Regulations

11th European Individual Chess Championship
men and women
March 5 – 19 2010
Rijeka  -  Croatia

REGULATIONS


1.  ORGANIZERS
Chess club "Rijeka", Blaža Polića 2, 51000 Rijeka, Hrvatska in agreement with Croatian Chess Federation, Trg Krešimira Ćosića 11, 10000 Zagreb, under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union.

2.  VENUE AND DATE
The Championship will be held in Rijeka, Croatia, from March 5th  (day of arrival) until March 19th  (day of departure) 2010. Opening and closing ceremony and matches will take place in the new sports hall Zamet in Rijeka.

3.  PARTICIPATION
The 11th European individual chess championship for men and women is open to all players representing the Chess Federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

4.  SYSTEM AND RATE OF PLAY
The championship will be based on Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess.
The playing time will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

5.  RANKING AND TIE-BREAK SYSTEM
The order of players that finish with the same number of points shall be determined by application of the following tie-breaking procedures in sequence, proceeding from (a) to (b) to (c) to (d) to the extent required:

a)  Median-Buchholz 1, the highest number wins;
b)  Buchholz, the highest number wins;
c)  Number of wins, the highest number wins;
d)  Progressive Score, the highest number wins.

In case of unplayed games for the calculation of (a) and (b) the current FIDE tournament rules shall be applied: „Independently of the result of an unplayed game (win by Bye, win or loss by forfeit, no game because the player has withdrawn or was absent for some round(s)) for reasons of tie-break the result shall be counted as a Draw against the player himself.“ Annex to FIDE Tournament Rules, pt.1.

Tie-break Matches
In the European Individual Chess Championship tie-breaks are organized only in the following cases:

a)  to establish the Champion;
b)  to establish the medal winners;
c)  to establish qualifiers, for the World Chess Championship.

In case of a) and b) the relevant tie-break matches will decide the final ranking and the money prizes connected with these places.
In the case of c), the relevant tie-break matches will not influence the final ranking and the money prizes will be shared equally.

System of the Tie-break matches:
Additional matches of two games will be played with 15 minutes on the clock and addition of 10 seconds before each move.
If this match is drawn again, then two games will be played with five minutes plus two seconds per move.
If this match is again drawn, then the sudden-death game will be played with white having 5 minutes on the clock and black having 4 minutes, without any addition. White has to win the sudden-death game in order to win the match.
In case that more than three tie-break rounds have to be played, the Chief-Arbiter – after confirmation by the ECU President or his representative – may change the playing schedule in such a way that the tie-break matches can be finished within one day. Detailed Tournament Regulations for the tie-break matches and the time schedule will be announced on Wednesday, 17 March at 22.30 at the Technical Meeting for tie breaks.

6.  QUALIFIERS
The 11th Individual European Chess Championship for men and women is qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.

7.  ARBITERS AND APPEALS COMMITTEE
Chief arbiter will be Mr Mladen Bratošević (HR).
His deputy for male tournament will be Mr. Werner Stubenvoll (A) and for the female tournament Mrs Jasna Sakotic (HR).
The Chief arbiter deputy for pairings will be Mr. Sulejman Islamović.

8.  APPEALS PROCEDURE
Protests against decisions of the Chief Arbiter must be submitted in written form to the Chairman of the appeals committee within one hour after completion of the playing session.
The protest must be accompanied with the sum of 100 €, as a deposit from the signatory. The deposit must be handed to the Chairman of the appeals committee. If the appeal is granted, the sum shall be returned immediately. If the appeal is refused, the deposit is forfeited to the European Chess Union.
The appeal has to be lodged by the player.
The decisions of the Appeals Committee are final.

9.  APPLICATIONS, REGISTRATION
The national federations are kindly requested to fill in and return the Application Form to the Organizer’s e-mail address or fax number not later than February 10, 2010.
Late registrations have to be confirmed by the ECU.

10.  ECU FEES
In accordance with the ECU regulations, Grand masters and International masters are required to pay a fee of 65 €/person, while other players are obliged to effect the payment of 130 €/person of the fee.
According to the ECU regulations (Art. B.9.5.1), the entry fee shall be paid by the federations to ECU before or at the start of the competition. If the entry fee is not paid until end of round 2 these participants will not be paired in subsequent rounds.

11.  ORGANISATION FEE
The organization fee is 70 Euro and must be paid by all participants.
The organization fee includes:

  • Transfer from airports Zagreb and Rijeka (island of Krk) to the hotels in Rijeka and Opatija and back
  • Bus transfers from the hotels to the playing hall and back
  • One drink (coffee, tea or water) for all participants during the round.

On request, the organizer will provide transfer from the airport of Trieste and Ljubljana to Rijeka or Opatija. The cost of such transfer will be charged directly to the participant.

12.  PAYMENT
At the time of registration, the foreign participants will be required to effect payment of the organization fee in favor of foreign currency account of the Chess club “Rijeka”, Blaža Polića 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia, according to the following instructions:

Beneficiary bank: ERSTE & STEIERMARKISCHE BANK d.d., Branch office Rijeka
IBAN: HR 732.402.006.110.012.7900
SWIFT: ESBCHR22

National players will be required to effect payment of the organization fee in favor of kuna bank account number 2402006-1100127900 opened in Erste & Steiermarkische bank d.d. by the Chess club „Rijeka“, Blaža Polića 2, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia, calculated according to the sales exchange rate for Euro applied by Erste & Steiermarkische bank d.d.

Bank commissions for the money transfer will have to be paid by the participant. Should the participant fail to settle the above commissions at the time of effecting the payment, the Organiser will issue an invoice to his name, which will have to be paid prior to the end of second round.

13.  ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS
Analyzing is not allowed in the playing hall.
During the game the players are not allowed to go to the analyzing room or to the press room.
Flashes may be used only in the first ten minutes of each round, and the first three minutes of the tie-break games. During sudden death games they may be used only in the first minute.
Only the players and arbiters shall be allowed in the actual playing area, except with the express permission of the Chief Arbiter.
Players are not allowed to enter the closed area of the top boards, if they don’t play there themselves.
As long as the game is in progress a player may talk only to an arbiter or with his opponent as permitted by the Laws of Chess.
In case of pre-arranged results the chief arbiter can decide that the result of the respective game is 0 - 0.
We assume that all the players have read the Tournament Regulations and are obliged to obey them.
The English text of these Tournament Regulations is the authentic version.

14.  MEDICAL CARE
During the Tournament there will be Medical Services according to the FIDE Tournament Regulations.

15.  ELECTRICITY
The voltage in Croatia is 220 Volts.

16.  CURRENCY & EXCHANGE
The official currency in the Republic of Croatia is the kuna.

17.  VISAS
Participants who have passport of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia,Moldova, Russia and Ukraine are in a need of entry visa for Croatia. The visa may be required at the nearest Croatian embassy/consulate. Should there  be a group of players who cannot reach the Croatian consulate because of its distance or unavailability, the Organizer may require the visa to be issued at the border crossing to Croatia. The group should be as small as possible. The cost of visa obtained in such a way is 75 euro/visa.
The organizer will make every effort to speed-up the procedure of obtaining the visas, and the players will be informed accordingly.
Visa’s costs will depend of the valid laws at that moment.
Russian  citizens may enter Croatia without a visa, but with an invitation letter of the Organizer.

18.  TOURNAMENT OFFICE
Organiser’s Office:
Chess club "Rijeka"
Blaža Polića 2
HR – 51000 Rijeka
Croatia
Telephone: +385 51 336 781, +385 51 336 816
Telefax: +385 51 322 628
Web site: www.eurorijeka2010.com
e-mail: info@eurorijeka2010.com
Associate / contact person (at disposal every day after 16:30): Ms. Ornela Rušin cell. +385 98 571 079)