BRITISH UNIVERSITIES'
CHESS ASSOCIATION
2016 BUCA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday 20th February and
Sunday 21st February, 2016
Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport,
Coventry Road, Birmingham B26 3QW
Chief Organiser: Alex Holowczak – [email protected]
http://www.buca.org.uk
Schedule of Play
Round 1: Saturday 12:00-14:30
BUCA AGM: Sunday 9:30
Round 2: Saturday 15:00-17:30
Round 4: Sunday 10:30-13:00
Round 3: Saturday 18:00-20:30
Round 5: Sunday 13:30-16:00
Prize giving will follow as soon as possible at the end of the final round.
Sections: There will be three tournaments:
(1) Championship, open to 1st teams
(2) Plate, open to 2nd teams, and by request, 1st teams whose average grade for their top 4 registered
players is below 140, and
(3) Shield, open to 3rd teams, and by request any teams whose average grade for the top 4 registered
players eligible to play for that team is below 110.
The organiser reserves the right to transfer one or more teams between any sections as necessary. This
shall usually be done in order to ensure an even number of teams are in as many sections as possible.
Championship & Plate Tournaments:
The time control will be 60 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; all games will be played with DGT clocks.
The tournament will be played over 5 rounds. The tournaments will be ECF standardplay graded.
Shield Tournaments:
The time control will be 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; all games will be played with DGT clocks.
The tournament will be played over 5 two-game rounds, with one game for each colour; a total of 10
games. A team may not be changed between both halves of a match. The tournament will be ECF rapidplay
graded.
Pairings & Results
Seeding within scoregroups for the sake of pairings will be done by mean ECF grade. Each team shall earn 2
matchpoints for a win, 1 matchpoint for a draw, and 0 matchpoints for a loss. If a team receives a bye, it
shall be credited with 2 matchpoints and 4 gamepoints. The team with the most matchpoints at the end of
the tournament shall win. If two or more teams are tied on matchpoints after five rounds, then the tie will
be split as follows: (i) The team with the highest scoring using the Olympiad Sonnenborn-Berger tiebreak
(ii) If still tied, the team with the most gamepoints shall be placed higher (iii) If still tied, the gamepoints
scored from the bottom-most player in the team shall be removed from the gamepoints total - similar to
“board elimination” - the team with the highest remaining number of gamepoints in its total shall be placed
higher; if still tied, this process shall be repeated for the next-lowest board and so on, until no boards
remain. (iv) If still tied, the team with the higher Sum of Opponents’ Matchpoints shall be placed higher. (v)
If still tied, the places shall remain tied.
Player Eligibility
All students progressing towards an academic qualification at a Higher Education Institute (HEI) are entitled
to play for a team. Of course, the team itself must be from a HEI that is a member of BUCA. This
competition is open to all players regardless of citizenship or FIDE registration.
Number of Players
Universities may field as many teams as they wish, noting that only one team may enter the Championship
and Plate. Each team is composed of four players. Reserves are permitted; squads have no limit in size. A
scratch team will be composed of reserves in other teams if there are an odd number of teams in any
section. Note that the Organiser will aim to have an even number of teams in the Championship, and then
the Plate, and will move teams if necessary; the scratch team would play in the Shield. Should this not be
necessary, graded friendly games will be available for reserves who want them.
Registering a squad of Players
Universities must register a squad of players in descending standardplay grade order. Variances to this
within the squad are permitted within a 10-grading point tolerance. Where grades are equal, the University
may choose which player is in which position. Players must then play in that position within their squad for
the duration of the event. For example, if a University registers 8 players for its squad, then the player
registered fourth will always play on board 4 for the University 1st team, and the player registered fifth will
always play on board 1 for the University 2nd team. Note: Squads of split strength are not permitted.
Board Order – Shield
Having fixed the playing order within the squad, should a University have a team or teams in the Shield, the
four players in that team must play in descending rapidplay grade order, notwithstanding their order within
the initial squad of registrations. Variances to this are permitted within a 10-grading point tolerance.
Grades to be Used
The national grades of players will be used depending on the country in which a University is situated.
Other grades may be used upon request. Grades outside England will be converted to ECF using the formula
ECF = (Other Elo – 700) / 7.5. Where a player has no grade, the Organiser will provide an estimate for the
player upon request.
Entry Fee: £25 per team.
Entries received after 31st January will incur a further late fee of £25. Accommodation cannot be
guaranteed after this date. Team lists may be modified after this date. Reserves must purchase extra rooms
through BUCA at the rates quoted below.
Staying at the Hotel: All registered players must stay at the hotel. If this cannot be done because the hotel
is full, then the team must bring receipts to the BUCA Treasurer at the AGM. The Treasurer will then set a
fee that ensures the late-entering team does not pay less money than a team entering late. It is essential
that as many players stay at the hotel as possible in order to ensure the event's viability.
Accommodation Options (per team of 4, per night):
All room bookings should be made by filling in the appropriate form when entering the Championship. The
Organisers will book your rooms on your behalf.
Four single rooms: £220 bed & breakfast; £280 dinner, bed & breakfast
One twin room, two single rooms: £175 bed & breakfast, £235 dinner, bed & breakfast
Two twin rooms: £142.50 bed & breakfast, £202.50 dinner, bed & breakfast – one of the twin rooms will be
a regular twin room, and the other will be a double bed plus sofabed.
Please note that accommodation payments are due to the hotel on check-in, or check-out. There is a limit
of twin rooms, and these are available on a “first come, first served” basis. Please note that, in this respect,
bookings will only be made with the hotel once the entry fee has been received. Should the number of
regular twin rooms be allocated, then remaining teams may be allocated the double bed plus sofabed twin
rooms, and this will incur a £12.50 surcharge.
Where additional players are attending, additional single rooms can be booked at the following rate: £55
bed & breakfast, £70 dinner, bed & breakfast.
Accommodation at the venue can be booked on either the Friday night before, or Sunday night afterwards;
as well as the Saturday night. Please include this on your entry form at the time of entry.
Hotel Food
Dinners not booked in advance can be purchased for £20 from the reception upon arrival. Lunch will be
available from the hotel on both days. Sandwiches, drinks and other light refreshments will be available at
reasonable prices from outside the playing area. It is not permitted for players to bring in their own food
and drink to the venue. All food and drink consumed on site must be purchased at the hotel. The organisers
at the venue will be supervising this, and penalty gamepoints may be applied. Severe breaches may result
in teams being disqualified from the competition.
BUCA Membership: All Universities that field teams must be BUCA Members. BUCA Membership for the
2015/16 season is £20.
ECF Membership: All players at English universities must be ECF Bronze Members or above. A team wishing
to register players who do not fulfil this requirement must add a £12.50 per player surcharge to their team
entry fee.
Championship Prizes: The winner of the Championship section will receive the trophy and the title of BUCA
Team Champion. The top four teams will win the right to represent Great Britain at the 2nd European
Universities Championships. These will be played in Rijeka, Croatia, as part of the 2016 European
Universities’ Games. The provisional dates for the chess event are 19-22 July. Please note that any funding
available for this tournament will only be available for the BUCA Team Champion.
Division Prizes:
The winning team in each Division will win the Championship, Plate or Shield trophy as appropriate. There
will be individual keepsakes for all members of the winning team.
Individual prizes:
Individual prizes will be awarded to all players who score the following percentage scores, subject to
playing a minimum of 4 rounds of the competition:
Gold medal
80% or higher
Silver medal
70% or higher
Bronze medal
60% or higher
Playing a graded friendly in a round will count as “playing in a round” for the purposes of this calculation;
and the result will be used to calculate the percentage.
Rules: The FIDE Laws of Chess will apply. The default time shall be 30 minutes.
Appeals' Committee: An Appeals' Committee of three will be formed, the members of which will be
published at the event. Volunteers to be on this Committee are welcome.
Refund Policy: Universities who withdraw any team entries before 31st January will be entitled to a full
refund. All potential refunds after this date will be considered on a case-by-case basis at the BUCA AGM.
Entries: Entries should be e-mailed to Alex Holowczak at [email protected]. No entry will be
accepted without payment of the relevant entry and membership fees. Information for transferring the fees
will be provided upon receipt of a completed entry form.
Travel
to
the
Venue:
Information
about
the
venue
can
be
found
here:
http://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/gb/en/birmingham/bhxap/hoteldetail/directions
It may be of particular interest to note that there are shuttle services in place from both the railway station
and airport, which are within 2 miles of the playing venue.