About the League
Structure
Players will compete as a school online (see below) and as a team in the following manner:
The top 3 players (see Home/Away below for info) from each school will make up each team, the top player from each team plays each other, the next best plays the next best, etc. all the way to the fifth best players. Scoring is counted as 1 with a win, 1/2 with a draw, and 0 for a loss, the team with the most points wins the match. A match win is 3 match points, 1 point for a draw, 0 for a loss, to encourage some fighting chess.
Team Pairings will be based on a Swiss System.
Eligibility
All high school teams in Northern California are eligible to play; in some cases, some exceptions will be made however only schools in Northern California will be eligible to qualify for the playoffs (fees still apply to those teams who can't qualify). Each school can send as many teams of 3 as they wish but all of them will participate in the same section.
Please note that players participating MUST be from the same school. The club doesn't have to be recognized as a school sponsored club.
When
Regular season matches will be played online on FICS. There will be an official playing time at 2:00PM (California time) on Sundays but players will be given the option to request rescheduling if they are unable to make it. Please email [email protected] for info on rescheduling.
Time Control
Time controls for the regular season will be 20 minute per side and 10 sec add-ons after every move. The playoffs will be 40 minutes with 5 second add-ons and championships will have a time control of 45 minutes with 5 sec add-ons.
Prizes and Cost
Trophy/award prizes to top team of respective sections
Postmarked by January 6th: $4 per team Postmarked by January 24th: $8 per team
Players will compete as a school online (see below) and as a team in the following manner:
The top 3 players (see Home/Away below for info) from each school will make up each team, the top player from each team plays each other, the next best plays the next best, etc. all the way to the fifth best players. Scoring is counted as 1 with a win, 1/2 with a draw, and 0 for a loss, the team with the most points wins the match. A match win is 3 match points, 1 point for a draw, 0 for a loss, to encourage some fighting chess.
Team Pairings will be based on a Swiss System.
Eligibility
All high school teams in Northern California are eligible to play; in some cases, some exceptions will be made however only schools in Northern California will be eligible to qualify for the playoffs (fees still apply to those teams who can't qualify). Each school can send as many teams of 3 as they wish but all of them will participate in the same section.
Please note that players participating MUST be from the same school. The club doesn't have to be recognized as a school sponsored club.
When
Regular season matches will be played online on FICS. There will be an official playing time at 2:00PM (California time) on Sundays but players will be given the option to request rescheduling if they are unable to make it. Please email [email protected] for info on rescheduling.
Time Control
Time controls for the regular season will be 20 minute per side and 10 sec add-ons after every move. The playoffs will be 40 minutes with 5 second add-ons and championships will have a time control of 45 minutes with 5 sec add-ons.
Prizes and Cost
Trophy/award prizes to top team of respective sections
Postmarked by January 6th: $4 per team Postmarked by January 24th: $8 per team
Register by clicking here:
Playoffs and Championships
Top 4 teams make the playoffs in a knockout format. Ties in the standings will be broken by the tiebreak rules stated below.
Home/Away Matches
Because there are 3 boards, it means one team will have more white pieces that the other. When this happens, the team with more whites will be known as the "Home" team and the team with more blacks will be the "Away" team. This will hopefully help prevent long frustrating losing streaks by bringing in the very slight advantage of being the home team. It also allows for more players to participate than the traditional 4 player system. In the playoffs, the team with the better record will automatically become the home team. Tiebreak wise, if all tiebreaks for the teams going into the championship, the team with more away games will have home field advantage.
Tiebreaks
In the case that a team has the same number of wins-draws-losses breakdowns, tiebreaks to make the playoffs are used in the following order:
In the case that a championship match is drawn, there will be a blitz playoff, 3 2 time control, board 4 plays with reverse colors, in the case of a draw, colors reversed and play again, whoever loses is eliminated, eg. if Team 1's board 4 beats team 2's board 4, then the next game would be Team 1's board 4 vs. team 2's Board 3, and so on until one team's board 1 is eliminated, colors are always determined by the newly playing player, who always plays the opposite color of what the player had in the match.
Captain instructions here
Top 4 teams make the playoffs in a knockout format. Ties in the standings will be broken by the tiebreak rules stated below.
Home/Away Matches
Because there are 3 boards, it means one team will have more white pieces that the other. When this happens, the team with more whites will be known as the "Home" team and the team with more blacks will be the "Away" team. This will hopefully help prevent long frustrating losing streaks by bringing in the very slight advantage of being the home team. It also allows for more players to participate than the traditional 4 player system. In the playoffs, the team with the better record will automatically become the home team. Tiebreak wise, if all tiebreaks for the teams going into the championship, the team with more away games will have home field advantage.
Tiebreaks
In the case that a team has the same number of wins-draws-losses breakdowns, tiebreaks to make the playoffs are used in the following order:
- Total points~ All the points scored over the coarse of the season, 1 point for a win, 1/2 for a draw, 0 for a loss
- Forfeits~ Being more than 15 minutes late to a game see Rule 4. Fewer forfeit numbers make better tiebreaks
- Blitz playoff~ If all are equal, then all boards from the teams in question play a 3 2 blitz game, a random generator will determine who has what color.
In the case that a championship match is drawn, there will be a blitz playoff, 3 2 time control, board 4 plays with reverse colors, in the case of a draw, colors reversed and play again, whoever loses is eliminated, eg. if Team 1's board 4 beats team 2's board 4, then the next game would be Team 1's board 4 vs. team 2's Board 3, and so on until one team's board 1 is eliminated, colors are always determined by the newly playing player, who always plays the opposite color of what the player had in the match.
Captain instructions here