Tournaments
Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants - SG Chess League 2025
The event is organised by the Singapore Chess Federation and supported by the Singapore Institute of Chartered Accountants (ISCA). All events are played under the FIDE Laws of Chess.
Background:
Between the period of 2017 – 2019, the Singapore Chess Federation, with the generosity of QCD Technology organised the QCD SG Chess League. This tournament is targeted towards working adults and to provide them with an avenue to enjoy a competitive but pleasant chess environment. Many teams (some with exceptionally creative names) took part, and the league was deemed a tremendous success.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the league was suspended temporarily but this year, with the support of our hosts, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), the Singapore Chess Federation is pleased to reintroduce the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants – SG Chess League in 2024.
About The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA)
The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is the national accountancy body of Singapore with over 36,000 ISCA members making their stride in businesses across industries in Singapore and around the world. ISCA members can be found in over 40 countries and members based out of Singapore are supported through 12 overseas chapters in 10 countries.
Established in 1963, ISCA is an advocate of the interests of the profession. Complementing its global mindset with Asian insights, ISCA leverages its regional expertise, knowledge, and networks with diverse stakeholders to contribute towards the advancement of the accountancy profession.
ISCA administers the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification programme and is the Designated Entity to confer the Chartered Accountant of Singapore – CA (Singapore) – designation.
ISCA is a member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, a global family that brings together the members of leading institutes to create a community of over 1.8 million Chartered Accountants and students in more than 190 countries.
Dress Code:
Smart casual with covered shoes. Sandals and flip-flops are strictly forbidden.
Chief Arbiter and/or Tournament Director reserves the right to remove individuals who flout this rule until dress code has been rectified.
Venue:
ISCA House – 60 Cecil Street, Singapore 049709, Level 4 Function Rooms 4-5
Schedule:
All rounds shall start at 7.30pm, unless otherwise announced by the organiser in advance.
The League shall be played under the FIDE Laws of Chess (Rapid rules) over 2 halves.
The League may be FIDE Rated, the decision of which shall be decided by voting by team captains during the technical meeting.
There shall be a maximum of 9 rounds, depending on the final number of teams participating.
The following are the tentative schedule for the rounds in the season. The tournament organiser may change the dates if necessary.
1st Half: 4 Jul, 18 Jul, 1 Aug, 8 Aug, 15 Aug
2nd Half: 5 Sep, 19 Sep, 26 Sep, 3 Oct
Format and Time Control:
30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from Move 1.
Default time is when the clock runs to zero.
Team Composition
- Each team shall have a minimum of 4 players and a maximum of 8 players at any time. Any team which does not conform to this may be withdrawn from the tournament at the discretion of the Organisers.
- All players must have a FIDE ID, including players that are subsequently added on. Singaporeans and PRs may apply for FIDE ID here:
www.tinyurl.com/registerSGPFIDEID - Each team shall play 4 boards per round.
- Each team shall have a captain, who may also be one of the players. His/her main duties are to submit the team line up and liaise with the Organiser/Chief Arbiter.
- The average rating of the 4 players for each round shall not exceed 2200. The highest FIDE ratings across all 3 categories, (classical, rapid or blitz) as of 1st June 2025 shall be used in the computation of the average rating. Players who are unrated in all 3 categories shall be assigned a rating of 1500.
- All players should be minimally 20 years of age, i.e. born no later than 31 Dec 2005.
- A team can have up to a maximum of 8 players at any time which can be added during the season. Subsequent players added on can only start playing at least 7 days after being officially included in the team.
- There is a 3 week window between the 2 halves of the season. During this period, a team may elect to de-register players from their own team only after the end of the first half (15 August) and 2 days before the commencement of the second half of the season (5 September). A maximum of only 2 players may be de-registered by any team within this 3-week window.
- Once players are registered with a team, they cannot play for any other team for the entire season.
Playing Board Order
- This team board order for the team will be set initially as specified in the registration form. Any players subsequently dropped off shall be removed from the team board order. Any players added on will be added to the end of the board order. The team board order need not be in the same order as FIDE ratings
- For each round, the teams shall specify their playing board order to be in the same sequence as in the team board order. As an example, the playing board order can be #1, #3, #4 and #6 players in the team board order, but not #1, #5, #3 and #6.
- All team line-ups are to be submitted one hour before the start of that round in a manner to be stipulated by the Chief Arbiter before the commencement of the first round.
- If the team line-up is not submitted on time, the board order shall be the first 4 boards on the latest board order after considering all add-ons and de-registered players.
- Any changes in team line-ups are subjected to Chief Arbiter’s approval.
- For each invalid player placed in the team, a default of 1 Game Point shall be awarded to the opposing team. An invalid player shall be deemed to have a rating of 2200. If the average rating of the four players in a team for any round exceeds 2200, that team shall be considered to have lost all their games for that round.
Team Name
All submitted team names are subject to SCF’s approval.
SCF reserves the right to reject a team if the name chosen is controversial or deemed inappropriate.
Tie Break:
The team with the highest number of Match Points at the end of the season shall be declared the winner.
In case of a tie, it shall be resolved by the following order of tie breaks:
- Game Points
- Direct Encounter
- Buchholz cut 1
- Buchholz
**Prizes:
Total prize fund of S$9,000 shall be distributed as follows:
1st: S$3000 + Team Trophy
2nd: S$2000
3rd: S$1000
4th: S$800
5th: S$700
6th: S$600
7th: S$500
8th: S$400
Board Prizes
The best performers on the respective boards (Boards 1 to 8) will be eligible for gold, silver and bronze medals based on a minimum of 6 games and the following tiebreaks
- % score. In the event of a tie,
- Number of games played.
- Tournament Performance Rating
Top Female Players of the Tournament
Prizes will be given to the top 3 female players based on a minimum of 6 games and the following tiebreaks
- % score
- Number of games played.
- Tournament Performance Rating
MVP of the Tournament
A prize will be given to the player with the highest tournament performance rating with a minimum of 7 games played at the end of the event.
(The Organiser reserves the right to amend prizes at any time.)
Entry fees:
The registration fee is S$500 per team before GST, with an added GST amount of S$45, bringing the total to S$545 after GST.
Registration Link: Click here
Closing Deadline: 20 June 2025, 6pm.
Late entries and entries without payment will not be accepted.
Entry fees are strictly non-refundable. Organiser reserves the right to reject any entries without any assigning reasons.
Resolution
- SCF shall appoint all arbiters for the league, including the Match and Chief Arbiters.
- All disputes are ruled by the Match Arbiter.
- Appeals to the decision shall be made to the Chief Arbiter, whose decision shall be final.
- No further correspondence shall be entertained.