.2 Within three month after the appointment the appointed organiser of an ECU competition has to sign a contract containing all relevant agreements concerning the event, such as dates of the competition, official hotel, accommodation, food and drinks for participants and officials, medical treatment, playing hall, chess material to be used, internet transmission, merchandising rights, and others.

8.3.3 In case of any violation of the signed contract the ECU Board has the right to keep a part of the deposit fee or the whole amount.

8.3.4 After a decision according to 8.3.3 the respective organiser has the right to forward a written protest to the next ECU General Assembly. Such a protest must be accompanied with a sum equal to 30 % of the amount the ECU Board has kept. If the protest is rejected this sum is forfeited to ECU; if the protest is accepted both amounts will be paid back.

8.3.5 The decision of ECU General Assembly is final.

8.4 At least five months before the beginning of an ECU competition the organising federation will send a draft of the letter of invitation to the ECU President, the ECU Secretary General and the ECU Tournament Director.

8.4.1 The letter of invitation shall be approved by the ECU President.

8.4.2 The ECU President can authorise the ECU Tournament Director or the ECU Secretary General to approve the letter of invitation.

8.5 At least four months before the beginning of an ECU competition the organising federation will send the invitation to all ECU chess federations.

8.5.1 A copy of the invitation shall be sent to the ECU President and the ECU Secretary General.

8.6 At least two months before the beginning of an ECU competition each federation accepting the invitation will send its entry to the organising federation, giving the following details:

The full name, birth date, FIDE ID number and the last-published FIDE rating of each player

The full name of the chief of delegation or accompanying person(s)

For team championships: the full name of the captain(s)

Any information required in connection with visas.

8.6.1 A copy of the entry should be sent to the ECU Secretary General.

9. Financial matters

9.1 Each ECU Chess Federation has the final responsibility for all financial matters with the ECU for each ECU competition organised within its Federation.

9.2 The travelling expenses of the participants (individual players, national teams or clubs) and accompanying persons shall be paid by their national federations, their clubs or by the players themselves.

9.3 The board and lodging expenses of the participants (individual players, national teams or clubs) and accompanying persons shall be paid by their national federations, their clubs or by the players themselves.

9.4 In youth tournaments the board and lodging expenses from the official day of arrival to the breakfast of the day of departure shall be covered by the organising federation for (a) the player(s) or team designated by its federation, (b) the player(s) with a personal right, and (c) one accompanying person per federation. For each of these persons the organising federation may require a maximum financial contribution of 150 ? per player. The amount may be increased in exceptional cases after approval of the ECU Board. The organising federation shall state in the letter of invitation the daily cost of board and lodging for the participants and accompanying persons not covered by the above.

9.5 In each competition an entry fee has to be paid for the player or the team.

9.5.1 Unless stated otherwise in the letter of invitation, the entry fees stipulated in the ECU Financial Regulations shall be paid by the federations to ECU before or at the start of the competition. If the entry fee is not paid until end of round 2 these participants or teams will not be paired in subsequent rounds.

9.5.2 For exceptions see F.6.1 (European Club Cups) and I.5.1 (European Rapid and Blitz Championships).

10. Arbiters and other officials

10.1 Each organiser of an ECU competition will propose two persons for the position of Chief Arbiter.

10.2 The Chief Arbiter shall be appointed by the ECU President. If deemed necessary the ECU President may consult the organising chess federation, the ECU Board and/or the ECU Tournament Director(s).

10.3 The organising chess federation is responsible for the expenses of the Chief Arbiter (travelling costs - either air travel or first class rail travel with sleeping car - living expenses and pocket money) and shall also foresee a stipend.

10.4 The organising chess federation will appoint the necessary assistant arbiters and other officials (cf. 1.10.5 and 1.10.6).

10.5 If the organising federation wants to appoint a Tournament Director for an ECU competition she will ask the approval of the ECU President.

10.6 If the organising federation wants to appoint a Pairing Officer for an ECU competition she will ask the approval of the ECU President.

10.7 If the organising federation wants to appoint an official as defined sub 1.10.5 and 1.10.6 from another Federation than the organising federation, she will be responsible for the expenses (travelling costs - either air travel or first class rail travel with sleeping car - living expenses and pocket money) and shall also foresee a stipend.

10.8 The Chief Arbiter is responsible that the competition will be played according to the FIDE Rules and the ECU Tournament Rules. He shall have the task of overseeing and co-ordinating the work of all the arbiters and technical staff.

10.9 The Tournament Director shall be competent for all matters of organisation outside the tournament hall.

10.10 The Pairing Officer is responsible to the Chief Arbiter.

10.11 Assistant arbiters shall be placed at the disposal of the Chief Arbiter. They shall be instructed in their duties and supervised by the Chief Arbiter and - if present - the Deputy Chief Arbiter(s).

10.12 The general responsibility of all arbiters is the trouble-free conduct of the playing sessions in the tournament. The arbiters shall ensure overall compliance with the Laws of Chess and the supplementary regulations.

11. Appeals committee

11.1 The chairman of the appeals committee will be nominated by the ECU President.

11.2 In the case of the Individual European Chess Championship (Men and Women) and the European Team Championship the ECU President will nominate two appeal committee members.

11.3 In the case of the other ECU competitions four appeal committee members shall be selected before the beginning of the tournament (e.g. at the occasion of the Captain's Meeting). These members shall be elected by the players. In the case of team competitions the members may be elected by the team captains. The first two elected will be effective members, the last two elected will be reserve members. If the federation of the chairman or a member of the Appeals Committee is concerned in an appeal, the chairman shall replace this person by one of the reserve members.

11.4 In all cases the nominated or elected Appeals Committee members shall belong to different ECU federations. None of these members shall belong either to the organising federation or to the chief arbiter's federation.

11.5 Procedure of appeals.

Protests, including protests against decisions of the Chief Arbiter or his assistants, or the Tournament Director, must be submitted in written form to the Chairman of the appeals committee within one hour after completion of the playing session.

The protest must be accompanied with the sum of 100 ? or the equivalent in local currency, as a deposit from the signatory. The deposit must be handed to the Chairman of the appeals committee. If the appeal is granted, the sum shall be returned immediately. If the appeal is refused, the deposit is forfeited to the European Chess Union.

11.5.1 In individual competitions the appeal has to be lodged by the player.

11.5.2 In team competitions the appeal has to be lodged by the team captain or - if present and known before the start of the competition - by the chief of delegation.

11.6 The decisions of the Appeals Committee are final.

12. Team captains

12.1 In team competitions each team must have a team captain.

12.1.1 The team captain may be one of the players or any of the reserves of the team, in which case he is referred to as a "playing captain". If he is no player of the team he is referred to as a "non-playing captain".

12.1.2 Each team is entitled to have only one team captain. The team captain may appoint a deputy to exercise his function but must inform the Chief Arbiter of this in writing. However, during the course of playing only one team captain will be allowed into the playing area.

12.2.1 The chief of delegation is not allowed to enter the playing area.

12.3 Team composition

12.3.1 The team captain must list the players of his team in a fixed board order, upon the time appointed by the Chief Arbiter before the start of the first round; this list is called the final players list. The board order cannot be altered during the tournament; hence reserves may play on the bottom boards only.

12.3.2 Before the start of a round, the team captain must deliver to the Chief Arbiter a list of the team members who are to take part in the round in question.

12.3.3 If this list is not delivered by the appointed time, the team may not use its reserve players. Every deviation from a board order 1,?, N (with N the number of boards in the competition) will result in the loss of the game(s) in question.

12.3.4 If the board order in which a team plays differs from the board order of its final players list, this will result in the loss of the game(s) in question.

12.3.5 The use of any player who does not figure in the final players list will cause the round to be forfeited N:0, in which N is the number of boards in the competition.

12.4 The basic duties and rights of a team captain are defined in the FIDE Tournament Rules.

12.4.1 In the exercise of his function the team captain has the right of access to the area reserved for the players, but it is his duty to ensure that the members of his team who are not involved in the current match or have finished their games do not enter or remain in this area.

12.4.2 During the games the captain must refrain from interfering in any way. He is, however, entitled to advise his players on the offering or accepting of draws or resigning of games, provided that he makes no comment on the actual position on the chess board, and confines himself to giving brief information which can in no way be regarded as an opinion about the progress of the game. The exchange of information should be done in the presence of the Arbiter.

12.4.3 At the end of the playing session, the captain is responsible both for reporting the result to the arbiters and for delivering to them legibly written score sheets of the finished games.

13. Other matters

13.1 All players, team captains and organisers are to take part in the opening and closing ceremony.

13.1.1 If one the prize winners (player, member or captain of a team) is absent during the closing ceremony, then:

his (their) money prize will be reduced by 20 % with a minimum of 100 ?

any other prize (medal, trophy, ?) will not be awarded as long as a penalty of 100 ? per player (or captain) has not been paid

The money will be forfeited to ECU.

13.2 The fact of beginning the game in the first round of a championship implies acceptance of the General Tournament Rules and the Specific Rules for this championship.

13.3 The logo of the European Chess Union has to be visible in the tournament hall.

13.4 The logo of the European Chess Union has to be put on all printed material related to the tournament, i.e. letter of invitation, tournament bulletins, announcements during the tournament, and so on.

13.5 The organisers of an official ECU competition which are making an internet website for this tournament are obliged to make an internet link to the official website of the European Chess Union.

13.6 Official Hotels

13.6.1 In order to hold the ECU competitions in a proper manner and to be in permanent close contact with all participants, official hotels will be appointed. The room prices may not exceed the normal rates.

Each participant is advised to stay in one of the official hotels. For youth tournaments the players are obliged to stay in one of the official hotels. Exceptions for local players have to be approved by the ECU-President.

Players who choose another hotel than the official ones will take the risk of their transportation to the playing venue, security, and all official tournament informations.

13.7 Players in individual competitions or teams in team competitions who are not represented at the technical meeting - one day before the start of the competition - will not be paired for the first round. Exceptions of this rule can be accepted by the chief arbiter of the tournament.

13.8 If a player in an individual competition or a team in a team competition of ECU wants to withdraw from the tournament before the last round the approval of the Chief Arbiter is necessary.

13.8.1 The Chief Arbiter may accept the withdrawal if it is based on an acceptable written certificate of a doctor or in case of an acceptable "force majeure".

13.9 The scoresheets of an ECU competition as well as games recorded by any electronic means belong to ECU. ECU has the right for commercial use of these games.

1. Bid application

1.1 Each bid for organising an ECU competition has to be made by the Chess Federation in which the championship will be held. The official bid form shall be used.

1.2 Each application must contain detailed information of playing venue, schedule, entry fees, prizes, cost of accommodation, transportation and the cost of it, and all other details relevant to the tournament. In particular all information required in connection with visas should be given.

1.3 Bids for organising an ECU competition have to be sent by the organising chess federation to the ECU Secretary General before the deadline either indicated in the Specific Rules or fixed by the ECU Board for this ECU competition.

1.4 A bid will only be taken into account if the federation concerned has paid a bid fee according to the financial regulations to the account of the European Chess Union within one week after the deadline.

2. Bid awarding

2.1 Bids are opened by the ECU Secretary General at the ECU office after the deadline has elapsed. Interested parties may be present, but will receive no copies. The ECU Board members get information on the payment of the bid fee and copies of the bids.

2.2 Until decision on the award the bids may not be changed.

2.3 After the opening of the bids the ECU President decides on the inspecting member of the ECU Board. The inspecting member of the ECU Board will visit the venue and check the details of the bid according to ECU Standards for chess tournaments.

2.4 In the meeting of the ECU Board the inspecting member of the ECU Board gives his report and the evaluation for categories 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of annex 2. The ECU Board decides on the evaluation for the categories 3 and 7 after discussion.

2.5 The bidder with the highest evaluation is awarded the event. In case the difference between 1^st and 2nd place is less than 10 % of the highest evaluation the Board takes a vote between these bids on demand of a member. The Board has to take into consideration that all European federations are entitled to organise European events and that the venue should change between the European federations.

2.6 After the decision of the Board the bidder is allowed to improve the bid. The award of the event is only valid if the bidder transfers the deposit fee within two months after notification of the decision. If the bidder does not transfer the deposit fee within this time the ECU President may decide to award the event to the next bidder.

2.7 Failing a bid for one of the ECU competitions or if one or more bids are considered to be not qualified, then the ECU President has the right to negotiate directly with organisers.

2.8 No national chess federation shall be awarded the organization of an ECU competition in a three year period, with the exception of being the sole bidder for the event.

The ECU organises four individual chess championships: the European Individual Chess Championship, the European Individual Women's Chess Championship, the European Individual Senior Chess Championship and the European Individual Senior Women Chess Championship.

1. Participation

1.1 Nominations of players can only be submitted by the National chess federations.

1.2 Entitled to participate in the European Individual Senior Chess Championship are chess players from the ECU Chess Federations who shall have reached the age of 60 years, by January 1st of the year in which the tournament will commence.

1.2.1 Entitled to participate in the European Individual Senior Women Chess Championship are chess players from the ECU Chess Federations who shall have reached the age of 50 years, by January 1st of the year in which the tournament will commence.

2. Organisation

2.1 The European Individual Chess Championship and the European Individual Women's Chess Championship shall be organised in April, May or June. In exceptional cases the Board may accept other dates.

2.2 The playing conditions shall conform to the FIDE recommendations for the organisation of top-level tournaments.

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 Each Championship shall be played in one group according to the Swiss system.

3.1.1 The European Individual Chess Championship shall be played in 11 rounds, with one free day.

3.1.2 The European Individual Women's Chess Championship shall be played in 11 rounds, with one free day.

3.1.3 The European Individual Senior Chess Championship and European Individual Senior Women Chess Championship shall be played in 9 rounds.

3.1.3.1 The time control shall be 40 moves in 100 minutes and 40 minutes more to finish the game; in addition each player is given 30 seconds for each move from the start of the game.

3.2 In the European Individual Chess Championship and European Individual Women's Chess Championship tie-breaks are organised in the following cases:

(a) to establish the Champion;

(b) to establish the medal winners;

(c) to establish the players, qualifying for the World Championship.

3.2.1 In the case of 3.3.2 (a) and (b) the relevant tie-break matches will decide the final ranking and the money prizes connected with these places.

3.2.2 In the case of 3.3.2 (c) the relevant tie-break matches will not influence the final ranking and the money prizes will be shared equally.

3.3 System of the Tie-break matches

3.3.1 Additional matches of two games will be played with 15 minutes on the clock and addition of 10 seconds before each move. If this match is drawn again, then two games will be played with five minutes plus two seconds per move. If this match is again drawn, then the sudden-death game will be played with white having 5 minutes on the clock and black having 4 minutes, without any addition. White has to win the sudden-death game in order to win the match.

3.3.1.1 In case that more than three tie-break rounds have to be played, the Chief-Arbiter - after confirmation by the ECU President or his representative - may change the playing schedule in such a way that the tie-break matches can be finished within one day.

3.3.2 The playing schedule (knock-out system) will be made in such a way that in the last tie-break round the number of matches will be equal to the number of places to be determined.

3.3.2.1 In the case the number of players is not a multiple number of this number of places, a preliminary round will be played among the players with the lowest scores in the final ranking.

3.3.2.2 In each tie-break round the first ranked player will play versus the last ranked, the second ranked versus the last but one ranked, and so on. This schedule will be valid to the end for the winners and losers.

3.3.2.3 A drawing of colours shall be made by the arbiter or his assistant before each two game match and the sudden-death game. For this purpose a preliminary drawing will decide which player is to perform the draw.

3.3.2.4 The player, who wins the drawing of lots for the sudden-death game, may choose the colour. In the case of a draw in the sudden-death game the player with the black pieces wins this tie-break match.

3.4 Regulations for tie-breaks and sudden death game

Playing regulations for tie-break and sudden death game shall be governed by the FIDE Laws of Chess except for the following:

3.4.1 Players do not need to record the moves. Instead, an arbiter or an assistant will record the moves. The player, who is having the move, may consult the score sheet and, if his next move will produce a threefold repetition of position (Art. 9.2.a) or the 50-moves rule (Art. 9.3), he must write the intended move on the score sheet.

3.4.2 Illegal moves shall be penalised according to Art. 7.4

3.4.3 The fall of the flag shall be announced by the arbiter

3.4.4 Art. 10.2 shall not be applied

3.4.5 If in the sudden-death game both flags have fallen, the player whose flag has fallen later wins

3.4.6 After each two-game tie-break match there shall be a rest of at least 10 minutes

3.4.7 Appeals against decision of the Arbiter have to be submitted immediately after the game

4. Titles and Prizes

4.1 Titles

4.1.1 The winner of the European Individual Chess Championship receives the title "European Chess Champion 20..".

4.1.2 The winner of the European Individual Women's Chess Championship receives the title "European Women Chess Champion 20.."

4.1.3 The winner of the European Individual Senior Chess Championship receives the title "European Senior Chess Champion 20..".

4.1.4 The winner of the European Individual Senior Women Chess Championship receives the title "European Senior Women Chess Champion 20..".

4.2 The number of players qualifying for the World Championship will be decided by the ECU Board and published in the letter of invitation.

4.3 An additional payment, equivalent to 25% of the announced prize fund, shall be made to ECU.

4.4 The money prizes of players who have to play tie-break matches will be attributed according to the final ranking achieved after these tie-break matches.

4.4.1 The other money prizes will be equally shared among the players with the same score.

The ECU organises the European Team Championship with separate competitions for men and women and the European Senior Team Championship for men and women.

1. Participation

1.1 Each federation shall have the right to be represented by a men's team of four players and one reserve and by a women's team of four players and one reserve.

1.2 In the European Senior Team Championship senior teams from each federation shall have the right to participate. Each team consists of four players and one reserve.

1.2.1 In the European Senior Team Championship the teams may represent a national federation or any region. All the players must come from the same federation. Players having a FIDE rating may only represent a team coming from the federation given in their FIDE rating card (FIDE rating list).

1.2.1 Entitled to participate in the European Senior Team Championship are men who shall have reached the age of 60 years and women who shall have reached the age of 50 years, by January 1st of the year in which the tournament will commence.

2. Organisation

2.1 European Team Championship shall be organised between October 15 and November 30. In exceptional cases the Board may accept other dates.

2.2.1 The European Team Championship shall be held on the Swiss system in 9 rounds, with one section for the men's teams and one section for the women's teams, considered as separate competitions.

2.2.2 The European Senior Team Championship shall be held in the Swiss system in 9 rounds, with one round per day.

2.3 The organising federation shall hold in reserve a second men's team and a second women's team ("B" Teams), which shall take part in the respective competition if, and only if, it is required to make even the number of teams in the first round.

2.3.1 Once a "B" team has played the first round it shall remain in the competition even if the number of participating teams is uneven.

2.3.2 When the organising federation is represented by two teams, only the results of one team shall be counted for ranking purposes.

2.3.3 When the organising federation is represented by two teams, players of both teams are entitled to win board prizes.

2.4 One month before the scheduled start of the Team Championships, each participating federation shall send to the organising federation and to the ECU Tournament Director the basic team lists.

2.5 The ECU President is to be invited to attend the championships at the organiser's expense for travel, hotel and meals.

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 Each match in the European Team Championship and in the European Senior Team Championship shall be played over four boards.

3.2 The playing conditions shall conform to the FIDE recommendations for the organisation of top-level tournaments.

3.3 In the European Senior Team Championship the organizer with the approval of the ECU President may select one of the following two playing times:

A - 40 moves in two hours and 30 minutes more to finish the game;

B - 40 moves in 100 minutes and 40 minutes more to finish the game; in addition each player is given 30 seconds for each move from the start of the game.

Selection "A" or "B" should be specified in the invitation to the tournament.

4. Titles and prizes

4.1 In the European Team Championship the title of "European Men's (or Women's) Team Champion 20.. (current year)" is bestowed on the winning team. In the European Senior Team Championship the title "European Senior Team Champion 20.. (current year) is bestowed on the winning team.

4.1.1 Each winning team shall receive a trophy from the organising federation.

4.1.2 In addition, the winning team in the men's competition of the European Team Championship two years before the World Team Championship will represent Europe in that competition. If, however, this team will qualify through the next year's Olympiad, the highest ranked not qualified in any other way, may represent Europe in the World Team Championship.

4.2 Each member of the winning team (players, reserves and captain) shall receive a gold medal. The members of the second and third placed teams shall each receive a silver and bronze medal respectively.

1. Participation

1.1 Participation in the European Club Cup is open to:

1.1.1 Two teams per ECU Chess Federation in which a national team championship is organised.

1.1.2 One team per ECU Chess Federation in which no national team championship is organised.

1.1.3 The previous European Club Cup winner.

1.1.4 The organising federation shall be entitled to enter an additional team. If there is an odd number of participating teams the organising federation has the right to enter a second additional team. If this second additional team is paired and plays round 1 it shall remain in the tournament to the conclusion even when a team or teams dropping out or a new team or teams arriving subsequently would result in an odd number of teams still in competition.

1.1.5 Each club is allowed only one team in each competition.

1.1.6 The clubs which play in a federation in which a national team championship is organised, must have ended in the top-half of the ranking of the highest division of this championship organised within one year before the start of the current European Club Cup.

1.1.7 The clubs which play in a federation in which no national team championship is organised, may only enter a team in which at least 6 players have a FIDE-rating. All players have to be listed in the most current FIDE-rating list of this federation

1.1.8 For the European Club Cup for Women, clubs playing in a federation in which no national team championship is organised, may only enter a team in which at least 4 players have a FIDE-rating. All players have to be listed in the most current FIDE-rating list of this federation.

1.1.9 The clubs which play in a federation in which no national team championship is organised, and which have not the required number of FIDE-rated players as defined in F.1.1.7 or F.1.1.8, may ask the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union for dispensation. The request shall be accompanied by all relevant information and must be supported by the federation of the club(s) involved.

1.1.10 The federations in which a national team championship with at least ten teams in the highest division is organised, are entitled to enter a third club provided that at least 20 grandmasters and/or players with a FIDE-rating over 2600 have participated in this championship one year prior to the current European Club Cup.

1.1.11 For the European Club Cup for Women, the numbers specified in F.1.1.10 are 5 women grandmasters, respectively a FIDE-rating over 2400.

1.1.12 Each federation that is ranked in the first five places of the federation ranking list is entitled to enter one additional team. The federation ranking list is made by the ECU Tournament Director according to F.7.

1.2 The teams shall be composed of six players all of whom must be members of the club and were entitled to play for the club in the national team championship of the federation which was organised within one year before the start of the current European Club Cup. However, players who are foreigners to the federation in which the national team championship is organised, must have played at least two games in this championship. Foreigners are defined as those which are either belonging to another federation in the FIDE Rating List valid at the start of the national team championship or have a permanent residence outside the federation in which this national team championship is organised.

1.2.1 Players with a rating of 2700 (2500 for the women's event) or more in one of the last three rating lists published before the announcement of the event need not to follow the rule F.1.2 (minimum two games) if the club pays 2500 Euro (1000 Euro for the women's event) to ECU. These players have to be announced to the Tournament Director before the deadline for nomination of teams and the extra fee has to be paid to ECU before 1 July.

1.2.2 Players, who are considered as foreigners according to F.1.2, and who have been playing at least three times for the same club in previous European Club Cup competitions are exempted from the obligation to play at least two games in the championship of the federation for this club.

1.2.3 Each team is entitled to have two reserve players who must fulfil the conditions stipulated in F.1.2.

1.2.4 The players and the reserve players can represent only one club at the same time. If a player has been playing national team competitions in more than one federation he has to decide before the time of subscription by writing for which team he will play.

1.2.5 For the European Club Cup for Women, the teams shall be composed of four players. Each team is entitled to have one reserve player. All players have to fulfil the conditions stipulated in F.1.2.

1.3 The basic players' list of a participating club (cf. F.2.5) must be sent at the latest one month prior to the start of the competition to the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union. After verification the team lists will be published on the web site of the European Chess Union. The Tournament Director will immediately send a copy of the team lists by fax or email to the organisers.

All clubs have to finish their final players' lists before the captain's meeting at the start of the tournament.

2. Organisation

2.1 The tournament shall take place between September 15th and October 15th of each year. In exceptional cases the Board may accept other dates.

2.2 Bids

2.2.1 Each bid has to specify whether the organising federation will organise either both competitions or either only the European Club Cup, respectively the European Club Cup for Women.

2.3 The dates and the venue of the tournament(s) have to be fixed and sent out to all federations not later than March 1st of the year in which the competition is taking place.

2.4 Notice of participation

Not later than April 30 of the year in which the competition is taking place, every federation that intends to participate with one or more teams in either both competitions or either only the European Club Cup, respectively the European Club Cup for Women, must inform the organising federation of its acceptance of the invitation specifying the number of teams in each competition. Copies of the letter of acceptance should at the same time be sent to the Secretary General and to the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union.

The letter of acceptance shall include the full name, address, telephone and fax number, and the email address of the participating club(s) and its contact person.

2.5 The basic players' list of a participating club must notify the following details to the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union:

(a) name of each team member (surname, one first in full, initial of additional first names);

(b) FIDE rating and title of each team member (according to the most recent FIDE rating list);

(c) FIDE ID number of each team member;

(d) nationality of each team member;

(e) date of birth of each team member.

2.5.1 The basic players' list shall include the board order of each club.

2.5.2 The basic players' list shall be accompanied by the declaration of the national federation that the players fulfil the requirements under F.1.2.

2.5.3 The basic players' list shall be accompanied by the declaration of those player(s) who has (have) been playing national team competitions in more than one federation.

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 Number of rounds.

The competition will be played in a 7 rounds tournament. No free day is foreseen.

3.2 System of play.

3.2.1 The competition shall take the form of a Swiss system tournament.

3.2.2 If there are eight teams or less in a competition, the competition will be played as a Round Robin tournament. In such case the drawing of lots will take place at the Captain's Meeting.

3.3 Schedule.

The matches shall be conducted according to a playing schedule which must be distributed to the participants before the start of the tournament. Only in exceptional cases may the Chief Arbiter, in consultation with the Tournament Director, make alterations to the times of play. If this is done, all those concerned are to be informed directly.

However, the cases foreseen in Article 8.1 of the Laws of Chess will not be accepted as an exceptional case as defined above.

The following time schedule must be adapted:

Day 1: Saturday Arrival of participants

Captain's meeting

Day 2: Sunday Opening Ceremony

Round 1

Day 3-7 Monday-Friday Rounds 2-6

Day 8 Saturday Round 7

Closing Ceremony

Day 9 Sunday Departure of participants

4. Titles and prizes

4.1 Prize fund.

4.1.1 The organiser has to provide a prize fund of minimum 12.000 ? which will be given to the clubs on place 1 to 6 of the final ranking (40% to place 1, 20% to place 2, 15% to place 3, 10% to place 4, 10% to place 5 and 5% to place 6). In the case that teams end with the same number of match points, money prizes shall be shared.

4.1.2 For the European Club Cup for Women the organiser has to provide a prize fund of minimum 5.000 ? which will be given to the clubs on place 1 to 4 of the final ranking (50% to place 1, 25% to place 2, 15% to place 3 and 10% to place 4). In the case that teams end with the same number of match points, money prizes shall be shared.

4.2 Titles.

4.2.1 The winner receives the title "European Club Champion 20.."

4.2.2 For the European Club Cup for Women the winner receives the title "Women's European Club Champion 20.."

4.3 Trophies.

4.3.1 The winning club shall receive a Challenge Cup provided by the European Chess Union. This Challenge Cup is won if a club has won it three times in perpetuity.

4.3.2 For the European Club Cup for Women another Challenge Cup shall be provided by the European Chess Union. This Challenge Cup is won if a club has won it three times in perpetuity.

4.4 In contrast to 1.7.1. only the players obtaining the best individual results on their respective assigned boards shall receive gold medals.

5. Appeals Committee

5.1 The elected Appeals Committee members have to belong to four different clubs and to four different federations.

6. Financial matters

6.1 The entry fees will be collected with the registration of participants if not transferred before to the ECU account. If the entry fee is not paid until end of round 2 these participants will not be paired in subsequent rounds.

6.2 The organiser will offer suitable board and lodging for the visiting clubs at the lowest possible price and the visiting clubs pay for it.

6.3 The organiser shall also provide suitable accommodation for the ECU President or his nominee and the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union. The organiser will also pay their travel expenses.

7. Federation ranking list

7.1 After the European Club Cup each club is attributed a number of points corresponding to its place in the final ranking:

1st place: 100 points 11th place: 58 points

2nd place: 90 points 12th place: 56 points

3rd place: 85 points 13th place: 54 points

4th place: 80 points 14th place: 52 points

5th place: 75 points 15th place: 50 points

6th place: 72 points 16th place: 48 points

7th place: 69 points 17th place: 47 points

8th place: 66 points 18th place: 46 points

9th place: 63 points 19th place: 45 points

10th place: 60 points Following places: 1 point less

7.2 The sum of the points attributed according to 5.7.1 is made for each federation and divided by the number of participating clubs for that federation.

7.3 The scores obtained according to 5.7.2 for the last three European Club Cups are added for each federation.

7.4 The federation ranking list is obtained by ranking the scores obtained according to 5.7.3

The European Youth Championships shall include the following separate competitions: the European Boys -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18 Championships and the European Girls -10, -12, -14, -16 and -18 Championships.

1. Participation

1.1 Entitled to participate are chess players from the ECU Chess Federations who shall not have reached the age of 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 years, respectively, by January 1st of the year in which the tournament will commence.

1.2 The players placed 1-3 in the previous European Youth Championship will have the personal right to participate in the tournament of the corresponding age-category or a higher age-category if they fulfil the conditions of Art. G.1.1. This privilege may be exercised once exclusively in the subsequent year following the year of qualification.

1.3 In addition to the players mentioned in G.1.2, each ECU Chess Federation will have the right to send one representative to each Championship. The organising federation shall have a second place in the tournaments, and holds a player in reserve to make an even number of participants, if necessary.

1.4 Subject to the agreement with the organisers, and without prejudice to previous regulations on the number of participants in this competition, each federation shall be entitled to register any number of participants it deems necessary provided the following conditions are met:

(a) payment to ECU of the approved fee (see Annex 2) per player in advance;

(b) payment of the full board and lodge of the additional player(s) to the organising chess federation;

1.4.1 The additional participants shall not be entitled to any other privileges such as payment of pocket money, etc. (if any), already reserved to the original nominee(s) of each federation.

2. Organisation

2.1 The competition shall be organised between July 1 and September 15. In exceptional cases the Board may accept other dates.

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 Each championship shall be played in 9 rounds according to the Swiss system.

3.1.1 If in any age group there are 11 to 15 participants only 7 rounds will be played.

3.1.2 If in any age group there are 10 or fewer participants a round robin tournament will be played.

3.1.3 The tournament may have a free day.

4. Titles and Prizes

4.1 The organising federation shall award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the players taking the first three places in each Championship.

4.2 The organiser should award special prizes to as many participants as possible and publish the list of prizes and the rules for their award before the start of the first round.

4.3 The winner of each European Youth Championship shall have the personal right to participate in the World Championship of the corresponding or of a higher age category if the stipulation of 6.1.1 is met. This privilege may be exercised exclusively in the same or subsequent year following the qualification. The winner of the European -18 Championship has the right to participate in the World Championship -18 as well as -20.

The European Youth Team Championship will include separate competitions for boys and girls.

1. Participation

1.1 Each ECU federation shall be entitled to participate with boys and/or girls teams. These teams may represent the national federation, a region, a city, a club or a school.

1.1.1 The boys teams shall consist of four players, the girls team shall consist of two female players.

1.1.2 Each team is entitled to have one reserve player.

1.1.3 The playing members of the team shall not have reached the age of 18 by January 1st of the year in which the tournament is held.

1.1.4 All players of a team have to belong to the nominating federation.

1.2 The organising chess federation may decide to enter more than one team or to invite more than one team from the same federation, but finally the number of participating teams shall be an even number.

2. Organisation

2.1 The competition shall take place between July 1 and September 15. In exceptional cases the Board may accept other dates.

2.2 One month before the scheduled start of the Youth Team Championships, each participating federation shall send to the organising federation and to the ECU Tournament Director the basic team lists.

2.3 The organiser shall provide suitable accommodation for the ECU President or his nominee, and the Tournament Director of the European Chess Union. The organiser will also pay their travel expenses.

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 The Championship shall be held on the Swiss system in 7 rounds, with one section for the boys teams and one section for the girls teams, considered as separate competitions.

3.1.1 If there are eight teams or less in a competition, the competition will be played as a Round Robin tournament. In such case the drawing of lots will take place at the Captain's Meeting.

3.1.2 The tournament may have a free day.

4. Titles and Prizes

4.1 Titles.

4.1.1 The winner of the boys competition receives the title "European Youth Team Champion 20.."

4.1.2 The winner of the girls competition receives the title "European Youth Team Champion for Girls 20.."

7.4.2 Trophies.

For each competition the European Chess Union shall provide a Challenge Cup. This Challenge Cup is awarded for one year to the winner of each competition and can never be won in perpetuity.

4.2 Every member of the winning team (players and captain) shall receive a gold medal. Similarly, members of the team finishing second and of the team finishing third shall receive silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Additional prizes may be offered by the Organiser or by the sponsors. Conditions of their award shall be announced to the participants before the start of the competition..

1. Participation

1.1 The number of players is unlimited. The entry fees, however, are based on the quality of the participants:

1.1.1 The current medallists of the European Rapid and Blitz Championships shall pay no entry fee in the respective championships.

1.1.2 Players with a FIDE-rating above 2600 shall pay no entry fee in the rapid and blitz championships.

1.1.3 Women players with a FIDE-rating above 2400 shall pay no entry fee in the rapid and blitz championships for women.

1.1.4 All other players shall pay an entry fee which has to be decided upon by the organizer and the ECU Board:

1.2 Each player is free to participate in one or both championships.

1.3 At least one month before the start of the championship each participant shall announce his participation to the organisers. The organisers shall have the right to reject registrations received after this date.

1.4 Each player has to register at least one day before the start of the championship according to specifications given in the letter of invitation. At the same occasion the entry fee has to be paid.

2. Organisation

2.1 The championships shall preferably be organised directly after or before the European Team Championships, the European Club Cup or the European Club Cup for Women.

2.2 The ECU Board will attribute the Bid to the organiser who is fulfilling 8.2.1

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 The European Rapid and Blitz Championships shall be played according to the specific rules for this rate of play as laid down by the FIDE Rules Committee.

3.2 Each Championship shall be played in two days.

3.3 Number of rounds.

3.3.1 The Rapid Championships shall take the form of a 11 rounds Swiss system tournament. Each round consists of one game.

3.3.2 The Blitz Championships shall take the form of a 20 rounds Swiss system tournament. Each round consists of two games such that each player will play one game with White and one with Black against the same opponent.

The number of rounds can be modified by the Chief Arbiter if the number of participants is not sufficient but at least 20 games must be played. Such a modification has to be notified before the start of the last round on the first day.

3.3.3 No postponement of games is allowed.

3.4 Schedule.

The rounds shall be conducted according to a playing schedule which must distributed to the players before the start of the championship. Only in exceptional cases may the Chief Arbiter, in consultation with the Tournament Director, make alterations to the playing schedule.

3.4.1 The opening ceremony will be organised on the first day of the championship.

3.4.2 The number of rounds shall be equally distributed over the two days, taking into account that the number of rounds on the second day shall not be higher than the number of rounds on the first day.

3.4.3 The closing ceremony will be organised on the second day of the championship.

3.4.4 The beginning of the rounds on each day shall be 11.00 AM

3.5 Rate of play.

3.5.1 In the Rapid Championship: 15 minutes + 10 seconds before each move per player per game.

3.5.2 In the Blitz Championship: 5 minutes per player per game.

4. Titles and Prizes

4.1 The winner in the respective championships will receive the following title:

European Rapid Champion

European Women's Rapid Champion

European Blitz Champion

European Women's Blitz Champion

4.2 The organiser shall award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the players taking the first three places in each Championship. In case of a tie the medals shall be awarded according to tie-breaking procedure.

4.3 The minimum prize fund in each championship shall be:

European Rapid Championship: 15000 EURO

European Rapid Championship for Women: 7500 EURO

European Blitz Championship: 10000 EURO

European Blitz Championship for Women: 5000 EURO

4.4 The first prize in each championship should be at least 20% of the prize fund.

4.5 In each championship there should be at least 20 prizes.

4.5.1 Prizes shall be shared among the players with the same number of points.

5. Financial matters

5.1 The entry fees will be collected with the registration of participants if not transferred before to the ECU account. If the entry fee is not paid participants will not be registered for and admitted to the event.

1. Participation

1.1 Entitled to participate are all chess players from the ECU Chess Federations who have a FIDE rating of 2200 or lower in the FIDE Rating List from 1 April of the year in which the tournament will commence or are unrated

1.1.1 If a separate championship for women is organised, the maximum FIDE rating is 2000.

1.2 The organiser of The European Amateur Championship is free to organise special sections for players with ratings lower than 2000 and/or ratings lower than 1800.

2. Tournament Regulations

2.1 The championship shall be played in 9 rounds according to the Swiss system.

2.2 For the final ranking chapter B.6 of the ECU Tournament Rules is valid.

2.3 Tie-break matches may be organised only to establish the "European Amateur Champion". This has to be announced to the participants before start of the first round.

3. Titles and Prizes

3.1 Titles

3.1.1 The winner of the championship under 2200 receives the title "European Amateur Chess Champion 20..".

3.1.2 If a separate championship for women is organised, the winner of this tournament receives the title "European Women Amateur Chess Champion 20.."

3.2 The organising federation shall award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the players taking the first three places in each championship provided by ECU.

3.3 The organiser should award special prizes to as many participants as possible and publish the list of prizes and the rules for their award before the start of the first round.

3.4 An additional payment, equivalent to 25% of the announced prize fund, shall be made to ECU.

3.5 The money prizes of players who have to play tie-break matches will be attributed according to the final ranking achieved after these tie-break matches.

3.5.1 The other money prizes will be equally shared among the players with the same score.

The MonRoi European Grand Prix consists of at least twelve preliminary tournaments and one final tournament.

The MonRoi system has to be applied for internet transmission in all events.

1. Participants

1.1 Only players belonging to one of the ECU federations are taken into account for MonRoi European Grand Prix.

2. Preliminary tournaments

All tournaments and the players' results have to be valid for FIDE titles.

2.1 The European Individual Championship

2.2 The European Team Championship

2.3 The European Club Cup

2.4 Open European tournaments decided by the ECU Board, based on the following recommendations:

2.4.1 The tournament should have a minimum of 100 participants.

2.4.2 A minimum of 10 GMs should be in the final ranking list.

2.4.3 The average rating of the top 20 players should be over 2400.

3. Players' obligations

In order to be taken into account for the final ranking the following conditions have to be met:

3.1 The players have to use MonRoi system as the method of recording the game on the designated boards.

3.2 Forfeited games and byes are not counted.

3.3 A player is not allowed to stop playing before the last round of the tournament.

4. Ranking of the players

4.1 For the final ranking the tournament performance rating in the preliminary tournaments is counted if it is 2451 or more.

4.1.1 However, the maximum number of points added to the average rating of the opponents is 350.

4.2 To be included in the final ranking of the preliminary tournaments the three highest performance ratings of a player are added.

4.3 The first ten players in the final ranking of the preliminary tournaments are entitled to participate in the final of the MonRoi European Grand Prix.

4.3.1 In case of a tie the highest percentage of game points scored in the respective tournaments is counted.

4.3.2 If case of a further tie the better ranking in the European Individual Championship is taken in account.

5. Final tournament

5.1 The final tournament should be organized in the period 15 October to 15 December.

5.2 The final tournament is a round robin tournament with not more than one game per day.

5.3 The starting numbers are drawn by lots.

5.4 For the final ranking the game points are counted; a tie will be broken by counting of Sonneborn-Berger points and then by the highest number of wins.

5.4.1 In case of equal game points the money prizes are shared equally.

1. Participation

1.1 Participation in is open to all players representing one of the ECU federations. See B.1.3-5.

1.2 Each participant may use any nickname for the tournament. On request of the organiser or the Tournament Director the participant has to change the proposed nickname.

1.3 Each participant has to give his complete real name, an e-mail address and the federation he is representing to the organiser.

1.4 Participants who are not ready to follow 1.2 and 1.3 are not registered or will be excluded from the tournament.

2. Organisation

2.1 The organiser of the European Individual Internet championship has to provide the server, the necessary software for the participants to be downloaded from the organisers homepage and the Tournament Director of the championship.

2.2 The European Individual Internet championship will be played with

- qualification tournaments

- the candidate tournament

- the final tournament.

2.3 The Qualification Tournaments

2.3.1 All players fulfilling the requirements of 1.1 may forward their registration to the Tournament Director of the European Individual Internet Championship within the time period specified in the announcement of the tournament.

A pre-registration is not possible.

2.3.3.1 A player may participate in more than one qualification tournament.

2.3.2 The playing time is five minutes per player; nine rounds swiss system will be played.

2.3.3 The first twelve players in the final ranking will qualify for the candidate tournament.

2.3.3.1 If a large number of players register for a qualification tournament the Tournament Director may increase the number of qualifiers to the candidate tournament before start of the first round.

2.3.3.2 If less than 24 players participate in a qualification tournament the Tournament Director shall reduce the number of qualifiers before start of the first round to 50% of the participants.

2.3.4 The final ranking will be established according to

- game points

- Buchholz points

- number of wins

- if still a tie all tied players will qualify to the next stage.

2.4 The Candidate Tournament

2.4.1 Participation in the candidate tournament is open to

(a) all players who have been qualified by one of the qualification;

(b) all players having the FIDE title of GM or WGM;

(c) all actual World- or European Champions, male or female, of any age group;

(d) up to two players per ECU federation; their registration has to be sent by the federation to the e-mail address of the organiser.

2.4.2 The playing time should be five minutes per player or five minutes per player plus one second per move.

2.4.3 The system is a swiss system with

- 15 rounds up to 80 players

- 17 rounds if there are 81 - 120 players

- 19 rounds if there are 121 players or more.

2.4.4 The first 16 players are qualified for the final tournament.

2.4.5 In case of a tie the Tournament Director has to organise tie-breaks.

2.5 The Final Tournament

The final tournament shall be organised in the period October to November.

2.5.1 The final tournament consists of 32 players, 16 qualified by the candidate tournament and 16 nominated by ECU or the organiser.

2.5.2 The playing time is five minutes per player plus one second per move.

The system is a knock-out system.

2.5.3 In round 1, 2 and 3 four games are played, in the semi-final and the final six games are played.

A player achieving 2.5 points in round 1 - 3 or 3.5 points in the semi-final or final has won the match.

2.5.3.1 If the result is a draw one sudden death game will be played with five minutes for White and four minutes for Black, without any incremental time. The colours for the players are equal to the colors of the first game in the match. To win the match White needs a win, for Black a draw is sufficient.

2.6 The final tournament shall be observed by the ECU Tournament Director.

3. Tournament Regulations

3.1 Laws of chess

The general FIDE laws shall be applied with their supplements and interpretations as laid down by the FIDE Rules Commission.

3.2 Technical Requirements

3.2.1 The players are responsible for their individual internet connection to the server of the organiser.

3.2.2 The players are responsible to enter the virtual tournament hall at the time fixed by the organiser for registration, when the Tournament Director makes the pairings and when he starts the round.

3.2.3 The players are responsible to have installed an actual version of the necessary software on their computer.

The organiser will offer that software to be downloaded from his homepage.

3.2.4 If a player does not follow these technical requirements he has no right to claim or to restart a game due to any technical problems.

3.3 The Players.

3.3.1 The players have to follow the directions of the Tournament Director, especially to close their virtual board or to start a game. Any instruction of the Tournament Director concerning the tournament has to be followed immediately by a player.

3.3.2 At the time for registration the player has to enter the tournament hall and announce his presence to the Tournament Director. The Tournament Director will confirm the registration.

The players are responsible to check, if they are registered.

3.3.3 As soon as a round is started no further player can be included. Any late entry is possible only for a following round.

3.3.4 During the whole tournament, when a game is in progress or in the time between the games, it has to be possible for the Tournament Director to contact a player by chat.

3.3.5 The players have to follow the internet rules of conduct.

3.3.6 It is strictly forbidden to use any computer program for help or for analysing during a game.

If the Tournament Director is convinced that a player is violating this rule he shall expell him from the tournament. ECU has the right to inform on its homepage and in a circular letter to the federations about such a cheating.

3.3.7 If a player has to withdraw from a tournament he has to inform the Tournament Director and ask for his permission.

3.4 The Tournament Director

3.4.1 The Tournament Director has to carry out the tournament as quick as possible and to observe that all tournament regulations are followed.

3.4.2 In case of any dispute he has to decide as soon as possible. No appeal against a decision of the Tournament Director is allowed.

3.4.3 In case of interrupted connection the Tournament Director has to decide the result of the game or if it may be restarted.

3.4.4 In case of any violation of the regulation or any poor sportsmanship the Tournament Director can rule

- loss of a game

- expel the offender from the tournament.

3.5 Pairings

3.5.1 For purposes of pairings the players shall be ranked according to

- their actual FIDE rating

- their FIDE title

- in alphabetical order.

3.5.2 Pairings shall follow the principle that the highest ranked player shall play the lowest ranked player. The second ranked player shall play the second before the last ranked player and so on, assuming that the tournament starts with 16, 32 or 64 players.

3.5.2.1 If there is any other number of players a preliminary match of two games has to be played between the last ranked players to eliminate as many players as necessary to have 8, 16, 32 or 64 players remaining. The pairings shall follow 3.5.2, in case of a draw 2.5.3.1 is valid.

3.5.3 For the second and subsequent rounds pairings shall follow the same procedure as in 3.5.2 with the clarification that if the lower ranked player wins in any match, he shall automatically assume the position of the higher ranked player.

3.5.4 Allocation of colours.

3.5.4.1 It shall be decided randomly if the top seeded player starts with white or black pieces in round 1. The second ranked player shall start with the opposite colour to number 1, the third ranked player shall start with the same colour as number 1, and so alternating through the list.

3.5.4.2 For subsequent games of the same round the colours shall alternate automatically.

3.5.4.3 In round 2 the winner of match 1 shall have in his first game the colour opposite to the colour that the top seeded player had in game 1 of round 1, and so alternating though the list.

3.5.4.4 If in any match the lower ranked player wins 3.5.3 is applicable.

3.5.5 The organiser may announce changes to the pairing system if they are not violating the FIDE pairing rules.

4. Titles and Prizes

4.1 Prize fund.

The organiser has to provide a prize fund.

4.2 The winner receives the title "European Individual Internet Champion 20.."

4.3 The winner shall receive a trophy provided by the European Chess Union.

1. Basic Pairing System

1.1 The basic pairing system shall be the Controlled Swiss System Pairings using Match Points for both Pairing and Scoring.

2. Odd Number of Participating Teams

2.1 The organising federation shall be entitled to enter an additional team. If there is an odd number of participating teams the organising federation has the right to enter a second additional team. If this second additional team is paired and plays round 1 it shall remain in the tournament to the conclusion even when a team or teams dropping out or a new team or teams arriving subsequently would result in an odd number of teams still in competition.

3. Ranking of Teams for Pairing Purposes

3.1 Obtain a list of all teams participating and full names of all players of each team. All teams have to finish their players' lists before the captain's meeting at the start of the tournament.

3.2 Record the FIDE rating of each team member having such a rating.

3.3 Assign an arbitrary rating equal to the minimum FIDE rating to team members who have no FIDE rating.

3.4 Rank all teams in order of the average of their highest FIDE-rated players. For this purpose the average is taken for the number of players equal to the number of boards in the competition. The team with the highest average rating shall be assigned Pairing Number 1, the second highest, Pairing Number 2, etc.

4. Byes

4.1 If there is an odd number of teams a bye should be given to one team which arbitrarily would be credited with a number of points equal to half the number of boards.

4.2 The team given the bye in the first round would be that team which had the highest ranking number.

4.3 The team given the bye in subsequent rounds would be that team with the highest ranking number from the group with the lowest total number of match points.

4.4 No team shall receive more than one bye.

4.5 If the number of participating teams is more than twice the number of rounds the team having the bye is credited one match point. If the number of participating teams is less than twice the number of rounds the team having the bye is credited two match points.

5. General Pairing Regulations

5.1 Assign a pairing number to each team as per Section 3.

5.2 The difference of the scores of two teams paired against each other should be 0 or, if this is not possible, as small as possible.

5.3 No team shall play the same opponent more than once.

5.4 A team having scored without playing will not receive a bye. This is the case when a team has received a bye due to an odd number of teams or when one of the opponent teams did not appear on time

5.5 Pairings shall be made from the top group down to, but not including, the middle group; then from the bottom group up to, but not including, the middle group, and finally the middle group. The middle group shall be defined as that group in which the median team in the standings is located. If there is an even number of teams being paired, the lower of the two middle teams shall be considered as the median team.

Example: Suppose there are 88 teams:

	Place
	43 10 points
	44 10 points
Median team	45 9 points
	46 9 points

Therefore, the 9 point group is the middle group.

6. Detailed Pairings Procedure

6.1 For the pairings of the first round, assume that there are 2N teams, ranked according to section C. The first team is paired with the N + 1 team; the second team is paired with N + 2; ? team N is paired with team 2N.

6.2 After the 1st round, teams in a score-group (including 'floaters' from another score-group) shall be arranged in the order of their board points. The team with the highest board points shall be No. 1 in the group. Teams with the same board points shall be arranged in the order of their initial pairing numbers.

Example:	Order in Group	Board Points	Pairing Number
	1	24,5	8
	2	23	3
	3	23	5
	4	22,5	1
	5	22,5	11
	6	21,5	7

6.3 In each median score-group or higher, priority shall be given to pairing the highest team (i.e. the team with the highest board points) with the lowest team in that group that it has not already played. The second highest team shall be paired with the second lowest team, etc.

6.4 To illustrate the procedure, suppose there are six teams in a score-group, ordered 1 through 6 as described in rule 6.2. There will be 15 combinations of pairing within the group, in the following descending order of priority.

(1) 1 x 6, 2 x 5, 3 x 4

(2) 1 x 6, 2 x 4, 3 x 5

(3) 1 x 6, 2 x 3, 4 x 5

(4) 1 x 5, 2 x 6, 3 x 4

(5) 1 x 5, 2 x 4, 3 x 6

(6) 1 x 5, 2 x 3, 4 x 6

(7) 1 x 4, 2 x 6, 3 x 5

(8) 1 x 4, 2 x 5, 3 x 6

(9) 1 x 4, 2 x 3, 5 x 6

(10) 1 x 3, 2 x 6, 4 x 5

(11) 1 x 3, 2 x 5, 4 x 6

(12) 1 x 3, 2 x 4, 5 x 6

(13) 1 x 2, 3 x 6, 4 x 5

(14) 1 x 2, 3 x 5, 4 x 6

(15) 1 x 2, 3 x 4, 5 x 6

6.5 If there is an uneven number of teams in a group, the same procedure is followed and the remaining team is floated to the next score-group (provided it is not a floater from another score-group) and is paired with the first team of this group it has not played yet.

6.5.1 No team shall receive an identical float in consecutive rounds provided a pairing in the remaining group is possible without having additional floaters.

6.6 To illustrate the procedure, suppose there are 5 teams in a group. There will be 15 combinations of pairing within the group, in the following descending order of priority:

(1) 1 x 5, 2 x 4, 3 - floater

(2) 1 x 5, 2 x 3, 4 -floater

(3) 1 x 5, 3 x 4, 2-floater

(4) 1 x 4, 2 x 5, 3-floater

(5) 1 x 4, 2 x 3, 5-floater

(6) 1 x 4, 3 x 5, 2-floater

(7) 1 x 3, 2 x 5, 4-floater

(8) 1 x 3, 2 x 4, 5-floater

(9) 1 x 3, 4 x 5, 2-floater

(10) 1 x 2, 3 x 5, 4-floater

(11) 1 x 2, 3 x 4, 5-floater

(12) 1 x 2, 4 x 5, 3-floater

(13) 2 x 5, 3 x 4, 1-floater

(14) 2 x 4, 3 x 5, 1-floater

(15) 2 x 3, 4 x 5, 1-floater

[If, for example, No. 2 is a floater from an upper score-group, pairings (3), (6) & (9) are not valid].

6.7 If the group from which the floater has been dropped is such that a complete pairing of all remaining teams in the group cannot be made, or if the floater has already played every team in the next group, then the floater shall be moved back to its original group, trying the next possible pairing according to the order of priority. If a complete pairing of all teams in two adjacent groups cannot be made, then these two groups shall be considered as one group, and rules 6.2 - 6.6 shall accordingly apply.

6.7.1 In the case the median score group contains floaters coming from higher score groups and floaters coming from lower score groups they shall not be paired each other.

6.8 In any group below the median group priority shall be given to pairing the lowest team (i.e. the team with the lowest board points) in the group and the same pattern of pairing shall apply as outlined in rules 6.3 - 6.7 but in reverse order.

7. Colour allocation

7.1 Team pairings are made without regard of colour. (This has the advantage of providing more accurate team pairings with fewer rules being necessary relating to selection of opponents and dropping of one team from an odd numbered group of teams with the same score).

7.2 In the first round the colour assigned to board 1 of the team ranked number 1 shall be selected by lot. All other odd numbers in the top half of the ranking list shall receive the same colour in the first round on board 1 as the team ranked number 1.

7.3.1 No team's board 1 colour difference will become >+2 or <-2.

7.3.2 No team's board 1 will receive the same colour three times in row.

7-4-1 If in a score group a complete pairing is only possible without applying rule 7.3.1 or 7.3.2, such a pairing will then be made.

7.4.2 If in an odd score group a complete pairing is only possible by choosing another floater, another floater will be chosen.

7.5 After the team pairings have been made, colours shall be assigned based on giving priority to:

7.5.1 equalisation of colours on board 1 (regardless of who has played or is playing board 1 and regardless of what colours the particular player assigned to board 1 has had), and

7.5.2 alternation of colours on board 1. The colours on the remaining board shall alternate with the player on board 3 having the same colour as the player on board 1.

7.6 If both teams have had white the same number of times on board 1 and have had opposite colours on board 1 in the immediately preceding round the colours shall be assigned to board 1 to provide alternation for each team from the colour it had in the previous round.

7.7 If both teams have had white the same number of times on board 1 the colours shall be assigned to board 1 to provide the lowest sequence of the same colour for both teams.

7.8 If both teams have had white the same number of times on board 1 and have had exactly the same sequence of colours, then priority shall be given to:

(a) balancing the colour on board 1 of the team with the higher ranked team, or

(b) alternation of colour on board 1 of the higher ranked team from the last round.

7.9 If both teams have had white the same number of times on board 1 and have had exactly the same sequence of colours, and each team has had the same number of whites and blacks on board 1, then the colour on board 1 of the higher ranked team shall be alternated from the last round.

7.10 The teams ranked first in the pairing list will have the white pieces on the odd-numbered boards, the black pieces on the even-numbered boards.

8. Miscellaneous

8.1 The pairings are to be made by the Chief Arbiter. Alternatively pairings can be made by a Pairings Officer or Pairings Committee. The Pairings Committee should consist of up to three members, each from a different ECU federation.

8.2 In the cases in which there is a Pairings Officer or Pairings Committee, the Tournament Director or his officially designated appointee shall provide the Pairings Officer or the Chairman of the Pairings Committee with a signed summary of results as they are available. This should ensure that accurate results of the previous round's play are used in making the pairings for the subsequent round.

8.3 Pairings shall be made by computer if a computer is available and if the computer program has been tested and approved by the Chairman of the Pairings Committee. Computer terminals should be in a room near the playing hall and fully dedicated to the use of the Pairings Commit­tee as and when required. If a computer is used for preparing the daily bulletins of the game scores, a separate terminal in a separate room should be provided for those preparing the bulletin.

The computer pairings do not have to be 100% in agreement with handmade pairings to be acceptable although if there is no difference between the outcome of the pairings made by the computer and those made (by hand) by the Pairings Committee the final decision lies with the Chairman of the Pairings Committee.

8.4 Pairings by team including allocation of colours shall be posted as soon as possible after the Pairings Officer or Committee has finished of making the pairings.

8.4.1 The match order in the pairing list will be made according to the actual ranking.

8.5 Pairings by players shall be posted not later than two hours before the start of the round in the tournament hall.

8.6 No protest against the pairing shall be allowed.

In contrast to the system developed by IA Almog Burstein which is used at the Olympiad and which was used at the occasion of the European Club Cup in Neum (BIH, 2000) no extended Buchholz points have to be calculated whereas the board points are immediately available.

Meaningful extended Buchholz points can only be calculated after round 4; at the occasion of the European Club Cup in Neum (BIH, 2000) it became clear that this calculation was not obvious for the participating teams.

The system proposed here offers the advantage that one pairing system is applied throughout a competition. Application of the Olympiad system at the occasion of the European Club Cup in Neum (BIH, 2000) resulted in the criticism that the pairings were hardly to be understood by the participating teams.

The system proposed here is based on the observation that, in general, a team with a high number of board points will have a low amount of extended Buchholz points and vice versa.

Category 1: Organisation
1.1	Tournament hall
	Excellent	4
	Good	3
	Normal	2
	Fair	1
	Not sufficient	-10
1.2	Distance tournament hall to hotels
	Walking distance (no more than 15 minutes)	3
	More than 15 minutes, but free bus transportation	1
	More than 15 minutes, but paid bus transportation	0
	More than 15 minutes and no transportation	-5
1.3	Organising team
	Experienced international level (FIDE, ECU)	3
	Experienced national level (Open or GM/IM tournaments)	1
Category 2: Hotels (only in case of free accommodation)
2.1	Quality of hotels
	5 stars and better	10
	4 stars and better	8
	3 stars	5
	2 stars	2
2.2	Additional free meals	2
2.3	Other free offers	2
Category 3: Room rates and transportation rates in comparison with other bids
3.1	Room rates and transportation rates
	Excellent (low)	10
	Good	8
	Norma1	4
	Fair	2
	High	-10
	Higher than for normal clients	-20
3.2	Additional cheap hotels	2
Category 4: Airport connection
4.1	Internationa1 airport
	Airport is international (with regular daily flights at least from five of these airports: Athens, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris) and within l00 km from the venue	3
4.2	Transfer
	Free bus	3
	Bus from the organiser with a low fare	2
	Bus from the organiser with a high fare	0
	Public traffic	-2
Category 5: Press
5.1	Free phone, fax and email for journalists	2
5.2	Invitation with free accommodation for some journalists	2
5.3	Internet coverage	2
5.4	Live games in internet	2
5.5	Other special efforts for publicity	1 - 5
Category 6: Support
6.1	Support by government	4
6.2	Support by local authorities	2
6.3	Support by national Sports Federation or NOC	4
Category 7: Anything else
7.1	In case of European Championship and European Women's Championship: high prize funds in comparison with other bids (minimum prize funds = 0)	2 - 10
7.2	Repeated offer (Bidder has already competed before with a very good offer but has finished 2nd or 3rd place)	2
7.3	Other specia1 offers each	2 - 4
7.4	Important conditions not met	- 10

No.	Championship	Entry fee	ECU	Org.Fed.
		Euro	Euro	Euro
1	Individual Championships (Entry fee per player)
1.1	European Championship - GM / IM / FM	65	65	0
	Other players	130	90	40
1.2	European Championship for Women - WGM / WIM / WFM	65	65	0
	Other players	130	90	40
1.3	European Youth Championship - nominated players	65	50	15
	additional players	130	90	40
	For all other European Individual events there is no entry fee which has to be paid to ECU by the participants. However, the organizer of the European Rapid and Blitz Championships (men and women) as well as of the European Individual Senior Championship has to pay a lump sum of 500 Euro in order to cover the travel expenses of an ECU representative nominated by the ECU President. In return ECU will provide medals free of charge.
2	Team Championships (Entry Fee per team)
2.1	European Team Championship	260	260	0
2.2	European Team Championship for Women	260	260	0
2.3	European Team Championship for Youth	100	100	0
2.4	European Club Cup	300	300	0
2.5	European Club Cup for Women	200	200	0

No.	Championship	Bid fee	Deposit fee
		Euro	Euro
1	Individual Championships
1.1	European Championship	500	*7.500
1.2	European Championship for Women	500	*7.500
1.3	European Youth Championship	500	7500
1.4	European Senior Championship	200	2000
1.5	European Rapid Championship	200	2000
1.6	European Rapid Championship for Women	200	2000
1.7	European Blitz Championship	200	2000
1.8	European Blitz Championship for Women	200	2000
2	Team Championships
2.1	European Team Championship	500	7500
2.2	European Team Championship for Women	500	7500
2.3	European Team Championship for Youth	200	2000
2.4	European Team Championship for Seniors	200	2000
2.5	European Club Cup	500	5000
2.6	European Club Cup for Women	200	2000

* = additional bank guarantee for prizefunds; 50 % one year before the event, 75 % six months before the event