Summary of Key Points and Rules for MCA Competitions in 24/25

 

This is a summary of the main points and rules relating to MCA competitions, for the 24/25 season.  It includes some changes approved by the MCA Committee.  The main intention is to help team captains.  This document is not intended to replace the official Rules in the 20/21 handbook.  However, these official Rules have not been updated for a few years and in some cases they have been superseded by changes approved by the Committee.  There is an action from the Committee for the Rules to be updated during the season, ready for 25/26.

General Rules applying to all competitions

A team’s board order should be based on playing strength.  This will usually be the same as the grade order, but there may be minor differences.

There are rules related to ungraded and ‘P’ graded players.  Players who have not played any rated games are ungraded.  Players who have played some rated games but fewer than 10 are assigned a partial ‘P’ grade by the ecf.  When they have played 10 rated games they will be assigned a full ‘K’ grade the following month by the ecf.  ‘P’ grades are unreliable, they are often much higher or lower than the player’s actual strength so, for matters relating to MCA competitions, players with ‘P’ grades will be treated as if they are ungraded.

The relevant grade for MCA competitions is a player’s grade on the 1st September.  For ungraded and ‘P’ graded players, team captains need to agree a ‘playing grade’ with the relevant competition controller.  This is particularly important for the grade limited competitions (U6200, U7200, KA Cup), but is also required for players likely to play for different teams in the main divisions, in order to implement rules concerning listed players.  The grading officer (Sanjoy Banerjee) should be involved if necessary.

The ecf updates every player’s grade on the first day of each month.  Usually only the 1st Sep grade will be used for MCA competitions, but if a player’s grade changes from a ‘P’ grade to a full ‘K’ grade during the season, because they have reached the required 10 rated games, this new ‘K’ grade will immediately be used to establish their eligibility for all future grade limited matches and listed player issues.

A club can make a request to Russell within 2 weeks of the start of the season to have a match rearranged.  These requests will be granted.  After that 2 week period, requests for postponements need to be agreed between the 2 opposing team captains.  If they agree to the postponement, a new date should be agreed within 2 weeks and communicated to the Controller who will update the fixture on lms.  There is a detailed procedure in the Rules governing postponements including what happens if the team captains cannot agree, but usually this is done amicably between the team captains, especially if there is a good reason for the postponement request and this team offers some reasonable alternative dates, avoiding obvious fixture clashes, etc.   

When a match has been completed, one of the team captains must enter the result on the lms systemin a timely manner.  The opposing team captain should check that the result has been entered correctly and click the ‘verify’ button in lms.  Only verified results are sent to the ecf for grading.  

All players must have an active ecf membership, except that new players can play a maximum of 3 times before obtaining membership.

 

Main Leagues

The number of boards for each competition is as follows:

Division 1: 7

Divisions 2 and 3: 6

Division 4: 5.

The Controllers for 24/25 are: Div 1 Dave Whitby, Div 2 Tom Webb, Div 3 Peter Jenner, Div 4 Phil Ramsey.

Clubs need to specify listed players for all their main league teams except for their lowest team.  This needs to be done before the team’s first match of the season.  If a club fails to send in their listed players, the players in the first match will be considered listed, eg the first 6 boards of a Division 1 team.

For each team requiring listed players, clubs need to list one fewer player than the number of boards in the relevant division.

Listed players should intend to play regularly for the team they are listed for.  If a listed player has not played at least 3 times for that team in the first half of the season, a different player should be listed unless the club can convince the Controller that the original player will complete their obligation of 50%.

Listed players cannot play for a lower team under any circumstances.

Listed players can generally play for higher teams, but if their September grade (or a newly acquired ‘K’ grade, see above) is higher than any of the listed players in higher teams, they can only play a total of 3 games for those higher teams.  If they play a fourth time, they can no longer play for the lower team they were originally listed for.  In that case a new player needs to be listed as a replacement.

The time limits for 24/25 will be:

Divisions 1, 2 and 3: 75 minutes + 15 seconds increment after each move.  This is a change from last season (it used to be 80 mins + 10 sec) and increments have now been extended to Div 3.

Division 4: 90 minutes for all moves, no increment.  This is unchanged from last season.

In Divisions 1, 2 and 3, if a club has two teams in the same division, a player cannot play for both teams.  In Division 4, players can in principle play for both teams, BUT the rules concerning listed players still apply so, for example, the listed players in the club’s higher team in Div 4 cannot play for the club’s lower team in Div 4.

John Ripley Handicap

Tom Webb is the Controller.  The same rules apply as previous seasons, except that the time limit will be 75 minutes plus a 15 second increment after each move.

Knotty Ash Cup

Tom Webb is the Controller.  Entry is restricted to players with a grade not higher than 1700 in the September list, or a newly acquired ‘K’ grade, see above.  An ungraded or ‘P’ graded player must have a ‘playing grade’ agreed by the Controller before the start of the competition, and this must be below 1700 to be eligible for the KA Cup.  However, if the player subsequently acquires their first ‘K’ grade during the season it will immediately be used to determine whether they are eligible to play in future KA Cup matches, even if the competition has already started. 

The time limit will remain at 90 minutes for all moves, with no increment.

The Rules in the handbook include a further restriction for the KA Cup, that players are not eligible if they are listed or play regularly (more than 3 games) for Division 1 or 2 teams.  This rule is apparently not known by most clubs and is being discussed by the Committee.  It is possible that this rule will be removed before the start of the 24/25 competition, if the 1700 grade restriction is deemed sufficient by the Committee.

Dave Welch League (7200)

Dave Whitby is the Controller.  Teams will consist of 4 boards with September grades totalling a maximum of 7200.  No player can have a September grade over 2000.  The minimum grade counted is 1600.  Players below 1600 can play, but count as 1600 towards the team total. 

The team captain must ensure that ungraded or ‘P’ graded players are assigned a playing grade for the purposes of this league by the Controller.  This will be 1600 unless there are reasonable grounds for using a higher figure.

If an ungraded or ‘P’ graded player achieves a ‘K’ grade during the season, this first ‘K’ grade will be immediately used to determine the player’s eligibility to play in future matches in the 7200 League and their grade used for the team total.

The time limit will be 75 minutes + 15 second increment after each move, the same as Divisions 1, 2 and 3 and the John Ripley Handicap.

John Davis League (6200)

Steve Kee is the Controller.  Teams will consist of 4 boards with September grades totalling a maximum of 6200.  No player can have a September grade over 1700.  The minimum grade counted is 1300.  Players below 1300 can play, but count as 1300 towards the team total.

The team captain must ensure that ungraded or ‘P’ graded players are assigned a playing grade for the purposes of this league.  If this playing grade is over 1700 they cannot play.  If it is below 1300, a grade of 1300 will be used for the team total.

If an ungraded or ‘P’ graded player achieves a ‘K’ grade during the season, this first ‘K’ grade will immediately be used to determine the player’s eligibility to play in future matches in the 6200 League and will be used for the team total.

The time limit remains at 90 minutes for all moves, no increment.

 

Phil Ramsey