Albuquerque Chess League Rules
Ranking and board order: A team in the Albuquerque Chess League consists of three players. The ranking of the Players within each team shall be by their “official” US Chess Federation rating as of the most recent rating supplement before a match date. In the event that a player is not listed in the most recent supplement, then the last published rating shall be used. Players may swap board positions by one position if within 50 rating points and provided two weeks advance notice has been given to tournament director. The team lineups for teams playing on Saturday must be given to TD no later than the preceding Tuesday; if a team’s lineup is not received by Tuesday, a ½ point deduction will be made from said team’s score in that week (penalty will not affect USCF ratings).
Unrated players: An unrated player is to be placed on the roster with a most accurate “guess” concerning their playing strength. In the event that an unrated player is placed between two rated players, the estimated rating for that player shall be the average of the players between which that player is placed.
(example: 1400, unr., 1300 the “unr” is given an estimated rating of 1350.)
If the unrated player is placed above the highest rated player, than the estimated rating of the highest + 50 will be used.
If the unrated player is placed below the lowest rated, than the estimated rating of the lowest – 50 will be used.
Exceptions
At the request of the team captain, and the decision of the ACCL tournament director, the following exceptions to the above procedure may be used:
1. If the official rating of an inactive player is more than 5 years old, then the team captain may submit an estimated rating for that player. That estimated rating should be no more than 200 rating points removed from the official rating.
2. Position of status or honor: An estimated rating agreed to between the team captain and the tournament director.
3. Provisional to established rating: If a player’s status changes in the course of the season from provisional to established, that player’s rating may be adjusted to reflect the established rating, with approval by the TD.
4. Unrated to Provisional or Established: If a player becomes rated during the course of the season the original estimate may be adjusted to reflect the new rating, at the discretion of the TD
5. Unrated performance: If an unrated player’s performance is significantly different from the original estimate, that player’s estimated rating may be adjusted at the discretion of the TD.
6. Other exceptions as agreed between the team captain and the TD.
Team Rating: The average rating of the three highest rated players (active and alternates) as of 12/31/11 will be used for pairings and prize considerations.
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Forfeits
Forfeit time: 30 minutes from the start of the round.
Known no-shows: If a team captain is aware that their team is playing short at the start of a round, all players will “play up” to fill vacancies as applicable. That is, if two players are available, it will always be board 3 that forfeits. Opponents of a team with a forfeit are to play their normal positions for that round, board three receiving the Forfeit Win.
Late player: A ten minute “grace period” will be allowed. If a player is late, but expected to arrive, the clocks may be started. The late player (and those positioned below him) will start their games on arrival (within the 10 minutes).
At the end of the ten minutes the team captain must make a determination as to the status of the player. The choices are:
1. to move “up” according to the forfeit rule. If the absent player arrives before the 30 minute forfeit time, that player may play board 3 (out of order) with no further penalty;
2. wait for the missing player, and start all games at that board and below when he arrives (with, of course, the clocks already running), if that player does not show in the 30 minutes, then move “up” as appropriate (30 minutes running time has expired); if he does show, then play as normal with whatever time has expired.
3. start play, leaving the missing player’s board open. If that player does not show in the 30 minutes time, then that board and all boards below will be recorded as loss forfeits for the team score.
(alternative or addition: (3a) player arriving more than 30 minutes late, do we still forfeit all boards below? If not, the TD must be informed on the late player’s arrival so note of the exception may be made.)
Note that all games actually played will count toward individual and board prizes, even if recorded as a LF for team score. Extrapolate the above conditions for more than one player missing.
Multiple Forfeits: If both teams in a match show up with less than three players, the same rules apply. Note that both teams may be assessed a loss forfeit. It is possible for both teams to “lose” a match due to forfeits.
Team Forfeits: If an entire team does not show for any particular round, or does not give appropriate notification, then in addition to the “loss forfeit” for the match, the team shall be withdrawn from the league.
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Scoring: Team score. Each game will be given 1 for a win or win forfeit, ½ for a draw, and 0 for a loss or loss forfeit. A score of at least 2 is needed for a team match win and 1.5 for a team match draw.
In the Swiss Section, a half-point match bye is available for up to two matches during the season. Late registering teams are awarded the ½ match bye for the early rounds missed. A team may request ½ match byes at the time of registration, and are available for any round. ½ point byes are non-refundable. A Zero-point bye is available for a team if notifying the TD at the time of registration, or by the end of the preceding round.
No tie-break or individual game points are awarded for a half or zero point match bye.
Individual score. All actual games played count for a player’s total score (regardless of “forfeit” status for team score). All win forfeits count for a player’s score. For “board” prizes, the lowest board position played during the season, all games counting regardless of other board positions played on.
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Memberships: current USCF membership is required for all participants who play in an ACL game.
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Team participation: All teams are to submit a roster. At least three players should be listed on that roster. Additional players or alternates may be listed on a roster. As a rule, a player or alternate may not play for more than one team. Rare exceptions may be made at the discretion of the TD.
Substitutions will be placed on the appropriate board for their ranking, see above “Ranking and Board order”.
Emergency players not on the initial roster may be used twice per year. These players must be rated lower than lowest rated player on the team’s roster.
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Early play of scheduled games: It is encouraged that all games be played at the scheduled time. However, an early game or match may be arranged by agreement between the players and team captains of the teams involved. Notify the TD of any early games and report the results on or before the scheduled time of the match.
Sections: League will be composed of two divisions. In the first year, the top division will include the 6 highest rated teams based on average rating (from the December supplement) of the top three boards. These teams will play a 5 round, round robin format.
All remaining teams will be entered into an "open section." These teams will play a 5 round swiss tournament format.
From the second year of the league (2013) and going forward, the top section will be composed of the swiss tournamnet winner and the next 5 highest rated teams.
