GENERAL RULES
(amended following the 2024 A.G.M)
1. NAME - The name of the League shall be the “South East Lancashire Summer Chess League”
2. OBJECTS - The objects of the League shall be the encouragement and promotion of chess in the district by inter-club play during the summer months and promotion of chess generally
3. MANAGEMENT - The business of the League shall be conducted by a Committee consisting of a President, General Secretary, League Secretary, Registration Secretary and Treasurer and not more than four other members elected by the Annual General Meeting. A quorum shall be three.
4. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
4.1. The Annual General Meeting shall be held before the end of April and every club which has applied for membership shall be entitled to send one representative per team. Only representatives of those clubs in membership the previous year shall be entitled to vote. The General Secretary shall give 14 days' notice of the actual date to those concerned.
4.2. Any motion or amendment to these rules shall be notified in writing to the General Secretary by 1st March preceding the AGM and no alteration or addition to these rules shall be made except at a General Meeting and with the approval of a majority of those entitled to vote.
4.3. A quorum shall consist of seven or 50% of those entitled to vote whichever is the lesser number
5. SPECIAL MEETING
The General Secretary shall call a Special General Meeting at the direction of the Committee or at the joint request of at least three league clubs stating the reason for such. The General Secretary shall give at least 14 days notice to all clubs with a quorum as in Rule 4.3 above.
6. ENTRIES
6.1. The entry fee per team shall be as decided at the AGM. The
closing date for entries shall be the date of the AGM and any entries
after this date shall not be accepted except at the discretion of the
Committee. Fees shall accompany entries. An
additional penalty of 50p per team shall become payable on the
withdrawal of any team from the League after the date of the AGM.
6.2. All matches shall be played between 1 May and 30 September or within one week of those dates. Fixtures shall be arranged by the Committee or any of its Officers as may be delegated by the AGM.
6.3. The Annual General Meeting shall decide the number and composition of the Divisions
7. TEAM LISTS
7.1. Each Club shall forward to the General Secretary at the time of application to the League a list of intending players in order of playing strength. The list need not be in strict rating order, but no player may appear above any other player whose rating is more than 100 points greater than their own.
7.2. All registered players must be ECF members if they play more than 3 games in the Summer League. This will be reviewed by the Results/Registrations Secretary at the end of the season, and each player who plays more than 3 games and is not an ECF member will require the prevailing ECF Bronze membership fee to be paid by the player's club to the League.
7.3. No players shall be registered for more than one club. Unregistered players shall be defaulted. Additions to the list during the season shall be bracketed with a player(s) of approximately equal strength, but the order may not be altered.
7.4. Where clubs have more than one team in the League (whether
or not they are in the same division) players number
1-4 shall be eligible for the first team only. If
the club has its first and second teams in the same division, then
players number 1-6
shall be eligible for the first team only. Players
number 5-10 The
next group of six players (or 5-8
four players
if the second
team is in a division with 4
players per team) shall be eligible for the first and second
teams only and so on for each successive group of six (or four for
teams in a division with 4
players per team) throughout the list. Contravention of this
may result in the Results/Registrations Secretary defaulting games
played by the ineligible player(s).
7.5. The records of teams who obtain an unfair advantage by the registration of non-players shall be reviewed by the Committee not later than the following 31st October. A non-player is a player who has not participated in a League or Cup match for that club during the summer season and an unfair advantage means that but for such registration Rule 7.3 or 7.4 would have been contravened. The Results/Registrations Secretary may default games played by any player who is ineligible by reason of the registration of non-player(s), and the League tables will be revised accordingly.
8. MATCH ARRANGEMENTS
8.1. Each match shall be arranged for teams of six players except for the lowest division which shall have teams of four players. The normal starting time shall be 7.30pm (unless mutually agreed otherwise) when clocks may be started. A player shall be defaulted at 8.00pm. Reserves may be substituted up to 8.00pm but clocks shall not be restarted.
8.2. Players need not be played in strict rating order, but no player may play on a higher board than any player in the same team who has a rating more than 100 points higher than him/herself. Contravention of this may result in the Results/Registrations Secretary defaulting games played by the higher rated player(s).
8.3. There shall be no adjournments. The rate of play shall be all moves in 80 minutes plus a 15 second increment starting at move 1. The home team must ensure that sufficient working digital clocks are available for the match. The home team will be penalised by the loss of each game for which a digital clock is not available.
In exceptional
circumstances, if the home team anticipates that it will not have
enough digital clocks for all boards, then it must give a minimum of
10 days' notice to the visiting team, in which case the visiting team
will have the option to bring their own digital clocks to make up the
shortfall. If they do not take up this option then the home team may
use analogue clocks to make up the shortfall. On boards where
analogue clocks are used the rate of play shall be all moves in 90
minutes, and FIDE Guidelines III (Games without increment including
Quickplay Finishes) shall apply. Home teams who do not give the
required notice may, at the Results Secretary's discretion, be
penalised by the loss of each game for which a digital clock is not
available.
8.4. The away team shall take white on odd boards
8.5. Games will be submitted to the ECF for rating. Where a game has been defaulted under rules 7.3, 7.4, 7.5 or 8.2, the actual over-the-board result of the game will still be submitted for rating.
9. COMPOSITION OF DIVISIONS
9.1. The number of teams in each division shall be decided by the AGM.
9.2. The team finishing at the bottom of a division shall normally be relegated to the next lower division. The team finishing at the top of that lower division shall have the right of promotion.
9.3. Final composition of divisions as decided by the AGM may also take into account the playing strength of teams which shall be determined by the latest ratings supplied on lists of registered players.
10. DETERMINATION OF LEAGUE POSITIONS
10.1 League positions will be determined by match points, with teams receiving 2 match points for winning a match, and 1 for a draw.
10.2 Teams tied on match points will be ordered by game points difference ('Games For' minus 'Games Against')
10.3 Teams tied on game points difference will be ordered by game points ('Games For')
10.4 Teams which are still tied will be ordered according to the individual result(s) between those teams
11. POSTPONEMENTS
A match may be postponed either:
11.1. If the captains of the teams concerned agree on a new date within rule 6.2 above and notify the League Secretary, or
11.2. At the request of one club to the League Secretary provided that at least 10 days' notice is given and there is sufficient reason for the postponement
12. NOTIFICATION
The result of each match shall within 2 days of the match be forwarded to the League Secretary by email by both captains.
13. TROPHIES
The League shall provide five trophies to be played for each year: A. Yates (A Division), G. Weller (B Division), Small & Parkes (C Division), Fred Haines (D Division), J. Nicholson (E Division). Trophies shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting and shall be returned to the President by 1 March of the following year for engraving.
14. INTERPRETATION
All disputes shall be referred to the Committee whose decision is final.
15. Rules for the SELSCL Knock-out competition
15.1. The name of the cup shall be the “Alan Yarker Cup”
15.2. Any club which is a member of the league is entitled to participate in the Cup
15.3. All Clubs wishing to participate in the Competition shall let the Cup Organiser know of their intentions at or before the AGM.
15.4. The Competition is open to only one team per Club.
15.5. A team shall consist of 6 players
15.6. The time control shall be the same as for League matches.
15.7. The Cup Organiser will allocate an open draw for each round.
15.8. The Cup Organiser will attempt to allocate alternative home & away draws for each Club as they progress (wherever this is possible). Where this is not possible, the Cup Organiser will attempt to equalise the number of home & away games for each club. If both clubs have equal entitlement to a home tie, the club drawn first in the initial draw shall be the home team.
15.9. No player may play in the semi-final nor the final of the competition if they have not played for the same club in either the Stockport, Manchester or Summer Leagues in the present or previous season.
15.10. Matches must be played on the day allocated, a postponement may only be allowed if the Cup Organiser has been informed.
15.11. For each round, winners are determined in the following order:-
15.11.1. Those who win under normal rules
15.11.2. Board count is used when the result is a draw.
15.11.3. If Board Count does not produce a result, eliminate boards from the bottom board upwards until a result is obtained.
15.11.4. A toss of a coin
15.12. All results are to be sent to the Cup Organiser within one week of the match being played.
15.13. Colours shall be decided on the toss of a coin.