Article 1: Tournaments

The Bois-Colombes Chess Master consists of three 9-round tournaments:

• An A tournament, reserved for players with an Elo ranking of 1950 or above, registered under no. (registration pending). This tournament enables GM, MI, GMF and MIF standards to be achieved.
• A B tournament, reserved for players whose Elo ranking is equal to or higher than 1600 and equal to or lower than 2000, and registered under no. (registration in progress).
• A C tournament, reserved for players with an Elo ranking of 1700 or less and registered under the number (registration pending).

For all tournaments, the pace of play is 1 hour 30 minutes, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move. These tournaments will be counted towards the standard rankings for February 2025.

If a player has obtained an Elo ranking between September and November, theoretically allowing him to play in the higher category tournament, the player will be free to choose the tournament in which he wishes to participate. This option does not apply to the lower Open category.

Players must have an A licence with the F.F.E. for the current season (the licence can be obtained from the organising club) or have a Fide code (Id Fide) in a federation recognised by the F.I.D.E. other than the French Chess Federation.

At the start of the tournament, players with no ranking will be given an estimated Elo (unranked) according to their age category. No subsequent re-estimates will be made.

Any request for a waiver to take part in the next higher Open (apart from « automatic » cases) must be made in writing to the organiser before 8 December 2024. This request will be examined by the entire organising team and will be answered 1 week before the start of the tournament.

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Article 2: Lieu, venue, dates and times

Games are played at the Albert-Smirlian complex, 11 avenue Renée 92270 Bois-Colombes. Round times for the 3 tournaments:

• Round 1: Thursday 26 December at 12.00 noon
• Round 2: Thursday 26 December at 5.30pm
• Round 3: Friday 27 December at 10.00am
• Round 4: Friday 27 December at 3.30pm
• Round 5: Saturday 28 December at 10.00am
• Round 6: Saturday 28 December at 3.30pm
• Round 7: Sunday 29 December at 10.00am
• Round 8: Sunday 29 December at 3.30pm
• Round 9: Monday 30 December at 10.00am
• Prize-giving ceremony: Monday 30 December at 4.00 pm

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Article 3: Rules of the game

The rules of the game are those of F.I.D.E. in force at the start of the tournament.

Proposals for draws are authorised in accordance with FIDE regulations.

Any agreement between players without a real fight on the chessboard may be penalised by a double forfeit.

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Article 4: Special provisions

Players must ensure that their results have been correctly recorded. To be taken into account, an error in round N must be reported to the referee before the publication of the pairings for round N + 2. After this deadline, the correction to the result will only be taken into account after the end of the tournament, for the sole purpose of calculating changes to the player’s Elo ranking (LA art C-04-2 D-8).

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Article 5: Pairings

Pairings are made using the Swiss System; they are carried out by the main tournament referee using the Papi software provided by the French Chess Federation.

Players who have paid their entry fees and had their licences checked before 11.30am on Thursday 26 December 2024 will be drawn in the first round.

Results will be published regularly throughout the rounds. For odd-numbered rounds, the pairings are published on a provisional basis, subject to change until 10pm and final after that time. For even-numbered rounds, the pairings are published on a provisional basis, subject to change until 3pm and final after that time (final after 5pm for round 2).

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Article 6: Classification

1 point will be awarded for a win, 0.5 for a draw and 0 for a loss.

In the event of an equal number of points, ties will be broken by using the truncated Buchholz of the two opponents’ results with the lowest scores, followed by the Kashdan tie-breaker, which favours the player with the most wins.

For the calculation of the Buchholz Tronqué in the context of games not played, in accordance with article C07-16.6, the calculation of the adjusted score is carried out by the PAPI software version 3.3.7 following the FIDE recommendations prior to 2023.

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Article 7: Absences, forfeits and BYE

If a player is due to be absent from a round, he must inform the referee as soon as possible. A declared absence cannot be cancelled, unless the referee decides otherwise. In the event of a forfeit, you may contact the main referee by SMS/ Whatsapp at +33 6 45 50 57 48, stating the surname/first name/licence number and Open concerned.

For the first 6 rounds, a player may request a BYE once from the referee for Open A. For Open B and C, two BYEs may be requested before round 6. A BYE allows you not to be paired for a round, while scoring half a point (0.5 points). The BYE must be explicitly requested from the referee. For rounds 7 to 9, players are not allowed to take a BYE.

A paired player arriving at the chessboard more than 60 minutes late is declared to have forfeited the tournament, unless the main referee decides otherwise. Any player who forfeits without notifying the referee will be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament, unless his absence is justified by admissible arguments before the publication of the pairings for the next round. Any player who forfeits twice, whether consecutively or not, will be excluded from the tournament. Unjustified forfeits and withdrawals from the tournament will automatically be reported to the Legal Director of the National Refereeing Department of the F.F.E. for French players and to the relevant federation for foreign players.

Article 8: Arbitration and appeals committee

The main referee for the tournaments is Jocelyn Azzegag, International Referee. Refereeing is provided by the following team:

(pending)

A 5-member appeals committee is set up during the first round. Its composition is displayed in the courtroom. It is chaired by an organising member and includes one of the referees (other than the one who made the decision). It includes three players.

To make an appeal, a player must first follow the referee’s instructions and indicate his intention to appeal. He then submits his appeal in writing to the main referee no later than 30 minutes after the end of the game that gave rise to the dispute.

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Article 9: Registration

The total number of participants is limited to 500 players. GMIs, IMs, members of the French Elite Youth team and ICCF GMIs (by correspondence) who are members of the FFE are exempt from the registration fee.

All guest players must pre-register no later than 48 hours before the end of the match.

Entry fees must be paid in advance. You can consult the terms and conditions on the open website https://www.bccm-bois-colombes-echecs.com

On-site registration is possible subject to availability.

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Article 10: Check-in

Players must clock in on Thursday 26 December before 11.30 a.m. to be paired for round 1. All paired players must be present at 11.30 a.m. for the start of round 1 at 12 noon.

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Article 11: Prices

The total amount of guaranteed prizes is 7,400 euros. The breakdown of the prizes can be consulted on the dedicated page of the tournament website (https://www.bccm-bois-colombes-echecs.com).

Prizes cannot be accumulated and each player will receive the highest prize to which he or she is entitled. Prizes for the overall classification will be shared by the Hort system up to a maximum of €80. Prizes will also be awarded by category, in the following order of priority: Elo category, age category, first female player and first Bois-Colombien (member of the Cercle d’Echecs de Bois-Colombes).

Only players who are present at the prize-giving ceremony and have taken part in the last round will be entitled to receive their prize. Any prize not awarded remains the property of the organiser.

The first prize in tournament A is guaranteed to be €1,200.

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Article 12: Conduct of players

The conduct of players must not bring the competition into disrepute and must comply with the charter for male and female chess players available on the website of the Direction Nationale de l’Arbitrage.

https://dna.ffechecs.fr/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/Charte-echecs.pdf

The playing area consists of the space where the games are played. The competition venue consists of the playing area, the toilets, the smoking area and the refreshment counter.

A player may not leave the competition venue during a game without the referee’s permission. Failure to comply with this rule shall be deemed to constitute withdrawal from the match.

A player on the line may not move away from his chessboard without the referee’s permission.

Analyses are not permitted at the competition venue (an analysis room is available to players).

It is forbidden to smoke, vapourise, eat (apart from small snacks) or bring alcoholic beverages into the play area.

Players under the age of majority remain under the responsibility of their legal representatives, including for the duration of their game.

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Article 13: Image and sound rights

By registering under-age children for whom they are responsible, parents and legal guardians authorise the Cercle d’Échecs de Bois-Colombes to publish, as part of its communication activities, articles, photos or videos in which the registered minors may appear (images and voice). This authorisation also applies to adult players and spectators.

Players benefiting from conditions for the tournament agree to the use of their name and image for the promotion of the tournament for the current and following editions. If you do not agree, please let the organisers know (contact@bois-colombes-echecs.com).

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Article 14: Electronic equipment

All telephones, earpieces and connected watches are forbidden unless expressly authorised by the referee.

During the game, players are not allowed to carry electronic devices such as mobile phones, earpieces or connected watches.

Phones must be switched off completely and placed in a bag that remains with the player throughout the game.

Any sound, buzzer, alarm or vibrator will result in the immediate loss of the game.

Offenders lose their game immediately. Repeat offenders may be excluded from the tournament.

To avoid any suspicion of cheating and to ensure that the tournament runs smoothly, the Cercle d’Echecs de Bois-Colombes is offering a free deposit system for electronic devices (see the refreshment area).

If a player is found to have used such a device in the game room (unless expressly authorised by a referee), he will lose the game and his opponent will win.

All participants agree to abide by these rules.