1. The players shall be placed in the order of the draw in FIDE Rating order in the normal way. Unrated players shall be placed in order of their perceived playing strength, below all rated players.

2. The pairings shall be top half v second half. If there is an odd number, the player held back shall be the median. The players shall play a one round knockout.

3. If a player wins a match at any stage of the knockout by default, he shall proceed to the next round, having won that game without colour.

4. The draw for who has White in the first game shall be made at the Opening Party 27 December at 10pm at Horntye Park. Colours will then alternate going down the list in the usual way.

5. If 12 player come from Belarus as is expected, they will not be paired together in Round 1, nor will two members of the same close family relationship.

6. If a player misses the first round, he shall be placed in the second round of the Challengers with a ½ with no colour.

7. The rate of play shall be 40 moves in the first 70 minutes for White and 90 minutes for Black, plus 20 minutes extra for all the remaining moves; adding on one minute per move from the first. This shall apply throughout all rounds in both tournaments.

8. If the first game is drawn, play-offs will not commence before 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game or 6.30pm, unless agreed otherwise with the arbiter. Particularly in the first round, it will be advantageous if the start times are staggered.

9. If the first game is drawn, there shall be a two game mini-match. The rate of play shall be all the moves in 10 minutes plus 10 seconds for every move from the first. Whoever had White in the first game shall have Black in the second. There shall be a 10 minute break between games, unless agreed otherwise with the arbiter.

10. If the mini-match is drawn, there shall be an Armageddon play-off. This game shall not commence until 15 minutes after the conclusion of the mini-match, or 8pm, unless otherwise agreed with the arbiter. There shall be a new drawing of lots. White shall receive six minutes and Black five minutes, with no increment. Black will go through to the next round of the knockout if this game is drawn.

11. Every effort must be made to reconstruct the speed games with the help of the two players, who shall be expected to co-operate after the match is finished. If there is only one arbiter for an Armageddon, he shall make no attempt to keep score.

12. Results of games shall be posted as best as possible. There shall be no attempt to conceal the information from players still in play.

13. Unless there are precisely 128 or 64 players, there will have to be lucky losers. These shall be selected first:

1. From players who drew, their first game.

2. Choosing players who best balance the colours, after that

3. Where there is still a need for selection, from the highest ranking pairing in order. Thus, if the requirement is of players who had Black in the first round then, if the lower rated player had Black, he shall be selected rather than the higher rated who had White.

14. Let us assume there are 64 players left after round 1 after the lucky losers have been utilised. Then, if the lower rated player won on Board 5, he takes on the 5th seed position, just as in a normal knockout. Due to late entries, the board numbers may be displaced. This shall be corrected, according to the rank of the higher rated player.

15. The lucky losers shall be placed at the bottom of the rankings in order of their round 1 ranking.

16. The Round 2 pairing shall be top half v second half in ranking order. Let us assume there is a colour imbalance 34 White seekers, 30 Black seekers. Then the first 30 pairings shall be with the correct colours, promoting two players from the White seeking side to the Black seeking side if necessary. The bottom four White seekers shall be paired together. The position of the two higher ranking White seekers shall be retained and the two lower ranking White seekers moved opposite them.
    The first time this happens, the extra White shall be given first to the player who won the first game, then to one who was knocked out in the Armageddon, then to one who was knocked out in the two game match, then to the lower ranking player. The colour then alternates for each subsequent pairing where both players were eliminated at the same stage.
    If there is a preponderance of Black seekers, then the reverse procedure shall be followed. Where both players are due Black and were eliminated at the same stage, then the extra White will be awarded to the higher ranking player.

17. The players who have qualified for the second round of the knockout shall be announced as soon as possible after the conclusion of the last game.

18. The pairings for the Knockout and challengers shall be displayed, but not before 9.30pm.

19. Two arbiters (or pairs) shall do the second round draw independently.

20. Players who are knocked out shall then join the Challengers. Those who drew their first game shall have ½ point and are placed in rating order. Those who lost have 0 points and are also placed in rating order. It makes no difference at which stage the player is knocked out.

21. Round 2 29 December. The 64 players shall play a knockout as in round 1.

22. Players may not be paired together twice in the Knockout until the final, nor ever in the Challengers.

23. Round 3 30 December. The 32 players shall play a knockout as for round 1. Their ranking positions shall not be altered, irrespective of their rating.

24. The 32 losers shall join the Challengers with a score of ½, 1 or 1½.

25. Round 4 31 December. The 16 players shall play a knock-out as before. The remaining 104 players are in the Challengers.

26. Round 5 1-2 January. There are 8 players left in the knockout and this becomes referred to as The Premier. Pairings are strictly 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8, no player may meet the same opponent twice except in the final.

27. The players play a two game match. The colours for the first game shall be decided after the pairings are made. If both players have the same colour history, there shall be a drawing of lots. Tied matches shall be resolved as before.

28. The Premier semi-finals take place 3-4 January.

29. The final shall take place 5-6 January.

30. If the match in the final is drawn, the two players shall play as in the tie-breaking system. There shall be a winner who takes first prize.

31. Players are never allowed to take a ½ point bye while playing in the knockout.

32. If a player defaults in the Premier after one game, his opponent shall qualify to the next stage. The defaulting player shall not be allowed to play in the Challengers except under exceptional circumstances, nor will he receive any prize money unless withdrawing for reasons beyond his control; such as certified ill-health or death of a close family member.

33. If a player withdraws from the knockout before the pairings have been displayed, from round 2 to game 8, he shall be replaced by a lucky loser. Once the pairings have been displayed s/he shall not be replaced.

34. No defaulting player shall receive any prize money in either tournament, unless his/her entry was accepted before the tournament on the basis that he would withdraw at the pre-announced stage.

(6). Having all the top players in the same section at the start has the advantage that not as many grandmasters are needed for players to achieve title norms. Thus there is a financial saving.

(7). In a one game knockout, White would normally have a tremendous advantage. By using the time handicap, we hope to eradicate this. Approximately the same number of people has said it is too little as has said it is too much. No statistics are available.
One advantage of a knockout is that eventually there must be a decisive game. There is little doubt that it is the ‘fairest’ system.
Some people have been surprised that the time handicap is used throughout the event. I am surprised that anybody considered it could be any other way. If players reverted to 80 minutes for both players after the first round, then one player might have a disadvantage in that first round and it not be balanced by the second. A player eliminated from the knockout, would have to play at a different time rate from his next opponent. Thus he would be at a disadvantage from the third round.

(13). The lucky loser system is extremely difficult to get correct. There is no ‘correct’ answer.

(23). From round 3 it is possible there will be a dreadful imbalance of colours. It is possible a player will have 3 Whites and one Black, or vice versa, after round 4 and that this will never be corrected. This is also possible in any Swiss; we rely on White only achieving a slightly higher percentage than Black. The knock-on effect is that somebody eliminated in the semi-final, might get two Whites or two blacks in the Challengers in the last two rounds. Presumably nobody has ever thought of giving differential time to White and Black before. It makes perfect sense for any tournament other than a double round all-play-all.

A player could deliberately lose in the play-off in the semis in order to secure the first £800 prize in the Challengers and £400 in the Premier. He would be foolish to do so. He would be forgoing his chance of winning the £1500 first prize in the Premier or receiving the runner-up award of £1000 and even 7/8 would not secure him a certain first prize in the Challengers.

It is unlikely we have considered all possible snags. Thus the right is reserved to make minor amendments to these rules.

It is interesting that Russian State TV Canal Sport is sending a crew to Hastings to cover the event. This is the first time Russian TV has ever done anything like this. The working title is ‘Elmira comes to Hastings’.

Stewart Reuben