FAQ -- Frequently Asked
Questions
ICCF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
- Season 2 (previously referred to as "First Season")
ABOUT THE ICCF Champions League (CL)
- What is the ICCF Champions League?
- Who can enter the tournament?
- What if I have never played in ICCF before?
- How are the games in the tournament rated?
MANAGING YOUR TEAM
- Does every team have to have a name?
- Does every team have to have a Team Captain?
- Who is the owner of the team and the team name, respectively?
- I did not have a team in the qualification cycle - can I nevertheless play?
- In which league will our team start, if we have already played in the qualification cycle?
- Can the team name be changed at anytime?
- Can players be replaced in a team?
- Can players transfer from one team to another?
SCORES AND PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
- What method is used to calculate the team performance?
- What modus is used for tied teams?
- What modus is used in case a place in a higher league becomes vacant due to non-entry of a team?
FINISHING THE QUALIFICATION ROUND / ADJUDICATIONS
- What happened with the unfinished games of the CL qualification round?
- What happens with the stopped games?
- How do I know if any of my games must be adjudicated?
- Games of mine have to be adjudicated - what do I have to do?
- Who is going to adjudicate the games?
- When will the results of any adjudication be known?
- Can I appeal against the adjudication result?
REGISTERING FOR 2004-2006 SEASON
- When can team entries be sent in?
- Our team has played in the qualification phase - do we again have to pay some entry fee?
- How can I enter a team?
- How much is the entry fee for team entries through a national federation?
- How can I enter a team through a national federation?
- How much is the entry fee for team entries through the Direct Entry facility?
- How can I make a team entry through the Direct Entry facility?
- What will the CL structure look like?
- What is the Fast Track system?
- How will the Fast Track system look like?
- What are the teams accepted for the Fast Track system playing for?
- Will there be any Webserver play in 2004-2006 season?
- When is the start date of the tournament?
- What are the Playing Rules for this tournament?
- Where can I find further information about the tournament?
- Who do I talk with regarding any issues related to CL?
ABOUT THE ICCF Champions League (CL)
- What is the ICCF
Champions League?
The ICCF Champions League is a continuous Email Team Tournament
of the International Correspondence Chess Federation. It is a championship
event played in seasons, comprising several divisions with promotion
and relegation. All games played in this tournament will be rated.
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- Who can enter the
tournament?
The tournament is open only for teams of 4 players, who do not necessarily
have to come from the same country; mixed teams (mixed nationalities
and mixed gender) are possible. All players must have a working
Email address. A player can play only for one team in a season.
The responsibility to find or form a team rests with every player
himself.
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- What if I have never
played in ICCF before?
The tournament is available for everyone (as long as they are members
of a full team). New players will be allocated an ICCF number. Only
national federations are members of ICCF; single players can only
be members of a national federation, not of ICCF. It is not especially
necessary to be a member of a national federation to play in the
CL, though this gives a player some financial advantage at the entry
fee.
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- How are the games
in the tournament rated?
New ICCF players will be allocated a rating, but "temporary" rating
will only be used for the calculation of the opponents' new ratings.
Only when a player has completed 12 ICCF games, his name will appear
with an official rating on the next ICCF rating list (calculated
and published twice a year in April and October). If a player has
no official ICCF rating at the start of the tournament, his "temporary"
rating will be set according to the league where he/she starts:
CL A = (2400)
CL B = (2200)
Fast Track = (2200)
CL C = (2000)
CL D = (1800)
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MANAGING YOUR TEAM
- Does every team have
to have a name?
Every team must have a name, which should be related to CC or chess
in general. The team name might be of any language including numbers,
but no signs - except !$%&=?
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- Does every team have
to have a Team Captain?
Each team must determine a Team Captain (TC), who can be a member
of the team. It is possible for a person to be TC for more than
one team. Furthermore a TC could also play for another team where
he is not TC, if both teams concerned agree with this. Please be
aware of the fact that also the unfortunate case could arise where
the teams involved meet each other in the same group (while the
organisers try to avoid this).
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- Who is the owner
of the team and the team name, respectively?
If the main organizer behind a team in the CL is a chess club (OTB
or CC), a magazine or organisation, then this institution owns the
team name and has the overall power to decide what happens with
the team name and which players are members of the team. If there
is no institution behind a team, the Team Captain is the owner of
the team name. This also means the Team Captain is the only responsible
person for the line-up of a team and he may exclude players and
invite new players to the team according to these rules.
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- I did not have a
team in the qualification cycle - can I nevertheless play?
New teams can enter the CL at the beginning of any new season. For
the season 2004-2006, teams that have not played in the CL before
could start either in league D, or in the Fast Track system as explained
by these rules (see also FAQ 30 and following).
A "new team" is by definition a team:
- whose name has not
previously competed in CL.
- where at least 2
players have not previously played in ICCF-CL, or where at least
2 players have not played together with the other 2 players
in a previous ICCF-CL team.
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- In which league will
our team start, if we have already played in the qualification cycle?
Groups for the 1st regular CL season will be created according to
team performances in the qualification cycle. Depending on your
final team position in the qualification season, your team will
start in one of the 4 different leagues (A-D):
- Place 1 = CL A
- Place 2 = CL B
- Place 3 = CL B
- Place 4 = CL C
- Place 5 = CL C
- Place 6 = CL C
- Place 7 = CL C
- Place 8 = CL D
- Place 9 = CL D
- Place 10 = CL D
- Place 11 = CL D
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- Can the team name
be changed at anytime?
A team is allowed to change its name between separate seasons. The
information of the old and the new name must be given at anytime
when entering the team.
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- Can players be replaced
in a team?
A team is allowed to replace players during and between the seasons.
The number of replaced players is limited only to the following
rule: If all the 4 players in a team are changed within 2 seasons,
then the team will normally be relegated to a lower division. Exceptions
of this rule are possible where the tournament organiser sees a
clear need for this.
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- Can players transfer
from one team to another?
Players can transfer from one team to another only at the beginning
of each season during an official transfer period. If all 4 players
from a team wish to transfer, that team dissolves automatically.
A player does not need the approval of the TC whose team he leaves,
but naturally the acceptance of his new team and TC. If a TC transfers,
he must pass the captaincy to a remaining player unless the team
accepts him to continue acting as their TC.
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SCORES AND PERFORMANCE
CRITERIA
- What method is used
to calculate the team performance?
Placing of each team will be decided by adding full individual results
of all 4 boards. The result of a team match is taken into consideration
only when breaking ties as explained below.
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- What modus is used
for tied teams?
If two teams end up with exactly the same total number of points,
then ties are split according to the ICCF tournament rules:
- tie breaking on
the basis of team results (2 additional points for a won match,
1 additional point for a drawn match),
- the results of the
tied teams against each other.
- better individual
result on bd.1 (following bd.2, 3 etc.)
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- What modus is used
in case a place in a higher league becomes vacant due to non-entry
of a team?
If there's a vacancy at any time in any league (due to non entry
of any team in a promotion place, team withdrawal, etc.), those
free places will be made available for tied or best scoring next
placed teams from any group, according to the following method:
- First priority to
best scoring tied teams (who are not winners)
- Second priority
to best scoring next placed teams
- Third priority,
based on "match points" achieved by equal teams
- Drawing of lots
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FINISHING THE QUALIFICATION
ROUND / ADJUDICATIONS
- What happened with
the unfinished games of the CL qualification round?
Play in all those games from the qualification groups that affected
qualification places for the first regular season were stopped on
1st June 2004. All other games continue normally.
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- What happens with
the stopped games?
All stopped games were adjudicated in order to decide the definite
team results and qualification places. This will enable us to draw
all groups for the next season.
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- How do I know if
any of my games must be adjudicated?
ICCF published a list of all those games that had to be adjudicated
in due time before the deadline. If any of those games was finished
before June 2004, naturally those results were be valid.
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- Games of mine have
to be adjudicated - what do I have to do?
Players are asked to submit pertinent analysis for those stopped
unfinished games to their TD in accordance with the ICCF Playing
rules by email (rules 10 a-e). Deadline for submissions was July
1st, 2004. Absolutely no exception will be accepted beyond this
date, as we need to start the next season in a timely manner.
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- Who is going to adjudicate
the games?
The names of any adjudicators involved will not be revealed to the
players. Adjudicators were experienced ICCF players holding at least
the ICCF Senior International Master title and with a fixed rating
of at least 2500 on the last ICCF rating list.
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- When will the results
of any adjudication be known?
Adjudicators were given one month to come to a decision in all their
adjudication cases. Hopefully by August 2004 all results will be
known and reported to the players.
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- Can I appeal against
the adjudication result?
Any appeal against the adjudicator's decision must be sent to the
Tournament Director, through the Team Captain, within 14 days of
receiving the notification. For an appeal both players may submit
additional analysis. The game(s) in question will then be sent to
a different adjudicator whose ruling is final; no further appeal
will be accepted from either player.
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REGISTERING FOR
2004-2006 SEASON
- When can team entries
be sent in?
Team entries to the 1st season of the Champions League can be sent
to the ICCF in the time period of: 30/07/2004 - 30/09/2004 (extended
from the original end date of 15/09/2004).
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- Our team has played
in the qualification phase - do we again have to pay some entry
fee?
The team entry fee is per season/phase and therefore has to be paid
again for every new season of the ICCF CL.
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- How can I enter a
team?
ICCF offers 2 different ways of entering a team:
- Team entries via
a national federation
- Team entries via
the Direct Entry facility
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- How much is the entry
fee for team entries through a national federation?
The ICCF fee is 40 Swiss Francs per each team. The national federation
might charge some small extra processing fee.
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- How can I enter a
team through a national federation?
In order to enter it through a national federation you have to send
the information about your team to the national federation. If your
entry is accepted by the national federation, then it must be forwarded
to the ICCF by your federation. Of course, team entries sent via
one federation may consist of players from different countries.
A National Federation can also accept entries of teams in which
there are only players from other countries/federations. It is up
to a national federation to accept entries from a team or not. You
will find information on how to contact your national federation
on the ICCF website at www.iccf.com
The responsibility for payment of the team entry fee will belong
to the Team Captain and should be paid in full to the federation
submitting the entry. It is not possible to split the payment of
the entry fee. The national Email Contact person shall forward team
entries to the Non-Title Tournament Commissioner, filling out the
following form (Click
Here to open a new browser window with this form):
+-------------------------------------------------+
| ICCF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ENTRY FORM - 1st season |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| |
| TEAM NAME: ? |
| |
| TEAM NAME IN QUALIFICATION CYCLE: ? |
| |
| SPECIFY "NEW" or "OLD" TEAM: ? | | |
| (IF "OLD" THEN LIST QUALIFICATION GROUP): ? |
| |
| PLAY ALL GAMES ON ICCF WEBSERVER?: YES / NO |
| |
| PLAYER BOARD 1 |
| NAME : ? |
| SURNAME : ? |
| COUNTRY : ? |
| ICCF NUMBER : ? |
| EMAIL ADDRESS: ? |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| PLAYER BOARD 2 |
| NAME : ? |
| SURNAME : ? |
| COUNTRY : ? |
| ICCF NUMBER : ? |
| EMAIL ADDRESS: ? |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| PLAYER BOARD 3 |
| NAME : ? |
| SURNAME : ? |
| COUNTRY : ? |
| ICCF NUMBER : ? |
| EMAIL ADDRESS: ? |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| PLAYER BOARD 4 |
| NAME : ? |
| SURNAME : ? |
| COUNTRY : ? |
| ICCF NUMBER : ? |
| EMAIL ADDRESS: ? |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| TEAM CAPTAIN |
| NAME : ? |
| SURNAME : ? |
| COUNTRY : ? |
| ICCF NUMBER : ? |
| EMAIL ADDRESS: ? |
+-------------------------------------------------+
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- How much is the entry
fee for team entries through the Direct Entry facility?
ICCF will charge USD 60 (equivalent 80 Swiss Francs) as the team
entry fee for a team entering through the direct entry facility.
The person submitting the entry (team captain, at least a team member)
is responsible for the payment of the total entry fee.
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- How can I make a
team entry through the Direct Entry facility?
A team can be entered by completing the online direct entry form
located at www.iccf.com This form
is not permanently available on the website, but only during a period
of time long enough before the start of another season. Payment
is made by credit card.
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- What will the CL
structure look like?
All arrangements concerning the number of divisions, number of teams
per group and number of promoted/demoted teams will depend on the
number of starting teams each year and the qualified teams. The
final composition of each league division will be worked out when
the number of teams is clear, but will be as close as possible to
the scheme in the respective previous season. For 2004-2006 season
only there will be a Fast Track system available (see FAQ 31 and
following).
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- What is the Fast
Track system?
The Fast Track system is open for any returning team (regardless
of the league they qualified for) or new team (see also FAQ 8) who
wishes to enter here. No more Fast Track system will be available
beyond 2004-2006 season. The maximum number of Fast Track teams
accepted for the 2004-2006 season is 44. If there are more than
44 team requests, only the teams with the highest average ratings
will be included in the Fast Track. The rest of the teams will be
included as follows:
- returning teams
will play in the leagues they qualified for.
- new teams will play
in League D.
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- How will the Fast
Track system look like?
The FT teams will be divided into groups consisting of no more than
11 teams. The final number of teams in each group will depend on
the number of entries received (no greater than 44).
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- What are the teams
accepted for the Fast Track system playing for?
Teams in the FT-groups play for the following qualifications:
- 1st place will qualify
for league B - there will be 5 groups in league B in 2006-2008
season
- Places 2-4 will
qualify for league C - there will be 10 groups in league C in
2006-2008 season
- Places 5-11 will
go directly in league D
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- Will there be any
Webserver play in 2004-2006 season?
Most groups in 2004-2006 will be played by email, but ICCF will
accommodate a small number of sections in the ICCF webserver ICCF
WEBCHESS. If your team answered YES to the question regarding webserver
play in the CL Entry Form, your team will be considered to play
all CL games on the webserver and might be lucky enough to occupy
one of those few spots.
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- When is the start
date of the tournament?
The 1st regular season of the ICCF Champions League will start on
01/11/2004.
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- What are the Playing
Rules for this tournament?
The used playing rules are the ICCF Playing Rules for Email Team
Tournaments. Sections that are played on the ICCF Webserver will
use the ICCF Playing Rules for Webserver Team Tournaments.
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- Where can I find
further information about the tournament?
The webpages of the ICCF Champions League will give you a good impression
of the tournament. Next to regularly updated crosstables you will
find several extra features and an improved design. A number of
teams are very enthusiastic for this exciting event and have created
their own team logos and team websites that are listed at: http://tables.iccf.com/email/ChLeague/links.htm
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- Who do I talk with
regarding any issues related to CL?
Contact can be made only via your team captain. He should consult
the CL webpages for the name of the CL
Support Team person in charge with that department and write
him. All inquiries will be followed up promptly. General suggestions
should be sent to any administrator listed.
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