Announcement

The London Banks Chess League now has a different structure and a different Website.

The old LBCL Divisions were formed into a single Team Swiss Tournament which is played at a central venue.

The new Website is at

knightleft  The London Banks Chess League  knightright

THE LONDON BANKS' CHESS LEAGUE

 RULES for 1997 - 1998 Season
Part B Rules for Competitions     Part C Team Swiss Rules

PART A   GENERAL
A1.   NAME.
The name of the League shall be "The London Banks' Chess League".


A2.   OBJECTS.
The objects of the League shall be to encourage and organise the playing and study of chess by members of the staffs of London banks by
  1. Organising competitions among League Members
  2. Organising an Individual Championship
  3. Arranging matches with other Leagues or Clubs
  4. Organising such other events as may be considered appropriate.

A3.   MEMBERSHIP OF THE LEAGUE.
Membership of the League shall be open to the Chess Clubs of any Banks or combination of Banks with Club Rooms in London.


A4.   POLICY OF THE LEAGUE.
The policy of the League shall be determined by the League itself in General Meeting.


A5.
A5.(a)   THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.
The Annual General Meeting shall be held in the months of May or June, when an Audited Statement of Accounts shall be presented, the Officers for the year elected and the Hon. Auditor appointed.


A5.(b)   TROPHIES.
The trophies which are the property of the league shall be presented to the winning teams and individuals at the Annual General Meeting and shall remain in the possession of the winners until the following April. The cost of the necessary engraving on the trophies will be born by the League.

A6.   SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS.
The Secretary shall be required to call a special general meeting on the written requisition of not fewer than three members of the League. These requisitions shall state the purpose for which the meeting is to be called.


A7.   NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETINGS.
Fourteen days' notice of the date, time and place of General Meetings shall be given to each member of the League.


A8.   AGENDA OF GENERAL MEETING.
Only business specified in the agenda may be dealt with at General Meetings. "Any other business" is to be construed in the widest sense, but it shall not include any alteration to the rules. A simple majority of members present and voting shall be sufficient to carry resolutions.


A9.   PROPOSED ALTERATION OF RULES.
Any member of the League may propose an alteration to the rules by giving a minimum of twenty eight days notice in writing to the League Secretary specifying the proposed alteration which shall be included in the forthcoming Annual or Special General Meeting business.


A10.   VOTING OF MEMBERS.
Each member of the League shall be entitled to one vote only at any General Meeting.


A11.   QUORUM.
At least 50% of members shall form a quorum at any General Meeting.


A12.   THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LEAGUE.
The administration of the League will be carried out by its' Officers who will be elected annually and who will be responsible for giving effect to the policy laid down at the General Meeting in so far as it refers to their particular offices.


A13.   OFFICERS.
The Officers of the League shall be :-
  1. Hon. Chairman
  2. Hon. Secretary
  3. Hon. Treasurer
  4. Extra Signing Officer
  5. Match Captain
  6. Grading Officer
  7. Such other Officers as the AGM may elect

A14.   BANKING ARRANGEMENTS.
The funds of the League shall be kept in a Banking Account as sanctioned by the League in the name of "London Banks' Chess League". Withdrawals shall be signed by any two of a), b), c) or d) above.


A15.   THE SUBSCRIPTION.
The subscription to the League for the ensuing year shall be determined at the Annual General Meeting.


A16.   INTERPRETATION.
In the event of any situation arising upon which these rules are silent then the decision of the Officers shall be sufficient. Any member aggrieved by such decision may appeal to the next General Meeting of the League.

Part A General Rules     Part C Team Swiss Rules

PART B   RULES FOR COMPETITIONS
B1.   COMPETITIONS.
The Competitions organised by the League shall be:-
  1. Members Championship
  2. Barker Challenge Cup
  3. Individual Championship
  4. U-135 grade Individual Championship
  5. Team Lightning Tournament
  6. Any other competitions agreed to at a General Meeting.

B2.   LAWS OF CHESS.
The Laws of Chess approved by FIDE as currently in force shall apply to all competitions except in so far as they are amended by provisions herein.


B3.   ELIGIBILITY.
  1. Only Bona fide members of the staff and pensioners of Banks or their subsidiaries/affiliates whose clubs are members of the League shall be eligible to play for the teams of their respective Bank's Club. Ex-employees may be permitted to continue to play in the League at the Officers discretion.
    Any Member in the First Division other than the four main clearers is permitted to field a maximum of two guest players employed by a bank which is unable to field a team in the league. Members not represented in the first division are permitted to include one guest player. Guest players must be registered in accordance with this rule.
    If a dispute arises then the player must continue for the present season with his existing club and his case brought before the next Annual General Meeting of the League when his wishes will be respected.

  2. If, during the playing season a member of a club should resign from his Bank he shall be eligible to continue playing for that club for the remainder of that season only.
    1. Each club shall at the commencement of the season supply the Results Secretary with a registration list of their intended players ranked in approximate order of strength acceptable to the Grading Officer with the strongest player listed 1.
    2. In the event the Results Secretary does not receive from any club a list of its' players as described in rule ci) the Results Secretary shall make a list based on the best available grading information for that club. Any club wishing to submit a revised list may appeal to the committee.
    3. Where a club has entered more than one team in the League then players 1-4 from their list may only play for the first team, players 5-10 may only play for the first and second teams and so on unless a General Meeting agrees to vary the application of this rule.
    4. Where a new player joins the club during the course of a season, they shall be ranked by the Club secretary and their position on the club registration list advised to the League secretary. No existing player may play for a lower team than that for which they are originally qualified by operation of this section except at the discretion of the League Secretary.
    5. Nothing in this rule shall affect the board order chosen by a team captain for a specific match.

B4   MEMBERS CHAMPIONSHIP.
The Members Championship shall consist of a First Division for teams of a minimum of six boards and a Swiss Tournament for teams of four boards.
The winner of the Swiss and the runner-up may claim promotion to the First Division if they so desire, in which case the bottom team(s) in the First Division will be relegated. Clubs may seek leave of a General meeting to vary the application of this rule.


B5   ADDITIONAL BOARDS.
When the Captains have agreed to increase the number of players, the arrangement to increase the number of boards is binding on both teams after 3.00p.m. on the day before the match is due to be played.


B6.   TIE IN MEMBER CHAMPIONSHIP.
In the event of a tie for first place in the First Division, the members concerned shall play an additional match. If this is a tie, then the results shall be "weighted". If this produces no definite result then the elimination rule shall operate.


B7.   WEIGHTING THE RESULT.
For a six board match this is done as follows :- Six points are awarded for a win on the First Board, five on the Second and so on to one point for a win on the bottom board (draws not counting). A similar calculation can be made for matches of any number of boards.


B8.   ELIMINATION RULE.
The results are eliminated one by one from the bottom working upwards. It follows that the team winning on the lowest board which has a definite result loses the match.


B9.   BARKER CHALLENGE CUP.
The Barker Challenge Cup shall be competed for Annually on the Knock-out principle by teams of a minimum of eight boards. Each member or a combination of members may enter one team.


B10.   TIE IN BARKER CUP.
In any round, the result shall be determined by reference to :-
  1. weighting
  2. elimination rules

B11.   DAY AND TIME OF MATCHES.
All matches in the Members' Championship and Barker Challenge Cup shall be played on Tuesdays commencing at 6.00pm. and ceasing not earlier than 9.00pm. The playing session shall be of not less than three hours duration.


B12.   GRACE.
If a player is not present by 7.00pm then his game is lost by default.


B13.   CLOCKS AND EQUIPMENT.
In all matches in the Members' Championship and Barker Challenge Cup any player can call upon his opponent to play by clock if one is available. The time limit shall be 30 moves in one and a quarter hours, after the completion of Black's 30th move the clocks shall be set back 20 minutes and the game completed in the remaining time.
Clocks will be started at 6.00pm unless mutually agreed by both Captains. In a game where both players are not present at the starting time, the Match Captain or Deputy will start the clock. If neither player arrives by 7pm, the game will be deemed to be void.
Equipment should be ready at the agreed start time. Home teams failing to provide the equipment at the agreed start time will be penalised the appropriate amount of delayed time on all their clocks.
If a Captain fails to turn up at the agreed start time, then a Deputy must stand in for him (if any of his team are present). Failing this, the offending team shall be deemed to have lost the toss and all clocks shall be set to run against that team.


B14, B15 and B16.
These rules related to Adjudications and are therefore suspended following the introduction of Quick play finishes.


B17.   RESULTS OF MATCHES.
  1. Match results should be completed in detail by the home team on forms provided by the League and must be received by the Controller within 14 days of the match. In the event of the home team not complying with this rule, the match will be awarded to the away team.
  2. In the event of persistent failures by a team to submit match results to the Results Secretary within the prescribed time limits a 1 point penalty for each failure may be deducted from that team's score at the end of the season. This penalty will only be enforced after consultation with the league committee.
  3. Any team recording three unnotified defaults in a season will lose 1 match point, a further match point will be deducted for each 2 additional unnotified defaults.

  Part A General Rules Part B Rules for Competitions  

PART C   TEAM SWISS RULES
C1.
The rules for conducting Team Swiss events, as currently applied by the British Chess Federation, shall apply except as modified below.


C2.
These rules shall be read in conjunction with Part A and Part B of the rules of the League.


C3.
The Team Swiss shall be open to teams of four players (substitutes allowed) representing a Bank or group of two or more Banks as defined in the League Rules.


C4.   ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY.
All players must comply with rule B3.

C5.   PAIRINGS.
In a tournament of twelve or more rounds the following should normally apply :

C6.   SCORING.
The tournament shall be scored by means of game points. No game point shall be awarded where a player is absent. TIE BREAKS shall be resolved by the application of the sum of progressive scores. If this fails to resolve a tie then the result of any individual match or matches with Rule B8 applied if necessary shall be used.


C7.   TROPHIES.
The former Division 2, 3, and 4 trophies shall be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed teams respectively.


C8.   LATE ENTRIES.
The controller may accept late entries, awarding such teams a notional score for pairing purposes, however no team which has completed less than two thirds of the matches shall be eligible to win a trophy.


C9.   INTERPRETATION.
The Controller is responsible for interpreting these rules and his interpretation shall be final save that any Member may appeal against any decision (except one relating to pairing) to a meeting of the League Officers or to a general meeting of the League. No appeal against pairing may be made after the commencement of play, any such appeal should be made to an adhoc committee of three team captains or officers of the League.


1997 Edition. These rules have been amended to give effect to various decisions of League AGM's up to 1997 and incorporate consequential amendments which may not always have been properly approved by a General Meeting.
For ease of reference changes at the 1997 AGM are shown in League Blue italics.

Part A General Rules   Part B Rules for Competitions     Part C Team Swiss Rules

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