GibTelecom Blitz Tournament on ICC!

You will be joined by many of the world's leading Grandmasters, in what is hailed by many as one of the best chess events in the world! This Blitz Tournament Qualifier is open to all ICC members.

The winner of this package will be determined in a two-stage tournament event on ICC. The time control will be 3 0 in the whole tournament.

Schedule

There will be three qualifiers to the knockout finals. You can play in as many qualifiers as you like. All qualifiers will have 9 rounds, swiss pairings. The games are rated in the Blitz category. Latejoining is possible until round 6, but half point byes are only available for the first three rounds.

• Qualifier 1: Thursday, November 15, on 4pm
• Qualifier 2: Friday, November 16, on 6pm
• Qualifier 3: Saturday, November 17, on 2pm
• Finals : Sunday, November 18, on 1pm

All times are server time (EST, New York Time). Type "date" on ICC and compare to your local time.

Tournament system

The top five players from each of the three qualifiers will advance to the knockout finals. In case of a tie, the usual tiebreaks of Tomato tournaments will apply. They are described in detail in "tell tomato help tie". In addition, one seat will go to the winner of a qualifier held on World Chess Live.

Players can take part in as many qualifiers as they want to. In case a player who is already qualified reaches the top five in another qualifier, his seat will be awarded to the next best player.

Finalists will be sorted by the ICC Blitz rating they had when they played their qualifier. The grid will display the following pairings (top to bottom) and qualifiers who go through to the next round will be paired accordingly: 1-16, 8-9, 4-13, 5-12, 2-15, 7-10, 3-14, 6-11.

In the knockout finals, "mini-matches" of four games will be played and if a tie occurs after that, two more games will be played. If still tied after that, another two games follow, and in case it is 4-4 then, the tournament director will determine colors in a single decisive game to follow by tossing a coin. Should that game be drawn, another game with opposite colors will be played. If drawn again, the procedure will be repeated. In the final of the last two, the match will have six games. Again, if the match is tied 3-3, another two games will be played, and if still tied, yet another two games. Should the final be at 5-5 after ten games, a single decisive game will be played, with colors determined by coin toss. See above for the case that single game is drawn.

A match in the finals ends before four (six) games are played, if one player has 2.5 points or more (3.5 or more in the final of the last two).

How to take part

No preregistration is necessary for this tournament. Show up about 10 minutes before the scheduled start and type "tell pear join" or click on the entry button in your event list. Disconnecting before the start will remove you from the tournament. If you disconnect after the start, you will not be removed automatically, but you need to return as soon as possible, or the manager will forfeit you. You can follow the tournament in channel 227. Participants will automatically be placed in this channel.

During the tournament, the standings and pairings will be available at the following websites:

• http://tomato.chessclub.com/rmpgrid.html
• http://tomato.chessclub.com/rmpgames.html

Those sites show updated info when the refresh button is pressed.

You need to have a full ICC membership to take part in this tournament. Free trials cannot play. As the real names of the finalists will be made public, players who own free GM/WGM/IM/WIM accounts on ICC are required to use their public handles in this tournament, as opposed to anonymous accounts.

You need to use either a recent version of Blitzin or Dasher to play in this tournament.

Prizes

The winner of the tournament will receive a round trip ticket, hotel room and breakfast and automatic seat to the exclusive Gibetelecom Chess Festival.

In case the winner cannot travel to Gibraltar, the first prize will be awarded to the runner up. In case also the runner up cannot travel, the first prize will be offered to the player who lost to the later winner in the semifinals, and after that to the other semifinalist. In those cases, the winner will only receive the cash prize which the player who eventually travels to Gibraltar originally won.

Second place will receive USD 400 in cash.
Third and fourth place will receive USD 150 in cash each.

In addition, there will be prizes raffled between all participants who finish a qualifier, for EVERY qualifier. Four 3-months ICC extensions per qualifier, giving a total of 36 months just for playing. Note that in order to be eligible for the raffle, (a) the qualifier must be finished orderly (not forfeited), (b) the player did not qualify for the finals, and (c) the account used is a paid one.

On top of this, there will be prizes for the players who score most points over all qualifiers:

• 1st-3rd : 6 months ICC extensions
• 4th-10th : 4 months ICC extensions
• 11th-20th : 3 months ICC extensions

Should GM/IMs win membership extensions, they can donate those extensions to other players of their choice.

You can see the standings in this most-points competition by typing

tell pear ser b Gib2007

Cash prizes other than first prize will be paid by cheque. Other payment methods require the approval of ICC.

Other Rules

Use of computer chess engines and databases while playing is strictly prohibited. Assistance from other players is also prohibited.

Only regular ICC accounts are allowed in the tournament (no free trials). During the tournament, a recent version of Blitzin or Dasher must be used. A player must not enter the tournament on more than one handle, or risk being forfeited on both handles. As the real names of the finalists will be made public, players who own free GM/WGM/IM/WIM accounts on ICC are required to use their public handles in this tournament, as opposed to playing with anonymous accounts.

ICC reserves the right to use image and name of winner(s) from their online events for publicity purposes.

The ICC tournament directors may at their discretion make a ruling on a particular game, eject a player from a tournament, or refuse to allow a player to join a tournament for any reason including but not limited to: failure to show up on time or to start a game on time, concern that the player's internet connection is not reliable enough for the game to finish in a timely manner, suspicion of chess computer use, suspicion that a player is receiving assistance, suspicion that a player has used multiple accounts during the tournament, or the fact that this player has been caught violating ICC rules in the past.

ICC can also request that a player needs to be monitored by an approved proctor while playing in the finals, or forfeit a player from the tournament, in case such a proctor cannot be found.

Their reasoning need not be given, and there is no appeals process. We appreciate the cooperation of all participants in keeping this contest friendly, honorable, and running smoothly.

Participants must use the same computer during the whole tournament, unless they are observed by an approved proctor.

In case a player is disqualified from the tournament, the ICC tournament directors can, at their discretion, rule that the game of that player in the running round is lost for him, and won for his opponent. However, results by that player in prior rounds will not be reverted.