Official Regulations

Kenya National Chess League

Governing rules and regulations for the Premier and Super League seasons.

General Composition Individual Fair Play Transfers Postponement Disqualification Appeals

1. General Regulations

1.1 The Kenya National Chess League is a FIDE-rated event; therefore, all FIDE rules will apply accordingly.

1.2 The Kenya National Chess League will be split into two: the Premier League & the Super League. However, this will be determined by the number of teams that register.

1.3 Format of Play: The format of the league will be a Single Round Robin where each team plays against all registered teams once. All games will be played over super weekends, and each team must travel at least once outside of their hometown.

1.4 Promotion to the Premier League: The Super League shall be divided into two divisions: Division A and Division B. At the end of the regular season, the top three teams from each division will qualify for the playoff stage, which shall be conducted as a round-robin tournament. At the conclusion of the Play-off Stage, the top three teams will earn promotion to the Premier League.

1.5 Time Control: The time control for the league shall be 90 minutes plus 30-second increment from move one.

1.6 Default Time

The default time for arriving on the chessboard is 30 minutes. Any player who arrives at the chessboard after the default time shall lose the game unless the arbiter decides otherwise. In the event the round was scheduled to start at 1400 hrs but actually started at 1415 hrs, then any player who doesn’t come before 1445 hrs loses the match.

1.7 Draw offers: Players are not permitted to offer a draw before Black's 30th move.

1.8 Number of Boards: Each match will be played over five (5) boards. Each team must have at least one LADY on any board.

1.9 Team Uniform: Each team should have at least one pair of team uniforms (t-shirts/jackets/hoodies/tracksuits). The uniform should be branded, displaying the name and logo of the team.

1.10 Scoring/Tie Breaks

TB1
Match Points: 3 points for a won match, 1 point for a drawn match, and 0 points for a lost match.
TB2
Game Points: 1 point for a won game, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a lost match.
TB3
Sonneborn-Berger: the sum of the products of the match points made by each opposing team and the match points made against that team.

1.9.4 For the Super League, in the event of a tie in standings after the playoff matches, the tied teams shall compete in a classical playoff (90m + 30s) to determine the final rankings.

2. Team Composition

2.1 Number of Players: Each team shall be composed of at least five (5) players and a maximum of twelve (12) players. At least one of the players must be a lady.

2.2 Fixed Board Order

A fixed board order for every team must be submitted before the start of the league, defining the order of the players. The official board order will be strictly observed, and movement to another board will ONLY be forward—NEVER backwards. Board 1 can only play on that board. In his absence the Board 2 moves up and so on. Failure to observe this will result in a loss on that board.

2.3 Team Line-up: Each team will field five (5) players during a match on Boards 1 to 5 and must have at least one LADY on any board.

2.4 Foreigners: A team can ONLY field a maximum of TWO foreigners in a match. A foreigner is defined as anyone whose Chess Federation is not Kenya.

2.5 Submission of Team Lineups

2.5.0 The official team lineups should be communicated to the Chief Arbiter two (2) hours before play and CANNOT be changed after that.

2.5.1 The team lineup should be accompanied by the team uniform. All team members should be dressed the same.

2.5.2 The uniform should be clearly visible and be worn for the duration of the game. Failure to adhere results in a loss by default.

2.5.3 Captains who submit an incomplete lineup are allowed to make inclusions with communications made at least two weeks before the player included plays their first game.

2.6 Wrong Board Order Example

A team	Score	B team	Status
Board 1	1 - 0	Board 2	Correct
Board 2	0 - 1	Board 4	Wrong (+ -)
Board 3	½ - ½	Board 3	Wrong (+ -)
Board 5	0 - 1	Board 5	Correct

Initial Match Result: 1.5 - 2.5

Corrected Match Result: 3.0 - 1.0 (Valid for Standings)

3. Individual Board Competition

3.1 Board performance is decided by percentage score. The tie is broken by determining the total number of game points scored.

3.2 Board Prizes Calculation: To compete for a board prize, players need to play a minimum of X games on a given board.

X = (No. of rounds × 5 boards) / 12 players

Example: 17 rounds × 5 / 12 = 7.08 (7 games required)

3.3 The board to compete on will be determined by the highest number of games played on a particular board.

4. Fair Play Regulations

4.1 Objective: Our objective is to build a community of players that trust one another; any player receiving unfair assistance during a game will be discontinued from the league and all their games forfeited.

4.2 No player shall be allowed to waive any exaction of a penalty or the enforcement of the rules, and shall at all times play to the best of his or her ability.

4.3 Team managers and teammates must not have eye contact during play and will watch games from behind the team members.

4.4 Spectators are BARRED from the main playing area. Contravention will attract a warning and/or expulsion.

4.5 No consultations or analysis of unfinished games will be accepted within the playing hall.

4.6 Any player leaving the playing hall before his or her game is finished must inform an arbiter.

5. Transfer of Players

5.1 All teams are allowed to make replacements during the transfer window opened by the League Committee.

5.2 A player CANNOT play for more than one club participating in the league during the same season.

5.3 The new player replaces the board in which the player who was being replaced was playing.

Corporate Teams

Ksh 50,000

University Teams

Ksh 10,000

Private Teams

Ksh 3,000

5.6 90% of the fee is retained by the selling club, 10% to the League Account.

5.7 Free Transfers

A player who did not participate in the league in the previous season.
A player whose contract has expired.
A player who has graduated from their university/college.

5.9 Special Case Replacement

Approved at any time by the League Secretary with proof of:

Completion of study before league ends.
Relocation abroad (>3 months) for work/family.
Sickness (>1 month) or mental incapacity.
Deceased player.

NOTE: Suspension due to disciplinary action is NOT a special case.

6. Postponement of Matches

6.1 Postponements are ONLY allowed for:

3+ players called to the national team.
3+ players sitting for examinations.
Death of a team member.
Other reasons deemed necessary by the League Committee.

Written request to the League Secretary TWO WEEKS before the match; otherwise, the match will be a loss by default.

6.6 A match cannot be rescheduled twice.

7. Disqualification

7.1 Teams that give three (3) walkovers in a match over five (5) rounds will be withdrawn from the league.

7.2 The secretary will serve the team a warning letter for each round they give a walkover and finally WITHDRAW them after the 5th warning.

8. Appeals Committee

8.1 A 5-member Appeals Committee and 2 reserves shall be formed by the Chief Arbiter during the Technical Meeting.

8.2 Members cannot vote on a dispute involving their own team.

8.3 The decision of the Appeals Committee is final and binding.

8.4 Protests

Protests must be made in writing to kenyachessleague@gmail.com accompanied by a Kes 1,000/= fee within twenty (20) minutes of the incident. Amount is refunded if the appeal is upheld.