11th Internet Chess Tournament

“Ciudad de Dos Hermanas”

 

I HOW TO PARTICIPATE

The tournament will be held on-line at the Internet Chess Club (ICC), www.chessclub.com
Internet’s virtual chess club. Registration is free.

Please connect to the ICC at least a few minutes in advance of the tournament, and watch for instructions on how to participate in the tournament.  You will be prompted with a pop-up box when it is time to start each game. Each round will take roughly 10 minutes, so you can expect a 12-round qualifying tournament to take about 2.5 hours.

ICC management reserves the right to hold a break, up to 15 minutes duration, after a certain round, if deemed necessary. Show up on time. The tournament director may allow late joining after the start, but there will be no half bye points for missed rounds.

If you already own a permanently free GM/IM account on ICC, you have to use that account instead of another without GM/IM title. It is recommended to use the official account instead of an anonymous GM/IM account, because your name will be revealed anyway.

Use of computer chess engines and databases while playing is strictly prohibited.  Assistance from other players is also prohibited. Players can have only one account enrolled in the whole tournament.

b) Registrations

To play the tournament you must fill in the registration form at the official tournament page: http://www.doshermanas.net/  You should be registered at least one hour before the first qualifier you intend to play starts. After that, you can still register, but only play in later qualifiers. The registration form will be closed one hour before each qualifier starts, and will be opened again as soon as the qualifier starts. Only one registration is necessary. Once registered, a player can take part in as many qualifiers as he wishes until he is qualified.
 

II TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The tournament will run from March 12th – 20th, 2010.

Tournament table / time schedules

Tournament	Day	Time-table	System	Nº players	Qualifiers
S 12 A	Fri 12	3:00 pm  EST	Swiss	Open	1
S 12 B	Fri 12	8:00 pm  EST	Swiss	Open	1
S 13 A	Sat 13	3:00 pm  EST	Swiss	Open	1
S 13 B	Sat 13	8:00 pm  EST	Swiss	Open	1
S 14 A	Sun 14	3:00 pm EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 14 B	Sun 14	8:00 pm EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 15 A	Mon 15	3:00 pm  EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 15 B	Mon 15	8:00 pm  EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 16 A	Tue 16	3:00 pm  EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 16 B	Tue 16	8:00 pm  EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 17 A	Wed 17	3:00 pm  EDT	Swiss	Open	1
S 17 B	Wed 17	8:00 pm  EDT	Swiss	Open	1
REST DAY	Thu 18	------	Best	------	20
FINALS	Fri 19	3:00 pm  EDT	KO	32	8
FINALS	Sat 20	3:00 pm  EDT	KO	8	4 – 2 – 1

Note: Times are ICC server time, that is New York Time.You can check current ICC server time and compare to your local time by typing “date” while on ICC. Please note that the U.S. will switch to Daylight savings time on March 14th, while Europe stays on winter time until March 28. This implies that there will only be a five hour difference between server time and Central European Time from Tournament S 14 A on.

Example: In continental Europe, tournament S 12 A will begin on 21:00, six hours later than server time. However, tournament S 14 A will already begin on 20:00, just five hours later than server time, which is then already on Daylight Savings Time.

III   PLAYING SYSTEM

Tournament system:

In the qualifying stages, a twelve round Swiss system will be used. The final will be a K.O. between the 32 qualifiers. Qualifiers will be sorted by the January 1st 2010 FIDE rating list, and paired 1-32, 31-2, 3-30, etc… Those players that do not have a FIDE rating will be placed after all others and sorted by their ICC Blitz rating they had when they played their first qualifier. The grid will display the following pairings (top to bottom) and qualifiers who go through to the next round will be paired accordingly: 1-32, 16-17, 8-25, 9-24, 4-29, 13-20, 5-28, 12-21, 2-31, 15-18, 7-26, 10-23, 3-30, 17-19, 6-27, 11-22.

Game rate:

The playing rate will be 3/0(three minutes for the whole game). In the Final stages, using K.O. system, "mini-matches" of four games will be played (also using 3/0). If a tie occurs, two further games will be played (2/0). If still tied after those, yet another two games will be played (1/0). If still tied then, the tournament director will toss a coin to determine colours in a single tiebreak game. If that single tiebreak game ends as a draw, another will be played with opposite colours, until there is a won game. In the final of the last two, the match will have six games. Any match in the finals ends before four (six) games are played, if one player has 2.5 points or more (3.5 or more in the final of the last two).

c) Tournament development:

Twelve Swiss tournaments are played in six days. The following weekend the Finals are played, with the 12 winners of the Swiss qualifying tournaments, and the 20 best players (non-winners).

Tie-breaks:

1) In the qualifiers, the tie-breaks will be (in this order):
a) Sum of scores of opponents, adjusted such that if an opponent does not play a round   for whatever reason, 0.5 is added to the sum b) Average rating of opponents c) Draw lots

2) When calculating which of the non-winners should advance to the 32-player KO   based on their performance in the qualifying tournaments, the criteria will be:

1. Best score (b) Average rating of opponents in the respective qualifier  c) Draw lots

The rating used in those tiebreakers is the ICC Blitz rating at the start of the qualifier.

IV    PRIZES

Main prizes

1º         2.000 euros
2º         1.300 euros
3º-4º       700 euros

Special prizes

For the special prizes, the sum of points of all the 12 qualifying events will be used. To check the sum of points while qualifiers are running, type on ICC:

/tell pear ser b dosher

a) Best ICC Amateur member from all over the world (<1800 ICC blitz rating).

1º 250 euros
2º 150 euros

To be eligible for the best ICC Amateur member prize, you need to have an ICC blitz rating of less than 1800 at the start of the first qualifier you play in, your ICC blitz best rating must not exceed 2000, you must have played 50 rated games on that account. ICC reserves the right to deny these prizes to persons who seem to have achieved higher ratings on other ICC usernames they have used in the past.

b) Best ICC FIDE Rated members (No FIDE title) from all over the world

1º 250 euros
2º 150 euros

ICC reserves the right to deny these prizes to players whose true identity cannot be verified without doubt.

c) Best ICC Spanish Amateur member (<2000 ICC blitz rating).

1º 200 euros
2º 100 euros

To be eligible for the best ICC Spanish Amateur member prize, you need to have an ICC blitz rating of less than 2000 at the start of the first qualifier you play in, your ICC blitz best rating must not exceed 2200, and you must have played at least 50 rated games on that account. ICC reserves the right to deny these prizes to persons who seem to have achieved higher ratings on other ICC usernames they have used in the past.

d) Best ICC Latin American Amateur member (<2000 ICC blitz rating).

1º 200 euros
2º 100 euros

To be eligible for the best ICC Latin American Amateur member prize, you need to have an ICC blitz rating of less than 2000 at the start of the first qualifier you play in, your ICC blitz best rating must not exceed 2200, and you must have played at least 50 rated games on that account. ICC reserves the right to deny these prizes to persons who seem to have achieved higher ratings on other ICC usernames they have used in the past.

e) Best ICC Amateur member who also is a Peón de Rey magazine subscriber (<2000 ICC blitz rating).

1º 200 euros
2º 100 euros

To be eligible for the best ICC Amateur member prize, apart from being a Peon de Rey magazine subscriber, you need to have an ICC blitz rating of less than 2000 at the start of the first qualifier you play in, your ICC blitz best rating must not exceed 2200, and you must have played at least 50 rated games on that account. ICC reserves the right to deny these prizes to persons who seem to have achieved higher ratings on other ICC usernames they have used in the past.

f) Other special prizes given out by ICC

Twenty-four 6-month subscriptions to ICC for:

- 12 by raffle between all the participants who finish a qualifier, one per qualifier
- 12 for accumulated scores between all the participants
- 4 for the best Amateur in Spain and Latin America (<1800 ICC blitz rating).

g) Other prizes given out by the "Peón de Rey” magazine

Ten one-year subscriptions to the Peón de Rey magazine for:

- 5 best ICC Spanish Amateur members (<2000 ICC rating blitz)
- 5 best ICC Latin American Amateur members (<2000 ICC rating blitz)

To be eligible for the prizes labelled “<2000 ICC Blitz rating”, you need to have an ICC blitz rating of less than 2000 at the start of the first qualifier you play in, your ICC blitz best rating must not exceed 2200, you must have played 50 rated games on that account. ICC reserves the right to deny these prizes to persons who seem to have achieved higher ratings on other ICC usernames they have used in the past.

In case of tie-breaks, i.e. two players with the same cumulative score, the person with the best individual placement in one qualifier, according to the tie-breaks described in section III c. (1) wins.

These prizes do not accumulate. If a person would win prizes in more than one competition listed a) through g), he/she will only receive the highest prize. Other players will be moved up accordingly.

Total prize fund: 7.500 Euros (Legal tax from the first four prizes will be deducted).
 

Cash prizes will be paid by bank transfer. The prize winners, before 15 days after the end of the event, must provide the following bank details to the organization chess@doshermanas.net: bank name, bank address, IBAN for European players and SWIFT code for Rest of the World players, account number (the player MUST be the account holder).

V TECHNICALITIES

a) Game rules

Play is according to the rules and features of the ICC. Blitzin 2.7, Dasher 1.3 or a higher version must be used in this event. Some features of which you should be aware include:

(1) The ICC timestamp mechanism, which stops both player's clocks while a move is in transit over the internet.
(2) If a player gets disconnected the game is typically adjourned and should be resumed as soon as that player returns.
(3) Draw offers and draw claims may be made by clicking the Draw button prior to making a move.

The ICC tournament directors may at their discretion make a ruling on a particular game, eject a player from a tournament, refuse to allow a player to join a tournament, or end a free trial granted for the tournament, for any reason including but not limited to:  failure to show up on time or to start a game on time, concern that the player's internet connection is not reliable enough for the game to finish in a timely manner, suspicion of chess computer use, suspicion that a player is receiving assistance, suspicion that a player has used multiple accounts during the tournament, or the fact that this player has been caught violating ICC rules in the past. 

Their reasoning need not be given, and there is no appeals process.  We appreciate the cooperation of all participants in keeping this contest friendly, honourable, and running smoothly.

Participants must use the same computer during the whole tournament, unless they are observed by an approved proctor.
 
Players who are found to have given a false real name or other false information at registration can be ejected from the tournament.

ICC may request, at any time during the event that an approved proctor observes the tournament games of any participant at the location given in the registration. If a participant cannot, either because of his remote location, or any other reason, have an approved proctor attest his/her play, ICC reserves the right to disqualify that player.

In case a player is disqualified from the tournament, the ICC tournament directors can, at their discretion, rule that the game of that player in the running round is lost for him, and won for his opponent. However, results by that player in prior rounds will not be reverted.

Qualifier winners will not be able to participate in any other qualifiers, as they are already qualified directly to the finals.

b) Registration form 

All information provided via the registration form may be used for publicity purposes by the Patronato Municipal de Deportes, EDAMI and ICC. Your address and telephone number will just be collected by ICC for the purpose of proctoring, and not be used for other purposes.

c) Flexible Lag Compensation System

Please note that ICC has recently introduced a new Flexiable Lag Compensation System. Currently we are working alongside members, helpers, administrators and tournament managers on what the standard lag will be set to for normal day-to-day play on ICC.

However please note that allowable lag will be more strictly limited to 300ms during major prize tournaments in order to avoid perceptions of unfairness to other players competing in a true prize-tournament environment. This new lag limit of 300ms will be in-force during Dos Hermanas.

For further information: http://www.chessclub.com/news/1935.