RULES GOVERNING THE EDWIN WOODHOUSE CUP, THE I.M. BROWN SHIELD, THE SILVER ROOK, THE A.G. SUNDERLAND CUP COMPETITIONS

A1    The Edwin Woodhouse Cup, the I.M. Brown Shield, the Silver Rook and the A.G. Sunderland Cup are trophies offered for annual competition between the C.M.s of the Association.  These trophies are the property of the Association.  The winning C.M. shall hold the appropriate trophy for one year from the date of the A.G.M. in the season in which the trophy is won.
These competitions are divisions of a league competition, the descending order of divisions being as listed.

A2    The normal date for the receipt of new entries by the Competitions Controller shall be May 31st in each year.  All new entries are subject, where possible, to the approval of the A.G.M.  In the event of a new entry being submitted after the A.G.M. it may be accepted at the discretion of the Principal Officers.

A3    For each team the entrance fee and registration fee for at least as many as there are boards per team shall be paid to the Hon. Treasurer not later than October 31^st in the season in which the competition is conducted, such fees being as specified at the preceding A.G.M.

A4    Registration forms and fees must be returned no later than January 31st in that season and any player who has played in that season must be registered.  All players who have played in the season must to be registered by April 30^th in that season.

A5    The form of each competition shall be determined by the A.G.M. for each subsequent season.

A6    The dates and places of play in all competitions shall be determined by the Competitions Controller and may be varied only with his expressed agreement.  Any pair of teams may by mutual agreement alter the date or venue of their match (subject to the foregoing condition).

A7    If any team loses more than two players due to their being engaged in official YCA business, e.g. representing the YCA as a delegate to a meeting or as a player, then the Competitions Controller may agree to a request from the team for a postponement of the match to a date chosen by the opposing team and agreed by the Competitions Controller.  Resulting reasonable expense incurred by the opposing team may be reimbursed by the Association.

A8    A team failing to fulfil a fixture shall, unless adequate explanation is submitted to the Competitions Controller within five days of the date of the fixture, be defaulted in the match concerned and have one match point deducted. N.B.  The only acceptable reason shall be severe weather conditions on the date of the match.  It shall be within the Controller's discretion to order that the match be played on another date in these circumstances.

A9    Any team defaulting an away match without adequate explanation being submitted to the Competitions Controller within five days of the date of the match, will be denied a home draw in any fixture in the following season between the two teams.

A10  All players in these competitions shall be members of their C.M. organisations and affiliated as required under the Constitution. Any C.M. playing ineligible players shall be penalised by the loss of any matches in which the said players played, the match points being awarded to their opponents.

A11  There shall be eight players in each team in all the competitions.

A12  Promotion and Relegation
At the conclusion of each season the top two teams in any division shall be eligible for promotion to the next higher division if they so wish.  If both teams exercise this right then the bottom two teams from the higher division shall be relegated to replace them in that division. If promotion is declined by either team then the next lower placed team shall be offered promotion.  If only one team accepts promotion then only one team shall be relegated.  Any team which wins the same division two seasons in succession may not decline promotion for the start of the season following.  Further transferral of teams between divisions may be approved by the AGM to adjust sizes of divisions, provided it does not deny promotion to an eligible team.

A13 Ties
In the event of a tie (dual or multiple) in the places affecting either championship or promotion/relegation issues, the following tie-break procedures will be used:

(a) The game points of the teams will decide. If this does not resolve the tie then:
      1) With a dual tie, the individual match result between the teams concerned decides. 
      2) With a multiple tie, the game points gained in the matches between the tied teams
          shall decide.
(b) If the teams are still tied then the Principal Officers shall, after consultation with the affected CMs, decide on a suitable tie break.

A14  No player may play for more than one C.M. in the same division during the course of a season.  In the event of a C.M. having more than one team in the same division, any player who has played above the bottom two boards in one of those teams may not thereafter play for another team in that division that season.  The penalty for any team infringing this rule shall be the loss of the match, with all game points being awarded to the opposing team.  In the event of a C.M. having more than one team in the same division they are to be paired against each other before Christmas.

A15  No player may play in two matches originally scheduled for the same day.

A16  Any player who has played on board four or higher in any division may not thereafter play in any lower division in the same season.  In its last match of the season a team may not field a player who has played in a higher division for the same C.M. in the same season unless the player has played for the team in a previous match in the same season.  The penalty for infringement of this Rule shall be the loss of the board concerned and the additional loss of one game point, such point(s) being transferred to the opposing team.

A17  All matches shall commence at 2.30 p.m. other than by mutual agreement.

A18  Before the start of play the opposing Captains shall exchange lists of their respective team members, arranged in order of playing strength, and the players shall be paired in accordance with these lists.  If a captain declares he has insufficient players at his disposal and so  must default one or more boards, then the opposing captain may insist  the lowest boards or boards are those defaulted. The penalty for any proven infringement of this Rule shall be that defined by Rule A16

A19  The Captains shall toss for colours, the team winning the toss taking white on the odd numbered boards and black on the even numbered boards.

A20  All games shall be played in accordance with the Laws of Chess as published with the authority of the British Chess Federation.

A21  At the time play is started in any match the clocks of all absent players shall be set in motion.  One hour's grace may be claimed for any absent player, but unless a substitute has been nominated and placed in the team before the end of that period the game shall be forfeited to the opponent.  The introduction of a substitute in these circumstances shall not be held to be a violation of Rule A20, and shall subsequently be disregarded for the purposes of applying Rule A18 to the substituted player.

A22  All games shall be played at the rate of 42 moves in one and three quarter hours plus a quarter of an hour to complete the game.

A23  Each player shall play one game in a match;  one point shall be awarded for a win, half a point for a draw. No points shall be awarded for a double default.

A24  Both teams in each match shall supply the Competitions Controller with detailed results of that match, where possible on result cards provided for that purpose.  Such results shall be posted or sent by e-mail within 48 hours of the completion of the match.