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Rules for tournaments started from 01 Jan 2005 |
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ICCF Playing Rules
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Individual games normally played by post
Individual games normally played by email
Team games normally played by post
Team games normally played by email
Playing Rules Guidelines updated on 12 December 2003. (Changes in red colour)
Important principle for all games of correspondence chess played with ICCF - what is Amici Sumus?
Amici Sumus - we are friends - is the spirit that guides the play of ICCF, its rules and their interpretation.
Amici Sumus is not a cover all excuse for failing to follow the rules nor should it outweigh the rules, rather it is a philosophy. One way to view it is to ask how you would handle a situation if it occurred in an important tournament game against your best friend. You would play hard but within both the letter and the spirit of the rules, neither asking for nor giving quarter. However, if there were a disagreement, you would assume that he is telling the truth, not automatically assume that he is lying and cheating. It is the Tournament Director's job to make sure that wherever possible games are decided by the skill of the players and not by his rulings, without of course directly contradicting the rules.
| Individual games normally played by post. back to top |
|
1a
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The FIDE rules can be found at http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp. The most important change during recent years is that there are NO exceptions to the 50 move rule concerning draws |
|
1b
|
If games are not progressing fast enough, the TD is entitled to request that the game be continued by means of electronic transmission. Failure to observe such a request can cause the refusing player to be defaulted. |
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2b
|
Players may use two (or more) different notations eg. ICCF numeric and algebraic, provided they explicitly agree upon it at the start of the game. |
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2g
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The time starts counting when your opponents move is made available to you and ends when you send your reply. In the case of regular mail this is when the card is placed in a mailbox accessible to you. |
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2j
|
If the postmark is illegible or there is no postmark, the expected postmark date should be accepted. |
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2k
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It is required to include the time used and total accumulated time for both players |
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2m
|
There is no obligation to finish the game by email or fax if you
decide to switch. If there is good reason to switch back to normal
mail it is permissible to do so with the Tournament Directors permission.
Repeated switching between email, fax, and normal mail is discouraged. Specifically the time control will remain at 10/30 and not switch to 10/60 UNLESS both players and the Tournament Director agree according to rule 6a. Whatever time control is agreed by all parties, one etl is permitted. |
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3a
|
It is necessary to wait 14 days plus the average length of time
it takes in the mail to get a move to your opponent and back. Days when the opponent is on vacation shall not be counted to calculate the time to send a reminder. |
|
3b
|
Games MAY be scored as lost if 4 months pass without a move being played unless the Tournament Director has been informed of the delay. This does not mean that games are automatically forfeited after 4 months without a move, it is up to the Tournament Director to determine the reason for the delay and rule accordingly. Note that it is possible for the game to be forfeited by a player who is silent for more than 4 months, even if he has enough accumulated time not to have exceeded the time control. |
|
4a
|
If different moves are sent when two notations are explicitly agreed upon, the move should be treated as ambiguous and referred back to the sender for clarification. |
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4e
|
As an example, there is no need to indicate check, nor can a move be considered invalid if check is not indicated. |
|
5a
|
Unless the Tournament Director specifically states that original documents must be sent, it is recommended that copies are made and sent. |
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5c
|
It is not necessary to notify the Tournament Director of a change in email address if no games are being played by email and you do not wish to communicate with the Tournament Director by email. It is however, highly recommended. |
|
5d
|
It is reasonable to try to sort out minor disputes without getting the Tournament Director involved. As a general guideline if a single exchange of correspondence does not solve the problem, it is time to notify the Tournament Director. Major disputes must be referred to the Tournament Director immediately. |
|
6a
|
This means that no more than 30 days reflection time can be used for the first 10 moves, 60 for the first 20 moves etc. without overstepping the time control. |
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6b
|
For example, if a player uses 31 days for the first 9 moves, the game is not forfeited, but a new count is started with 30 days to reach the next time control which would be at 19 moves, 60 to make the second time control at 29 moves etc. |
|
6f
|
In a series of conditional moves, the time (for the recipient of
conditionals) is in its entirety considered as belonging to the
player REPLYING to the last ACCEPTED move.
Hence, White did exceed the time limit, since all his time for moves 10-11 is added to move 10, whereas Black did NOT exceed the time limit, since all HIS time for moves 10-11 is added to move 11! |
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7a
|
It is recommended to claim an etl as soon as it occurs. The claim should include a complete copy of the game with all received and sent dates for both players. Even if a player acknowledges they have overstepped the time control in their correspondence it is still necessary to notify the Tournament Director so that it may be recorded. |
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7d
|
The game should be continued while the Tournament Director is reviewing the claim and making the decision. |
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7e
|
This means that players cannot take a large amount of time over a move when they know they have already exceeded the time control. The second time control starts as soon as the player is informed about the claim being made (see 7b). |
|
8a
|
Regular leave may be taken for any reason and
in any increments not to exceed 30 days in any calendar year. Dates given for a leave are inclusive. That is if a player's leave is from 7/7 to 13/7 the player has taken 7 days leave. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 14/7 has a reflection time of 1 day. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 13/7 is also 1 day, whereas a move received on 7/7 and replied to on 14/7 is 0 days. The player was not on leave on 6/7, so a move not responded to on 6/7 carries at least a 1 day reflection time, however a response on 14/7 is similar to sending your first move on the date the tournament starts, and thus no time used. Note that reflection time does not stop during an opponents leave. |
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8c
|
Special leave is intended to be used primarily
for unexpected events such as illnesses, natural disasters and urgent
overseas business postings. Recognizing the value of other chess activities
special leave may be granted for attendance at ICCF Congress or OTB
tournaments away from a player's home. Events planned in advance such
as moving house or job are not valid reasons for special leave. Retroactive special leave is only ever to be given when the player is unable to contact the TD or another player by some means, usually because of sudden hospitalization. Computer failure is NOT an acceptable reason for requesting a special leave in a postal tournament. |
|
9
|
To ensure consistency in the treatment of
withdrawals, the following scheme shall be used by all Tournament
Directors; First, determine whether the request for a withdrawal
meets the criteria for "accepted withdrawal" as laid out in Tournament
Rules paragraph 6.2;
In case an accepted withdrawal happens early in the tournament, and hence the games should be cancelled, the tournament organiser may also decide to replace the withdrawing player. |
|
10d
|
Analysis does not necessarily mean possible variations. It could also mean general plans where appropriate |
|
10e
|
An adjudication is not subject to appeal if neither player submitted analysis. |
|
12a
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It is not necessary to include the dates in this report. The game score should be sent in PGN or numeric notation. Please note that BOTH players are required to report the result to the Tournament Director. |
| Individual games normally played by email. back to top |
|
1a
|
The FIDE rules can be found at http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp. The most important change during recent years is that there are NO exceptions to the 50 move rule concerning draws. |
| 2b | Players may use two (or more) different notations eg. ICCF numeric and algebraic, provided they explicitly agree upon it at the start of the game. |
| 2e | Moves and times for the entire game should be sent in every email |
| 2g | The time starts counting when your opponents move is made available to you and ends when you send your reply. In the case of regular mail this is when the card is placed in a mailbox accessible to you. In the case of email this is when your server makes the message available for you to download. However, it is always permitted to consider the message as having been received the next day (your local time). |
| 2i | Except in unusual circumstances this will normally be the same dates the previous move was sent and the current one received. That is the email took 0 days to be transmitted. |
| 2j | The message time stamp is the time that the move was received by the senders server. This time is usually shown in the full headers for the message. |
| 2k | It is required to include the time used and total accumulated time for both players. |
| 2l | As stated in the guidelines for 2g it is always permitted to consider the message as having been received the following day (your local time). One aim of this ruling is to avoid players complaining to the TD about moves being sent / received shortly before / after midnight. |
| 3a | It is necessary to wait 14 days before sending a repeat. If you
know you are going to take more than 14 days over a move, please let
your opponent know so that unnecessary repeats can be eliminated. Days when the opponent is on vacation shall not be counted to calculate the time to send a reminder. A too early repeat should be avoided. When moves are sent by Email, the failure to receive a "message undeliverable" or similar message is NOT proof that it has been delivered successfully. Email messages can and sometimes do simply vanish and in these cases neither player is at fault and neither player should be charged reflection time. However, this is an uncommon occurrence and repeated messages vanishing should be referred to the TD for investigation. |
| 3b | Games MAY be scored as lost if 40 days pass without a move being
played unless the Tournament Director has been informed of the delay.
This does not mean that games are automatically forfeited after 40
days without a move, it is up to the Tournament Director to determine
the reason for the delay and rule accordingly. Note that it is possible
for the game to be forfeited by a player who is silent for more than
40 days, even if he has enough accumulated time not to have exceeded
the time control. The TD will normally record a loss against a player who has been silent for over 40 days (discounting leave periods) and who has not notified the TD and the opponent about the delay. |
| 4a | If different moves are sent when two notations are explicitly agreed upon, the move should be treated as ambiguous and referred back to the sender for clarification. |
| 4e | As an example, there is no need to indicate check, nor can a move be considered invalid if check is not indicated |
| 5a | If it is not possible to keep all of the records on the computer, it will be necessary to keep a copy on a floppy disk or failing that, paper. |
| 5d | It is reasonable to try to sort out minor disputes without getting the Tournament Director involved. As a general guideline if a single exchange of correspondence does not solve the problem, it is time to notify the Tournament Director. Major disputes must be referred to the Tournament Director immediately. |
| 6a | This means that no more than 60 days reflection time can be used for the first 10 moves, 120 for the first 20 moves etc. without overstepping the time control. |
| 6e |
In a series of conditional moves, the time (for the recipient of
conditionals) is in its entirety considered as belonging to the
player REPLYING to the last ACCEPTED move.
Hence, White did exceed the time limit, since all his time for moves 10-11 is added to move 10, whereas Black did NOT exceed the time limit, since all HIS time for moves 10-11 is added to move 11! |
| 7a | It is recommended to claim an etl as soon as it occurs. The claim should include a complete copy of the game with all received and sent dates for both players. Even if a player acknowledges they have overstepped the time control in their correspondence it is still necessary to notify the Tournament Director so that the result may be recorded. |
| 7d | The game should be suspended while the Tournament Director is reviewing the claim and making the decision. |
| 8a | Regular leave may be taken for any reason and
in any increments not to exceed 30 days in any calendar year. Dates given for a leave are inclusive. That is if a player's leave is from 7/7 to 13/7 the player has taken 7 days leave. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 14/7 has a reflection time of 1 day. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 13/7 is also 1 day, whereas a move received on 7/7 and replied to on 14/7 is 0 days. The player was not on leave on 6/7, so a move not responded to on 6/7 carries at least a 1 day reflection time, however a response on 14/7 is similar to sending your first move on the date the tournament starts, and thus no time used. Note that reflection time does not stop during an opponents leave. |
| 8c | Special leave is intended to be used primarily
for unexpected events such as illnesses, natural disasters and urgent
overseas business postings. Recognizing the value of other chess activities
special leave may be granted for attendance at ICCF Congress or OTB
tournaments away from a player's home. In the event of a computer
malfunction a special leave of up to 10 days is permissible, but should
only be used once per tournament. Events planned in advance such as
moving house or job are not valid reasons for special leave. Retroactive special leave is only ever to be given when the player is unable to contact the TD or another player by some means, usually because of sudden hospitalization. Computer failure is NOT an acceptable reason for requesting a retroactive special leave. |
| 9. |
To ensure consistency in the treatment of
withdrawals, the following scheme shall be used by all Tournament
Directors; First, determine whether the request for a withdrawal
meets the criteria for "accepted withdrawal" as laid out in Tournament
Rules paragraph 6.2;
In case an accepted withdrawal happens early in the tournament, and hence the games should be cancelled, the tournament organiser may also decide to replace the withdrawing player. |
| 10d | Analysis does not necessarily mean possible variations. It could also mean general plans where appropriate. |
| 10e | An adjudication is not subject to appeal if neither player submitted analysis. |
| 12a | It is not necessary to include the dates in this report. Please note that BOTH players are required to report the result to the Tournament Director. |
| Team games normally played by post. back to top |
|
1a
|
The FIDE rules can be found at http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp. The most important change during recent years is that there are NO exceptions to the 50 move rule concerning draws |
|
1b
|
If games are not progressing fast enough, the TD is entitled to request that the game be continued by means of electronic transmission. Failure to observe such a request can cause the refusing player to be defaulted. |
|
1c
|
Players should contact their Team Captain instead of the Tournament Director, unless the Team Captain is unavailable in a time dependent situation. |
|
2b
|
Players may use two (or more) different notations e. g. ICCF numeric and algebraic, provided they explicitly agree upon it at the start of the game. |
|
2g
|
The time starts counting when your opponents move is made available to you and ends when you send your reply. In the case of regular mail this is when the card is placed in a mailbox accessible to you. |
|
2j
|
If the postmark is illegible or there is no postmark, the expected postmark date should be accepted. |
|
2k
|
It is required to include the time used and total accumulated time for both players. |
|
2m
|
There is no obligation to finish the game by email or fax if you
decide to switch. If there is good reason to switch back to normal
mail it is permissible to do so with the Tournament Directors permission.
Repeated switching between email, fax, and normal mail is discouraged. Specifically the time control will remain at 10/30 and not switch to 10/60 UNLESS both players and the Tournament Director agree according to rule 6a. Whatever time control is agreed by all parties, one etl is permitted |
|
3a
|
It is necessary to wait 14 days plus the average length of time
it takes in the mail to get a move to your opponent and back. Days when the opponent is on vacation shall not be counted to calculate the time to send a reminder. |
|
3b
|
Games MAY be scored as lost if 4 months pass without a move being played unless the Tournament Director has been informed of the delay. This does not mean that games are automatically forfeited after 4 months without a move, it is up to the Tournament Director to determine the reason for the delay and rule accordingly. Note that it is possible for the game to be forfeited by a player who is silent for more than 4 months, even if he has enough accumulated time not to have exceeded the time control. |
|
4a
|
If different moves are sent when two notations are explicitly agreed upon, the move should be treated as ambiguous and referred back to the sender for clarification. |
|
4e
|
As an example, there is no need to indicate check, nor can a move be considered invalid if check is not indicated. |
|
5a
|
Unless the Tournament Director specifically states that original documents must be sent, it is recommended that copies are made and sent. |
|
5c
|
It is not necessary to notify the Team Captain of a change in email address if no games are being played by email and you do not wish to communicate with the Team Captain by email. It is however, highly recommended. |
|
5d
|
It is reasonable to try to sort out minor disputes without getting the Team Captain involved. As a general guideline if a single exchange of correspondence does not solve the problem, it is time to notify the Team Captain. Major disputes must be referred to the Team Captain immediately. |
|
6a
|
This means that no more than 30 days reflection time can be used for the first 10 moves, 60 for the first 20 moves etc. without overstepping the time control. |
|
6b
|
For example, if a player uses 31 days for the first 9 moves, the game is not forfeited, but a new count is started with 30 days to reach the next time control which would be at 19 moves, 60 to make the second time control at 29 moves etc. |
|
6f
|
In a series of conditional moves, the time (for the recipient of
conditionals) is in its entirety considered as belonging to the
player REPLYING to the last ACCEPTED move.
Hence, White did exceed the time limit, since all his time for moves 10-11 is added to move 10, whereas Black did NOT exceed the time limit, since all HIS time for moves 10-11 is added to move 11! |
|
7a
|
It is recommended to claim an etl as soon as it occurs. The claim should include a complete copy of the game with all received and sent dates for both players. Even if a player acknowledges they have overstepped the time control in their correspondence it is still necessary to notify the Tournament Director so that it may be recorded. |
|
7d
|
The game should be continued while the Tournament Director is reviewing the claim and making the decision. |
|
7e
|
This means that players cannot take a large amount of time over a move when they know they have already exceeded the time control. The second time control starts as soon as the player is informed about the claim being made (see 7b). |
|
8a
|
Regular leave may be taken for any reason and
in any increments not to exceed 30 days in any calendar year. Dates given for a leave are inclusive. That is if a player's leave is from 7/7 to 13/7 the player has taken 7 days leave. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 14/7 has a reflection time of 1 day. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 13/7 is also 1 day, whereas a move received on 7/7 and replied to on 14/7 is 0 days. The player was not on leave on 6/7, so a move not responded to on 6/7 carries at least a 1 day reflection time, however a response on 14/7 is similar to sending your first move on the date the tournament starts, and thus no time used. Note that reflection time does not stop during an opponents leave. |
|
8c
|
Special leave is intended to be used primarily
for unexpected events such as illnesses, natural disasters and urgent
overseas business postings. Recognizing the value of other chess activities
special leave may be granted for attendance at ICCF Congress or OTB
tournaments away from a player's home. Events planned in advance such
as moving house or job are not valid reasons for special leave. Retroactive special leave is only ever to be given when the player is unable to contact the TD or another player by some means, usually because of sudden hospitalization. Computer failure is NOT an acceptable reason for requesting a special leave in a postal tournament. |
|
9a
|
The replacement player will continue the game from the position reached by the previous player. |
|
10d
|
Analysis does not necessarily mean possible variations. It could also mean general plans where appropriate. |
|
10e
|
An adjudication is not subject to appeal if neither player submitted analysis. |
|
12a
|
It is not necessary to include the dates in this report. The game score should be sent in PGN or numeric notation. Please note that BOTH players are required to report the result to their Team Captain. |
| Team games normally played by email. back to top |
| 1a | The FIDE rules can be found at http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp. The most important change during recent years is that there are NO exceptions to the 50 move rule concerning draws |
| 1c | Players should contact their Team Captain instead of the Tournament Director, unless the Team Captain is unavailable in a time dependent situation. |
| 2b | Players may use two (or more) different notations e. g. ICCF numeric and algebraic, provided they explicitly agree upon it at the start of the game. |
| 2e | Moves and times for the entire game should be sent in every email. |
| 2g | The time starts counting when your opponents move is made available to you and ends when you send your reply. In the case of regular mail this is when the card is placed in a mailbox accessible to you. In the case of email this is when your server makes the message available for you to download. However, it is always permitted to consider the message as having been received the next day (your local time). |
| 2i | Except in unusual circumstances this will normally be the same dates the previous move was sent and the current one received. That is the email took 0 days to be transmitted. |
| 2j | The message time stamp is the time that the move was received by the senders server. This time is usually shown in the full headers for the message. |
| 2k | It is required to include the time used and total accumulated time for both players. |
|
2l |
As stated in the guidelines for 2g it is always permitted to consider the message as having been received the following day (your local time). One aim of this ruling is to avoid players complaining to the TD about moves being sent / received shortly before / after midnight. |
| 3a | It is necessary to wait 14 days before sending a repeat. If you know you are going to take more than 14 days over a move, please let your opponent know so that unnecessary repeats can be eliminated. Days when the opponent is on vacation shall not be counted to calculate the time to send a reminder. A too early repeat should be avoided. When moves are sent by Email, the failure to receive a "message undeliverable" or similar message is NOT proof that it has been delivered successfully. Email messages can and sometimes do simply vanish and in these cases neither player is at fault and neither player should be charged reflection time. However, this is an uncommon occurrence and repeated messages vanishing should be referred to the TD for investigation. |
| 3b | Games MAY be scored as lost if 40 days pass without a move being
played unless the Tournament Director has been informed of the delay.
This does not mean that games are automatically forfeited after 40
days without a move, it is up to the Tournament Director to determine
the reason for the delay and rule accordingly. Note that it is possible
for the game to be forfeited by a player who is silent for more than
40 days, even if he has enough accumulated time not to have exceeded
the time control. The TD will normally record a loss against a player who has been silent for over 40 days (discounting leave periods) and who has not notified the TD and the opponent about the delay. |
| 4a | If different moves are sent when two notations are explicitly agreed upon, the move should be treated as ambiguous and referred back to the sender for clarification. |
| 4e | As an example, there is no need to indicate check, nor can a move be considered invalid if check is not indicated. |
| 5a | If it is not possible to keep all of the records on the computer, it will be necessary to keep a copy on a floppy disk, with the Team Captain, or failing that, paper. |
| 5d | It is reasonable to try to sort out minor disputes without getting the Team Captain involved. As a general guideline if a single exchange of correspondence does not solve the problem, it is time to notify the Team Captain. Major disputes must be referred to the Team Captain immediately. |
| 6a | This means that no more than 60 days reflection time can be used for the first 10 moves, 120 for the first 20 moves etc. without overstepping the time control. |
| 6e |
In a series of conditional moves, the time (for the recipient of
conditionals) is in its entirety considered as belonging to the
player REPLYING to the last ACCEPTED move.
Hence, White did exceed the time limit, since all his time for moves 10-11 is added to move 10, whereas Black did NOT exceed the time limit, since all HIS time for moves 10-11 is added to move 11! |
| 7a | It is recommended to claim an etl as soon as it occurs. The claim should include a complete copy of the game with all received and sent dates for both players. Even if a player acknowledges they have overstepped the time control in their correspondence it is still necessary to notify the Team Captain so that the result may be recorded. |
| 7d | The game should be suspended while the Tournament Director is reviewing the claim and making the decision. |
| 8a | Regular leave may be taken for any reason and
in any increments not to exceed 30 days in any calendar year. Dates given for a leave are inclusive. That is if a player's leave is from 7/7 to 13/7 the player has taken 7 days leave. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 14/7 has a reflection time of 1 day. A move received on 6/7 and replied to on 13/7 is also 1 day, whereas a move received on 7/7 and replied to on 14/7 is 0 days. The player was not on leave on 6/7, so a move not responded to on 6/7 carries at least a 1 day reflection time, however a response on 14/7 is similar to sending your first move on the date the tournament starts, and thus no time used. Note that reflection time does not stop during an opponents leave. |
| 8c | Special leave is intended to be used primarily
for unexpected events such as illnesses, natural disasters and urgent
overseas business postings. Recognizing the value of other chess activities
special leave may be granted for attendance at ICCF Congress or OTB
tournaments away from a player's home. In the event of a computer
malfunction a special leave of up to 10 days is permissible, but should
only be used once per tournament. Events planned in advance such as
moving house or job are not valid reasons for special leave. Retroactive special leave is only ever to be given when the player is unable to contact the TD or another player by some means, usually because of sudden hospitalization. Computer failure is NOT an acceptable reason for requesting a retroactive special leave. |
| 9a | The replacement player will continue the game from the position reached by the previous player. |
| 10d | Analysis does not necessarily mean possible variations. It could also mean general plans where appropriate. |
| 10e | An adjudication is not subject to appeal if neither player submitted analysis. |
| 12a | It is not necessary to include the dates in this report. Please note that BOTH players are required to report the result to the Tournament Director. |
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