Tournament General Rules
All games are to be played under the FIDE Laws of Chess.
This competition will be ACF rated and be run in accordance with By-laws for ACF Tournaments and By-Law 4 Australian Schools Teams Chess Championships.Â
Time Controls
60 minutes + 10 seconds per move from the beginning. Players must record all moves until their time is less than five minutes.
Forfeits
The default time will be 30 minutes after each round is started.
Board Order
Teams must declare the names of all players and their board order (Boards 1 to 4, plus the reserves) by 31 October. This order cannot be changed after 21 November, which is two weeks before the tournament.
The board order should be determined based on the latest ACF Classic ratings (September 2026). If a player does not have an ACF Classic rating, their ACF Quick rating or State rating may be used. If the rating difference between two players is 50 points or less, their order may be interchanged.
We may seek clarification regarding any board order that appears unreasonable.
When a reserve is substituted into a match, the order of the players must remain consistent with the pre-declared board order. For example, if the player on Board 2 takes a rest, the players on Boards 3 and 4 must move up one board, and the first reserve fills Board 4.
Placing/Tie-breaks
Placing will be determined in accordance with ACF By-law No.4 for Australian Schools Teams Chess Championships.
a. Each Championship shall be won by the team having the highest team points being the sum of
points scored by all individual members of the team (Game Points).
b. If more than one team in a Championship has the same number of team points, the following tie-
break principles apply in the order listed:
(i) match points - 2 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss;
(ii) team points scored in matches between the tied teams - eg if 3 teams in a tie each team
would have a score out of 12;
(iii) as in (ii) but with preference given to wins on the highest board.
c. If, after applying (i) to (iii), any teams are still tied, the title is to be shared by those teams.