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Tournament Rules of the
European Tournament Office
Updated version: October 2001


Relation with ICCF
The European Tournament Office is one of the Zonal Tournament Offices of ICCF.
The European Tournament Office is conducted by the ICCF Zonal Director for Europe.
In the tournaments organized by the European Tournament Office the ICCF Playing Rules apply, as well as the ICCF Rating and Titles rules.

Type of Tournaments
The tournaments organized by the European Tournament Office are:
 European Championships (individual),
 European Team Championships,
 promotion tournaments in classes.
The entry fee for each tournament shall be decided by the ICCF Presidium.
Entry to a tournament shall be accepted only if it is accompanied by a declaration of a European ICCF member federation that the entry fee has been paid.

European Championship
The European Championship comprises the semi-final and the final.
The European Championship semi-final is played in a two-yearly cycle, with groups of 15 to 17 players.
In a cycle there are groups played by normal post and groups played by eMail. The tournament shall be finished in 3 ½ years.
The remaining 6 months will be needed for adjudications and preparations of the following cycle.
The European Championship final will be started three months after the moment on which enough players with a valid qualification have entered.
The final shall consist of 15 to 17 participants.
About the transmission of moves by normal post or by eMail is to decide from case to case.

The following shall be entitled to enter a semi-final:
 one player of each national ICCF member federation of the European Zone,
 the third placed federation in the final of last finished European Team Championship is allowed one extra place, the second placed federation two extra places and the winning federation three extra places,
 those players who have a valid qualification.

The following players have achieved a qualification for the semi-final:
 a player who has won a EU/M/GT group (15 players) or a EU/M group (11 players),
 a player who within 10 years has twice achieved 2nd place in EU/M/GT groups (15 players) or in EU/M groups (11 players),
 a player who within 10 years has achieved one 2nd place in a EU/M/GT group (15 players) or in a EU/M group (11 players) and additional one 1st place in a EU/M group (7 players),
 a player who within 10 years has won two EU/M groups (7 players),
 a participant of a European Championship final who scored at least 30 % of the possible points but did not qualify for the World Championship final or the European Championship final,
 a participant of a European Championship semi-final who scored at least 60 % of the possible points but did not qualify for the final,
 the holders of the Correspondence Chess Grandmaster title and of the Senior International Master title if they are member in an European federation,
 those players who have a fixed rating in the most recent rating list prior to the announcement of the semi-final in accordance with the level determined by the presidium,
 the previous European Correspondence Chess Champions (new style with semi-finals).

The following players have achieved a qualification for the final:
 the first and second players in a semi-final,
 a participant of a European Championship final who scored at least 60 % of the possible points but did not qualify for the World Championship final,
 the last European Champion and his predecessor.

A qualification for the semi-final or the final is valid until ten years after the moment the qualification was achieved. Any qualification may be used only once.
If the European Championship final is of category IX or above, places in the World Championship final shall be awarded to those who have finished in the first three places. If the category is below IX then these three players shall be awarded in the World Championship ¾-final.
The winner of a European Championship shall be awarded with the ICCF Grandmaster title, provided that the category is IX or above. Exact details for the start of a new semi-final cycle shall be published at the latest 5 months before it starts.
On proposal of the European Zonal Director the ICCF Presidium may set the conditions for additional participation on the ground of extraordinary international performances and for the division into semi-final groups.

European Team Championships
The European Team Championship shall be played in a four-yearly cycle.
The tournament consists of a preliminary round and a final.
The national ICCF member federations of the European zone are entitled to take part with one team each.
Each team shall consist of 10 players. One game shall be played at every board against every opponent, with changing of the colour in the board order.
The first three teams of the previous final have priority for the final round.
The right to be promoted from the preliminaries shall be awarded to the teams which achieve the first three places. If such a team already has a qualification according to rule 20, then the qualification right is awarded to a next team in this preliminary group.
On proposal of the European Zonal Director the ICCF Presidium may set the conditions for the division into semi-final groups.

Promotion tournaments
The promotion tournaments shall be played in 3 classes:
 Master Class: EU/M with 11 players,
 Higher Class: EU/H with 7 players,
 Open Class: EU/O with 7 players.

In each class there are groups played by normal post and groups played by eMail.
Each player plays one game simultaneously against each of the other players.
Simultaneous participation in several groups of the same class is allowed.
Every winner of a 7-player group has the right to participate for the next higher class. If two players tie for first place, 75 % of the possible points is required for promotion. Two first-place players ties also entitle promotion.

Tie breaking
To break ties, the following shall apply:
 in individual tournaments: first points evaluation by the Sonneborn-Berger system, then the results of the tied players against each other,
 in team tournaments: first tie breaking on the basis of team results (2 points for a won match, 1 for a drawn match), then the result of the tied teams against each other.

Additional Arrangements
These basic rules are valid for tournaments which started after 1.1.1998.
The alterations in this updated version are valid for tournaments with start after 01.01.2002.
Players who have a qualification for an (old) European championship may convert this qualification into a qualification for the (new) European Championship semi-finals.
The final of the 6th European Team Championships will be played with 12 players in each team (current cycle).
From the preliminary round of the 7th European Team Championships and the final of the 6th European Team Championships on is to decide about the transmission of moves by normal post or by eMail from case to case.