SINGAPORE CHESS FEDERATION                                        30 Nov 2002

 

 

SEA GAMES 2003 – SELECTION & TRAINING

 

 

1.         Format of Chess events at SEA Games 2003

 

Standard Chess – 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment after each move; approximately 2 hours per player. There will be separate events for men and women.

 

1.1       Individual Event – Swiss System of 9 rounds; maximum 5 players per country; medals will be awarded to not more than 2 players from any one country.

 

1.2       Team Event – Rankings of the top 4 players shall count for the country’s score.

 

Rapid Chess – 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment after each move; approximately 30 minutes per player. There will be separate events for men and women.

 

1.3       Individual Event – Swiss System of 9 rounds; maximum 5 players per country; medals will be awarded to not more than 2 players from any one country.

 

1.4              Team Event – Each team shall comprise 4 players and 1 reserve; 2 preliminary groups of 5 countries in each group; Round-Robin system; the top 2 countries in each group qualify for the cross-over semi-final; the winners play for the gold; the losers shall contest for the bronze medals.

 

1.5       A total of 8 gold medals will be at stake.

 

 

 

2.         Selection of Singapore Players for Standard Chess

 

2.1       National Championship (Men)

 

2.1.1        There shall be 2 Qualifiers; each conducted on the Swiss System of 7 rounds to qualify the top 5 players into the Finals. Eligible to participate are those players who shall have a FIDE or SCF Rating of at least 1900 points as on 1 January for the 1st Qualifier and 1 February for the 2nd Qualifier.

2.1.2        The 1st Qualifier shall be held from 25 to 29 January 2003; the 2nd Qualifier shall be held from 5 to 11 February 2003. Those already qualified shall not be allowed to participate in the 2nd Qualifier.

2.1.3        The Finals shall be held from 8 to 16 March 2003. There shall be 10 players qualified from the 2 Qualifiers. Grandmasters Wu Shaobin and Wong Meng Kong are seeded to make up the 12 players. They will not be allowed to compete in the Qualifiers. The Finalists shall compete on the Round-Robin system. In case of any vacancy, the Selection & Training Committee shall decide.

2.1.4        The top 5 in the Finals shall be considered as Provisional Qualifiers and the next 3 shall be considered as Provisional Reserves. These 5 + 3 players must be citizens or Singapore PRs, otherwise, they shall be substituted by the next highest ranked players.

 

2.2              National Championship (Women)

 

2.2.1        This shall be organised on the Swiss System of 9 rounds. Any player is eligible to compete.

2.2.2    The top 5 in the Finals shall be considered as Provisional Qualifiers and the next 3 shall be considered as Provisional Reserves. These 5 + 3 players must be citizens or Singapore PRs, otherwise, they shall be substituted by the next ranked players.

 

 

3.         Preparatory Competitions

 

3.1       Asian Team Championship – scheduled March/April in India

 

            The top 5 players in the National Championships shall comprise the Singapore teams.

 

3.2       Other International Competitions

 

The 5 + 3 players (both men & women) shall be required to compete in at least one international competition held overseas or locally between May to October).

 

3.3       Final Trial

 

The 5 + 3 players (both men & women) may be required to compete in a final trial to determine the 5 qualified players for the SEA Games.

 

 

4.         Selection of Singapore Players for Rapid Chess

 

4.1       The National Rapid Chess Championship shall be held on 6 & 7 September and shall be conducted on the Swiss System of 9 rounds.

 

4.2       The top 2 players shall qualify for the Rapid Chess events in the SEA Games. 

 

4.3              From among the 5 qualified players for Standard Chess events, 3 of them shall compete in the Rapid Chess events in the SEA Games.

 

 

5.         Training

 

5.1              The 5 + 3 Provisional Qualifiers and Provisional Reserves shall be required to attend training sessions as and when scheduled.

 

5.2              There shall be 3 training schedules :

 

5.2.1        Primary Training shall be conducted from May to September with one session of 3 hours per week. There shall be 2 groups for men and 1 group for women.

5.2.2    Secondary Training shall be conducted in October with two sessions of 3 hours per week.

5.2.3    Intensive Training shall be conducted in November/December. There shall be 24 sessions of 3 hours each.

 

5.3       The National Coach appointed to assist the Provisional Qualifiers and Reserves is IM Jovan Petronic.