Rate of play

Each player will have 3 minutes for the game, plus an increment of 2 seconds per move from move 1.

Eligibility

Entry is open to all paid-up members of the ICU. However, the title of Irish Blitz Champion can only be won by a player registered with FIDE as Irish, or, if not registered at all with FIDE, Irish by nationality or birth.

Entry Procedure

There are two methods of entry; method (a) is strongly preferred, and therefore will attract a reduced entry fee. They are

1. By email to the arbiter, at [email protected]; entry fee is €10 if received before midday on Thursday 26 September; €15 thereafter. Entries by this method will close at midday on Saturday 28 September. (Emails will not be checked after that.) All email entries received on or before Thursday 26th will be acknowledged within 24 hours of receipt; if you enter before then and do not receive an acknowledgement, you should assume that the entry has not been received. Entries sent from Thursday to Saturday will be acknowledged if time permits.
2. In person at the venue on Sunday 29 September; entry fee is €20. Entries before 11.30 a.m. will be included in the draw for round 1; entries after that time will not be included in round 1. Late entrants will receive a half-point bye (or byes) for a maximum of two rounds.

Payment

Payment can only be made in person at the venue. Entrants who have not paid before 11.40 a.m. will not be included in the draw for round 1.

Prizes

€200: First Prize
€100: Second Prize
There will also be Grading prize(s) and a Best Junior prize (under 16 on 01.01.2013); the number and amount of these prizes will depend on the number of entries.

Timetable

Round 1 will start at 11.45 a.m. prompt.

Subsequent rounds will start 90 seconds after the draw for that round has been released; the draw will be released as soon as possible after the completion of the previous round.

It is each player’s responsibility to ensure that he or she is at their board at the time their game commences.

Default

There will be no separate default procedure, but any player who arrives at their board 3 minutes late will have lost on time (unless he is black and his opponent is also late). In the event that neither player has arrived at the board within 3 minutes, the game will be scored as a loss for both players.

Any player who loses on time without have played a move will be deemed to have withdrawn from the tournament. Such a player can be reinstated at the discretion of the arbiter, but no player will be reinstated twice.

Playing Rules

The FIDE rules for blitz tournaments with inadequate supervision will apply (see the FIDE Laws of Chess, Appendix B). These are the normal rules of chess (including touch-move) with the following two alterations.

1. Illegal moves. If player A makes an illegal move, player B can claim the game before making his own move. (The procedure is to stop the clock and summon the arbiter.) If player B makes a move in response to the illegal move, he permanently loses the opportunity to make such a claim; in effect, the illegal move is made retrospectively legal.
   
   In no circumstances can a player be given extra time on his clock.
   
   The rules do not seem to allow for player B to point out to A that the move was illegal and invite him to try again; but if the players do this, by agreement between them, then the arbiter will not intervene.
2. Exceeding the time limit. If player A exceeds the time limit, player B has to claim the win. (The procedure is to stop the clock and summon the arbiter.) If B does not claim the win before exceeding the time limit himself, the game is drawn, even if the clocks show which player exceeded the time limit first.

A note to spectators. If you are watching a game and see that an illegal move has been made or that a player has exceeded the time limit, you must not point this out to the players (or to anybody else): you must at all times remain perfectly quiet and hide your excitement (or disgust).

Claiming Draws. Note that Allegro rules do not apply; that is, you cannot claim a draw because you believe your opponent is not attempting to win. The circumstances in which you can claim a draw (in addition to the players agreeing a draw, which can be done at any time) are as follows:

1. Stalemate.
2. By repetition or under the 50-move rule. However, it is very difficult to establish either of these when the moves of the game are not being recorded. If the arbiter is aware that 50 moves have been made without a capture or pawn move he will inform the players and invite either one to claim a draw.
3. If your opponent has insufficient mating material. However, note that this is interpreted strictly: you can only claim a draw if there is no sequence of legal moves that can lead to your being mated. Thus you can claim a draw with K v. KN, but not with KN v. KN. (I would request that players try to be sensible, and, for instance, agree a draw when faced with KN v. KN, unless their opponent seems to be flirting with one of the mating positions.)

The arbiter will intervene and declare a game drawn if in his opinion neither side is playing for a win, and if the tournament schedule would be disrupted by allowing the game to continue; this will only be done if the game has already lasted at least 14 minutes (i.e., at least 120 moves).

Resolving Ties

If there is a tie on game points, prize money will be divided equally between the tied players.

If there is a tie for the title of Irish Blitz Champion, then the players so tied will be ranked by the procedure shown in the paragraph below, and the top two players will play off for the title. The play-off game will be an Armageddon game, with white having five minutes and black having four (with no increments); the winner will be the Champion, whilst if the game is drawn the player with the black pieces will be the Champion. The player ranked higher in the procedure below will have the choice of colours.

The ranking procedure will be: first, Median-Buchholz; second, Buchholz; third, greater number of games with black; fourth, progressive scores; fifth, average ICU rating of opponents [will not apply if any player has played two or more unrated players]; sixth, toss of a coin.

Appeals

Given the very restricted time-frame for this tournament, it is not possible to have an appeals procedure; therefore, all decisions of the arbiter will be final. Please remember that the arbiter is human(ish), and has a lot of things to do simultaneously; it is therefore possible that he will make a mistake (or mistakes). In such circumstances, please be considerate and accept the error with good grace.