Bournemouth & District League Rules

The B&DCL Constitution and Rules shown below are also available in PDF format:
BDCL-Constitution-and-Rules-July-2024.pdf

—————————————————————————————————–

BOURNEMOUTH & DISTRICT CHESS LEAGUE CONSTITUTION and LEAGUE CLUB TOURNAMENT RULES

Date: July 2024.

A CONSTITUTION

1 Constitution

The League shall be an association of member clubs situated within the boundaries of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. Membership may also be accepted from clubs outside this area subject to the approval of the General Committee and subject to such extra conditions as the General Committee may prescribe.

2 Objects

The object of the League shall be the encouragement of chess in the district and the organisation of such tournaments and events as shall be agreed by the AGM or initiated by the General Committee.

3 Membership

Membership shall be confined to clubs which pay their team fees when due and which agree to abide by the rules of the League.

4 Annual General Meeting

The AGM shall be held not later than 30th June and at least four weeks’ notice shall be given of the date. The Agenda shall be sent to Club Secretaries at least one week before the date of the meeting.

All players currently registered to play in the league under League Tournament Rule 3g are entitled to vote on all matters of ordinary business (including proposals to amend the League Tournament Rules) i.e. on all business other than a proposal to amend the Constitution.

For proposals to amend the Constitution, each club is entitled to one vote plus one additional vote for each team of the club which completed play in any Division of the League in the playing season immediately preceding the Annual General Meeting. Votes are to be cast by one representatives per club.

NB The League Tournament Rules do not apply to the Bacchus League, and therefore participation in the Bacchus League does not carry an entitlement to a vote, either individual or club.

5 Amendments to the Constitution and League Tournament Rules

Amendments to the Constitution and Rules can be made only at the AGM, and proposed amendments must be notified to the League Secretary not later than two weeks before the date of the meeting for inclusion in the Agenda.

Amendments to the Constitution may be carried only by attracting at least two-thirds of the votes cast.

Amendments to the League Tournament Rules may be carried by a simple majority of votes cast.

6 Management

Management of the League shall be by a General Committee composed of Officers and members elected at the AGM. The Committee shall manage the affairs of the League in accordance with the League’s Constitution and Rules and its decisions at the AGM. The Committee shall meet at least twice every season. Committee meetings shall be convened by the Secretary if requested by 3 members of the Committee. A quorum shall be four.

7 Subscriptions

The annual team fees shall be decided at the AGM each year and paid to the Treasurer at the time when the club notifies the Tournament Controller of the number of teams it wishes to enter in the Tournament. Individual membership of players to the ECF is not a condition for participation in the League’s activities.

8 Officers

The Officers shall be the President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Junior Chess Officer, League Controller, Webmaster and Rating Officer. Any Officer or member elected / appointed to serve on the League Management Committee will declare any pecuniary or other conflict of interest they consider they may have, to the League Chairman and Secretary, in writing, within the sooner of 28 days of the date upon which the AGM is held or of the pecuniary interest / other conflict of interest arising.

Failure to declare any such interests will disbar that person from serving upon the League Management Committee. A Committee member must declare any pecuniary or other conflict of interests they may have with respect to any specific agenda item, as they arise and will not be allowed to discuss or vote on such matters.

NOTE: A pecuniary interest is one which may allow a person elected / appointed to the League Management Committee, their spouse, relatives or friends, from making a financial gain as a consequence of them serving on the Committee.

9 Laws of Chess

The Laws of Chess as authorised by FIDE and current at the preceding AGM shall apply within the League, except where explicitly varied by the AGM.

10 Control of Tournaments

Each Tournament run under the auspices of the League shall be controlled by an appointed Controller, who shall have the authority to make whatever arrangements are necessary for the proper conduct of that tournament and shall report on his or her conduct of the tournament to the League Committee.

11 League Trophies

The League trophies shall be the property of the league and shall be awarded annually. The secretary of each winning club or the individual winner of a trophy shall be responsible for the trophy during the time it is in their possession and shall deliver the trophy to the League Secretary when requested. Recompense may be sought for any damage or loss.

12 Disposal of Assets

In the event of the dissolution of the League, all assets shall be transferred to the Dorset County Chess Association to be held in trust for 2 years pending any re-formation of the League and thereafter shall be disposed of by that Association if the League is not re-formed.

 

B LEAGUE CLUB TOURNAMENT RULES

1 Tournament entries

a) Each club is required to send to the League Tournament Controller not later than a date nominated by him or her each year the number of teams it wishes to enter together with an indication of preferred divisions [but see also Rule 4a)].

b) Each club is required to send to the League Tournament Controller, not later than one week before the start of the playing season, the name, e-mail address and telephone number of each of the club’s team captains for the season.

c) All clubs are required to maintain on the Dorset Chess web-site the club venue and club night and starting time of matches, and ensure that the League Secretary is appraised of the up-to-date name, e-mail address and telephone number of the club secretary.

2 Player lists

a) Each club secretary is required to send to the League Controller, not later than one week before the start of the playing season, a list of all its club members who are expected to play in the League Tournament.

b) The list should place the players in order of playing strength, based on published ratings or on an estimated (local) rating for players without an ECF A or K rating; if the latter, a justification for the rating should be provided. The final decision on local ratings rests with the League Controller.

c) Clubs may register additional players during the course of the season by notifying the League Tournament Controller. [See Rule 3g below regarding eligibility.]

d) Entirely separately from Rule 2c above, club secretaries are required to ensure that all participating players are included in the list of Club players on LMS, thereby automatically effecting registration with the ECF for rating purposes.

e) Clubs should encourage individual membership of the ECF, and remain responsible for any fee raised by the ECF at the end of the season for any players who have played at least four rated games during the course of the season and are not ECF members. The fee is equivalent to the annual fee for an ECF Bronze member, and the B&DCL Treasurer will invoice the clubs involved with any such fee levied by the ECF on the B&DCL

3 Eligibility

a) Club secretaries are required to allocate players included in club lists submitted as in Rule 2 to Divisions of the Tournament in order of strength as per that year’s September ECF rating list, subject to an overlap of 75 rating points being allowed, as follows:

b) For each team, a minimum of four players are to be allocated.

c) No player allocated to any division shall exceed by more than 75 ECF rating points any player nominated by the player’s club to a higher Division.

d1) Players may not play in a Division lower than that to which they are allocated in any one season. However, they may play in a higher team as a “Reserve”, and on each occasion, this uses a “Reserve Place” for that team.

d2) The number of Reserve Places a team can use during the season is according to the number of matches to be played – e.g. 10 league matches = 10 Reserve Places, 12 league matches = 12 Reserve places and so on. Teams cannot exceed their maximum Reserve Places at any stage of the season, and to remedy this, they will have to immediately re-allocate a player from a lower team to that higher team. If this particular player has played games for the higher team in the season, then those games are taken off the accumulated Reserve Places used at that point in time by the team.

e) Any player allocated to a team who does not play in any of the first four matches of that team will be replaced as an allocated player by the League Tournament Controller at his or her discretion by a player from a lower team.

f) Players may not play for more than one club or for more than one team in any Division in any one season, except that the League Tournament Controller has discretion to authorise a Bacchus League player to play for another club in the main divisions at any time of the season.

g) Players are eligible to play in matches if they are registered in accordance with Rule 2 or if their names have been included in the B&DCL Player Allocation file which is posted on the B&DCL Captains page on the Saturday prior to the match taking place. It is expected that club secretaries will also add the names of new players to the LMS records, but such action is in addition to, and not as a substitute for, registration with the League Tournament Controller.

h) In the event of an ineligible player playing in a League match, the outcome of the game will be reported (i) for rating purposes as it stands; (ii) for League purposes, (iia) any point or half point gained by the ineligible player will be deducted automatically from the team’s score for that match; and in the event of a repeat offence (iib) an additional one point will be deducted automatically from the team’s score for that match.”

4 Divisions and matches

a) The League will be divided into one or more Divisions consisting normally of 6 teams, apart from the lowest Division, with the final structure of the number of Divisions and the number of matches to be played being decided by the League Tournament Controller after taking into consideration Rule 1a) and Rule 12, unless the AGM decides otherwise. Subject to this, each team will play at least one match against each other team in the same Division.

b) Each team is to comprise 4 players, with each player playing one game against his or her opponent. The home team is to have white on Boards 2 and 4. A won game scores 1 point, a draw scores 1/2 point, and a loss 0. The team with the higher aggregate score wins the match.

c) A won match scores 2 points, a draw 1 point and a loss 0 points. If a match is agreed a draw without a game being played then no points will be awarded to either side.

d) At the end of the season, the team with the most match points in each Division will be declared the winner of the relevant Division for that year. In the event of two teams tying for first place in any Division, the following will apply until a clear winner has been identified: (i) game points difference; (ii) game points total; (iii) a tie-break match; (iv) If the tie-break match is a draw then the elimination rule will be used whereby the scores of each board are eliminated from the bottom in succession until a winner has been identified.

 5 Fixtures

a) Matches are to be played on the dates set by the League Controller and published in the league fixture lists at the commencement of the season.

b) In the event of a match not being played on the set date, the match will be defaulted by both teams. However, in wholly exceptional circumstances arising from uncontrollable external events, a club secretary or team captain may apply before the scheduled date of the match directly to the League Tournament Controller for a postponement. Any such decision will be made at the sole discretion of the League Tournament Controller, normally after consulting with the opposing team. Matches postponed without such permission will be defaulted automatically as above.

c) In the event of a postponement being approved, the team requesting the postponement is required to nominate a replacement date and agree this with the opposing team within seven days of the original fixture. In default of agreement, the League Tournament Controller will decide upon a replacement date at as early a date within the season’s calendar as is practicable.

6 Exchange of team lists

a) Before the start of each match, team lists detailing player names and the ECF ratings in the form of match result cards must be exchanged between the team captains, who are jointly and individually responsible for the accuracy of all the details thereon. Players must be listed in the order of the ECF September ratings list subject to any local ratings that may have been agreed under Rule 2, except that an overlap of up to 100 rating points between any two players may be permitted.

b) If captains do not identify errors at this stage and the match commences, then such errors cannot be corrected retrospectively and all individual results are allowed to stand with no team penalty.

7 Time of matches

a) Matches will normally start at 7.30 p.m. and be played on the same night

b) A game is forfeit by a player who arrives without notice 30 minutes or more after the start of play.

c) Any eligible player may be substituted for an absent player before 30 minutes have elapsed, subject to the 100 rating points condition. However, the two captains may agree to waive the 100 ratings points rule in the event of extenuating circumstances.

8 Use of clocks

a) Clocks must be used in all games, and it is the responsibility of the home club to provide these.

b) Any player has the right to provide and use a clock for any game should the home club fail to do so.

9 Time Controls

a) Time Increments are to be used in matches in all Divisions on the basis of each player having 1 hour + 30 seconds a move, except that there is an option in the case of a visually impaired player to provide for an increase in the time allocation for each player to 1 hour + 45 seconds a move for games involving the use of braille boards. The “2-minute rule” does not apply. All moves must be recorded.

b) However, a Quickplay finish game should be adopted – with a time control of 35 moves in an hour and a quarter with a 15 minute quickplay finish, clocks being set back 15 minutes after Black’s 35th move – if either: (i) the home team does not have digital clocks available and the away team is unable to provide them; or (ii) the home club must vacate the venue at a time which will not accommodate the potentially longer games created by the use of time increments. A Quickplay finish game cannot be adjourned.

c) In accordance with current FIDE rules for Quickplay finishes, a player with less than 2 minutes left on his or her clock may claim a draw if the opponent is making no effort to win the game by normal means, or it is not possible to win the game by normal means. Both team captains would be required to arbitrate.

10 Mobile Phones

a) If during a game a player’s mobile phone produces a sound, that player must make the device silent and be advised that in the event of a repeat incident, unless both players agree otherwise, he or she will forfeit the game to the opponent win unless the opponent cannot win by any series of legal moves, in which case the game will be a draw.

b) However, if a player is required to have a mobile phone turned on during a game, for example e.g. for health or work reasons, he or she must notify both captains and the opponent prior to the commencement of the game.

11 Notification of Results

Match result cards should be completed and signed by both captains, and then retained by the home captain in case of subsequent queries. The match result should be entered on LMS by the captain of the home team within 24 hours, and verified by the opposing team captain.

12 Promotion and relegation

The champion team of each Division (excepting Division 1) will be invited to be promoted to the next higher Division, replacing the lowest placed team in the relevant Division. Rule 4(d) may be also applied for relegation. However, Rule 4(a) has precedence for the final decision concerning the composition of the League in any future season.

13 Disputes

a) Match night

In the case of disputes, in the first instance the captains of the respective teams are requested to jointly fulfil the role of arbiter. In the event of the captains being unavailable, the players involved must attempt to resolve the dispute. If a dispute cannot be resolved on the match night, the clocks should be stopped, clock times and position on the board recorded, and these details, along with a written submission, sent to the League Tournament Controller within 72 hours by the Team Captains. Other players or club members should become involved only in wholly exceptional circumstances.

b) Other disputes

If the clubs are unable to agree, then the dispute should be referred to the League Tournament Controller with written submissions by both sides.

 c) Arbitration Committee

A dispute may be referred by the League Tournament Controller or at the request of any club involved in the dispute over the interpretation of the Rules, to an Arbitration Committee, whose findings will be final. The Arbitration Committee will be appointed separately for each dispute and comprise three officers of the League nominated by the Chairman (or, should he or she be unavailable, by the Vice Chairman), none of whom is a member of a club involved in the dispute.

ANNEX – RULES FOR AWARD OF THE BRIEN URRY CUP AND BOARDMAN TROPHIESBRIEN URRY CUP

1 The Brien Urry Cup shall be awarded to the player with the highest points score in eligible games (i.e. those for which the player satisfied the conditions of League Rule 3) played in Division 1 of the League during the relevant year.When calculating a player’s score for this purpose a default win will only count towards the total where a match takes place and a game is claimed in accordance with League Rule 7 (b)

2 If two or more players have the same highest points score, then the player with the better percentage score shall be adjudged the winner. In the event of each player having an equal percentage score, then the ‘board count’ for each player shall be determined (so that, for example, 7 appearances on Board 1 plus 2 appearances on Board 2 shall produce a ‘board count’ of 11) and for the purpose of this count, a win by default shall be treated as an appearance on ‘Board 10’. The Cup shall be awarded to the player with the lowest board count.

3 If two or more players have the same highest points score and the same game board count, then the results of the individual encounters (if any) between them shall be examined to see whether a clear ‘winner’ can be determined; if so the Cup shall be awarded to that player.

4 If two or more players remain equally qualified after the application of the preceding tests then they shall be deemed joint winners of the Cup and shall hold it in turn for appropriate portions of the ensuing year.

BOARDMAN TROPHIES

Rules 1 to 4 of the Rules for the Brien Urry Cup shall (with the substitution for “Division 1” of “Division 2”, “Division 3”, “Division 4” or “Division 5” as the case may be) constitute Rules 1 to 4 of the Rules for the Boardman Trophies.

RULES FOR AWARD OF THE BARRY WALKER TROPHY

The Barry Walker Trophy is to be awarded at the start of each season to the eligible player(s) who achieved the greatest increase in rating in the previous season. The increase is to be calculated by reference to the current and previous season’s ECF online rating database. If there have been several issues of the database, the issue to be used is the one the ECF declare to be the relevant one for the season. To be eligible, a player must be a bona fide member of a club competing in the B&DCL league competitions and have played at least five matches in the B&DCL league competitions in the season in question.

 

APPENDIX – DOCUMENT REVISIONS (Updated following AGM held on 11th June 2024)

1995 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 7(a), Rule 3, Rule 4(b), Rule 5.

1999 Constitution and Rules: Rule 5. League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 6, Rule 9, Rule 10.

2000 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 5.

2001 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 7(a).

2002 Constitution and Rules: Rule 1, Rule 3, Rule 7. League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 1, Rule 2, Rule 3, Rule 4(a), Rule 6, Rule 8.

2003 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 4 (a), Rule 12.

2004 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 3, Rule 4(b).

2006 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 2.

2008 Constitution and Rules: Rule 11.

2009 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 2, Rule 3, Rule 4, Rule 5, Annex (Boardman Trophies) Rule 2

2010 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 5, Annex (Barry Walker Trophy) 2011 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 2.

2013 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 10

2014 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 3, Rule 9.

2015 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 2, Rule 4, Annex (rule 5 removed)

2016 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 3 Playing in higher divisions (rewritten)

2017 Constitution and Rules: Rule 7, Subscriptions

2017 Constitution and Rules: Rule 8, Officers

2017 Constitution and Rules: Rule 10, Control of Tournaments

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 2, Player lists

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 3, Eligibility

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 5, Fixtures

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 6, Exchange of Team Lists.

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 7, Times of Matches

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 9, Alternative Types of Game

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 11, Mobile Phones

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 12, Notification of results

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 13, Promotion and Relegation

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 14, Disputes

2017 League Club Tournament Rules: Annex (Boardman Trophies) Rule 1

2018 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 1: Mobile phones

2018 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 8: use of clocks

2018 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 9: Alternative types of games

2018: League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 10: Type “F” game

2018: League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 4b: Divisions & matches

2018: League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 4c: Divisions & matches

2018: League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 12: Notification of results

2019 Constitution and Rules: Rule 4 Annual General Meeting, Rule 5 Rules

2019 Constitution and Rules: Rule 8 Officers

2019 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 4c Divisions and matches

2019 League Club Tournament Rules: Rules 6, 9 and 10. (NOTE: Rule 10 deleted and numbering of rules adjusted consequently.)

2019 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 9

2022 League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 2 Player lists, 3 Eligibility, 9 Time Controls

2023 League Club Tournament Rules: Rules 1-13 inclusive, i.e. all rules

2024 Section headings amended. Constitution: Rule 4  Annual General Meeting, Rule 5 Amendments to the Constitution and League Tournament Rules: Rule 6a Exchange of team lists, Rule 7c Time of matches, Rule 9a Time Controls

2024 Section headings amended. Constitution:  Rule 4 Annual General Meeting and Rule 5. Amendments to the Constitution and League Tournament Rules.  League Club Tournament Rules: Rule 6a Exchange of Team Lists, Rule 7c Timing of Matches, Rule 9a Time Controls