Šah klub Rijeka

7th Mediterranean men and women championship

1. The Tournament

The 7th Mediterranean Men and Women Chess Championships will be held in Rijeka, Croatia, in the premises of Chess club "Rijeka", Blaža Polića 2/2, from Friday, September 11th  2009 (arrival), to Friday September 18th 2009 (departure).

2. Participants

2.1. One player each for the Men and Women Championships nominated by each Mediterranean Federation as listed in the MCA statute. If a Federation wishes to have additional players participating, besides those qualified through the normal way and by right, it should apply to the Organizing Committee (see also para.5). A player can participate in the competition only after getting an official consent from the Organizing Federation.

2.2  All GM’s who are from a MCA Member Federation, can participate in the competition after getting an official consent from their Federation. The  number of such registered participants has been limited to 5 GM’s from 5 different federations and to 5 women from five different federations. The chosen participants will be registered according to the principle of whose registration has been received first, all in accordance with the item 4.
The accommodation with full board in single rooms will be managed by the organizers free of charge.

3. Previous competitions

*Note : Organised in the beginning of the following year

4. Registration

The Registration Form/s shall be submitted to the General Secretary of the Mediterranean Chess Association by e-mail to the General Secretary, Mr Geoffrey Borg at geoffrey.borg@gmail.com by not later than 20th August 2009. If Federations or participants submit the registration form after the deadline they may have to pay for their accommodation.

5. Traveling Expenses and Airport Transfers

Traveling expenses shall be covered by the participating Federations or players. Both players and accompanying persons are kindly asked to notify the organizers of their travel arrangements.
The transfer from the hotel in Opatija to the tournament hall will be managed by the organizer, free of charge. For any additional travel or similar information about Croatia we are suggesting the site www.lonelyplanet.com/croatia.

6. Board & Lodging

The participants, one man and one woman nominated by each federation, will be provided with full board and lodging from dinner of 10th September 2009 to breakfast of 18th September  2009.  Any additional participant or accompanying person will have to pay for their stay, directly in the hotel. The price of lodging is 47,00 € / day / person, single room, full board.  The accommodation will be provided in located in Opatija, tourist resort some ten kilometers away from Rijeka, in the 4 star hotel “4 opatijska cvijeta” located at the address V.C. Emina 6, Opatija, www.milenijhoteli.hr/hotel_4opatijska.asp.
In the course of competition, each participant will be entitled to have one free coffee and drink during the match.

7. Entry Visa & Participant Details

All participants are requested to send one passport-size photo (jpeg) of their players, passport number, date and place of birth and residence  to the e-mail address of Chess Club “Rijeka” -  club@sah-rijeka.hr  not later than 20th August 2009. The organizer kindly asks the federations and players to visit the web site www.mfa.hr and/or contact Croatian embassy / consulate in their countries in order to verify if they need entry visa for Croatia.
The organizer will try to help in the procedure of obtaining the entry visa. For any eventual inquiry related to the above requirements please contact the organizer at the e-mail address: club@sah-rijeka.hr .

8. Tournament Regulations

Chief arbiter

Mr. Eduard Piaucun, international arbiter was nominated the Chief Arbiter of the 7th Mediterranean Men & Women Chess Championship.
Procedure of appeals
Protests against decisions of the Chief Arbiter or any of his assistants, 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 50 EUR, as a deposit from the signatory. If the protest is accepted and the decision changed, then the deposit will be returned back to the claimant.  Otherwise money will be transferred to the MCA Treasury or Organising Committee. The Appeals Committee will be selected prior to the first round during the Technical meeting and will be made up of three persons selected by the majority of the players.

System and rate of play

Men and women will participate in one joint tournament. This will give more opportunity for norms. The Championships are organized as per the FIDE Rules in the FIDE Handbook under section D.V.01. The events will be conducted according to the Swiss System, 9 rounds. The time limit will be 90 minutes + 15 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move for each player. The games will be played using digital clocks.

Pairings

Pairings will be made with Swiss Manager software. Pairings will be announced as soon as possible after each playing round finishes, and will be posted in front of the tournament hall and in other key areas.

Ranking and Tie – breaks

The order of players, for the award of trophies, 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) according to the extent required.

(a) Median-Buchholz,
(b) Buchholz
(c) Progressive Scores
(d) Match between tied players.

Additional Rules:

(a) Article 10.2 of the Laws of Chess is not valid.
(b) After each game players will hand the original scores to the arbiter signed by both of them.
(c) Analyzing is not allowed in the playing hall.
(d) During the game the players are not allowed to go to the analyzing room.
(e) Players who have finished their games shall be considered to be spectators and are not allowed to stay in the playing area.
(f) Players are asked not to bring any mobile phone into the playing hall. If a mobile phone rings the player will be punished according to Art. 13.4 of the Laws of Chess by loss of the game.
(g) Flash photography may be used only in the first ten minutes of the games
(h) We assume that all the players have read the Tournament Regulations and are obliged to obey them.
(i) Only the players and arbiters shall be allowed in the actual playing area, except with the express permission of the chief arbiter.
(j) As long as a person’s game is in progress, a player may talk only to an arbiter or with his opponent, as permitted by the Laws of Chess.
(k) The English text of these Tournament Regulations is the authentic version.

9. Prizes

The Championship winners will be awarded trophies and Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals respectively. The organizers are also please to announce cash prizes as follows.

The Prizes for Men: 1st  1,200 Euro,  2nd  900 Euro, 3rd   600 Euro,  4th 200 Euro
The Prizes for Women: 1st    500 Euro,   2nd 300 Euro,  3rd  200 Euro,  4th 100 Euro

Cash prizes will be split equally if there is more than one player qualifying for the cash prize. Women players who may rank in the first overall three places will be given a choice as to which prize and trophy they may wish, but no person may win more than one respective prize & trophy.

10.  Playing schedule 

11. Unforeseen Items
Any matter not mentioned in the present Regulations shall be decided by the MCA Council in conjunction with the organizing committee.

Contact numbers:

Tournament director, Mr. Brian Dinter: +(385) 98 259 770 and Email:  brian.dinter@ri.t-com.hr   or 

MCA General Secretary, Mr Geoffrey D Borg : +(356) 21 434 729 or  +(356) 99 434 729. Email : geoffrey.borg@gmail.com