L. European Grand Prix
The European Grand Prix consists of at least twelve preliminary tournaments and one final tournament. The system has to be applied for internet transmission in all events.
L.1. Participants
L.1.1 Only players belonging to one of the ECU federations are taken into account for European Grand Prix.
L.2. Preliminary tournaments
All tournaments and the players’ results have to be valid for FIDE titles.
L.2.1 The European Individual Championship
L.2.2 The European Team Championship
L.2.3 The European Club Cup
L.2.4 Open European tournaments decided by the ECU Board, based on the following recommendations:
L.2.4.1 The tournament should have a minimum of 100 participants.
L.2.4.2 A minimum of 10 GMs should be in the final ranking list.
L.2.4.3 The average rating of the top 20 players should be over 2400.
L.3. Players’ obligations
In order to be taken into account for the final ranking the following conditions have to be met:
L.3.1 The players have to use system as the method of recording the game on the designated boards.
L.3.2 Forfeited games and byes are not counted.
L.3.3 A player is not allowed to stop playing before the last round of the tournament.
L.4. Ranking of the players
L.4.1 For the final ranking the tournament performance rating in the preliminary tournaments is counted if it is 2451 or more.
L.4.1.1 However, the maximum number of points added to the average rating of the opponents is 350.
L.4.2 To be included in the final ranking of the preliminary tournaments the three highest performance ratings of a player are added.
L.4.3 The first ten players in the final ranking of the preliminary tournaments are entitled to participate in the final of the European Grand Prix.
L.4.3.1 In case of a tie the highest percentage of game points scored in the respective tournaments is counted.
L.4.3.2 If case of a further tie the better ranking in the European Individual Championship is taken in account.
L.5. Final tournament
L.5.1 The final tournament should be organized in the period 15 October to 15 December.
L.5.2 The final tournament is a round robin tournament with not more than one game per day.
L.5.3 The starting numbers are drawn by lots.
L.5.4 For the final ranking the game points are counted; a tie will be broken by counting of Sonneborn-Berger points and then by the highest number of wins.
L.5.4.1 In case of equal game points the money prizes are shared equally.