General Regulations

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14th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship

Belgrade (Serbia) July 22 - August 4 2013

GENERAL REGULATIONS

1. ORGANIZERS
Serbian Chess Federation and "Centar za razboj saha" Belgrade under the auspices of the European Chess Union.

2. VENUE, DATE, SCHEDULE
The Championship will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from July 22 (day of arrival) until August 4 (day of departure) 2013. The tournament will be held at "Grand Ballroom hall" in hotel "Metropol Palace" Belgrade.
After consultations with the ECU and the Organizers, the Chief Arbiter can make changes in the below tournament schedule. Such changes will be announced in due time. 

3. PARTICIPATION 
The European Individual Women’s Chess Championship is open to all players representing Chess Federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.10) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit in the number of participants per federation; however applications have to be sent by the national federations only. 

4. QUALIFIERS

The European Individual Women’s Championship 2013 is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 14 players will qualify.

5. SYSTEM AND RATE OF PLAY
The championship will be organized in 11-round Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Laws of Chess.
The rate of play will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.
Players may only agree to a draw after the 40th move has been made by black. Players violating this rule will be forfeited. If a player is offered a draw before the 40th move has been made by black, he should call an arbiter. His opponent shall be punished for distracting, according to the FIDE Laws of Chess.
Zero–tolerance rule will be applied for each round.

6. TIE-BREAK SYSTEM
The order of players that finish with the same number of points shall be determined by application of the following tie-breaking procedures in sequence, proceeding from (a) to (b) to (c) to (d) the extent required:

(a) Average Rating cut-1, the highest number wins;
(b) Buchholz cut-1, the highest number wins;
(c) Buchholz, the highest number wins;
(d) Number of wins, the highest number wins.

In the case of unplayed games for the calculation of (a), (b) and (c) the current FIDE Tournament Rules shall be applied.
In the case there are less than 75% rated players, the following criteria will be applied:

(a) Buchholz cut-1, the highest number wins;
(b) Buchholz, the highest number wins;
(c) Number of wins, the highest number wins.

7. DRESS CODE
The ECU Rule related to dress code – Chapter B Article 13 - will be applied at this competition.

8. CHIEF ARBITER
The Chief Arbiter will be IA Sava Stoisavljevic (Serbia).

9. APPEALS COMMITTEE
The names of the chairman and members of the Appeals Committee will be published by May 1, 2013.

10. APPEALS PROCEDURE
Protests against the decisions of the Chief Arbiter must be submitted in written form to the Chairman of the appeals committee within one hour after completion of the playing session.
The protest must be accompanied with the sum of 100 €, as a deposit from the signatory. The deposit must be handed to the Chairman of the appeals committee. If the appeal is granted, the sum shall be returned immediately. If the appeal is refused, the deposit is forfeited to the European Chess Union.
The appeal has to be lodged by the player. The decisions of the Appeals Committee are final.

11. PRIZES
The prize fund is 60 000 EUR

A player can get one prize only. If a prize-winner is absent during the closing ceremony, than the money prize will be reduced by 20%. The first 3 places will be awarded cups and medals. According to Article 4.4 of the ECU Tournament Rules and regulations, the money prizes will be equally shared among the players with the same score. The ECU will transfer the prizes to the participants’ bank accounts.

12. REGISTRATION
Entry form should be filled at the official website of the championship not later than Jun 5, 2013 by the national federation. This date is the registration deadline. After that, federations will not be able to register or modify any registrations. After this date all the registrations have to be confirmed by the ECU.

13. ECU FEE
In accordance with the ECU regulations, GM, IM, FM (as well as WGM, WIM, WFM) are required to pay a fee in the amount of 65 €/person, while other players are obliged to make the payment of 130 €/person for the fee.

According to the ECU regulations (Art. B.9.5.1), the entry fee shall be paid by the federations to the ECU before or at the start of the competition. If the entry fee is not paid until end of round 2, these participants will not be paired in subsequent rounds.

The ECU fees must be paid to the account of the European Chess Union:

Bank: Credit Suisse, Postfach 357, CH - 6301 Zug
Account number: 1835105-42
Holder: European Chess Union
National Bank Code: 4835
BIC: CRESCHZZXXX
IBAN Code: CH3604835183510542000

14. ORGANIZATION FEE
The organization fee is 100 EUR per player. Organisation fee includes:

- transfer from and to Belgrade airport & (railway/bus station) to official hotel
- water, coffee and tea for players in the playing hall during the rounds
- free local transfer during Championship
- official acreditation

15. ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation will be provided on fullboard basic for the period 22.07-05.08 as follows: Hotel recommended by the organiser:

Hotel "Metropol Palace" 5* ( www.metropolpalace.com ) is a part of the worldwide known chain of "Starwood hotels" and it is one of the best hotels in Belgrade. It is situated in the centre of Belgrade, on the edge of Tasmajdan park and after its restoration it was reopened in September 2012.
The offered prices are special and created exclusively for this occasion. The following services are included in the price:

- The use of wireless Internet in the rooms and other hotel premises
- The use of hotel swimming pool (the length of which is 25 m)
- The use of fitness and aerobics centre

The number of double rooms is limited and will be available to participants on the "first come – first served" basis.

SPECIAL OFFER:

For the purposes of the promotion of the hotel and complete Belgrade tourist offer, hotel "Metropol palace" has a special offer for the tournament participants who book a single room. Additional price for the accompanying person in that room (this cannot be other player of this championship) will be ONLY € 20 per day for full board!!!
This offer is available only for payments made by April 30, 2013 and is limited to 20 rooms. The persons interested in this offer may send an email to the official organiser’s email address.

NOTE: Considering the business policy of "Metropol Palace" hotel and the fact that special prices are offered only for EIWC 2013, it is not allowed to publish these prices and special offers on other websites without the organiser’s permission. 

16. TRANSFER
Accompanying persons are entitled to transfer if they pay for the organisation fee. Payment of the organisation fee also includes other rights gained by official accreditation.
These transport services will be available on July 22 (arrival) and on August 4 (departure). If it is necessary the organizer can accept special request from Federations for other dates.
Players and accompanying persons who make private transport arrangements should clearly indicate this in writing at the time of registration. They will be fully responsible for any problems experienced during their arrival or departure and particularly for the possibility of a late start to the Championship.

17. VISAS
Visas for entering Serbia are necessary to participants with passports of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova.
The organiser will enable the speed-up of visa processing without the necessity of applicants’ presence in person (for groups) in corresponding Serbian embassies. Passport scan must be submitted to the organiser by the same deadline as the registration of participants (5th June, 2013).
Letters of invitation for the purposes of visa issuance will be sent only to persons registered for the tournament.

18. ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS 
Analyzing is not allowed in the playing hall.
During the game the players are not allowed to go to the analyzing room or to the press room.
Flashes may be used only in the first ten minutes of each round. Only players and arbiters shall be allowed to enter the actual playing area, except with the expressed permission of the Chief Arbiter.
Players are not allowed to enter the closed area of the top boards if they don’t play there themselves.
As long as the game is in progress a player may talk only to an arbiter or with his opponent as permitted by the Laws of Chess.
In case of pre-arranged results the Chief Arbiter can decide that the result of the respective game is 0 - 0.
We assume that all the players have read the Tournament Regulations and are obliged to obey them.
The English text of these Tournament Regulations is the authentic version.

19. MEDICAL CARE
During the rounds there will be Medical Services according to the FIDE Tournament Regulations.

20. TOURNAMENT OFFICE
All necessary information participants can get on the official tournament website:

Belgrade2013.ECUonline.net

Tournament Director: Mrs. Jasna Sakotic
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +381 64 16 48 180