1. Games shall be played by email, in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess where applicable.
   
   
2. A Tournament Director shall be appointed who shall be responsible for the conduct of the tournament and progress of the games.
   
   
3. Each team has a Team Captain who shall maintain contact on behalf of the players with the Tournament Director.
   
   
4. In cases of misunderstanding between players the Team Captains should try to solve the problem before it is sent to the Tournament Director.
   
   
5. If a player should lose email access and is unable, for whatever reason, to re-establish email access within 30 days, he must be replaced by another player who is able to continue the game by email. See Rule 9.
   
   

1. Moves shall be numbered and sent
   
   
2. in the numeric or a mutually agreed notation
   
   
3. by email messages
   
   
4. bearing the name and email address of the sender and
   
   
5. a continuous 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 expected date of the reply.
   
   
9. Failing this, reasonable dates shall be assumed by the recipient and notified with the reply move.
   
   
10. When the expected reply date does not agree with the actual emailing date shown on the message time-stamp, this shall be corrected by the recipient and the sender informed with the reply move.
    
    
11. The time used for the move (see Rule 6c) and accumulated time for the game shall also be recorded.
    
    
12. The normal accepted time of the email transmission is one day. If a longer transmission time is declared, it may be referred to the Tournament Director for a ruling.
    
    

1. Should there be no reply to any move within 14 days, the full details shall be repeated with an information copy to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain. When replying to such a repeat an information copy to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain must also be sent.
   
   
2. Games in which no move has been sent for 40 days may be scored as lost to a player whose Team Captain has not advised the Tournament Director about the delay.
   
   

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

1. All transmissions from the opponent concerning the game and a record of the moves and dates shall be kept until the end of the tournament and sent to the Team Captain and/or through him to the Tournament Director upon request.
   
   
2. If a player does not answer enquiries from the Team Captain (or through him from the Tournament Director), that player may be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament. See also Rule 9.
   
   
3. Changes of permanent address shall be notified to the opponents and the Team Captain, who shall inform the Tournament Director.
   
   
4. Through the Team Captain the Tournament Director must be notified immediately of any disagreement between competitors about the game.
   
   
5. Through the Team Captain, the Tournament Director and opponents must be notified immediately if any substantial failure of hardware or software occurs.
   
   

1. Each competitor is allowed 60 days for every 10 moves, unless the tournament announcement explicitly specifies otherwise.
   
   
2. Time saved shall be carried forward.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. Accepted continuation moves are included in the time taken for the reply move.
   
   
5. A penalty of two days shall be added to the time of a player who sends an illegible, illegal or ambiguous move, or incorrectly repeats the opponent's latest move.
   
   
6. A competitor who has exceeded the time allowed shall forfeit the game.
   
   

1. Claims that the time limit has been exceeded shall be sent to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, with full details at the latest when replying to the 10th, 20th, etc. move.
   
   
2. At the same time, the opponent shall be informed of the claim by an email message with copies to the Team Captain and Tournament Director.
   
   
3. Any protest shall be sent to the Tournament Director through the Team Captain within 14 days of receiving the information otherwise the claim shall be deemed to be conceded unless the claim is clearly unfounded.
   
   
4. The Tournament Director shall inform both Team Captains players of the decision, and it is the responsibility of the captains to notify their players without delay.
   
   
5. If the Tournament Director upholds the claim, then the competitor who has exceeded the time allowed shall forfeit the game.
   
   
6. If the Tournament Director dismisses a claim as being unfounded, he may rule that no further claim by that player during the current time control period shall be accepted.
   
   

1. Each competitor may claim up to a total of 30 days leave during each calendar year.
   
   
2. Players taking leave must inform in advance their opponents and the Tournament Director through their Team Captain.
   
   
3. In addition, the Tournament Director may grant up to 30 days' additional leave per annum which in exceptional circumstances may be back-dated and/or extended.
   
   

1. In the event of withdrawal or death, the Tournament Director shall call upon the Team Captain to replace this player within two months.
   
   
2. The substitute player may be required to start with a time penalty. The new player starts on a date set by the Tournament Director.
   
   
3. If it is not possible for the Team Captain to get the necessary documents from the substituted player, the opposing Team Captain shall provide them.
   
   
4. If no substitute player is available, the Tournament Director shall decide whether the remaining games shall be adjudicated or scored as losses.
   
   
5. A team may substitute at most 50% of its players in case of withdrawal, and only make one substitution per board, but there is no limit for cases of death.
   
   

1. If no result has been agreed by the date set for close of play, both competitors shall submit to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, 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 Team Captains indicating whether or not it is subject to appeal.
   
   

1. Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be mailed to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, 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 Team Captains. The ruling is final and no further appeal shall be accepted from either player.
   
   
3. For an appeal, additional analysis may be submitted by both players.
   
   

1. As soon as possible after ending a game, the result and a clear record of the moves played shall be sent by email to the Tournament Director, through the Team Captains, by both players, preferably in PGN format.
   
   
2. The result is officially recorded only after receipt of this record.
   
   
3. Should no record be received from either Team Captain, the result may be scored as lost by both.
   
   

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 according to the principles stated in the Preface of the FIDE Laws of Chess.
   
   
3. Any competitor may appeal within 14 days of receiving a decision of the Tournament Director to the chairman of the ICCF Appeals Commission, whose ruling shall be final.
   
   

[These playing rules were adopted by the ICCF Congress, Daytona Beach, 2000 and take effect from 1.1.2001.]