South Wales Premier League Rules 2007-2008
Please note that these rules are provisional.
They are subject to WCU approval
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
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, so that I can publish them on this website. Alternatively, as
many of us now have ChessBase, a GAMES.PGN file
attached to an e-mail might be more convenient.
LEAGUE STANDINGS
The WCPL, 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 six 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, is further restricted as
follows:
a) There must be at least as many
Welsh
players in the team as there are
strong
non-Welsh
players.
b) All but one of the
strong
players in a team must have been active
in the immediately previous season(s).
All but one of these strong
active
players must have been active
in the zone to which the club belongs.
c) Any strong
player who was not active
in
the immediately previous season(s) must
either (a)
play in at least half of the WCPL matches during the season or
(b) become active 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 active
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).
If
any team totally defaults half, or more, of its fixtures then all of its results
over the season will be ignored.
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
0-6
loss [was 0-5 corrected 27 Nov. JT].
Glossary Welsh: Welsh
enough to play in the Welsh Chess Championship: According to the 2005-2006 Welsh
Chess yearbook, this required one or more of the following: a) Birth in Wales. Active:
a player who has played 43% of the available zonal league games, for a Welsh
team, in one of the zones participating in the WCPL, in either (a) the season
concerned, or (b) in this season and the previous season, or (c) this season and
the two previous seasons. Strong:
a player who has a rating of 2000 or over.
PROMOTION and RELEGATION
Certain teams, the sole representatives of a zone in the WCPL, are safe from
relegation. The lowest placed "other" team will, if it wishes to
continue to play in the WCPL, 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.
b) Child of a person who was born in Wales.
c) Spouse of a person who was born in Wales.
d) A previous winner of the Welsh Championship or of the Welsh Ladies' Championship.
e) Residence in Wales for at least two years before the match in question.