Last updated 11th August


(Adopted 1997)

Revised June 2016 – October 2018 – June 2019

  1. Competitions for the NCCU’s Individual, Senior and Junior Individual Championships shall be run annually at a weekend congress of not less than five rounds, organised by a County Chess Association (CCA) affiliated to the NCCU.
  2. The Congress for any season’s event must be held between the months of September and June, both inclusive.
  3. The responsibility of staging the championship congress shall be awarded to each affiliated CCA in turn, according to the rota detailed in Appendix I.
  4. At the December Council Meeting preceding the following season’s event the CCA whose turn it is to stage that event shall give notice of whether or not it intends so to do. When any CCA decides not to stage the event, the NCCU shall be awarded to the next CCA on the rota. The remainder of the rota will then be advanced by one year.
  5. At the Annual General Meeting preceding the event the organising county shall nominate the Individual Championships Organiser. The appointment shall be subject to the approval of the meeting.
  6. The duties of the Organiser shall be as follows:

a. To be responsible for the application and interpretation of these rules until the end of the following Annual General Meeting.

b. At the Annual General Meeting of appointment to propose the venue and dates of the event. These shall be subject to the approval of the meeting.

c. To publish a congress brochure/entry form which includes the information detailed in Appendix II.

d. To include in the event Swiss tournaments for the NCCU’s Individual, Senior and Under 18 Junior Championships. In these championship tournaments the playing session for each round shall total not less than four hours. If allegro finishes are used not less than 20 minutes per player must be allowed.

e. To ensure that all entrants for the Individual Championship are registered members of the English Chess Federation, and in addition, to ensure that all entrants for the Individual, Senior and Junior Championships hold, at the time of the event, a qualification to represent a CCA affiliated to the NCCU. Eligibility qualifications are listed in Appendix III.

f. To obtain all NCCU Individual Championship Trophies from previous holders for presentation at the event. The list of current trophies is given in Appendix IV.

g. To obtain from the winners an undertaking that they will be responsible for the safe keeping of the trophies and for returning them to the NCCU succeeding Individual Championships Organiser not less than one month before the next event, or to the NCCU upon request.

h. There are no cash prizes associated with the awarding of the Individual titles, unless deemed so by the congress concerned.

i. To present a report to the Annual General Meeting, which includes the following information: the numbers participating in the various tournaments; the names of the winners of the Individual Championships; the proposed nominee for the British Championship. The NCCU Secretary shall be responsible for notifying the ECF of the nominee.

j. To maintain a file for presentation to the succeeding Organiser containing a current copy of these rules, previous congress brochures/entry forms and reports to the AGM and the names and addresses of current trophy holders.

  1. It shall be the sole responsibility of the organising CCA to determine congress entry fees and prize monies commensurate with the status of the event.
  2. No alteration shall be made to these rules except at an Annual General Meeting, and only then provided that the Secretary or Organiser has notified each CCA affiliated to the NCCU of the proposed change, not less than 21
    days in advance. Changes shall be approved by a simple majority vote, with the Chairman having the right to exercise a casting vote. Changes to the appendices may be proposed and approved by any Council Meeting.

Appendix I

The rota for award of the event shall be as follows:

Durham 2019-20 Cumbria 2023-24

Northumberland 2020-21 Lancashire 2024-25

Yorkshire 2021-22 Merseyside 2025-26

Cheshire & NW 2022-23 Northumberland 2026-27

(Note: Durham awarded the Congress out of turn with Northumberland following – the rota reverts to normal thereafter).

Appendix II

The following rules should be published in the congress entry form and operate at the event:

a. The English translation of the FIDE code in operation at the time being shall govern play.

b. In all matters connected with the conduct of the event the decision of the Chief Controller shall be final.

c. Pairings in the Individual Championship shall be according to the ECF Seeded Swiss System.

d. The winner of the NCCU Individual Championship will qualify for a place in the following British Championship as NCCU nominee. This is a free place to the NCCU Champion.

e. In the event of a tie, cash prizes shall be divided equally. Other prizes shall be split in favour of the player with the highest sum of progressive score, failing that Sum of Opponent’s Scores, failing that, Sonneborn-Berger scores.

Appendix III

A player must hold one of the following qualifications in order to enter a Championship tournament.

a. birth in the area under the jurisdiction of a CCA affiliated to the NCCU.

b. five consecutive years residence at any time in the area under the jurisdiction of a CCA affiliated to the NCCU.

c. two years immediately previous and present membership of a club affiliated to a CCA which is in turn affiliated to the NCCU.

d. one month’s immediately previous and present residence in the area under the jurisdiction of a CCA affiliated to the NCCU.

e. present attendance as a teacher or student at a school, college or university in the area under the jurisdiction of a CCA affiliated to the NCCU.

Appendix IV

The current individual trophies are as follows:

 The Wahltuch Trophy for the NCCU Individual Champion

 The John Littlewood Seniors Trophy (for players aged 60 and over)

 The Edmund Spencer Memorial Cup (for the Under 18 Junior Champion)

Appendix V

British Championship Qualifying Places

The NCCU Individual Champion will be eligible to take part in the British Championship with his/her entry fee reimbursed from the NCCU on receipt of an invoice from the ECF. (The NCCU will not pay the entry fee until confirmation that the NCCU Individual Champion took part in the British Championships).

Dave Cole

NCCU General Secretary

June 2019