J. European Amateur Chess Championship
J.1. Participation
J.1.1 There will be separate championships for categories Under-2300, Under-2000 and Under-1700. In each rating section, a separate championship for women shall be organized only if there are at least 10 women entries otherwise the women’s event will be merged with men (open).
J.1.2 The Championships are open tournaments for players registered by their federation. ECU member federations shall have the right to send as many players as they wish.
J.1.3 A player must not have a published FIDE rating of 2300 or greater for at least one year prior to the registration deadline of the event.
J.1.3.1 For the Under-2000 section, a player must not have a published FIDE rating of 2000 or greater for at least one year prior to the start of the championship.
J.1.3.2 For the Under-1700 section, a player must not have a published FIDE rating of 1700 or greater for at least one year prior to the start of the championship.
J.1.3.3 In case a player exceeds the rating of 1700 or 2000 after the registration deadline, he/she will play the upper rating category.
J.1.4 All players must not hold any title above CM (or WCM for women) in the sections Under-1700 and Under-2000. All players must not hold any title above FM (or WFM for women) in the section Under-2300.
J.2. Tournament Regulations
J.2.1 The championship shall be played in 9 rounds according to the Swiss system.
J.2.2 For the final ranking chapter B.6 of the ECU Tournament Rules is valid.
J.2.3 Tie-break matches may be organised only to establish the “European AmateurChampion”. This has to be announced to the participants before start of the first round.
J.3. Titles and Prizes
J.3.1 The winners of the annual championship receive the relevant title “European Amateur Chess Champion under 1700 under 2000 and 2300.”
J.3.2 The winners of the annual championship for women receives the relevant title “European Women Amateur Chess Champion under 1700 under 2000 and 2300.”
J.3.3 The organising federation shall award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the players taking the first three places in each championship provided by ECU.
J.3.4 The organiser should award special prizes to as many participants as possible and publish the list of prizes and the rules for their award before the start of the first round.
J.3.5 An additional payment, equivalent to 25% of the announced prize fund, shall be made to ECU.
J.3.6 The money prizes of players who have to play tiebreak matches will be attributed according to the final ranking achieved after these tie-break matches.
J.3.7 The other money prizes will be equally shared among the players with the same score.
J.3.8 The winner from each European Amateur Championship rating section are qualified with personal rights (as long as they don’t reach or exceed 2300 rating by the registration deadline) to next edition of World Amateur Championship, and their places cannot be substituted.