ENGLISH COUNTIES GIRLS CHESS FEDERATION
INTER-COUNTY UNDER 14 CHAMPIONSHIP: RULES
Revised 31.08.03. These will apply until the end of the 2003-2004 Season

1 The Inter-County Under 14 Championship shall be under the day-to-day control of the ECGCF Organiser or his representative.

2 The Championship shall be open to teams representing any of the Real Counties of England. Only one entry per County will be accepted. Entries shall reach the Organiser at least one week before the date of any Regional or Final Jamboree.

3 Except as otherwise provided by these Rules, play shall be in accordance with the FIDE Laws of Chess.

4 Teams shall be of six players, and shall represent one of the Real Counties of England; however, the Organiser at his discretion may admit teams representing Wales, Scotland or Ireland.

5 Eligibility of players

(a) No player may represent more than one County in the course of a season.

(b) All players shall be females under 14 years of age on the 31st August of the year in which the competition begins.

(c) All players must be eligible to play for the Real County they represent. This means that they must have been born, or must presently reside, within the borders of that County as existing on 1 January 1962. However, a player who resides, or was born in, in an area which on that date formed part of one County, but is now under the administration of another Real County, may represent either one of these Counties at her own discretion. The term ‘Real County’ means one of the 40 traditional Counties of England, as recognised by the Association of British Counties.

(d) Penalties
For each game played by an ineligible player in a match the penalty shall be loss of the game and the deduction of one half penalty point from the resulting total of game points scored by the team in that match.

6 The Competition has two stages:

(a) The Regional stage

(b) The Finals

7 GENERAL

(a) The Organiser shall divide the Counties into Regional Groups of between two and seven Counties. The team placed first in each Regional Group shall proceed to the Grand Final. The team placed second shall proceed to the Minor final. However, the Organiser shall have the discretion to admit more than one team from any Regional group to either Final, provided he is satisfied that the standards in the Final/s shall not be adversely affected thereby.

(b) For each Regional Group, the Organiser shall arrange a match (if only two teams) or Jamboree (if three to seven teams) between the teams in that Regional Group. This event shall consist of three rounds played at a time control of 50 minutes per person per game. Digital clocks shall be used provided they are available. However, in extreme circumstances, the Organiser shall have the discretion to limit the jamboree or match to two rounds only, and to shorten the time control to 40 minutes per person per game.

(c) The six players in a team must be arranged in order of decreasing strength, which means BCF standard-play grade +/- 10 units. Thus for example, a player graded 140 may play above one graded 150, but not above one graded 151. Grades refer to those published in the August prior to the commencement of any season.

(d) Substitution of players in teams is discouraged. However, it may take place as below:

(i)Substitution of players may take place at any time because of sickness or unwillingness to continue. The substitute must play on the board vacated, the remainder of the order to remain unchanged. Any player so substituted may not return to play except as provided in (ii) below.

(ii)Otherwise, substitution at will may take place, on Boards 5 and 6 only, in any team, provided the Controller is notified 30 minutes before the beginning of any round. Players must be placed in order of strength as defined in (c) above.

(e) Arrangement of fixtures. The Organiser or his representative shall consult with Team Managers within any Region to organise a suitable date and venue for the Regional Jamboree or match. For each such fixture it shall be the Organiser’s responsibility to inform all Team Managers, not later than four weeks before the event, of the location of the venue, giving travel directions and all other necessary information.

(f) Defaults. A defaulted game shall count as lost for the defaulting side.

(g) If the Organiser is not present at an event, the result of each match shall be sent to him by the person acting as Controller, so as to reach him within one week of the event.

(h) Ranking of teams.

(1) Teams shall score 1 point for a game won, half point for a game drawn.

(2) At the end of each fixture, teams shall be placed in descending order of points scored.

(3) Where points are equal, teams shall be placed in descending order using in order(1) Board count, (2) progressive elimination of lower boards, (3) results of individual games between the teams concerned, until an order is produced. If the teams still cannot be separated, lots will be drawn to determine the order.

(4) The Trophy shall be won by the team placed first in order as in (2) or (3). The Trophy shall be held by the winning team for one year and shall be suitably inscribed at the holder’s expense.
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8 JAMBOREE RULES

(a) 48 hours before play begins, Managers shall submit team lists to the Organiser, including any reserves, arranged in descending order of known current playing strength. If a list includes defaults, these shall be on the lowest boards. Team lists should prerably be submitted by email.

(c) 30 minutes before play is due to begin, match captains shall draw lots for letters in the Jamboree pairing which the Organiser will display.

(d) A player who has not arrived within 30 minutes of the start of a round shall lose her game by default unless a substitute is provided. A substitute must play on the board otherwise defaulted.

(f) Players are required to keep score until they have less than five minutes remaining on their clock.

(g)Each player has 50 minutes for all moves. Quickplay finish rules shall apply, but the Controller will intervene on flag fall.

9 THE FINALS

(a) There are two Finals, to be known as the Grand Final and the Minor Final respectively. The Counties invited to the Finals shall be as in 7(a) above. The Organiser may, at his discretion, invite to the Minor Final any County which for various reasons was unable to participate in the Regional stage, provided he is satisfied that the standards of this Final will not materially suffer as a result of this action.

(b) Arrangements for playing the Finals shall be made by the Organiser, and the general rules and arrangements shall be as (7) and (8) above.

10 The winner of the Grand Final shall hold the ECGCF Grand Cup for one year. The winner of the Minor final shall hold the ECGCF Petit Coup for one year. Each of these Trophies shall be suitably inscribed at the holder’s expense.