UNITED STATES CHESS LEAGUE

League Rules

1. Team Makeup:

1. Each team will consist of an 8 player roster.
2. Each match will consist of 4 players from that roster, with the overall rating of those players being under 2401 USCF. A team rating of 2400.75 would be legal.
   
3. For each female player being used in a match, the team using her will be allowed to have a 2411 rating cap. If two females are playing then the cap is 2421 and so on.
4. Any player rated above 2590 will count only as 2590 towards the team's average rating. So if someone is rated 2630, they will count as 2590 when calculating the rating of the team. This is to reward teams for using the strongest players in the country.
   
5. The board order must go by rating UNLESS two players are within 50 points or less of one another. Also you cannot move a player up if they have a lower FIDE title than the player they are replacing. The board order for two players within 50 points of each other, must be decided the first time those two players are competing in a match together. From that point forward, the order may not be changed.
   
6. Any team will be allowed to use a player rated Under 2000  for any match even if they are not on the team roster. This will add flexibility in case there is some emergency. Please note that this should only occur in case of emergency and should never be a calculated decision.
   
7. Once the season begins, each team will have the opportunity to replace 2 players on the roster, with the caveat that the new player must be rated under 2400 or be no more than 25 (50 if same or lesser FIDE title) points higher rated than the replaced player. Such replacements should only be made in case of emergency and never for strategic purposes.
8. No player will be allowed to compete in the playoffs unless they have played at least 2 matches for their team

9.  The lineup for the upcoming week's matches must be set by Sunday 9:00 PM EST by the team manager. If your team is scheduled to play on a Monday evening, then the lineup is due by Friday 9:00 pm EST. Sometimes unforeseen situations come up and a manager has to make a last second change to the lineup. The following will be the new standard set of rules if a team changes their lineup after the Sunday 9:00PM ET deadline.
   
   9a. If the League is notified by Monday 9:00 PM ET, the board in question will lose 1/4^th of their starting time. If more than one board is affected by this change, they will each lose 1/6^th of their starting time. For example if your 2^nd board does not show up and is replaced by your lowest rated player, your 3^rd board would move up to board 2 and so forth. Boards 2-4 would all lose 1/6^th of their starting time at the outset of the game.
   
   9b. If the league is notified by Tuesday 9:00PM ET , the board in question will lose 1/3th of their starting time and if more than one board is affected by this change, they will each lose 1/4^th of their starting time.
   
   9c. If the league is notified after Tuesday 9:00 PM ET, you will have to directly replace the player who has cancelled with whomever your alternate player is. This player may not be more than 25 points higher rated than the canceling player. This player will also lose half of their starting time. This means that if your scheduled 1^st board is unable to attend at the last minute, and your replacement player is rated 2100, they will be forced to play on board 1.
   
   9d. If any team makes sudden last minute changes on multiple occasions, the penalties may become more serious than those stated above. The league commissioner has the right to impose penalties harsher than the ones listed if it is felt they are warranted.

10. Each team should have one manager and at least one assistant manager. If an issue arises and it's impossible to contact these managers via telephone within a 24 hour period, the league has the right to impose any penalties they deem fit.
    
11. Given that the matches are taking place on the Internet, many unforseen problems could occur. If this should happen, it is up to the league to determine the proper course of action.
    

2. Game Rules, Playing Sites + TD Rules

1. If a team scores 2.5 points they win the match. If the score is 2-2 it's a tie and both teams get a half point in the standings. Match points are the most important statistic in the league. Overall game points only come into play to break ties to see who qualifies for the playoffs and to determine playoff seeding. So although winning the match 2.5/4 is the most important thing, it can be beneficial to win by a larger margin.
   
2. Each team will play at a public playing site where chess fans can come to observe the games.
3. The only time that matters is the time displayed on ICC. If your flag falls on the internet you lose the game.
   
4. If you are playing at a site with 1-2 computers, and have someone relaying the moves to some of the games, the players are allowed to switch from a relay board to the computer console as soon as there become as many computers as players. For instance if your site has just one computer, and your team has only one game remaining, this player may now finish his or her game at the computer console.
5. Each team must have a league appointed TD present at all times during the matches. This TD does NOT have to be a USCF TD, although that would be preferable. I need to speak to every TD in advance about special rules and requirements for this type of event.
6. Team members will not be permitted to speak to the other team members during their game. They will be forced to use their own judgement as to whether or not to accept a draw. It should be made obvious to all team members as to what the score of the match is, and they should be allowed to see all other team member’s games, to help them determine whether or not to take a draw. The reason for this rule is that if the 4^th board asks a Grandmaster on 1^st board whether they should take a draw, it would be very difficult for the GM to forget the evaluation of the 4^th boards position when giving advice.
7. Fan attendance should be encouraged, and we hope to have as many chess enthusiasts watching the matches in each city.
8. We recommend that if a player has time, he or she types in the moves. This is a preventative measure against a mouseslip. If you make a mouseslip that a USCL Official feels was obviously a slip, then they will grant your player a takeback and a two minute penalty (or greater in some cases) to the opposing team. The length of the penalty is up to the league official. Please note that the mouseslip must be very obvious to have an automatic takeback granted. For instance if the game starts 1.e4 d5 2.ed5 Qd6 (instead of Qxd5), we will automatically give a takeback to the black player, provided they inform a league official quickly, and we will award 2 minutes to the opposing team's clock.
   
9. A player may also play with a physical board at their side, as some players can concentrate better on an actual chessboard as opposed to playing directly at a computer. In this case the players would first make their move on the chessboard and then input it into the computer. The player is FORCED to make whatever move they made on the chessboard on the computer as well. If a TD sees that they have done otherwise then the player will be penalized. For this reason, if a player makes a move on a chessboard and then mouseslips on ICC, the league can force the opposing team to accept a takeback (although they will still receive the 2 minute time bonus). This is another good preventative measure against mouseslips however you must inform the opposing team in advance that you will be using a physical chessboard.
   
10. For the most part all team members will be required to be at the playing site. However exceptions may be made according to the league commisioner’s discretion. The following features would make it more likely that you could play one match in another city/state:

10a – You are in this other area for a major chess event/chess obligation

10b – If you play in this area it will be in a public area where fans will be expected to come and watch. This will help to generate publicity for the league in other areas.

10c – You have not used this option at any other point during the season.

10d - There must be a league appointed TD available to direct at the playing site.

10e – The opposing team must agree to this arrangement as well. If they are not agreeable then it will not be allowed.

The league will treat each above circumstance very seriously. Unless it’s clear that being away was unavoidable it’s possible that you will not be permitted to compete in the match. However we do want our top players to be able to compete, thus we hope to remain flexible and not disqualify some strong players from playing just because they are away at a serious chess event.

3. Playoff Qualification and League Structure:

1. Each league team will play their divisional rivals either once or twice during the season and play two teams from the other division for a total of 10 matches.
   
2. The teams with the top 3 records in each division will advance to the playoffs.
   
3. The 2nd place team from each division will play the 3rd place team from that same division in the WildCard round. The division winners will receive a bye for this round and will advance directly to the Semi-Finals.
4. The 2nd place finishers will receive draw odds against the 3rd place finishers, thus will advance on a 2-2 draw. The 3rd place finishers will be able to choose their color on Boards 1+3 for this match.
   
5. The winner of these wildcard matches will face the winner of their division.
   
6. The division winners will receive draw odds in the Semi-Finals. This means that the division winners will have a huge advantage when the playoffs roll around, so it is very important to do as well as possible during the regular season. Once again, the team giving draw odds gets to choose their colors on Boards 1+3.
   
7. The two Semi-Final winners will face off in the League Championship match. Neither team will receive draw odds and instead there will be a tiebreak. To read details about this special tiebreak that will be used, click here. The team with the best regular season record will have the right to choose their color.
   

8.  If there is a tie during the regular season as to the final playoff click on the link below for details:

    E.   Emergency Procedures:

1. Given that this is a relatively new event there is clearly the possibility of something unforeseen occurring. All managers will be given the contact numbers of their opposing managers, the league commissioner and possibly 1 or 2 other Internet based Tournament Directors. If there is some problem such as a lost Internet Connection or any other major concern, these managers should immediately call these phone numbers.

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