Chess ladder Rules 2020

1, At the start of the competition, players who intend to play at least 6 games will be entered in a table (ladder). The person’s ranking in the ladder will be based on their standard August 2020 grade. The highest graded player will be placed at the bottom and the lowest graded player at the top of the Ladder.

2, New players can join the competition at any time after week 1 but will start from the bottom of the ladder.

3, Players can challenge anyone else at any time and play as many games as they wish, (even against the same opponent, if no other player is available.). Players should attempt to play a new opponent wherever possible.

4, Colours are those agreed by both players but should be reversed if the players meet in subsequent games of the competition.

5, Time limits and rules are in accordance with standard NSDCA games (ie 75 minutes plus 10 sec increments from move 1, games recorded etc.)

6, All games played in the competition will be graded. (If you wish to play a friendly (ungraded) game, this will not be treated as part of the Ladder Competition).

7, Players move up and down the ladder depending on the result as below;

    a) The winner of the game will move up two ranks whilst the loser will move down one rank. However where the winner was previously ranked below the loser, that winner will move up three ranks.

    b) In the event of a draw the player with the lower rank will move up one rank. The higher ranked player shall remain on the same rank. If players were next to each other on the ladder before the game, then positions are swapped.

    c) A player may move down the ladder due to other players completing games and moving up the ladder.

    d) Where more than one game is played in any week, the Tournament Controller (TC) will decide the sequence of recording results, which may mean ladder positions change.

    e) Any member not playing for 4 consecutive weeks shall be moved to the bottom of the ladder

 8, An ongoing table of the ladder can be seen on the club website under the link ‘Internal Competitions’. Results should be sent to the Tournament Controller (David Hulme) by email. All results will be recorded on the LMS and sent for grading in due course (with a separate round shown each week).

9, The winner of the competition will be the player that occupies the top rank when the competition closes on Wednesday 16th December 2020, provided they have played at least 6 games. There will be trophies awarded to the winner, and to the highest finishing player with a grade below 101 (at the 2021 AGM).