{"id":3586,"date":"2025-09-04T19:59:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T23:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/?p=3586"},"modified":"2025-09-06T10:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T14:07:54","slug":"qualification-process-for-senior-absolute-and-female-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/qualification-process-for-senior-absolute-and-female-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualification Process for Senior Absolute and Female Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">PREAMBLE<\/span><\/strong><br>This document outlines the revised selection process for the selection of a National team to represent<br>the country at the Chess Olympiad. This revised process utilizes some of the key<br>elements of the previous selection system as well as preserves the qualification for the National<br>Absolute Chess Championship and keeps the current format of the Women\u2019s Chess Championship which<br>has no pre-qualification tournaments. The main change is the removal of the Performance rating<br>criteria which is replaced by a points system.<br>In effect, there are four main points articulated below i.e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>expanding and projecting a minimum number of games in which players must be involved;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>treatment of default games;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>profiling a pathway for foreign-based players who are entitled to and would want to be involved in<br>the process and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>determining the selection committee and process in choosing any national team.<br>GUIDELINES<br>The following are the general guidelines which aim to provide the best team possible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Players must play at least thirty (30) FIDE-rated games (Open) or 24 FIDE-rated games (Female)<br>during the period 1 April 2023 \u2013 29 February 2024, and in the <strong>18 months prior to the Olympiad for<br>future Olympiads. <\/strong>* (a) Additional details below<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Players will be ranked according to the qualification points they have accrued from events.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Default games are now re-constituted for all tournaments * (b) Details below:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Open regional or international tournaments will be eligible as per conditions identified below and<br>based on their average rating and FIDE stipulations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The selection process would consist of two main criteria. Tournament performance (90%) and Team<br>commitment (10%).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For 2023 there will be twelve (12) places available towards the national Absolute Final tournament<br>2023 via the four Qualifiers with each qualifier, including Tobago, providing three finalists. At this time, <strong>one of these events will also be hybrid if the need arises to facilitate participation of non-resident players<\/strong>. This will revert to 11 places for future National Championships unless there are extenuating circumstances, similar to what prevailed under Covid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Foreign-based players <strong>will be considered<\/strong>, once the minimum number of games are played in<br>tournaments which meet the same criteria (at a minimum) as those for locally based players.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A national coach can be asked for a report on any player\/s under his purview re attendance,<br>commitment, and ability as to his\/her retention on a national team.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is suggested the team with two reserves and the national coach should be selected in time to<br>allow their entry in a \u2018strong\u2019 tournament prior to representing T&amp;T at the Olympiad<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The 30 games can be obtained from local Open events, which have been publicised and the TTCA<br>has been engaged for rating and eligible foreign events which meet the same criteria as local eligible<br>events.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Games against defaulted players will be counted as if they had been played by the defaulted<br>players. Additionally, additional action may be taken for unjustifiable defaults and may result in a<br>player be suspended for the next rostered tournament.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The 30 games can be obtained from local Open events, which have been publicised and the TTCA has been engaged for rating and eligible foreign events which meet the same criteria as local eligible events.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Games against defaulted players will be counted as if they had been played by the defaulted<br>players. Additionally, additional action may be taken for unjustifiable defaults and may result in a<br>player be suspended for the next rostered tournament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">1 ELIGIBLE TOURNAMENTS<\/span><\/strong><br>1.1 Eligible over\u2010the\u2010board tournaments are FIDE\u2010rated individual standard play tournaments, which<br>meet the following criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>At least 8 players. Exception for any of the four national preliminary tournaments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At least 6 rounds. Exception for any of the four national preliminary tournaments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Local FIDE-rated (TTCA) Open tournaments with time control 90 mins +30 sec minimum, which may<br>be hybrid, and the average rating of the top 8 players falls within the tournament ratings eligibility<br>levels identified below. The average rating requirement will be reviewed each year and changed<br>according to the progress of the ratings of the TTO players.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The 8 highest\u2010rated players have an average standard rating of 1750 at the start of the tournament<br>(TAR) for Open events. For female-only Open events, the minimum rating of the top 4 players is<br>1250.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FIDE events: e.g. World Cup, other world events<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regional CCA events: e.g. CAC Championships, Panamerican\/Continental Championships, Sub zonal,<br>zonal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Other Open events which are on par\/equivalent, or higher-rated than our official tournaments with<br>similar time control as stated above. This will be determined by comparing the average of the top 8<br>players in the event with the local event. These should be conditionally pre-approved by the<br>members of the Selection Oversight Committee.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Chief Arbiter is a National Arbiter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recommended FPL Fair Play procedures are applied <br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>1.2 All rules governing FIDE-rated events and hybrid events apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">2 QUALIFICATION POINT SYSTEM CALCULATION<\/span><\/strong><br>This system was adopted from the current FIDE Circuit system for each eligible tournament which is as<br>follows:<br>2.1 Basic Points are awarded to players in one of the first 8 places in a tournament, provided that the<br>player is in the top half of the final tournament ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1st place 10 points<br>2nd place 8 points<br>3rd place 7 points<br>4th place 6 points<br>5th place 5 points<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6th place 4 points<br>7th place 3 points<br>8th place 2 points<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.2 A player will only count for any calculation in Articles 1 and 2 of these rules if they played, or won by<br>forfeit, in at least 50% of the total number of games in the tournament.<br>2.3 The number of basic points that tied players score shall be calculated as 50% of basic points for their<br>final ranking determined by the tournament\u2019s tie-break rules, plus 50% of the sum of basic points assigned<br>for the tied places divided by the number of tied players. This also applies to players who tied for one of<br>the first 8 places but appear below 8th place in the final ranking according to the tournament\u2019s rules.<br>2.4 Qualification Points are then calculated based on a factor determined by the average top 8 players.<br>The Qualification Points (QPs) for each player is determined by the number of basic points as defined<br>above in 2.1, multiplied by a tournament strength factor calculated as follows: k=(TAR\u20101700)\/100,<br>where TAR is the tournament average rating for the top 8 players.<br>Minimum Average for Open events is 1750 which was determined based on averages from previous<br>tournaments prior to Covid and factoring in player attrition.<br>In the case of the Open women events, the tournament strength factor k=(TAR-1250)\/100 where TAR is<br>the baseline tournament average rating for the top 4 players. Minimum tournament average is 1300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">3 RANKING LIST<\/span><\/strong><br>3.1 Each player has to play in a minimum of five eligible tournaments (Open) and 4 eligible tournaments<br>( Female) with a standard time control.<br>3.2 The final score of a player for the purposes of determining final qualification points is calculated as<br>the sum of the player\u2019s five highest qualification points from eligible tournaments. In the case of the<br>females these point can come from both Open and Female eligible events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">4 TEAM SELECTION<\/span><\/strong><br>4.1 Team Selection Olympiad<br>In the case of the Olympiad, the 7 shortlisted players will be selected as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Top 3 from National Chess Championships (Open and Female) of the previous year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Top 4 players based on points from top 5 tournaments-Open; top 4 tournaments-Female (The point<br>system will be patterned after the calculation of the Tournament score system used in the current<br>FIDE Circuit). <a href=\"https:\/\/handbook.fide.com\/files\/handbook\/Regulations_for_FIDE_Circuit_2023.pdf\">https:\/\/handbook.fide.com\/files\/handbook\/Regulations_for_FIDE_Circuit_2023.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>4.2 All players MUST meet activity requirements as stated above to be shortlisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.3 The TTCA reserves the right for consideration of any national player playing outside of Trinidad and<br>Tobago who is rated 200 points or more than the best of the local pool of players playing solely or<br>mainly in Trinidad and Tobago. This is as the points structure (top 8 placing) may not be fair to such a<br>player who may not consistently place in the top 3 placings due to the higher level of the tournaments<br>they are competing in, however, given their positive results in these tournaments against high-rated<br>international opponents, they obtain and maintain a 200 points or more higher rating. Such a player or<br>players may replace players from the Top 4 players pool based on points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.4 Team Selection Criteria<br>The team selection criteria is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>90 % will be attributed to performance and as per the conditions stated above.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>10% will be attributed to Training\/Team Commitment (participation in team activities, preparations,<br>conduct, etc\u2026)<br>All the above seeks to address the overall objective to select the BEST TEAM to represent Trinidad and<br>Tobago so there are other factors to be considered that impact a team environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">5 TEAM SELECTION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE<\/span><\/strong><br>5.1 The main role of this committee is to ensure that all calculations for team selection are validated and<br>to provide feedback in those instances where there may be a change to the natural order based solely<br>on points or tournament performance. <br>5.2 The Team Selection Oversight Committee will consist of persons who have extensive experience<br>within the chess community (may also be foreign) who have demonstrated professionalism and<br>objectivity in their conduct over the years as well as the national trainer selected for the team for the<br>relevant Olympiad. The committee will comprise 5 persons: 3 core (Including trainer) and 2 reserves.<br>The reserves will be used in the event there is a direct conflict of interest with any of the core persons<br>(apart from the trainer) or if one of the core members is unavailable.<br>5.3 The national team should be selected 6 months prior but no later than 4 months prior to the<br>Olympiad or other team event. Any delays must be approved by the TTCA Executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FairPlay Procedures: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FIDE Anti\u2010Cheating Regulations: <a href=\"https:\/\/handbook.fide.com\/chapter\/AntiCheatingRegulations\">https:\/\/handbook.fide.com\/chapter\/AntiCheatingRegulations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PREAMBLEThis document outlines the revised selection process for the selection of a National team to representthe country at the Chess Olympiad. This revised process utilizes some of the keyelements of the previous selection system as well as preserves the qualification for the NationalAbsolute Chess Championship and keeps the current format of the Women\u2019s Chess Championship<a class=\"sup-readmore\" href=\"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/qualification-process-for-senior-absolute-and-female-teams\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-events","category-ttca-policies"],"better_featured_image":null,"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3586"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3591,"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3586\/revisions\/3591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chesstt.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}