Rules for the ACP Tour 2005-2006

1. Purpose

The ACP Tour is a tournament circuit organisedby the ACP (Association of Chess Professionals), which regroups all important tournaments in the world during a one-year chess season. Players taking part in these events gain points according to a ranking system devised by the ACP. Once the season is over, the eight best players are qualified for a final event, called the ACP Masters. The winner of the ACP Masters will be declared ACP Champion.

2. Dates

The second ACP Tour takes place from 1^st of July 2005 until 30^th of June 2006. A tournament is eligible for the 2^nd ACP Tour if the date of its first round is included in this time span.

3. ACP Points System
1. The events counted in the ACP Tour can be held according to the following formats: round-robin tournaments (RR), Swiss systems (Opens), knock-out tournaments (KO), the Dortmund system (DS) and Warsaw system (WS).
2. The tournaments of the ACP Tour fall into 6 differenst levels according to their strength (R):

Level                              R

1) F                                     2576-2600
2) E                                     2601-2625
3) D                                     2626-2650 
4) C                                     2651-2675
5) B                                     2676-2700
6) A                                     2700 and over
7) ACP Grand Slam Rapid

R is determined as follows:
- for RR and DS tournaments

R = Ra,

where Ra = average elo rating of all participants;

- for KO tournaments

R = R ¾

where R ¾  -  average elo rating of top ¾ of total number of players;

- for Open and WS tournaments

R = (3xR1+2xR2+R3) / 6 + 45

if the total number of players in the tournament is 90 or more

where
R1 - average elo rating of top 10 players in the starting list;
R2 - average elo rating of the next 10 players, from 11 to 20, in the starting list,
R3 - average elo rating of the next 10 players, from 21 to 30, in the starting list;

and

R = (3xR1+2xR2+R3) / 6 + N/2

if the total number of players in the tournament is under 90

where
R1 - average elo rating of top 1/9 part of all players in the starting list,
R2 - average elo rating of the next 1/9 part of all players in the starting list,       
R3 - average elo rating of the next 1/9 part of all players in the starting list,
                   N – total number of players.

3. Within one level, ACP points are distributed using different coefficients, according to the type of tournament and the number of rounds.

4. For a detailed presentation of Grand Slam Rapid events, see Annex 1.
   For the detailed tables of the ACP Points System, see Annex 2.

5. Updated players’ rankings will be published on the ACP website and shall appear within a week after one of the ACP Tournaments is over.

4. Tournaments


1. The ACP Tour shall include only strong individual tournaments, the method used in determining their strength is exposed above.
2. Events played at both classical and rapid time-controls will be counted, albeit with an inferior coefficient for rapid events compared to classical ones. Classical events are those where a player has at least 90 minutes (regardless of possible time increments) to complete the game. Rapid events are those where a player has at least 15 minutes (regardless of possible time increments) to complete the game.
3. Any stage of any closed national cup or championship cycle (classic or rapid), which strength ( R ) is less then 2576 but more then 2500 according to the ACP Points System, will be granted level Fⁿ and counted with a coefficient 0,5 assuming that level F has coefficient 1. If R is less then 2500 the event will not be counted.
4. Blitz tournaments, team competitions, and insufficiently strong individual tournaments will not be part of the ACP Tour.
5. Only tournaments with a minimum of seven rounds will be taken into account.
6. The ACP Board will consider including in the ACP Tour all tournaments of Level F and higher (see above).
   The decision to include a tournament in the ACP Tour is made by the ACP Board, based on the information it has about the forthcoming event. If an event turns out to be weaker than level F (this may happen with any format in case a player forfeits at the last moment), the ACP Board will still grant the event the minimal status of level F^’ and counted with a coefficient 0,5 assuming that level F has coefficient 1.
7. As soon as such a tournament is officially announced, the ACP Board will contact the organizers and propose them to be included in the ACP Tour.
   1. If the organizers agree to be fully part of the ACP Tour, they should send a confirmation to the ACP Board no later than 30 days before the tournament’s start. They should also put the official ACP Tour Logo on the official tournament’s site and on all information documents issued before and during the tournament, such as regulations, players list, current and final standings, pairings, etc. In this case their tournament will be included in the Tour and counted according to the ACP Points System.
   2. In case the organizers decline the proposal, tournaments of level A B or C will be counted anyway in the ACP Tour, however the number of ACP points distributed in these events will be divided by two, while   tournaments of level D E or F will not be counted in the ACP Tour.
   3. National championships will be automatically included in the ACP Tour, provided point IV.3. is fulfilled. National federations who do not wish their championship to be counted should communicate it to the ACP Board no later than 30 days before the tournament's start.
8. A complete list of tournaments included in the ACP Tour will be published on the ACP website (www.chess-players.org) and updated as the season unfolds.
9. The ACP Board reserves itself the right to refuse counting a tournament, in case the results appear particularly suspicious. This will avoid pre-arranged tournaments (such have existed in the past) influencing the final players’ rankings.
10. In the event of circumstances unforeseen in paragraph IV, the ACP Board shall decide on the matter at hand. Decisions from the ACP Board are final.

5. End of season and qualification to the ACP Masters
1. Only ACP members are eligible for participation in the ACP Masters event. A player has to be an ACP member for both 2005 and 2006 in order to have his results counted in the second ACP Tour.
2. For those players who are not yet ACP members in 2005, they may apply for membership before the 15^th of November 2005. Past this date, the results of players who are not members will not be counted for the second ACP Tour.
3. All ACP members will have to renew their membership in 2006, in order to have their results taken into account for the ACP Tour. The deadline for membership renewal is the 15^th of March 2006.
4. At the end of the season the eight players who have scored the highest number of ACP points are qualified for the ACP Masters.
5. In case of tie for the qualifying place, the following tie-break system will be applied:
   1. The player who obtained his ACP points in the least number of tournaments qualifies for the Masters 
   2. If the number of tournaments taken into account is equal for several players, the player who qualifies for the Masters is the one who scored the largest number of points, once the worst tournament of each player is withdrawn from the calculation; if it is not enough to make a difference, the next worst result is withdrawn, etc.
   3. If .point A and B don’t break the tie, a drawing of lots takes place to determine the qualifier.

6. The ACP Masters
1. The ACP Masters will be held over approximately two weeks, between September and December 2006.
2. The ACP Board will consider adding a very limited number of players to the eight qualifiers from the ACP Tour, by granting them wild-cards. This will only be done if such a measure will condition the sponsorship of the event. However, whenever possible, the ACP Board will give preference to a tournament format comprising only the eight qualifiers from the ACP Tour.
3. The exact format and prize-fund are currently being discussed with interested sponsors. All relevant information will be published on the ACP website in due time.

ACP Board

Contact information:
GM Pavel Tregubov
phone: +33-6-72 38 69 68
E-mail: gmtregubov@hotmail.com