Regulations
Chief Arbiter: IA Dr. Peter Tsai
General Tournament Regulations
- This tournament is designed to bring out the fighting spirit of chess players. Byron Capital (our major sponsor) are competitive and wants to see fighting chess with a clear outright winner.
- The number of rounds and time controls for tournaments are listed in the schedule.
- The Premier tournaments will be ACF and FIDE rated and will be constituted as a FIDE Title Tournament. The Major Division will be ACF and FIDE rated. The Minor Division will be ACF rated.
- Title Norms will be available.
- The list of players for the Premier Division will be published 3 days before the event begins. If any players miss out on this division, they will be offered to play in the Major division or receive a refund of registration fees.
- Local juniors are players under 18 years of age who live in the Toowoomba district area.
- Local juniors will play in the Minor or Major Division based on their current rating, with the ability to win either Division or Local Junior prizes, whichever award the player greater prize money.
- The organisers reserve the right to transfer players across tournaments they may be eligible for. Should this need to occur the player will be consulted and a full refund of entry fees will be made if the player does not wish to transfer.
- The Vega program will be used for pairings.
- There will be only one outright winner.
- Organisers reserve the right to refuse entry to a player.
- There is no smoking / vaping in the playing venue, analysis/lecture area, or any other part of the school premises.
- There is no analysis in the playing area.
- All players receiving conditions (including free entry) are requested to attend the official opening ceremony.
- All players are to attend the prize-giving ceremony. Players eligible for a prize who do not attend the presentation may incur a 20% handling fee.
- All references to ACF ratings refer to ACF Classical ratings unless specifically noted otherwise.
- The default time will be 30 minutes after each round is started.
Tie Breaks
When required for the tournament, the tie-break systems in descending order of priority are:
- Median Buccholz – Sum of opponent scores minus the highest and lowest scores.
- Buccholz – Sum of opponent scores.
- Sonneborn-Berger – The sum of the scores of the opponents a player has defeated and half the scores of the players he has drawn with.
- AOR – Average of opponents ratings.
In case of a multi-way tie for first, tournament tie breaks above will be used to decide the top two players to go into the following play-off.
1. 5 min + 3 sec increments from move 1
- Drawing of colours
- 2 games with colours reversed
2. Sudden Death – Armageddon
- White has 5 minutes and Black has 4 minutes and after 60 moves an addition of 2 seconds increment after each move.
- Black needs to draw the game to win the play off
- The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the colour
Player Pairing and Sign-in (Premier, Major and Minor)
It is aimed to publish the draws for Round One of the Premier, Major and Minor tournaments in the evening prior to the commencement of Round One.
Registered players who have not paid by the entry close time for these tournaments will not be included in the draw.
Players are expected to arrive prior to the sign-in closure time for each tournament. The organisers guarantee that if you and your opponent are at the table at the Round One start time you will play each other.
In instances where your opponent does not arrive the organisers will re-pair you with another player or allocate a bye. The organisers cannot cater to every contingency but will attempt to be as flexible as possible whilst still aiming to begin each round at the scheduled start time.
Late Entries
The organisers reserve the right to accept entries beyond the entry close time.
Late entry players will be manually entered into the draw and will be paired and begin playing after the start of the round.
The organisers cannot cater to every contingency but will attempt to be as flexible as possible whilst still aiming to begin each round at the scheduled start time.
Policy on Byes
No byes are allowed in the Premier Division.
If a player is unable to play a round (for any reason), they may request a bye from the organisers if they are in the Major or Minor Divisions.
Such a request must be made before the start of the previous round to the round concerned (i.e. A request for a bye in round 4 must be made before the start of round 3)
If such a request is approved, a player will receive half a point (0.5) for that round with the following exceptions:
- In the final two rounds a player shall receive no points (0) for that round
- A player may only receive a maximum of two (2) half point byes.
- A player may only receive a total of one (1) point in byes. If a player has previously received a full point bye (or a point by default), they shall receive no (0) points for that round.
The organisers reserve the right to refuse any request for a bye.
Mobile Phone Policy
We will be enforcing a strict No Mobile Phone usage during the event policy.
All “Mobile Phones” and other “Communication Devices” are to be switched off in the “Playing Area”. The bounds of the “Playing Area” will be clearly defined prior to the start of the tournament. It will include the tournament halls, toilets, and the walkways to the toilets.
“Communication Devices” include tablet computers, PDAs, MP3 players, smart watches and any other devices that can receive external transmissions. Players are not allowed to have any such device in the “Playing Area” during their game.
A breach of this rule will result in the automatic loss of the game in the case of a player (if a game is in progress), or the exclusion from the “Playing Area” until the start of the next round (in the case of a player who has finished their game), or for the rest of the day (in the case of a spectator).
Appeals and the Appeals Committee
In the case of an appeal against an arbiter’s decision, the tournament director will form an appeals committee consisting of 2 administrators and 3 players from any of the events tournaments. These players will be chosen for their impartiality and their knowledge of the rules of chess.
The player lodging the appeal shall lodge a $100 bond, which will be refunded if the appeal is successful, or if the appeal committee decides to refund the bond in the case of an unsuccessful appeal.
Players’ Rights and Responsibilities
All players have the right to expect:
- The tournament directors are reliable and have a knowledge of the laws of chess, as per FIDE standards.
- That all prizes will be awarded as advertised.
- That any special rules pertinent to this tournament will be announced and/or posted.
- The starting times of the rounds will be posted, and the rounds will start reasonably on time.
- The tournament director (or assistants) will be available at all times in the event of questions or problems.
- The round results will be posted in a timely manner.
- That upon request the tournament director will initiate the appeals process.
All players are expected to:
- Conduct themselves in an orderly fashion.
- Compete in the spirit of good sportsmanship.
- Be present at the start of every round, if possible.
- Refrain from analysis or audible talking in the playing hall while other games are in progress.
- Notify the director in advance if they are unable to play a round or rounds.
- Promptly report results in a manner required by the tournament director.
- Read all the pertinent information posted by the tournament organisers.
- Obey the FIDE laws of chess – https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023
Changes in Rating Following Registration and Payment
Should an eligible player register and pay for a tournament and then become ineligible due to a decline in their rating they will retain their position within that tournament.
In the situation where a rise in rating makes a player ineligible for the tournament they have registered and paid for they will be moved into the next highest tournament they are eligible for. Players in this situation will be offered a refund of entry fees as an alternative to playing in the higher tournament.
Refunds and Player Withdrawal
Players withdrawing more than 7 days before the start of their division are entitled to a full refund, less processing fees. If a player withdraws within 7 days of the start of their division a 50% refund will be issued. Any player who withdraws after the start of their division forfeits their registration fee.
Bonds
Players are expected to complete all rounds of their respective events. Players who cannot do so should inform the organisers before their next round. A player withdrawing under these circumstances will be required to pay an entry bond the next time they enter the Byron Capital Darling Downs Open (to the value of the standard entry fee). This bond will be refunded upon the completion of that next event. Players who withdraw without notifying the organisers in advance may have further conditions imposed upon their future entry.
Players with a chronic medical condition may be exempt from this regulation. Please contact the organisers before entering for further information.