Tournament Rules and Regulations

Disclaimer:

The tournament will be conducted in accordance with official Rules and Regulations of FMJD, Annexes 1, 3, 4 and 5 (May 2011 version is referred). Annex 6 applies to Blitz tournament if it will be conducted).

The rules below are listed to either:

a) clarify FMJD rules when several options are present,

b) adapt FMJD rules to local conditions,

c) enforce FMJD rule often overlooked by players,

d) define new regulation not previously covered by FMJD regulations.

In the event of a conflict between this document and the references cited herein, this document takes precedence. When no clear guidance exists neither here, nor in FMJD Annexes, the Main Arbiter’s ruling shall take precedence.

1. Player’s Responsibilities

· Each player is responsible for familiarizing himself with this document and obeying these regulations,
to which he has signed and testified before the start of the tournament, as well as obeying ruling and directions of the tournament’s arbiter during the games and official events such as opening and closing ceremonies.

2. Tournament System

· The tournament will be played with 8 round Swiss system. The time schedule is provided separately.

· For pairing, players’ FMJD ratings will be utilized at the discretion of the arbiter together with other criteria (limitation on up/down placement, color equality, etc.)

· As we prefer manual system to computerized programs, our lot drawing is totally transparent. Next round selection is made as soon as the games are over, and all participants are welcome to watch, ask questions and participate in the drawing of the lots for the next round when needed.

3. Final Results

· There are monetary prizes to be awarded for this six places in the tournament, and additionally to top three USA players. US players also will compete for the right to attend Pan-American games in 2012 and possibly World Championship. The exact amount of money prizes will be announced by the organizers close to the end of the tournament.

· In case of tie break, the following criteria (in the order of precedence) will be used to determine player’s final placement:

i. the highest sum of points of the player's opponents

ii. result of the meeting between players with equal number of points, if they met

iii. highest number of victories.

· When the tie breaking mechanism i) cannot rank the players, the other criteria are used
only for the announcement and trophies: the money prize is divided equally between all tied.

· The tie break results are not determined for players who are not in the prize winning group, i.e. if the group of players is sharing 7 through 18th places, they are all listed with the same 7-18 result and each of them is considered to take the 7th place.

4. Time Control

· The games will be held under the Fisher system time control with 1 hour and 20 minutes for the game + 1 minute added fore each move.

5. Game Recording

· The players are required to document the moves after they are done. With Fisher system, there is no "time trouble” excuse not to record - the game must be recorded at all times! ICAONA boards are all marked with square numbers for easy recordings.

· If the player stops recording, the arbiter will have the right to implement the following sanctions: initial warning, turning the offender clock to move while the recording is made, stopping a game and declaring a loss for the offender and victory for the opponent. If both players stop recording, the game can be declared to have 0 – 0 result if both players refuse to rectify the situation.

6. Lateness and Absence in Tournament Room

· The game will be count lost by a player who is late for more than one (1) hour since the start of the game.

· A player can temporary leave the game for a short time (smoking, bathrooms, etc.) during the opponent’s move. However, prolonged or repeated absences (longer than 15 minutes) could be questioned by the opponent, who has a right to bring them to the attention of the arbiter. To avoid conflicts and as a courtesy, it is recommended to a player to notify the opponent the reason of stepping out. If help with translation to another language is needed, a player can call the arbiter for help.

7. Use of Cell Phones

· No cell phone ringing or conversation is allowed in the tournament room. All the phones must be turned off or put in the silent mode at the room. The player is allowed to use the phone outside of the playroom during his opponent‘s move only.

· After initial warning, on a consequent offence a game will be stopped by the arbiter and declared lost for the player caught with the cell phone ringing, talking on the phone, or texting in the tournament room during the game.

· If the offender happens to be a spectator or a player who is not playing the game at the moment, he will be asked to leave the room immediately. After second offence the spectator will be permanently banned from attending the competition.

8. End of the Game

The players who have finished the game are expecting to complete the notation forms, by putting the result down, signing both sheets and correcting recording where errors were noted . They should restore checker pieces back on the board in the starting position. If they would like to review the game, they should do it in provided area outside of the tournament room.

9. General Atmosphere

· No noise is allowed in the tournament room. Loud conversation shall be moved outside.

No discussion of the game still in progress is allowed inside the tournament room.
Any conflict shall be resolved by calling the arbiter. The players are not allowed to stop the clocks themselves. Only arbiter can do it at his/her discretion. Stopping the clock without arbiter’s permission can be construed as player’s forfeit of the game.