Definitions

A junior is a player who was under 16 on 1 September 2009.  A junior side is one containing at least 3 junior players.

Rules

1. The submission of an entry signifies that a club or individual accepts the charges (£6.00 per team to cover both cups, for a club that pays for its members to be ECF members, and £12 per team to cover both cups otherwise), and undertakes to pay them on receipt of an invoice at the end of the event.  (Entry fees include the ECF game levy as necessary).
2. There is no restriction on the number of teams a club may enter, but the order of strength of such teams should be indicated.  It is permissible to enter a team made up from players from different clubs (or with no Leicestershire club affiliation).  Such a "scratch" team must have a distinctive title, and must nominate an individual who is solely responsible for its playing arrangements and for the payment of its fees.  Any team with no normal home venue available must indicate this on their entry form.  Neutral venues will be provided if necessary.
3. A player who has played for a given team is regarded as a barred player for that team, and may not play for a lower team from that club, or for another club or team.
4. Each club (or scratch team) must appoint a single contact, with home or work and mobile phone numbers and e-mail address supplied.  This person will be contacted with draw details etc.
5. Each team must have an appointed captain who is responsible for all its match arrangements.  The home captain shall contact the away club to indicate the venue for the match and to offer two dates in separate weeks for the fixture, within the time allocated for a given round.  One of these dates must be accepted.
6. Any delay or problem must be reported at once to the League Secretary: any significant delay occurring without the League Secretary's permission might result in one or both teams being defaulted.
7. There is no grading restriction in these events.
8. Teams eliminated from any preliminary round, and the 1st round, of the Chapman Cup, will automatically be entered into the Birstall Cup.  The same handicapping rules (see below) will apply to both competitions.  The League Management Committee reserves the right not to run the Birstall Cup if there are insufficient entries.
9. Wherever possible teams from the same club will not be drawn against each other in the early rounds of the competitions.

Matches

10. Each match must be played between teams of FOUR players.
11. The board order of each team must be in descending order of strength as defined in League Rule 13 (see Advice to Captains in the 2009-2010 League Handbook).  A team with less than four players available at the start of the match must use them on the top boards, e.g. a 3-player team must default board 4.
12. Colours for each match will be decided by the toss of a coin, the winner of the toss to choose white on odd or even boards.

Handicap System

13. Each player's grade must be listed on the match score sheet by the captains, and the total grading points for each team must be calculated and agreed before the match starts.  The difference between the two team totals is used in the handicap system as shown below.  If one or more boards are defaulted, a team's grading for those boards shall be the average grading of the players of that team who actually play.  If a nominated player is replaced at the last minute by an eligible substitute, the higher of the two players' grades must be used in the handicap calculation.
14. If a team intends to play an un-graded player the League Secretary or Grading Officer must be informed in advance of the match so that a grade can be assigned.  Any assigned grade may be changed during the events in the light of further information on a player's strengths, including his/her performance in the events.

15. The handicap system will operate by giving bonus points to the lower-graded team according to the following scale:

    ECF grade difference	Lower-graded team bonus
    0-24	0
    25-74	0.5
    75-124	1.5
    125-174	2.5
    175-200	3.5

    If the grading difference between two players on a single board is over 50 it should be treated as exactly 50 points – the maximum grade difference in the table is thus 200 points.  This is to allow for the fact that a grading difference of more than 50 points implies that the higher-rated player should always win.

    A consequence of the system is that the match score for two 4-player teams may not add up to 4.  For example if, in a match between teams A and B, A wins 2.5-1.5 over the board, but B has a grade total 120 points less than A, B gets 1.5 bonus points, and thus wins the match by 2.5-3.0.  The tie-break rules (see below) need only be used when the grade totals of the teams differ by less than 25 points.

Play

16. All games must start by 7:30 pm.  Any player who has not started by 8 pm will default their game, but substitutes eligible under the order of strength rule are allowed up to 8 pm.

    If neither player in a particular game is present at the start of the match, White's clock will be started at that time.  When one of the players appears, the White clock will be stopped, and the time that has elapsed will then be divided equally between the two players, before White's clock is re-started.  If White is the first player to appear he will move and press his clock, so Black's clock will then run until he appears.  If Black is the first to appear, White's clock will continue to run after the clocks have been re-started.  This rule can be used in conjunction with Fischer timings as well as with conventional time limits (see below).

17. All games in a given match are to be played to a finish on the same occasion – there will be no adjournments and no adjudications.
18. Fischer timings.  The League Management Committee has agreed that, as an experiment, the 2010 Chapman and Birstall Cup matches can be played – WITH THE AGREEMENT OF BOTH TEAMS – using Fischer timings.  If this approach is agreed by the two teams, the time limit will be 35 MOVES IN THE FIRST HOUR, THEN 20 MINUTES TO FINISH THE GAME, WITH 10 SECONDS ADDED FOR EVERY MOVE FROM MOVE 1.  (Suitable digital clocks are necessary for this system to be used).  In such cases there will be NO fixed finishing time for the games.  Fischer-timed games have several advantages, including better time management opportunities for the players, and avoidance of the notorious 2-minute rule used in rapid play finishes.  PLEASE NOTE that when Fischer timings are used it is possible for a player to have less than 5 minutes remaining before his flag falls – so that he does not have to record his moves – but then if he plays several moves in quick succession, he might have more than 5 minutes left because of the 10 second bonuses.  In such cases he does NOT have to re-start recording the moves; he can continue to play without doing so until the game ends.
19. If Fischer timings are not used the rate of play will be 30 moves in 60 minutes: after the completion of Black's 30th move the clocks are turned by back by 20 minutes per player, and the game is completed under the quick-play rules.  A junior team has the right to choose a rate of play of all moves in 60 minutes per player.
20. If the grade totals of the two teams differ by 0-24 points, and the result of the match is 2-2, then tie-break methods are to be used in the following priority order:
    1. The team defaulting fewer boards wins.
    2. Board count: the board numbers on which each team won games are totalled and the team with the lower total wins.
    3. Elimination if one team wins on boards 1 and 4, and the other on boards 2 and 3, giving an equal board count, the result on the lowest board is eliminated.
    4. If all boards are drawn the match must be replayed with the venue reversed.
21. The result of the match is to be forwarded to the League Secretary and the LRCA Web site as soon as possible, and match score-sheets must be submitted within 7 days.  Any disputes will be resolved by the League Secretary: clubs will have the right of appeal, as in League Rule 7.