Zone 1 Europa: EU Amateur Cup
Thursday, November 22, 2018: A new multi-stage tournament for players rated not higher than 2000. It is expected that the tournament will be organized annually.
The tournament will be organized in three stages, played by server. Usually each group consists of 7-11 players in the preliminary round, 9-13 in the semifinal round and 11-15 in the final round. Each player plays one game with every opponent of his group simultaneously.
The event will be rated with title norms, which are possible at the semifinal and final stages.
Entries
Only players rated 2000 or below in current rating-list (2018/4) are eligible to play the tournament. Unrated players are not allowed to play.
Only players from national federations who are members of Zone 1 (Europe) are eligible to play the tournament. Players from other national federations who are not members of Zone 1 are not allowed to play.
Players may enter in the usual way through their national federations or, where eligible, via the ICCF Direct Entry system.
Registration will begin immediately and will close on December, 31 2018 to allow for pairings.
Allocation of players to the preliminary and semifinal groups will be made as random as possible; however, geographical distribution as well as an achievement of reasonable equality of the average rating will be taken in consideration.
Tournament Organization
The tournament starts on February,10 2019. Triple Block system for a 350 days event, with 75 days initial bank and 1 day increment for the first 50 moves is used, no leave. All groups will finish on January, 26 2020 at the latest.
The semi-finals are expected to start on March,1 2020 at the latest. Triple Block system for a 350 days event, with 75 days initial bank and 1 day increment for the first 50 moves is used, no leave. All groups will finish on February,14 2021 at the latest.
The final is expected to start on March,15 2021 at the latest. Triple Block system for a 400 days event, with 50 days initial bank and 2 days increment for the first 50 moves is used, no leave. The tournament will finish on April,19 2022 at the latest.
Prizes
In the final, medals and certificates will be awarded to the top three players (if necessary tie-breaks will be applied). The winner of the final will receive a special cup trophy.
Top three scorers in the final may enter directly a European Individual Championship Semifinal regardless of their ratings.
Qualification
The number of promotions depends on total entries received, but it is initially assumed that the top two players of each preliminary section will qualify for the semifinal stage. The winner of each semifinal section will qualify for the final.
Although the number of preliminary groups which each player may enter is unlimited, no player will qualify for more than two semifinal groups or more than one place in the final.
Member federations are asked to give the tournament wide publicity to all their players.
We wish all participants many interesting games and new connections with CC friends in other countries, based on the spirit of friendship and the ICCF motto:
AMICI SUMUS
Andrey Pavlikov,
Zonal Director for Europe, Central Tournament Leader