2022 BUCA Championship
Registration Form
Format
The 2022 British Universities Championship will be a Team Swiss competition. The scoring will be on Matchpoints (2 for a match win, 1 for a match draw). The tie-breaks will be: (a) Olympiad Sonneborn-Berger (Khanty-Mansiysk) Cut 1, (b) Gamepoints, (c) Sum of Opponents Matchpoints Cut 1. A pairing-allocated bye will be worth 1 matchpoint and 2 gamepoints. The tournament will be paired to the Olympiad team pairing rules.
Eligibility
Entry is restricted to teams from higher education institutes (HEI) in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Crown Dependencies. Players can only represent a HEI that they are currently a member of, and at which they are progressing towards an academic qualification.
Schedule
The tournament will be played on Saturday, 5th March.
| Technical Meeting | 19:00 (28th Feb) |
| Round 1 | 11:00 |
| Round 2 | 12:00 |
| Round 3 | 13:00 |
| Round 4 | 13:50 |
| Round 5 | 14:40 |
| Round 6 | 15:30 |
| Round 7 | 16:20 |
| Round 8 | 17:10 |
| Round 9 | 18:00 |
It is mandatory for captains to attend the Technical Meeting. The Chief Arbiter reserves the right to not pair any team whose captain fails to attend the Technical Meeting.
Squad & Team Composition
Each team must name one team captain, who will be an adult, who will be responsible for team selection in each round.
Each squad may contain 4 or 5 players in it, which must be listed in a fixed board order. For each individual match, the team captain may select any 4 of those players to play in it, but they must play in accordance with the fixed board order.
The team composition for each round must be submitted via Chess-Results.com at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the next round. Organisers will provide team captains with a password to do this. A team that fails to submit a team for any given round will have the team submitted without reserves - not the team that was selected in the previous round.
The organiser reserves the right to decline a player registration without giving a reason.
There is no limit to the number of squads a University can enter; however, the same player may not be listed in more than one squad.
Entry Fee
BUCA Membership £0; Entry Fee £20 per team
These fees are payable before the technical meeting to the following details:
Sort Code: 60-05-16
Account Number: 24412856
Playing the Games
Before the scheduled start time for each round, players should be logged in to chess.com/live
Once any fair play checks have been conducted by the arbiter, and we are passed the scheduled start time, the arbiter(s) will automatically start your games for you.
The time limit is all moves in 10 minutes, plus 5 seconds per move. The expected maximum duration of each game is 30 minutes, but they may take longer in the case of a long game. A player who is not present, and whose game is not started within 10 minutes of the actual start time for their round will lose their game by default.
Technical Requirements
The following technical requirements are required:
- - A computer, to play the games. Mobile phones, Chromebooks and tablets are strictly prohibited. A computer that runs a Windows operating system is strongly recommended.
- - A mouse, to make the moves. It is not permitted to use a touchscreen device to make the moves. The computer’s trackpad, if it has one, may be permitted with permission of the Chief Arbiter in advance.
- - A camera, built into the computer, or a webcam affixed to the front of the computer such that the arbiter can see the player on camera. It is strictly prohibited for this device to be a mobile phone.
- - A microphone, so that the arbiter can hear the players during play.
- - Speakers, so that the player can hear the arbiter if there needs to be communication with the player from the arbiter
- - An internet connection, to connect to the platform. It is strongly recommended to have a backup Internet connection available. For example, the primary connection may be the house wi-fi, but the backup connection may be to tether to a mobile phone, so long as the mobile phone is situated in another room of the venue in which the games are being played.
- - The arbiter may randomly select players to use more than one camera. If this is requested, then it is permitted to use a mobile phone for this purpose only. The camera should join the Zoom call, so it is worthwhile installing the Zoom app on your phone in preparation.
Rules of Conduct and Fair Play
- - It is compulsory for players to be connected to the tournament Zoom call during their games, and for a period of time before. Players due to play in Round 1 are expected to arrive on Zoom at least 30 minutes before the start of the tournament. Therefore, players are required to be on Zoom at least 15 minutes before the following round. Games will not be started until both players are connected to the Zoom call and have completed the processes outlined below.
- - It is compulsory for captains to be connected to the tournament Zoom call at least 30 minutes before the start of Round 1, and they must be present on the Zoom call throughout the day to assist with communication with the players. Captains are allowed off-camera when their team’s games have finished, and may not use a mobile phone on camera.
- - Players will be expected to share Task Manager, or the equivalent on their operating system, during the game.
- - The playing area must contain only players; parents and others must be out of the playing area at all times.
- - When requested by an arbiter, and in any case during their own games, players must:
- • Have their webcam switched on
- • Have their microphone switched on
- • Have their speakers switched either off or on
- • Share their screen in the Zoom call
- - When requested by an arbiter, and in any case during their own games, captains must:
- • Have their webcam switched on
- • Have their microphone switched on
- • Have their speakers switched either off or on
- • Not share their screen in the Zoom call
- - Players must stay on camera for the duration of their game. Players must therefore go to the toilet in advance of the start of their game, and not during the game. The Chief Arbiter may grant exceptions to this rule in advance of the competition in the case of specific players for medical reasons.
- - Players found to be in breach of these regulations will be sanctioned in accordance with the system outlined in Appendix.
Fair Play Policy
Games will be submitted to Professor Regan for screening, and notwithstanding the measures outlined above, in cases where there is agreement between Chess.com and the Chief Arbiter based on the results of Professor Regan’s tests, results of players found to have used assistance will be overturned. Teams should allow up to 72 hours after the conclusion of the tournament for these fair play checks to be complete. BUCA will announce when the results are final.
Other Fair Play Issues
Players whose declared accounts have been closed by Chess.com before the tournament, or are closed mid-tournament, will not be permitted to play in the rest of the tournament. Username changes for players are not permitted once the teamlist has been submitted by the captain.
In advance of the tournament, players should go to chess.com/settings and put their real names in the “First name” and “Surname” fields, for example:
Note: Do not change your username! A player’s username can be whatever you want it to be, but changing it will delay the start of the tournament.
Disconnections
It is a player’s responsibility to connect to Chess.com. This means that the connection has to reach Chess.com; proof of your upload speed does not imply that the messages being sent by you are reaching Chess.com. In the event Chess.com being at fault for the disconnection (e.g. a server restart), the Chief Arbiter reserves the right to take any action deemed fair in his or her opinion, which includes but is not restricted to:
- - "Adjudicating" the result of the game
- - Declaring the game void
- - Restarting the game from the beginning
Communication
During the event, a captains WhatsApp group will be set up to aid with communication with the Chief Arbiter, rather than just their Zoom arbiter. It is recommended that the captain joins this WhatsApp group. In addition, to avoid using a mobile phone during play, it is strongly recommended that the captain accesses WhatsApp via web.whatsapp.com.
Appendix – System of Sanctions
Cards awarded in a Game
The following offences may result in a player receiving a first and final warning before receiving a card:
- - An internet disconnection for a duration of 1 minute or less
- - Any offence not listed that, in the opinion of the Chief Arbiter, merits the award of a first and final warning
The following offences may result in a player receiving a yellow card:
- - Camera shutoff from Zoom via manual shutoff
- - Disconnection from Zoom without disconnecting from chess.com/live
- - An internet disconnection for a duration of over 1 minute
- - Disruption of other players/talking
- - Not sharing their screen on the Zoom call
- - Any offence requiring a player to be warned for a second time in that game
- - Any offence not listed that, in the opinion of the Chief Arbiter, merits the award of a yellow card
The following offences may result in the player receiving a red card:
- - Any offence that would result in a player being awarded a second yellow card
Bans and Disqualification
A player will be banned for their next round if they receive either:
- - A red card in one game, or
- - One yellow card in two different games
- - A player will be banned from taking any further part in the tournament if they receive two red cards.
Any serious offence may result in disqualification from the whole tournament, at the discretion of the Chief Arbiter.