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KENT SCHOOLS CHESS LEAGUE
RULES
amended 1997
  1. The League is open to all schools in Kent and South East London postal districts.
  2. The League is divided into four separate competitions: Senior, Under 16, Under 13 and Primary.
  3. The competitions are divided into two stages: a local group stage, starting in September and played on an all-play-all basis; and a final stage for local winners, played in the spring term. In the Senior, Under 16 and Under 13 competitions the final stage is a knock-out; in the Primary it is a one-day Final Congress for all local winners.
  4. Schools may enter as many teams as they wish in any competition (see Rule 7).
  5. Teams will consist of five players arranged in descending order of strength (i.e. best player on board 1, second best on board 2, and so on).
  6. Eligibility of players
    1. Each player must be a pupil of the school he represents.
    2. Age limits:
           Senior         under 19
           Under 16    under 16
           Under 13    under 13
           Primary       under 11
      on the 31st August of the year in which the competition begins
    3. A player may represent his school in more than one competition (e.g. Senior and Under 16).
    4. No player may represent more than one team in the same competition, except that:
      (1) A player who changes schools during the season may play for his new school regardless of matches he may already have played for his old one; and
      (2) Where a school has more than one team in a competition, a player may in certain circumstances be "promoted" to a higher team: see Rule 7(c).
    5. Any game played by an ineligible player will count as a loss for him, whatever the actual result.
  7. Schools with more than one team in the same competition
    1. If a school enters more than one team in the same competition, these teams will be designated A, B, C, and so on. Assuming that teams are not of equal strength, the “A” team must be the strongest, the “B” team the second strongest, and so on.
    2. Unless otherwise requested, teams will normally be placed in the same local group in the autumn term. If preferred, and provided it is geographically feasible, one or more teams may play in groups adjacent to the local one but in this case they may be expected to play all their matches away from home in the local stage.
    3. At any time after completion of the local stage, if a lower (e.g. B or C) team has been eliminated players may transfer from this team to a higher one. But no player may transfer from a higher (e.g. A) team to a lower one; no player may change teams unless the team for which he last played has been eliminated; and no player may change teams before the local stage is completed.
  8. Local groups
    1. Teams will be placed in local groups by the League Organiser, who will indicate venues and playing schedules where appropriate.
    2. Groups will normally be of approximately equal size.
    3. Each team will play one match against each other team in its group; except that any pair of teams may by previous mutual agreement play two matches. (In this case, the League Organiser must be informed in advance. Points scored in the matches concerned will be halved.)
    4. If a school has more than one team in the same group, each of these teams must play all its “internal” matches, and send in the results, before playing any matches against other schools. The penalty for breaking this rule is the loss of any unplayed internal match by double default (no points for either side).
    5. If a team plays less than half its matches, all its results will be annulled.
    6. Points will be scored as follows:      Game points: one point for a game won, half point for a game drawn      Match points: one point for a match won, half point for a match drawn
    7. At the end of the local stage, teams will be placed in descending order of game points scored and, where game points are equal, in descending order of match points scored. The team placed first in each Area will be the Area Champion. In the event of a tie for first place, procedure will be indicated by the League Organiser.
    8. The Champion of each Area will proceed to the knock-out stage (or Primary Final Congress).
  9. The knock-out stage
    1. The draw for each round will be made by the League Organiser, who will indicate venues and the completion date for each round.
    2. In the event of a drawn match in the knock-out stage, the winner will be determined by board count; or, if this does not resolve the draw, by bottom board elimination. If both fail, see the last sentence of this rule.
      • Board count: Each side adds up the numbers of the boards on which it scored wins, and the team with the lower result is the winner. For example, a team with wins on boards 1 and 5 (=6) would beat a team with wins on boards 3 and 4 (=7).
      • Bottom board elimination (to be used only if board count does not resolve the draw): Eliminate the bottom board result. If game points are still equal after that, eliminate the next board up; and so on until a result is obtained.
      If every game in a match is drawn, the winner is the team which had black on board 1.
    3. The Primary Final Congress
      1. The venue for the Congress will be arranged by the League Organiser.
      2. Depending on the number of teams, the Congress will be either Swiss or all-play-all.
      3. Teams will be placed by game points and match points as in the local stage. Any tie for first place will be resolved as directed by the League Organiser.
      4. The Congress may at the League Organiser’s discretion be divided into two or more regional congresses, with the top team or teams from each congress proceeding to a Play-off for the title. In the case, the Play-off will be an all-play-all competition and teams will be placed by game points and match points as in the local stage.
MATCH RULES
  1. General
    1. Matches must be arranged and venues provided by schools themselves.
    2. The date and time of a match should always be confirmed in writing.
    3. It is essential to agree on a finishing time before a match begins. Unless otherwise agreed, the time allowed for a match will be:
           Senior, Under 16, Under 13: 2½ hours
           Primary: one hour
      Two hours (Primary, one hour) should be regarded as the absolute minimum.
    4. Before each match, captains must exchange team lists and then toss for colours. The team winning the toss will choose to take white on either the odd or the even numbered boards.
    5. A player absent at the time agreed for the start of a match is allowed 30 minutes’ grace. If he is still absent after that and no substitute is provided, he will lose his game by default.
    6. A substitute may be provided at any time during the 30 minute period of grace. He may not play on a lower board than that on which he would have played had he been a member of the original team.
    7. The result of each match, on the official score card, must be sent in by both sides without undue delay.
  2. Clocks
    In the Senior, Under 16 and Under 13 competitions, clocks should be used where available and any player providing a clock may insist on its use in his game. In the Primary competition, clocks may be used by mutual agreement.
  3. Matches without clocks
    If any game is unfinished at the time agreed for close of play, the two sides must agree a result. Note: A player who knows he is losing is expected to concede the game. If the two sides cannot agree a result they may settle the matter in any agreed way (for example, by playing some more moves, or by continuing the game at a later date). In the last resort the League Organiser will arbitrate, at either side’s request, but he will not award a win unless he considers the position to be very clear-cut.
  4. Quickplay (matches with clocks)
    Quickplay will always apply if clocks are used. Play will be in accordance with the FIDE quickplay finish rules, except where modified below. (Note that there will be no initial timecheck.) These rules presuppose the presence of an arbiter. If there is no arbiter the team captains are expected to act as joint arbiters, and if they disagree on a claim it will be rejected. Essential points:
    1. The time available for the match will be divided equally between the two players, and each must play all his moves before his flag falls.
    2. White’s clock will be started at the beginning of the match, assuming that at least one of the two players is present. If both are absent the clock will not be started until one of them arrives. The time remaining for the match will then be divided equally between the two players, and White’s clock will be started.
    3. A player must use the same hand for making his move and for stopping his clock.
    4. Illegal moves do not lose, until the third offence by the same player in the same game. For the first offence, and also the second, the opponent’s clock will be set back by two minutes.
    5. Provided that his flag has not fallen, a player with less than two minutes remaining may stop both clocks and claim a draw on the ground that either 1) the opponent is making no progress; or 2) the opponent’s position affords no reasonable winning chances. The arbiter may rule at once, or may postpone his decision until more moves have been played.
    6. No one may point out flag-fall except the opponent (or the player himself if he wishes). Until legally claimed, flag-fall is not deemed to have occurred. If flag-fall is claimed illegally by another member of the opponent’s side, the League Organiser may impose whatever penalty he thinks proper, extending even to loss of the game for the player whose flag has not fallen.
    7. In general, a player whose flag falls loses the game. Exceptions:
      1. If both flags are found to have fallen, the game is drawn.
      2. If the position is such that checkmate for the opponent is impossible, the game is drawn.
      3. If the player whose flag has fallen has previously claimed a draw under 14(e) above and the arbiter has postponed his decision, it is still open to the arbiter to uphold that claim and award a draw.
    Some of these rules are strict and schools may always agree to vary them if they think them too harsh for the players concerned. In particular, they might allow a player to claim under 14(e) even if his flag is down; and there is a lot of sense in allowing anyone to point out flag-fall. But in the absence of agreement to the contrary, the rules as set out above will stand.
  5. Laws of chess
    Players are expected to know the rules. However, the following points sometimes give rise to queries.
    1. Touched piece. If you deliberately touch an opponent’s piece with one of your own pieces, intending a capture, your opponent’s piece is considered to have been touched and the capture is obligatory.
    2. A legal move, once completed, cannot be taken back. A move is completed as soon as you have let go of the piece or pieces involved; the clock does not come into it.
    3. Advice. Obviously this is not allowed. However, the match captain may tell a player whether to offer, or accept, a draw. The match captain’s advice must be based purely on the state of the match as a whole, and in no way on the player’s position. If “Should I accept a draw?” means, “Can we afford to take half a point, or does the team need a win?”, then it is a legitimate question and you may answer. If it means, “Am I losing?”, it is not and you may not!
    4. Draws. The player to move can claim a draw if the same position, for both sides, has occurred at least three times during the game, with the same player to move each time; or if at least 50 consecutive moves have been played by each side without any captures or pawn moves. He can also claim if the move he is going to play will bring about this situation. There used to be 75-move and 100-move rules, but not any more.
    5. If clocks are in use, a player who makes an incorrect draw claim has his clock advanced by 3 minutes (or loses half his remaining time, if he has less than 6 minutes left); and the opponent is awarded an extra 3 minutes.
  6. Unplayed matches
    In general, a match not played by the stipulated date counts as a loss for both sides. In cases of special difficulty the League Organiser may allow a short extension of the time allowed.
         If a team is unable to arrange a match, the opponents will normally win by default. But this win will be registered only if claimed by sending in a score card, even if the defaulting team says it has withdrawn from the competition.
  7. Winning teams
    The winner of each competition will receive a trophy which must be returned to the League Organiser not later than the 31st March of the following year, or earlier upon request. The trophy will be suitably engraved at the expense of the Kent County Chess Association.
         Winning teams will also, at their request, be exempted from the local stage of the competition in the following year and proceed direct to the knock-out stage (or Primary Final Congress).
  8. Any question or dispute will be referred to the League Organiser.
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