1) Play and Control

1. Games shall be played in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
   
   
2. A Tournament Controller shall be appointed who shall be responsible for the conduct of the tournament and the progress of the games.
   
   
3. Games shall be played by email. If a player should lose email access and is unable, for whatever reason, to re-establish email access within 30 days, he will be considered having withdrawn from the tournament.
   
   

2) Transmissions

1. Moves shall be numbered and sent
   
   
2. in the international numeric or a mutually agreed notation
   
   
3. by email messages
   
   
4. bearing the complete name and email address of the sender and
   
   
5. a continous record of all moves and confirmation of the date on which the opponent's latest message was sent.
   
   
6. The sender shall record on the message
   
   
7. the date on which the opponent's latest message was received and
   
   
8. the anticipated date of the reply.
   
   
9. Failing this, reasonable dates shall be assumed by the recipient and notified with the reply move.
   
   
10. When the anticipated date does not agree with the anticipated mailing date, this shall be corrected by the recipient and the sender informed with the reply move.
    
    
11. The time used for the move (see 6D)and accululated time for the game shall also be recorded.
    
    
12. The normal accepted time of the email transmission is one day. If a onger transmission time is declared, it may be referred to the Controller for a ruling.
    
    

3) Failure to Reply

1. Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days, the full details shall be repeated with copy to the Tournament Director.
   
   
2. If no reply is received after a further 14 days, the player shall inform the Tournament Director immediately and wait for his decision.
   
   
3. Games in which no move has been sent for 40 days may be scored as lost to players who have not informed the Tournament Director about the delay.
   
   

4) Moves and Continuations

1. No legal move shall be retracted after mailing - clerical errors are binding if they are legal moves. A correct repetition of the latest move is necessary for the sender's reply move to be valid.
   
   
2. Illegible or illegal moves shall be referred back to the sender for immediate correction but without any obligation to move the piece in question.
   
   
3. A message mailed without a reply move shall be treated as an illegible move.
   
   
4. The omission or addition of chess indications (such as "check", "captures", "en passant") is without significance.
   
   
5. Proposals of conditional continuations are binding until the recipient makes a different move from that proposed.
   
   
6. Any accepted continuation move shall be correctly repeated with the reply.
   
   
7. When no reply is made to an accepted conditional continuation it shall be treated as an illegible move.
   
   

5) Records and Reports

1. Continual record of the game shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the Tournament Director upon request.
   
   
2. If a player does not answer enquiries from the Tournament Director, that player may be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament.
   
   
3. Changes of permanent email and/or postal address shall be notified to the Tournament Director and opponents.
   
   
4. The Tournament Director must be notified immediately of any disagreement between competitors about the game.
   
   
5. The Tournament Director and opponents must be notified immediately if any substantial failure of hardware or software occurs.
   
   

6) Time Allowed and Penalties

1. Each competitor is allowed 40 days for every 10 moves.
   
   
2. The time limit may be exceeded once.
   
   
3. Time saved shall be carried forward.
   
   
4. The time used for each move is the difference in days between the date on which the opponent's latest move was received and the mailing date of the reply.
   
   
5. Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.
   
   
6. A penalty of five days shall be added to the time of a player who sends an illegible or illegal move, or incorrectly repeats the opponent's latest move.
   
   

7) Time Exceeding

1. Claims that the time limit has been exceeded shall be sent to the Tournament Director with full details at the latest when replying to the 10th, 20th, etc. move.
   
   
2. At the same time, the opponent shall be informed by an email message with copy to the Tournament Director.
   
   
3. Any protest shall be sent to the Tournament Director within 14 days of receiving the message, otherwise the claim will be deemed to be conceded.
   
   
4. The Tournament Director shall inform both players of the decision. If the Tournament Director upholds a first claim, a new count of the opponent's time shall begin on the date the message about the claim was received.
   
   
5. A competitor who has exceeded the time allowed for the second time shall forfeit the game.
   
   
6. If the Controller dismisses a claim as being unfounded, he may rule that no furhter claim by that player during the current period of 40 days for 10 moves shall be accepted.
   
   

8) Leave

1. Each competitor may claim up to a total of 30 day's leave during each calendar year.
   
   
2. Players taking leave must inform their opponents and the Tournament Director in advance.
   
   
3. In addition, the Tournament Director may grant up to 30 day's additional leave per annum which in exceptional circumstances may be back-dated and/or extended.
   
   
4. If a player answers a move during his leave, the remaining leave for that game is cancelled and normal time shall be counted.
   
   

9) Withdrawal

1. In the event of withdrawal or death, the Tournament Director shall decide whether all the games shall be annulled or the remaining games adjudicated or scored as losses.
   
   

10) Adjudication

1. If no result has been agreed by the date set for the close of play, both competitors shall submit to the Tournament Director within 30 days, a record of the moves played,
   
   
2. the position reached and
   
   
3. a statement claiming either a win or a draw which may be supported by analysis.
   
   
4. Competitors not wishing to submit analysis forfeit the right to appeal.
   
   
5. The Tournament Director shall notify the adjudicator's decision to both competitors indicating whether it is subject to appeal.
   
   

11) Adjudication Appeals

1. Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be mailed to the Tournament Director within 14 days of receiving the notification,
   
   
2. whereupon the Tournament Director shall obtain a ruling from another adjudicator and notify the result to both competitors. The ruling is final and no further appeal shall be accepted from either player.
   
   
3. Additional analysis may be submitted with an appeal.
   
   

12) Reporting Results

1. As soon as possible after ending a game, the results and a clear record of the moves played shall be mailed to the Tournament Director by both players.
   
   
2. The result is officially recorded only after receipt of this record.
   
   
3. Should no record be received from either player, the result may be scored as lost by both.
   
   

13) Decisions and Appeals

1. The Tournament Director may penalise or disqualify competitors who break these rules and
   
   
2. any matter not covered in them shall be decided by the Tournament Director.
   
   
3. Any competitor may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the Tournament Director to the chairman of the ICCF Appeals Tribunal, whose ruling shall be final.

back to top   previous page   back to starting page