Rules

The Chess Festival has three groups:

  • Group A: Open to all players with FIDE license, and FIDE rating equal to or greater than 2,000.
  • Group B: Open to all players with FIDE license, and FIDE rating lower than 2,000.
  • Group C: Open to all players without FIDE license.

ORGANIZATION AND VENUE

Organizer: Reverté Minerals Chess Club.
Collaboration: Federación Española de Ajedrez, Federación Andaluza de Ajedrez.
Venue: University of Almeria, Aulario IV.
Sponsors: Patronato Municipal de Deportes de Almería, S.A. Reverté Productos Minerales.

THREE GROUPS

GROUP A (FIDE tournament details, FIDE tournament information)

  • Swiss system, 6 rounds. Vega software. If it exceeds 64 participants, an accelerated Swiss system will be played. Complaints about the Vega pairing will not be accepted.
  • Time control: 90’+ 30”: 90 minutes per player and 30 extra seconds for each own move.
  • Initial ranking: ordered by Elo FIDE. For players that do not have Elo FIDE, order will be respectively set by Elo FEDA and alphabetically.
  • All players with FIDE rating equal to or greater than 2,000 in the last published FIDE rating list can play in group A.
    • Organizacion may accept a maximum of 5 exceptional registrations in Group A for players with less than 2,000 FIDE rating.
  • A maximum delay of 30 minutes on the official start time of each round is allowed.
  • Players cannot agree to a draw in less than 30 moves, without the consent of the arbiter.
  • One player can ask a maximum of 2 byes in the first 4 rounds, whenever requested in the registration form or by email ajedrezreverte@gmail.com. The player must receive confirmation. Each bye is scored with 0.5 points.
  • Valid for rating FIDE, FEDA and FADA.

GROUP B (FIDE tournament details, FIDE tournament information)

  • Swiss system, 7 rounds. Vega software. If it exceeds 128 participants, an accelerated Swiss system will be played. Complaints about the Vega pairing will not be accepted.
  • Time control: 60’+ 30”: 60 minutes per player and 30 extra seconds for each own move.
  • Initial ranking: ordered by Elo FIDE. For players that do not have Elo FIDE, order will be respectively set by Elo FEDA and alphabetically.
  • All players with FIDE rating lower than 2,000 in the last published FIDE rating list can play in group B.
  • A maximum delay of 30 minutes on the official start time of each round is allowed.
  • Players cannot agree to a draw in less than 30 moves, without the consent of the arbiter.
  • One player can ask a maximum of 2 byes in the first 5 rounds, whenever requested in the registration form or by email ajedrezreverte@gmail.com. The player must receive confirmation. Each bye is scored with 0.5 points.
  • Valid for rating FIDE, FEDA and FADA.

GROUP C

  • Swiss system, minimum 4 rounds. Vega software. Complaints about the Vega pairing will not be accepted.
  • Time control: 15’+ 5”: 15 minutes per player and an additional 5 seconds for each own move.
  • If group C exceeds 16 participants, at the beginning of the tournament the number of rounds will increase to 5, and the time control reduced to 10’+ 5”.
  • Initial ranking: ordered by Elo FIDE. For players that do not have Elo FIDE, order will be respectively set by Elo FEDA and alphabetically.
  • All players without active FIDE license (including inactive players with Elo who have no valid current license) can participate in group C.
  • A maximum delay of 10 minutes on the official start time of each round is allowed.
  • Not valid for rating.

PROGRAM

  • Group A schedule:
    • December 18th, 09:30 First Round
    • December 18th, 15:30 Second Round
    • December 19th, 09:30 Third Round
    • December 19th, 15:30 Fourth Round
    • December 20th, 09:30 Fifth Round
    • December 20th, 15:30 Sixth Round
    • December 20th, 20:00 Closing and Awards Ceremony
  • Group B schedule:
    • December 18th, 15:30 First Round
    • December 18th, 19:00 Second Round
    • December 19th, 09:30 Third Round
    • December 19th, 15:30 Fourth Round
    • December 19th, 19:00 Fifth Round
    • December 20th, 09:30 Sixth Round
    • December 20th, 15:30 Seventh Round
    • December 20th, 20:00 Closing and Awards Ceremony
  • Group C schedule:
    • December 20th, 15:30 First Round
    • December 20th, 16:30 Second Round
    • December 20th, 17:30 Third Round
    • December 20th, 18:30 Fourth Round
    • December 20th, 20:00 Closing and Awards Ceremony

DISQUALIFICATION

The failure of a player a round cause disqualification unless s/he formally writes and ask to continue.

TIE BREAKS FOR THE 3 GROUPS

  1. Buchholz
  2. Buchholz Cut 1
  3. The greater number of wins
  4. Direct encounter
  5. Sonneborn-Berger

Tie breaks are calculated by Vega software (complaints will not be accepted).

RULES AND LAWS OF CHESS

  • FIDE Laws of Chess (which was adopted at the 84th FIDE Congress at Tallinn (Estonia) coming into force on 1 July 2014), and the rules of this page will be applied.
  • The Chief Arbiter will be the National Arbiter Silverio J. Martínez Fernández.
  • An Appeals Committee is going to be composed of one member of the organization with a casting vote, and 3 players with an arbiter title or alternatively the first players from the initial ranking from different chess clubs. There will be three reserves to cover any absence in the game room or the direct involvement of a member or any conflict of interest. A decision by the Arbiter on the game may be appealed to the Appeals Committee, by a formal writen letter and a payment of 80€ (to be refunded if the claimant is right), within 10 minutes after the end of the game.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

By registering, participants:

  • accept these rules and any changes -except lowering the prizes- done by the organization (i.e., the organization reserves the right to change these rules),
  • authorize the use and disclosure of personal data (e.g., lists of results, participants, standings, games, photos …) in various media, social networks, and internet.
  • subscribe to the mailing list of the chess club.

Disclaimer: The rules described below are a version of June 2015. If necessary, the organization reserves the right to make improvements/alterations/modifications/changes until a week before the start of the Chess Festival (for example, slight change of schedule). For this reason, we recommend you to check the definitive rules one week before the chess festival.