Rules of the Barcelona World E-Chess Open - Ciutat de Barcelona

Versió en català ; Versión en español

ORGANIZER: 

The tournament will be organized by the Catalonian Chess Federation with the support of the Barcelona Council and the Chess.com online platform.

PARTICIPANTS:

Open to all players with a valid FIDE license and a chess.com account.

PLAYING SYSTEM:  

Two groups, A and B (under-2000 FIDE rating). The FIDE Swiss System based on rating (Dutch system) will be used for pairings, assisted by a FIDE homologated computer program. The length of the tournament will be 9 rounds.The organization could use an accelerated system, depending on the number of players. Under-2000 players can play in the main A group if they prefer and be eligible for prizes. The first eight qualifiers of each group will play a knock-out to determine the final standings.

The knock-out stage between the eight qualifiers, both in the A and B groups, will be a 4-game match in quarterfinals and semi-finals and also for 3rd/4th place. The final will be played over 6 games. The player with the best final standings in the open tournament will win any tie in the knock-out stage.

The brackets of the knock-out stage are:

The tournament will be played online on the Chess.com platform, www.chess.com, but the players will have to be in-person on-site at one of the official venues in cities around the world. The main venue will be Barcelona. Players will compete on their own laptops, ipad / tablet or cellular phones. Nonetheless, and following chess.com recommendations, the use of a laptop is the preferred option, playing on the website instead of on the application. The screens of the playing devices will have to be placed in a vertical position and always under the supervision of the arbiter’s team.

TIME CONTROL:       

The time control for the open games will be 90 minutes for each player with a 30 second increment starting on the first move. The time control for the knock-out stage will be 5 minutes for each player with a 3 second increment.

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR:

August 21st to 30th 2020.

• Round 1: August 21st 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 2: August 22nd 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 3: August 23rd 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 4: August 24th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 5: August 25th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).).
• Round 6: August 26th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 7: August 27th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 8: August 28th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).
• Round 9: August 29th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).).
• Knock-out: August 30th 2020 at 16:00 hours (GMT +2).

PLAYING VENUES:    

There will be different playing venues in cities around the world to play in-person online on the Chess.com platform. Each playing venue must have their own arbiter/arbiters team. The main playing venue will be in Barcelona at the Auditori del Centre Cívic de les Cotxeres de Sants, C. Sants 79, Barcelona and adjacent buildings, which are adapted for disabled persons according to the prevailing regulations of the Generalitat.

All cities that wish to offer a playing venue for this tournament can consult the bidding conditions on the attached annex.

ANNEX

REGISTRATION FEES

The registration fee for the tournament for players at the Barcelona venue, will be 50 € for each player. Under-16 players and seniors +65 and also disabled persons 33% or more will be 35 €.

Registration payments for the Barcelona venue (and for any other playing venues in Catalonia) must be done via bank transfer to the Caixabank account of the Catalonia Chess Federation: ES28 2100 0804 3002 0084 8216 indicating name and surnames of the Player, in addition to the chess.com username (nickname) and the playing venue.

The deadline for all registrations and payments is August 19th 2020 at 19 hours (GMT+2). A chess.com nickname will identify each player. This name can’t be changed during the tournament and each player will be responsible for registration to the event with the correct username.

Each other venue will be responsible for their own registration fee, although always after the approval of the Catalonian Chess Federation. Registration payments will be made at the venue from where each player competes or by any other payment method approved by the venue.

If the tournament can’t be held at an official venue due to the official health protocol or because of any other force majeure reason, players at that venue will receive a refund of their registration fee with no other compensation. The tournament will continue normally at the rest of the venues.

The organization reserves the right to void a registration.

RANKINGS:               

They will be published on the FCE website, on the Chess.com platform, on chess-results and at the playing venues. Players will be ranked by standard FIDE rating. Alternatively, in second place by national rating (Catalonian licensed players will be sorted by standard FCE rating).

The first rating to be used for the section rating standings will be FIDE rating. In second place, FCE standard rating will be used for Catalonian licensed player’s or FEDA rating for the rest of Spanish players without a FIDE rating. Non-FCE players without a FIDE or FEDA rating will not qualify for the section rating prizes.

PAIRINGS:     

Pairings will be done by the main arbiter of the tournament with the support of the Swiss Manager computer program. Published pairings will not be considered final until 30 minutes has elapsed. After 30 minutes, pairings will not be modified unless the arbiter decides differently.

BYES:

Players will be allowed to request up to two (2) zero point byes. Players must notify the arbiter before the end of the previous round.

RATINGS:        

The tournament will be FIDE Standard rated (pending confirmation from the FIDE Commission) and FCE Standard rated.

If a player is banned or cheating has been demonstrated, his results will be counted as losses and he will automatically be expelled from the tournament. His opponents will receive the banned player’s points.

DELAYS

Players who appear more than 30 minutes later than the start of the round will lose their games by forfeit unless the arbiter decides differently.

NON-APPEARANCE:

Players who non-appear for a round will be eliminated, unless the arbiter decides differently. Eliminated and forfeited players will lose all their rights.

TIE-BREAKS:  

Application order of the following tie-breaks:

1.- Buchholz -1, with virtual opponent FIDE adjustment

2.- Buchholz Total, with virtual opponent FIDE adjustment.

3.- Buchholz Median (1) with virtual opponent FIDE adjustment

4.- Recursive Performance (54)

5.- Raffle

Players eliminated in the quarter finals of the knock-out stage will not play anymore and their final standings (5th to 8th) will be defined by their standings in the open. The two players who lose in the semi-finals will play for third and fourth place. If the match ends in a 2-2 tie, the open standings will prevail. The final will be a 6-game match, and in the case of a 3-3 tie, the open standings will prevail.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR:              

Mr. Jordi Magem Badals

APPEALS COMMITEE:          

The Appeals Committee will be formed by the Tournament Director (or his delegate) as President, one representative of chess.com and one adult player, with one reserve adult player. The decisions of the main arbiter can be appealed to the Committee in writing and before 30 minutes after the end of the round.

Players can request a COMPLAINT FORM.

PRIZES

There will be a total of 18.000 € in prizes for both groups, A and B, and for the rating sections established for each group. There will be two rating sections in group A: under-2300 FIDE rating and under-2150 FIDE rating. In the B group there will be an under-1800 FIDE rating section.

Cash prizes will not be accumulative and will be distributed based on the following chart. If a player wins two prizes he will receive the highest value prize. If the prizes are the same amount, he will receive the general standings prize. The other prize shall be awarded to the next player in the standings.

Participants who don’t play the last round will lose all their rights.

Cash prizes will be subject to the current legal Spanish IRPF Income Tax withholdings and will be paid by bank transfer to the bank account of the prizes winner

Winners must provide the following information to receive their cash prize:

Scanned two-sided ID copy to the federacio@escacs.cat e-mail account.

Fill in and sign the federation form for the payment of the prize via bank transfer and send the original (not scanned) to the Federation.

Indicate the number of the bank account where the prize money must be sent.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES:                    

Players must bring their own playing device to play in the tournament. Any other electronic device that is not used for playing online is forbidden. The playing device must not send out any sound.

All other electronic devices (such as cellular phones, smartwatch, headphones etc) must be turned off.

The arbiter may exceptionally request that a player allows his or her belongings to be inspected. If the player refuses to cooperate with these obligations, the arbiter may take measures based on Article 12.9 of the Laws of Chess. The player may be expelled from the tournament, after a second infraction, with further communication of the facts to FIDE.

ANTI-CHEATNG:       

The use of notes, sources of information, advice, mobile phones, media and / or analysis by the players is strictly forbidden during the game round. Using another chess set is also forbidden. The organizer will communicate these facts to FIDE.

The players accept the Chess.com and tournament organizers anti-cheating policy.

DISCONNECTION PROTOCOL

Server failure / server time inactivity:

If an error or server malfunction occurs during a round, FCE and Chess.com will take the necessary actions to restart the round or the affected games. If too many games are involved, the round may be restarted o even cancelled.

ETHICS:                     

Players will act and behave correctly, both inside and outside the facility, without dishonouring the game of chess. Players are not allowed to leave the playing venue without the arbiter’s permission.  

PUBLICITY:                

The Catalan Chess Federation (FCE) wants to advertise the event, both in the press and on social networks. Therefore, they will publish photos and video images, as well as the minimum data for classifications and pairings. The playing venue will also be recorded live for security measures. By signing up to the event, players authorize the Federation to publish images of the tournament in which they may appear in for advertising purposes.

DISCIPLINE:               

Players in the event accept and obey the Sports Discipline Jurisdiction and FIDE rules.

NOTWITHSTANDING,these provisions will be regulated by the rules of the FCE and FIDE.

THE PARTICIPATION in the tournament implies the mandatory acceptance of these rules.

The organization reserves the right to modify any aspect of the rules.