WCCC Rules

Austin Lockwood Thursday, February 9, 2017

Eligibility

The WCCC is open to all players who are registered to play under the Welsh flag in the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF); eligibility criteria for playing under the Welsh flag are displayed on the WCCF website.

Tournament Structure

The WCCC will be started in alternate years.

There will be:

one championship section, having between seven and eleven competitors (as determined by the organising committee);
one or more qualification sections, where possible, each having between seven and eleven competitors.

The winner and runner up of the previous championship section and the winner of each of the previous qualification sections will be guaranteed a place in the following championship section (qualifications do not carry and are valid for the following championship only).

All other places will be allocated strictly based on rating valid at the start of the tournament. A player’s rating will be taken as their current ICCF rating; if they have no ICCF rating then their current FIDE rating will be taken into account; if they have no ICCF or FIDE rating, then their current WCU rating will be taken into account.

Competitors will play one game against each of the other competitors in their section. All games will be rated by ICCF and played on the ICCF webserver. All ICCF rules current at the start of the tournament will apply.

The tournament duration will be exactly two years of playing time. The time control will be the standard ICCF time control of 10 moves in 40 days with duplication after 20 days; 45 days of leave will be available per calendar year, play will be allowed to continue beyond the end date unless there is a need to send particular games for adjudication to resolve promotion or relegation issues. Standard ICCF procedures will be used for adjudication.

Prizes

Championship Section

Cash prizes may be available through sponsorship.

Ties will be broken using the standard ICCF Baumbach tie break, followed by Sonneborn-Berger; if there is still a tie for first place, the lower rated player will be considered outright champion.

The winner of the Championship section will receive an engraved trophy for retention and will be awarded the title of “Welsh CC Master”.

The WCCC is a qualifying event for the British Correspondence Chess Championship (BCCC); the winner of the championship section will receive an automatic nomination to the final of the BCCC, provided their ICCF rating valid at the start of the following BCCC is within the threshold set by the organising committee (currently 2,300 or above). This nomination must be used for the immediately following British Championship, the qualification will not carry forward. The qualifying player must pay his own entry fee to the BCCC final.

Each player finishing in the top three places of the championship section will receive a nomination to play in an ICCF master norm tournament (ref ICCF Tournament Rules 4.3d). The qualifying players must pay their own entry fees to the master norm tournaments entered.