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League Rules

Changes from 2001

The main bone of contention last year arose from the practice of annulling match results when players lapsed from the competition. There was general agreement that this makes sense if a player drops out early, but I have introduced a rule that it can only happen by agreement. Otherwise, if a player's matches are not completed, his opponents will be able to play against a substitute.

What's not changing

There is concern that adjusting the handicaps after league matches provides an opportunity for the unscrupulous to manipulate the system to their advantage. I think the best counter to this is to have a system where a player's handicap is set for the whole season. However a number of problems with this have been raised and I don't want to delay the start of the competitions, so there will be no change to handicapping this season.

It has been suggested that abuse of the handicap system could be reduced by scoring the competition on match points. I think this would change the fundamental nature of the competition and that it should continue to be decided on chalks.

There was a suggestion that a deposit could be charged for entry to the league, repayable on completion of all matches. I think this could cause more problems than it solves and I won't be introducing it.

The Rules

1. The League Competition is open to any club member who signs the entry form agreeing to these rules.
2. Each competitor will play every other competitor twice during the calendar year.
3. It is the responsibility of each competitor to complete his matches against each opponent or, if Rule 11 applies, a substitute.
4. Matches will be played over seven legs and scored on chalks.
5. Handicaps will be adjusted in the usual way after each league match.
6. Two points will be awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a lose.
7. The winner will be the competitor with the most points at the end of the calendar year, regardless of whether all matches have been completed.
8. If two or more competitors have the same number of points, the outcome will be decided on chalk difference (total chalks for minus total chalks against).
9. If a competitor is unable or neglects to play his matches, he may be removed from the League. This will require the agreement of a majority of the other competitors, which must include any who have already played matches against him.
10. When a competitor is removed from the League, the results of all matches he has played in will be annulled, but there will be no retrospective adjustment of handicaps.
11. If a competitor remains in the league but is unable to play his matches or declines to play his opponent on more than two occasions or cannot be readily contacted, his opponent should play the match against a substitute player of his choice. The defaulting player will not be awarded any points or chalks for the match.
12. A substitute player should have a similar handicap, but there will be an adjustment of one chalk for each point difference in handicap. For example, if the defaulting player had a handicap of 3 and his opponent played a handicap 1 player, a losing score of 2-3 would be taken as a win with a chalk difference of +1.
13. The handicap of the substitute player will not be affected, nor will his league score if he is another competitor.

Paul Robinson
Match Secretary
aka El Supremo