Tournament Rules of European Rapid Championship

1. Participation

Participation is open to all players representing one of the ECU federations (FIDE Zones 1.1 to 1.9).

The number of players is unlimited. The entry fees are based on the quality of the participants and are regulated by the General Information.

2. General Regulations

2.1. The playing schedule should be distributed to the players before the start of the first round. Any change in the schedule should be announced by the Chief Arbiter.

2.2. No postponement of games is allowed.

2.3. The rate of play, except of tie-breaks, is G-15'+10'' (15 minutes for a game for a player, with an increment of 10 seconds per move).

2.4. The rate of play in tie-breaks is 5 minutes for white and 4 minutes for black for a game, with an increment of 1 second per move.

2.5. The Tournament is played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess.

In G-15'+10'' games, the rapidplay rules shall be applied.
In tie-break games, the blitz rules shall be applied.
The game is lost by the player who arrives at the chessboard after his flag has fallen.

2.6. Players are kindly requested to keep silence at the tournament hall. Players who will not comply with this request may receive the following penalties:

official warning
time penalty (reduction of time by 50% in the next game)
exclusion from the pairings of the next round

2.7. Chief Arbiter's decisions are final.

3. System of play

All participants play in the 13-round Swiss Tournament. The standings are determined by:

number of scored points
Buchholz without the best and the weakest opponent
Buchholz (full)
number of wins
progressive score

4. Tie-break Matches

4.1. Tie-break matches are limited to the following cases:

to establish the Champion
to establish the medal winners

4.2. The relevant tie-break matches will decide the final ranking and the money prizes.

4.3. The playing schedule (knock-out system) will be made in such a way that in the last tie-break round the number of matches will be equal to the number of places to be determined.

4.4. In the case the number of players is not a multiple number of this number of places, a preliminary round will be played among the players with the lowest scores in the final ranking.

4.5. In each tie-break round the first ranked player will play versus the last ranked, the second ranked versus the last but one ranked, and so on. This schedule will be valid to the end for the winners and losers.

4.6. The player, who wins the drawing of lots may choose the color. In the case of a draw the player with the black pieces wins this tie-break match.

Chief Arbiter
/ – /
IA Tomasz Delega