ACP Tour Rules 2019

The ACP Tour is a tournament circuit organized by the ACP (Association of Chess Professionals), which regroups the most important tournaments in the world during a one-year chess season. Players taking part in these events gain points according to a ranking system devised by the ACP. Once the season is over, the best players are qualified for a final event, called the ACP Masters (see VI and VII).

Dates

The 15th ACP Tour takes place from January 1st to December 31th 2019. A tournament is eligible for the 15th ACP Tour if the date of its first round is included in this time span.

Concept

1. Events played at both classical and rapid time-controls will be counted, albeit with an inferior coefficient for rapid events compared to classical ones. Classical events are those where a player has at least 60 minutes (regardless of possible time increments) to complete the game. Rapid events are those where a player has at least 12 minutes (regardless of possible time increments) to complete the game. Blitz tournaments will not be part of the ACP Tour, the only exception will be the World Blitz World Championship; its results will be taken into account with coefficient 0,25 to classical scale.

2. A complete list of tournaments included in the ACP Tour will be published on the ACP website (www.chessprofessionals.org) and updated as the season unfolds.

3. Updated players’ rankings will be published on the ACP website (www.chessprofessionals.org) and shall appear shortly after one of the ACP Tournaments is over.

Individual tournaments

1. Individual events counted in the ACP Tour can be held according to the following formats: round-robin tournaments (RR), Swiss systems (Opens), knock-out tournaments (KO). Additionally, matches between two players which are part of the World Championship Cycle will also be considered in the ACP Tour.

2. Individual tournaments of the ACP Tour fall into 7 different levels according to their strength (R).

Level R

1) F 2576-2600

2) E 2601-2625

3) D 2626-2650

4) C 2651-2675

5) B 2676-2700

6) A 2701-2725

7) Super 2726 and over

R is determined as follows:

For RR tournaments

R = Ra,

where Ra = average elo rating of all participants ;

For Open tournaments

R = (3xR1+2xR2+R3) / 6 + 30,

if the total number of players in the tournament is 50 or more

where R1 - average elo rating of top 10 players in the starting list,

R2 - average elo rating of the next 10 players, from 11 to 20, in the starting list,

R3 - average elo rating of the next 10 players, from 21 to 30, in the starting list;

and

R = (3xR1+2xR2+R3) / 6 + N/2,

if the total number of players in the tournament is under 50

where R1 - average elo rating of top 1/9 part of all players in the starting list,

R2 - average elo rating of the next 1/9 part of all players in the starting list,

R3 - average elo rating of the next 1/9 part of all players in the starting list,

N – total number of players.

For KO tournaments

R = R ¾

where R ¾ - average elo rating of top ¾ of total number of players.

In case some or all participants of a KO tournament have qualified from an open, the following criteria have to be taken into consideration: the level of the qualifying open (determined as described above) will prevail if it turns out to be higher than the level of the final KO tournament.

3. Within one level, ACP points are distributed using different coefficients, according to the type of tournament and the number of rounds. For the detailed tables of the ACP Points System for individual tournaments, see Annex 1.

4. Any stage of any closed individual national cup or championship cycle (classic or rapid), whose strength ( R ) is less then 2576 but more then 2550 according to the ACP Points System, will be granted level Fn and counted with a coefficient 0,5 assuming that level F has coefficient 1. If R is less then 2550 the event will not be counted.

5. Open tournaments played with less than seven rounds will not be taken into account.

6. All tournaments of level F and higher will automatically be included in the ACP Tour.

If a tournament does not reach this level, any of participants who gets rating performance 2700 or higher can ask the ACP Tour Director to count his personal result for the ACP Tour providing him with a tournament's report with personal performances. Their results will be counted according to Annex 2.8. The ACP Board reserves itself the right to refuse counting a tournament, in case the results appear particularly suspicious. This will avoid pre-arranged tournaments influencing the final players’ rankings.

7. In the event of circumstances unforeseen in paragraph IV, the ACP Board shall decide on the matter at hand. Decisions from the ACP Board are final.

Team competitions

1. Several very strong team events will be taken into account. These can include international and national competitions.

2. For a national league to be included in the ACP Tour, participation of at least 20 players with rating over 2600 is required.

3. Only individual performances are taken into account; the results of teams are irrelevant.

4. For his performance to be rated in the ACP Tour, a player must have played at least 5 games in a certain event.

5. ACP Tour points will be awarded according to the rating (Elo) performance. Tables of the ACP Point System for team competitions can be found in Annex 2.

6. End of season and qualification to the ACP Masters

1. Only ACP Premium members are eligible for participation in the ACP Masters. A player has to be an ACP Premium member in 2019 in order to have his results counted in the tenth ACP Tour. To have ALL his results counted a player should become an ACP Premium member before March 1st 2019.

//www.chessprofessionals.org/content/acp-membership-and-fee-structure-acp-tour-eligibility The deadline for membership renewal will be announced by the ACP Board in due time.

2. At the end of the season the at least 8 players who have scored the highest number of ACP points are qualified for the ACP Masters. The exact number of qualifiers will be announced by the ACP Board in due time.

3. In case of tie for the qualifying place, the following tie-break system will be applied:

a. The player who obtained his ACP points in the least number of tournaments qualifies for the ACP Masters

b. If the number of tournaments taken into account is equal for several players, the player who qualifies for the Masters is the one who scored the largest number of points, once the worst tournament of each player is withdrawn from the calculation; if it is not enough to make a difference, the next worst result is withdrawn, etc.

c. If point “a” and “b” don’t break the tie, a drawing of lots takes place to determine the qualifier.

7. ACP Masters

1. The ACP Board intends to hold the ACP Masters in the first half 2019.

2. The ACP Board will consider adding a very limited number of players to the qualifiers from the ACP Tour, by granting them wild-cards.

3. The exact format and prize-fund are being discussed with interested sponsors. All relevant information will be published on the ACP website in due time.

ACP Board