The Greater Toronto Chess League

GTCL 2009/10 Club Competition
To promote interest and participation in chess at all levels for the purpose of increasing the popularity of the game, the Greater Toronto Chess League (GTCL) invites all Greater Toronto chess clubs participate in the Club Competition administrated by the Club Coordinator.

Competition Rules

1. Leagues

1.1. There shall be three competitions running concurrently:
Premier League,
Under 2000 League,
Cup Competition.

2. Teams

2.1. Each club can have multiple teams in the league.

2.2. Each club shall be responsible for providing a list of players for each team, who wish to take part in the league, sorted in order they will be seated during matches.

2.3. Each team shall consist of members from the same chess club.

2.4. All players must be members of the CFC.

2.5. A player can only be registered to play for one club, and on only one team in each
competition.

2.6. A player may transfer to another club only under exceptional circumstances, such as a player relocating to a new address or the player's club team ceasing to participate in the season. The club must notify the Club Coordinator of any additions to the club roster, with the new player inserted into the appropriate seeding slot, before the player takes part in any matches. If a player takes part in a match before the league has approved the transfer, the game(s) of that player shall be considered forfeited.

2.7. Each team should have a captain responsible for assembling his players for a match and reporting results to the Club Coordinator.

3. Appeal Committee

3.1. Before the season, a disciplinary committee of three members and three alternates shall be formed. This committee will be responsible for handing down decisions on complaints, player transfers, suspensions, and any other appropriate rulings that must be made.

3.2. An alternate(s) shall sit on the committee if the dispute involves the club(s) of a committee member(s). An alternate(s) can also be used if a committee member(s) is unavailable.

3.3. Clubs and team captains shall be notified of any rule changes at least seven days before they come into effect.

4. Matches

4.1. All games will be played under FIDE rules.

4.2. Each club must choose one or more nights available for home games to be scheduled.

4.3. Play should commence at 7:00 PM unless prior arrangements have been made between the team captains. In any case, play must start no later than 8:00 PM. If a team has not appeared by the scheduled match start time, the clocks can be started. If equipment is not available for a game(s) at the start of a match, the side responsible for providing the equipment will have
the elapsed time deducted from the appropriate game(s).

4.4. The home team is responsible for providing a play venue and informing the address to the opposing team captain no later than 48 hours before the game.

4.5. The home team is responsible for providing all equipment (boards, pieces, digital clocks, and scoresheets). Where equipment is not sufficiently provided within 30 minutes of the scheduled match start, the home team shall be forfeited in that game.

4.6. Any forfeits, whether due to insufficient equipment, or any other reason, shall start from the lowest board, proceeding on to the next lowest, etc.

4.7. All games must be concluded in a single evening of play. Where exceptional circumstances occur requiring a match to be abandoned, any games not yet completed shall be replayed in their entirety at a later date.

4.8. If a postponement is required in advance, the team captain requiring the postponement must contact the opposing team captain with his request no later than 48 hours before the match is scheduled to start, unless the postponement is required due to
bad weather, in which case the notice period is three hours. If a postponement is requested after this, the opposing team captain can still agree to the postponement or may require the requesting team to forfeit the match. Both captains should notify the
Club Coordinator of the rescheduled date.

4.9. All game results will be submitted to the CFC for rating purposes at the end of the season.

5. Premier League

5.1. If the league consists of seven or fewer teams, a double round-robin shall be played. If the league consists of more than seven teams, a single round-robin shall be played.

5.2. Each match will consist of four individual games.

5.3. All games will be played at a time control of G/60 min. + 30 sec. per move.

5.4. The home team shall have white pieces on the even numbered boards.

5.5. If a player scheduled to play does not appear, an eligible alternate can be substituted after 30 minutes have elapsed, but the clock will not be adjusted (i.e., the alternate will play at an effective time control of G/30 min. + 30 sec. per move). If no suitable alternate is available, the game is forfeited. If both teams require an alternate for the same game, each player shall have 15 minutes subtracted from his clock (i.e., the effective time control will be G/45 min. + 30 sec. per move for both players).

5.6. A match win shall be worth two points, a draw worth one point and a loss worth zero points.

5.7. The league champions will be the team in with the most points at the end of the season. In the event of a tie, the game results for the season shall be used. If there is still a tie, the head to head result(s) shall be considered, first based on match results and then on game scores. If there is still a tie, the lowest board(s) shall be removed from the head-to-head match(es) and the results shall be recalculated. If this does not break the tie, the next lowest board(s) shall be removed, etc. In the unlikely event that the tie cannot be broken in this manner, a head-tohead match shall be played to determine the champion.

6. Under 2000 League

6.1. The Under 2000 League uses the same rules as the Premier League.

6.2. All players in the Under 2000 League must have a CFC rating below 2000 at the start of the year's competition on October 1st of that year.

7. Cup Competition

7.1. The cup shall consist of a head-to-head knockout format (KO, i.e., the winning team continues on, the losing team is eliminated).

7.2. The matches shall be determined by a random placing of teams into the KO grid before the first round. The previous year finalists are placed in such way, that they may meet only in the final.

7.3. Each match will consist of sixteen individual games – four rounds of four games played on scheveningen system – each of four players on visitor team will play each of four players on home team.

7.4. All games will be played at a time control of G/15 min. + 5 sec. per move.

7.5. The home team shall have black pieces on all boards in the odd numbered rounds and white pieces on all boards in the even numbered rounds.

7.6. If a match is drawn, the games played by the lowest board player on each team shall be removed and the results shall be recalculated. If this does not break the tie, the next lowest board players shall be removed, etc. In the unlikely event that the tie cannot be broken in this manner, a return match shall be played with the teams switching the role of home and visitor.

7.7. The cup winner shall be the team that wins in the final match of the competition.

8. Procedural Notes

8.1. Player Ratings: The players have been rated according to a download of the rating list from the CFC website on October 1. If a new player to be added is not on this list, the rating used will be the player's current rating on the CFC website. Unrated  players should have an estimated rating assigned by the team captain.

8.2. Adding a Player to the List of Eligible Players: If a club wishes to add a new player to its list of eligible players, the player's name and, ideally, CFC number should be sent to the Club Coordinator. This should be done a minimum of 48 weekday hours (i.e., do not include weekend hours in this total) prior to the player's participation in a match to ensure enough time to verify the player's eligibility. Verification of eligibility will become effective once an e-mail or telephone contact has been made with the requesting club. Players are not eligible to participate in the club competition until this confirmation has been received by the requesting club - do not assume that a player is eligible just because the request was made. Forfeited games due to an ineligible player will not be rated, unless the ineligible player loses the game.

8.3. Notification of Request to Delay a Match: If a match must be delayed, contact should be made with the opposing team captain to request a delay. Regardless of whether this contact has been made, the Club Coordinator should also be notified of the request. In the event of any dispute over whether the request was sent prior to the notification times outlined in rule 19, the time that the Club Coordinator was notified of the request shall be used as the official request time. No team captain is obliged to accept a request for a delay, even if the request is made in advance of the required notification period. If a match delay is agreed, both team
captains should notify the Club Coordinator of the rescheduled match date.

8.4. Forfeiting a Match: If a team must forfeit a match, the score will be taken as a 4-0 defeat for the forfeiting team. After two forfeits the team is excluded from the competition.

8.5. Notification of Match Result: Both team captains should notify the Club Coordinator of the result of a match no later than 72 hours after the commencement of the match. The results should be reported for each game, with a total match score also reported.

8.6.  Scoresheets: The captains are encouraged to collect game scoresheets and send/provide them as hard copies or in a electronic format to the Club Coordinator.

8.7. The Club Coordinator publishes all competitions results on the GTCL webpage: www.torontochess.org and announces them elsewhere.