The Greater Toronto Chess League (GTCL) team competition between clubs within the GTCL consists of two championship tournaments: League (regular chess) and Cup (rapid chess).  These rules are for the League championship.

Teams

1. A person can be associated with at most one (1) team (as player or Team Captain).
2. Each team should have a minimum of four (4) team players
   1. May have any number of additional players as substitutes.
   2. Players may be a member of at most one team.
   3. Players must be members of the same chess club.
   4. Players must be members of the CFC for the duration of the tournament.
3. Each chess club may have more than one team (but cannot share players or captains).
4. Each team must designate one of its players as the Team Captain.
   1. Team Captains are responsible for assembling players for each match.
   2. Team Captains are responsible for reporting game results to the tournament coordinators.  
   3. Team Captains are on the Appeal Committee (see below).
   4. Team Captains may delegate his/her responsibilities to another team player for a match if he/she cannot attend.
5. Each Team Captain must provide the team roster to the tournament coordinators.
   1. The roster is an ordered list of team players.
   2. The roster determines which player plays on which board in a match.
   3. The roster should order players as follows:
      1. According to the CFC rating list available on chess.ca on Dec 31.
      2. Ideally, the order should be highest rated to lowest rated to unrated.
      3. The order may be rearranged as long as no player comes after another player that is rated more than 200 points lower.
      4. Unrated players may be inserted in any order.
      5. The tournament coordinator may disallow any re-ordering if he/she believes it is being done to gain an unfair advantage.
   4. The roster must be provided as soon as possible but changes (add, remove, re-order) will be accepted up to 24 hours before the start of round 1.
   5. If a roster is not provided, the tournament coordinators will set a roster based on CFC rating and names (alphabetically).
   6. The roster may not be changed after 24 hours before the start of round 1
   7. The roster should remain fixed throughout the tournament.
      1. Only under very exceptional circumstances will changes be accepted by the tournament coordinator at his/her sole discretion.

Registration

• By December 31, 2022, at 11:59 pm ET, all teams must pre-register.
  • Registration website: (click REGISTER)
  • A maximum of 20 teams may pre-register for the tournament.
  • Teams should pre-register early to reserve one of the 20 places.
  • Teams should provide their initial roster (ordered list of names).
• By January 9th, 2023, at 7:00 pm (24 hours before Round 1):
  • All changes to rosters (add, remove, reorder players) must be received by the tournament coordinator via email at hhchess@utoronto.ca 

Matches & Games

1. This is a CFC-rated single round-robin tournament of team matches.
2. Team pairings for all rounds will be announced before the first round.
   1. Only the team pairings, not the players, will be announced.
3. Chess sets and clocks will be provided.
4. Each match consists of four (4) games on four (4) boards.
   1. Team Captains must assign players to boards no later than 5 minutes before the start of each match (7:05 pm). Doors to the tournament hall open at 6:00 pm.
      • If an assigned player does not appear, the game is forfeited.  Teams need to be disciplined enough to handle their no-shows by 7:05 pm.
   2. Players are assigned to boards in the order of their team’s roster.
      • A team member who appears after another team member on the roster cannot play on a board before that other team member.  Teams must ensure the correct assignment of players to boards (arbiter can award forfeits or reasonable penalties).
   3. If fewer than four players are available, the first boards must be assigned players and the latter boards left empty (and forfeited).  If both teams leave a board empty, both teams will forfeit (score zero).
   4. Team Captains (or delegates) are responsible for recording which player plays on which board.  This is important for correctly rating the games.
      • May be reported on the forms provided at the match.
      • Otherwise, it must be emailed to hhchess@utoronto.ca.
   5. Team Captains (or delegates) are responsible for reporting the results of each game to the tournament coordinator(s).
      • May be reported on the forms provided at the match.
      • Otherwise, it must be emailed to hhchess@utoronto.ca 
5. Each game:
   1. Is played according to the rules of CFC.
   2. Is played at a time control of game in 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move with chess notation required for every move.
   3. The pairings assign a colour to each team.  Team players will play that colour on boards 1 and 3 and the opposite colour on boards 2 and 4.
   4. The game is forfeited after 60 minutes or 8:10 pm.  This extra time is allowed for Toronto’s unpredictable rush hour traffic.  Both forfeit if both do not appear. 
6. Scoring:
   1. Each game is awarded one game point for a win, ½ game point for a draw, and zero game points for a loss or forfeit.
   2. The winner of a match is the team with the most game points.
   3. Each match is awarded 2 match points for a win, 1 match point for a tie, and zero match points for a loss.
7. Cheating:  All participants must act in ways to prevent the possibility of cheating and, equally important, the suspicion of cheating.
   1. Cheating is VERY serious and will be handled as such.
   2. Electronic devices (phones, tablets, computers, etc):
      • It is highly recommended that you do NOT bring your electronic devices into the playing venue.  Leave them in your car or at home.
      • If you do bring an electronic device into the playing venue, turn the power off.  Your game will be forfeited if your phone rings near ANY chessboard.
      • If you must use your electronic device for an unavoidable non-chess purpose, notify the arbiter.  The arbiter must be present at any time the electronic device is powered on and/or away from the game table (especially outside the playing, hallways, washrooms, etc.).
        • If the arbiter is not available, find another impartial witness.

Tournament Tiebreaks

• During the Qualification Stage (applied in the following order, eliminating as you go):
  1. Team with the most match points.
  2. Team with the most game points in all matches.
  3. Team with the most match points with all other tied teams.
  4. Team with the most game points with all other tied teams.
  5. Team with the most game points on boards 1, 2, and 3 with all other tied teams.
  6. Team with the most game points on boards 1 and 2 with all other tied teams.
  7. Team with the most game points on board 1 with all other tied teams.
  8. Highest rated team.  If still tied (extremely unlikely), flip a coin.

• For the Finals Stage (applied in the following order, eliminating as you go):
  1. Team with the most match points.
  2. Team with the most game points in all matches.
  3. Team with the most match points with all other tied teams.
  4. Team with the most game points with all other tied teams.
  5. Team with the higher place in qualification stage.
  6. Team with the most match points in qualification stage.
  7. Team with the most game points in qualification stage.
  8. Highest rated team.  
• The trophy is awarded to one team, the winner, after tiebreaks (if necessary).

Appeals Committee

1. The Appeals Committee will consist of all the Team Captains.
2. For each appeal, any Team Captain(s) who have a direct interest in the outcome of the appeal will be excluded from voting.
3. The committee will be responsible for decisions on appeals to the arbiter’s decisions, complaints, exceptions to posted rules, and any other appropriate rulings.
4. For any tied votes, the arbiter will cast the deciding vote.