Text Box: THE NORDIC FIDE ZONAL KO-TOURNAMENT 2000

This is the formal regulation for the FIDE Nordic Zonal Tournament in chess 2000, scheduled to be held in Reykjavík, Iceland, 4. –15. September, as a part of the World Chess Championship 2000. It comprises Detailed Rules for the Zonal Championship Matches, which are meant to ensure a smooth running of the event.

 


The Regulation is in line with the rules for the World Chess Championship, submitted by IA Geurt Gijssen, approved by the FIDE General Assembly, at the 68th Congress in Kishinev, 2-10 September 1997. The rules were worked out by IA Einar S. Einarsson, FIDE Nordic Zonal President in consultation with IA Morten Sand of Norway and Sören Bech Hansen, President of DSU, Denmark for the 1998 Zonal Tournament in Munkebo, Denmark, but has  been modified and amended by  E.S.E. for the 2000 event.

I.       ORGANIZER / PLAYING SCHEDULE

The Zonal Tournament will be organized by the Hellir Chess Club in cooperation with Skaksamband Islands and will be played at the Chess Tournament Hall, at Thönglabakki 1, Reykjavik, under the period 5-15 September 2000. The programme is sheduled as follows:

          04.         Sept.    Arrival /Opening Ceremony

     05-07.         Sept.    Round 1

     08-10.         Sept.    Round 2

     11-13.         Sept.    Round 3

          14.         Sept.    Finals   (1-3,  4-6)

          15.                     Sept.       Departure

II.      PRIZEFUND

According to FIDE regulation, D.1.01, the prize fund shall be at minimum 10.000 Swiss Francs for a Men’s Zonal Tournament and at least 50% of the participants shall receive prizes.  For the Nordic Zonal Tournament 2000 the prizefund will be equivalent.

 

The distribution of prizes shall be as follows:

1)  The 12 players who lose their matches in Round 1 shall receive 150 SWF each.

2)  The six players who lose their matches in Round 2 shall receive 300 SWF each.

3)  The three players who lose their matches in Round 3 shall receive 500 SWF each.

4)  The three winners in Round 3 shall receive 1000 SWF each.

5)  The remaining sum of 1900 SWF shall be used for the final matches for individual seating 1-3 and 4-6  and distributed as follows: 1. 600; 2. 400; 3. 300; 4. 400; 5. 200 ; 6.  0 SWF

III.    COSTS

The players travelling cost will be met by their National federations, accommodation and meals and pocket money for the duration of their stay will also be covered by the respective national federations. The organizers will provide the Chief Arbiter with free accommodation if needed and meals and refund his travelling expenses as they see fit.

IV.    DEADLINES

1)  Deadline for national federations to confirm the number of players from their respective countries is four weeks before the start of the tournament, e.g. AUGUST 5TH

2)  Deadline for players to confirm their participation to their federations is 3 -three- weeks before the start of the tournament, e.g. AUGUST 12TH

3)  Deadline for federations to transmit lists of their players and possible reserves to Zonal President is until AUGUST 15TH  with a  copy to the organizers.

4)  Deadline for making changes of the players list is until a week before that start of the tournament, e.g. AUGUST 28TH with a copy to the organizers.

V.      THE FORMAT OF THE TOURNAMENT

The tournament shall consist of three rounds of elimination or “Knock-Out” matches comprising two games per round. In case of a tie rapid chess matches and “sudden death” games will be played to eliminate the 3 –three- Nordic qualifiers to the WCC in India an Iran, which is scheduled to commence  on 25 November 2000.

VI.    THE PARTICIPANTS

a)  Each Nordic Federation receives one place in the Zonal Tournament. Additional places are dependant on  (a) the performance in the previous Zonal Tournament, (b) the number of players with ratings over 2450 (men) or 2250 (women), and (c) the number of active grandmasters, according to par. 1.32 of FIDE Regulations for tournament and matches for the Men’s and Women’s Individual World Championships.

b)  According to the above formula the numbers of players from individual Nordic Countries are: Denmark 4; Faeroes Islands 1; Finland 3; Iceland 5; Norway 3; Sweden 8; or 24 players/places in all.

VII.   CONFIRMATION OF PLAYERS

All players shall confirm by registered post or e-mail their participation by in the Zonal Tournament  to their respective national chess federation to reach them not later than three weeks before the start of the tournament.

VIII. FILLING OF VACANCIES

a)  Should a federation not wish to send full number of players as allocated to it the first seat will go to the hosting federation, next seat will be filled by the highest rated player from the reserve list.

 

b)  If a player who has confirmed his participation with­draws or is unable to play he can be replaced by another player from the same federation until one week before start of the tournament.

 

c)  Vacancies arising with less than 7 days of scheduled beginning of the tournament, after the pairing for the 1st Round has been announced or if a player does not show up for the tournament will not be filled. The player involved loses the match by forfeit and his opponent qualifies for 2nd Round

IX.    OPENING CEREMONY

The Opening Ceremony shall take place the day prior to the first round and all 24 participants are required to take part. The drawing of lots for color in the first round shall be a part of the Opening Ceremony

X.      PAIRINGS

a)  For purposes of pairings the players shall be ranked according to the last officially published FIDE rating list.

 

b)  24 players shall play in the first round. Pairings shall follow the principle of top half vs. lower half in total rating order. Players with the same rating shall be ranked in the order of the status of their title GM, IM. If this fails, use the rating of the preceding Rating List, looking back until there is a difference. The highest ranked player of the top half shall play the highest ranked player of the bottom half.  The second ranked player of the top half shall play the second ranked player of the bottom half and so on.

 

c)  The 12 winners from the 1st Round play in 2nd Round according to the same principle as in X.b) These 12 players shall be ranked. The highest ranked player of the top half shall play the highest ranked player of the bottom half

 

d)  The 6 winners from the 2nd Round  shall play in the 3rd Round. Pairings shall be arranged  as before according to par.X.b).

 

e)    The 3 winners from the 3rd Round are the Nordic qualifiers to the WCC in India and Iran, where 2.7 million dollars prize fund is at stake.

 

f)   The 3 runner ups from Round 3 shall play for reserve seats, 1-3, 2 rapid chess matches against each other, then if still level, 2 tie-braking games and sudden death matches as prescribed herein for the qualifiers.

XI.    DRAWING A LOTS FOR COLOR

The draw for color shall be conducted as follows:

 

i.   Whether the highest rated player in Round 1 receives White or Black in game 1 shall be decided by lot and shall be carried out as part of the Opening Ceremony. The same alternating system shall be used in Round 2 and  Round 3 inclusive.

 

ii.  Lots for Round 2 and 3 shall be drawn as soon as possible after the conclusion of the tie-break games.

 

iii   For the tie-break matches, there shall be a drawing of lots for each such match. If these matches are also drawn, there shall be a drawing of lots to decide who shall receive White in the first sudden-death game. If more sudden-death games must be played, there shall be a new drawing of lots for each odd game.

 

iv. The method used for the drawing of lots shall be decided by the Chief Arbiter in consultation with the Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

XII.   TIME CONTROL

a)  The time control shall be 40 moves in 100 minutes, followed by 20 moves in 50 minutes, followed by all moves in 10 minutes. Each player shall receive an extra 30 seconds thinking time after each move played, commencing from the first move.

b)  Special time controls stipulated in XII.ii) and XII.iii) shall be used in the tie-break and sudden death games.

c)  No postponements shall be allowed.

XIII. CONDITIONS OF VICTORY

From Round 1 to Round 3 inclusive, each match shall be played over two games and the winner of a match shall be the first player to score 1 1/2 or 2 points.  The match is concluded at the moment the winner is known.

 

i.   If in Round 1 to 3 inclusive the scores are level after the two games, after a new draw of lots, two tie-break games shall be played.

 

ii.  The games shall be played using the DGT clock starting with 25 minutes on the clock and the addition of 10 seconds after each move. There shall be a pause of ten minutes before starting the second tie-break game.

 

iii.  If the scores are still level after the two 25 minutes tie-break games, then, after a new draw of lots, two games shall be played with 15 minutes on the clock and the addition of 10 seconds after each move.

 

iv. If the scores are still level after the tie-break games mentioned in par. i) and iii) above, then the maximun of two sudden death games shall be played. The first player to win shall proceed to the next round.

 

v.  The sudden death games shall be played using a DGT clock with White having four minutes on the clock and Black five. After each move from the first, each player shall receive an extra 10 seconds.

 

vi. If there are still no winner after the two sudden death games then one decisive game is played. The player who wins the drawing of lots for this game may choose the colors. White receives 6 minutes without any addition, Black receives 5 minutes without any addition. The winner qualifies for the next round. In case of a draw the player with the Black pieces qualifies for the next round.

XIV.  SPECIAL RULES FOR TIE-BREAK

All tie-break games and sudden death games shall be played according to the following rules:

 

1.  Play shall be governed by the FIDE Laws of Chess, except where they are overridden by the following Laws.

 

2.  Players do not need to record the moves. Instead, an arbiter or an assistant will record the moves.

 

3.  The player whose turn it is to move may consult the scoresheet and, if his next move will produce a threefold repetition of position (Article 9.3a) or the situation of Article 10.3a, he himself must write the intended move on the scoresheet.

 

4.  The arbiter shall make a ruling according to either Article 4 ( the act of moving the pieces) or Article 10.3 (illegal moves), only if requested to do so by one or both players.

 

5.  The flag is considered to have fallen when a valid claim to that effect has been made by a player.

XV.   APPEALS COMMITTEE

a)  The Zonal President or the person he nominates as his Deputy shall be the Chairman of the Appeals Committee. There shall be three other members from different Federations. No member of the Appeals Committee shall sit in judgment in a dispute involving a player or a party from his Federation except where the dispute is between two players or two parties from his Federation.

 

b)  All protests must be submitted in writing to the Appeals Committee not more than two hours after the relevant playing session, or the particular infringe­ment complained against.

 

c)  The Committee may decide on the following matters:

 

1)  A protest against a decision by an arbiter,

2)  A protest against a player's behavior,

3)  A complaint alleging false interpretation of the regulations,

4)  A request for the interpretation of specific regulations,

5)  A protest or complaint against any participant, or

6)  All other matters which the Committee considers important.

7)  If possible, the Committee shall reach a decision not more than two hours after the submission of a protest. The appeals process shall include written representations and a written decision.

8)  The Committee shall endeavor to find binding solutions in the FIDE spirit.

9)  Every protest must be accompanied by a deposit fee of US$ 100 (one hundred US Dollars) or the equivalent in local currency. If the protest is accepted, the fee will be returned. If the protest is rejected, the fee can be forfeited to NCF

10)  The decision of the Appeals Committee arising from any dispute in respect of these regulations shall be final.

XVI.  PLAYERS - GENERAL RULES

1)  All players are required to attend the Players' meeting at a time to be decided by the Chief Arbiter on the day of the Opening ceremony.

 

2)  Players are not permitted to bring into the playing venue technical and other equipment extraneous to play, which may in any way disturb or upset the opponent and it is up to the Chief Arbiter to use his discretion to decide what constitutes extraneous equipment liable to offend the opponent.

 

3)  At the end of each game the original copy of the player's scoresheets are to be given to the Arbiter who shall hand them over to the organizers while the players may keep the copy.

 

4)   At the end of a game, refusal of either player to sign the scoresheets shall be penalized according to Article B.4 of the Laws of Chess. After the players have signed the scoresheets, the Arbiter shall countersign to confirm the results.

 

5)  In tiebreak games, the players and the Arbiter shall sign the protocol.

XVII.   PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION

Only photographers and TV-camera crew who are expressly authorized by the Organizers have permission to work in the playing hall.

a)  Flash may only be used during the first ten minutes while more than 12 players are competing.

 

b)  When 12 players or less are playing the use of flash is restricted to the first five minutes.

 

c)  In tiebreak games flash may only be used in the first five minutes.

 

d)  After the time limit for the use of flash has expired, the use of cameras without flash may only be permitted if the Arbiter in charge deems their use to be unobtrusive.

 

e)  Television cameras must be unobtrusive and may only be used if the Arbiter in charge deems their use to be unobtru­sive.

 

 

 

 

General rules approved by the meeting of the Board

of the NORDIC CHESS FEDERATION

held at Gausdal, Norway, 8. August 1998

 

 

 

Modified and amended by  Einar S. Einarsson,

FIDE Nordic Zonal President,

Reykjavík, 15 July  2000

 

Hellir Chess Club (hellir@simnet.is)
Hellir-Homepage (www.simnet.is/hellir)