British Correspondence Chess Championship Rules

Austin Lockwood  Wednesday, June 4, 2025

The individual correspondence chess championship of the United Kingdom will be known as the British Correspondence Chess Championship ("the Championship").

Introduction

The correspondence chess federations of England, Scotland and Wales will appoint a tri-federation committee (“the Committee”), comprising one delegate from each of the three federations, plus the tournament organiser. The committee will be responsible for the general supervision of the Championship and for the selection of players from entrants subject to the provisions hereinafter contained.

The Committee will appoint a tournament organiser by the first of May in each calendar year, to organise and run the tournament.  The tournament organiser will form part of the committee for consultation only and will not vote unless he or she is also a nominated delegate.

The tournament organiser will coordinate the preparation and release of appropriate materials to promote the tournament.

The championship will be open to any player who plays under the flag of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, a Crown Dependency or a British Overseas Territory in ICCF.

Sections

There will be:

• one Championship Section
• one Candidates Sections
• one or more Reserve Sections

All sections will be between eleven and fifteen players unless decided otherwise by the Committee.

Competitors will play one game against each of the other competitors in the section.

All sections will commence, and finish play within 22 months and 12 days of the start date (1st October – 12th August).

The following rules will apply unless the Committee decides that special circumstances justify an alteration. The ICCF rating list (current at time of start of the event) will be used to rank the players in order and place them into sections appropriate to their rating.

Championship Section

The following will be allocated to the Championship Section:

1. The winners and runners-up of the candidate’s section of the previous tournament, provided they have a positive score. This entry cannot be deferred and must be used in the following season, or it is void.
2. The participants in the previous or ongoing Championship who finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th who have scored at least +2 (i.e. 8 points in a 15-player final, 7 points in a 13-player final, or 6 points in a 11-player Final
3. All other players in rating order, with the exception that the organisers may select lower rated players to meet the ICCF criteria of an international title tournament.

Candidates Section

The following will be allocated to the Candidate’s Section:

1. The winner and runner up of each previous Reserve Section will be entitled to enter a Candidates' Section, provided they have achieved a positive score.
2. The players who finished 3rd and 4th in the previous Candidates Section will be entitled to enter the Candidates Section, provided they have achieved a positive score.
3. The players who scored at least -1 (i.e. 6.5 points in a 15-player Final; or 5.5 points in a 13-player Final; or 4.5 points in an 11-player Final) in the previous or ongoing final will be entitled to enter a Candidates Section.
4. All other players in rating order, with the exception that the organisers may select lower rated players to meet the ICCF criteria of an international title tournament.

Reserve Sections

The number of Reserve Sections will be increased as necessary to include all who wish to participate.

General Rules

The tournament organiser will receive entries with entry fee by 1st September of each year.  Play will commence on 1st October, and the adjudication date will be August 12th of the second year following. The ICCF adjudication procedure will be used to determine the outcome of unfinished games.

All sections of the competition will be played via the ICCF website. The ICCF web server playing rules current at the start of the competition will apply.

1The time control for all sections will be 40 days for each 10 moves, with time doubling after 20 days.  Agreed draws before move 25 will not be possible.  

The amount of leave for all sections will be 28 days per calendar year.

The award of any prize money, or the title of British Champion, requires a positive score to be valid.

If necessary, the tournament organiser may set up further tie-breaking procedures.  These procedures will be indicated in the start list at the latest.  If players are still tied after all relevant tie-breaking procedures have been used, the players will be considered equal.

Any matters concerning the organisation and running of the tournament not covered in these rules or the ICCF Playing Rules will be decided at the discretion of the Committee.

Competitors may appeal against decisions of the tournament director to using the ICCF appeals procedure.

Any player who defaults one or more games in a season of the BCCC, regardless of division, maximum entry eligibility the following season will be in next lower division or lowest division, regardless of any other eligibility

The Committee reserves the right to decline an entry or entries; no entry will be declined without a valid reason being given to the player concerned.

These rules will apply from the 2025/27 Season