Munster Chess Union Rapid Championship 2025/2026

Official Tournament Regulations Munster Chess Union Club League — Open Edition Date Sunday, 19 April 2026 Time 16:00 – 20:00 Venue Mallow GAA Complex Rounds 6 Swiss Rounds Munster Chess Union Club League — Divisions 1 & 2 | Team Event | Regulated under FIDE Laws of Chess Art. 1 Eligibility & Entry

Eligible clubs: Only clubs currently affiliated with the Munster Chess Union Club League are permitted to enter.
Multiple teams: A club may register more than one team (e.g. Club A, Club A II). Each team is treated as a separate competitor throughout the event.
Maximum number of participants: The tournament is limited to 28 teams.
Divisions: Division 1 and Division 2 clubs compete together in a single section.

Art. 2 Team Composition 5 Players per team ✓ Substitutes allowed

Each team shall field exactly five (5) players, one per board.
Substitutes are permitted. A substitute may replace any player between rounds, but not during a round already in progress.
A player may only represent one team throughout the tournament.

Art. 3 Registration & Board Order Registration Deadline: 14:00 (2 hours before play) All teams and their players must be registered no later than 14:00 on the day of the event. Late registrations cannot be accepted, as player lists must be finalised before pairings are generated.

Fixed board order: The order in which players are listed at registration is binding for the entire tournament. Board assignments may not be changed after the deadline except when using a registered substitute.
200-Point Rule: The board order must comply with the Munster Chess Union Club League's 200-point rule — the rated difference between any two adjacent boards may not exceed 200 rating points (using the applicable rating per Art. 5). Where a player is unrated, the rule is applied as per current Munster Chess Union Club League regulations.
Substitute board order: When a substitute enters, the resulting lineup must still satisfy the 200-point rule. The arbiter must be notified before the round in which the substitute plays.

Art. 4 Ratings, Seeding & Colour Allocation

Parameter	Rule
Primary rating list	FIDE Standard rating (most recent published list prior to the event)
Fallback rating	ICU (Irish Chess Union) rating, where a player has no FIDE rating
Unrated players	Handled as per current Munster Chess Union Club League regulations for unrated players
Team seeding	Teams are seeded by their average rating of the five registered players (highest average = seed 1)
Colour — Board 1	The home team (higher seed in round 1; as determined by pairing in subsequent rounds) plays Black on Board 1
Colour — Boards 2–5	Colours alternate down the boards: if Board 1 is Black for the home team, Board 2 is White, Board 3 is Black, etc.
Colour in subsequent rounds	Colours alternate from round to round where possible, in accordance with Swiss pairing norms

Art. 5 Time Control & Default Time control: Each player receives 10 minutes on the clock at the start of the game, with an increment of 5 seconds added after each move made — written as 10+5.

Default time: A player who has not arrived at the board within 10 minutes of the scheduled start of the round shall forfeit their game. The clock shall run from the moment the round is started.
All games are played under FIDE Laws of Chess, including the Laws applicable to increment time controls.

Art. 6 Scoring System

Each round between two teams produces a match result. Match points are awarded as follows:

Result Match Points Notes Win 2 Team scores more game points than opponent Draw 1 Teams are level on game points (2½–2½) Loss 0 Team scores fewer game points than opponent

Game points are the sum of individual board results: 1 for a win, ½ for a draw, 0 for a loss. Game points are accumulated separately and used as a tie-break criterion (see Art. 8).
A forfeit on a board (default, absent player) counts as a 1–0 game point loss for the forfeiting side.

Art. 7 Pairings, Swiss System & Bye Policy

Swiss system: The tournament is run on a Swiss pairing system over 6 rounds. Teams are paired by match points within each score group, with top seeds paired first.
Odd number of teams — Bye: If the number of teams is odd, one team receives a bye each round. The bye is assigned to the lowest-ranked team in the lowest score group that has not yet received a bye. A bye counts as a match win (2 match points) for the receiving team.
Walkovers: If a team is unable to field a complete lineup, walkovers are assigned starting from the bottom board upwards (Board 5 first, then Board 4, etc.).
No team shall play another team more than once.

Art. 8 Tie-Break Procedures Tie-break for the Tournament Title If two or more teams are tied for first place after all 6 rounds, the title is decided by a Double Blitz playoff (see below) before any other tie-break criterion is applied. The Double Blitz is used exclusively for the title; all other placing disputes are resolved by the sequential criteria in order below.

1 Double Blitz Playoff (title only) Two matches played between the tied teams under a blitz time control determined by the arbiter. The team with the better aggregate score across both matches claims the title. If still tied, a single sudden-death game decides the title.
2 Match Points Total match points accumulated over all rounds (higher is better). As a secondary criterion, this also accounts for the strength of opposition via progressive score comparisons.
3 Game Points Total individual board results accumulated across all rounds (wins = 1, draws = ½, losses = 0). The team with more cumulative game points is ranked higher.
4 Bottom Board Elimination The game result from Board 5 is removed from each tied team's total and game points are recalculated. If teams remain tied, Board 4 is eliminated next, and so on up the boards, until the tie is broken.

Art. 9 Officials & Appeals ZK Zsolt Kardkovacs Tournament Arbiter PC Players' Committee Appeals Body — elected 30 minutes before play commences

The arbiter's decisions on matters of law are final during play. Protests regarding pairings, eligibility, or board order must be submitted to the arbiter before the start of the relevant round.
A Players' Committee is elected by the participating players no later than 30 minutes before the first round (i.e. by 15:30). The Committee serves as the appeals body for any disputed decisions.
Any appeal must be lodged with the Committee immediately after the disputed ruling. The Committee's decision is final and binding.

Art. 10 Schedule of the Day

Time	Activity
By 14:00	Registration deadline — teams and player lists submitted to the arbiter
15:30	Players' Committee elected (latest)
16:00	Round 1 commences
~20:00	Round 6 & prize ceremony (estimated)

Actual round times are at the arbiter's discretion and will be announced on the day. Teams should be present and ready no later than 15 minutes before the first round.

♟ ♟ ♟ Munster Chess Union Document issued for the Mallow Team Tournament, 19 April 2026 Governed by FIDE Laws of Chess
& Munster Chess Union Club League Regulations