South Wales Premier League Rules 2006-2007

Changes from last season are in RED

In order to simplify the wording of these rules ...
some words, printed in blue, are defined in the glossary at the bottom of this document

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VENUES

The onus is on the Home Captain, even with a "half-way" venue, to organize (and pay for) the venue, and to provide boards, sets, clocks, score-sheets etc.

TIME-LIMITS

Mid-week matches start at 19:15 with a minimum time-limit of 35 moves in 75 minutes after which both clocks are wound back 15 minutes and the remainder of the game must be played in the time remaining.

Weekend matches start at 14:00 with a minimum time-limit of 36 moves in 90 minutes after which both clocks are wound back 30 minutes and the remainder of the game must be played in the time remaining.

Naturally longer time-limits, and different start times, are OK so long as BOTH captains agree, but ALL games must be finished on the night. Adjudications and adjournments seem to be things of the past in international chess and I would much prefer to avoid them in the SWPL if only to make my life easier!

NOTIFICATION of RESULTS

There is no real reason why there should be any hurry to notify me but I would prefer the match results from BOTH captains within a day or two of the match. Preparation is becoming more and more a part of the modern game so I would also like copies of all of the games. I think that Glyn Sinnett and Iolo Jones have said that Kevin Staveley has a supply of Carbon copy score sheets. Alternatively, as quite a lot of us now have ChessBase, a GAMES.PGN file attached to an e-mail might be more convenient.

LEAGUE STANDINGS

The SWPL, like the Welsh Challenge Cup, will be decided on MATCH points, with GAME points being used as a tie-breaker.

TEAM COMPOSITION

Each team will consist of five players. No player may play below a player who has an ELO rating more than 100 points higher than his own. The Home team will have the Black pieces on board 1. Also each team, on the night must include:

a) at least three players of the five, or two of the top three boards, who are Welsh.

b) at least three players who were, in the previous season, local.

c) at least four players who were, in the previous season, local or near-local.

Note also that any player who was not, in the previous season, local must either (a) play in at least HALF of the SWPL matches in any one season or (b) become local during the same season.

DEFAULTS and POSTPONEMENTS

I would imagine that defaults are unlikely as most clubs have dozens of players to choose from, and defaulting a board is hardly a way of getting an unfair advantage: it is, at worst, inconsiderate. I will consider a DEFAULT to be a player who is both local and Welsh, with an ELO rating of zero. Complete matches may only be postponed (a) as far as the latest permissible date in the time-table with the agreement of both captains, or (b) by 7 days, possibly even later than the latest permissible date in the time-table, in the case if really bad weather (if the police are advising drivers to avoid non-essential travel).

PENALTIES

A team will be penalized one GAME point for each ineligible player. This loss of a game point might also incur the loss of MATCH points if this changes the result of the match. The worst possible match result, even with penalties, is a 0-5 loss.

PROMOTION and RELEGATION

Certain teams, the sole representatives of a zone in the SWPL, are safe from relegation. The lowest placed "other" team will, if it wishes to continue to play in the SWPL, have to compete in a "qualification event" against other teams who may wish to enter. In order to limit the size of this "qualification event" there will be rules, from Summer 2007 onwards, to limit which teams might enter it. These rules are detailed here.