General Rules

Version 2.01 (28-Aug-03)

The following explains the common rules of the Celtic Championship each year. See the page concerning a specific event to see additional rules that pertain to that event. 

Format

Each year the event will be run by a single local host region. It is expected that the event will rotate through the hosts: Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Brittany. Fixtures will be decided by consensus of the organising regions/countries.

Much of the responsibility for the details of how the competition is run will be delegated to the local host in order to preserve local autonomy and present local attendees with a familiar format. Some common elements are required to be present in the format however and these are described here.

• The competition shall primarily be an individual event and open to all.
• Each competing "celtic" region or country shall be encouraged to field a representative Regional Team of three players (see "Regional Teams" below).
• Any group of three players (who are not members of a Regional Team) shall be allowed to register as an Independent Team.
• There will be a perpetual trophy, "The Aynsley Consulting Celtic Cup", presented to the highest scoring Regional Team present.
• There will be a trophy (or trophies) for the highest scoring Independent Team present.
• The competition must consist of at least four rounds.
• The competition (unless split) will be limited to a maximum of double the ideal number of players for the number of rounds played ie 4 rounds => 32 players maximum, 5 rounds => 64 players maximum.
• As far as is possible, players from the same region cannot meet in the first 2 rounds of the competition.
• Players on the same Regional Team cannot meet during the competition.
• The host will decide on an army AP value to be used in the competition between 350AP and 425AP.
• There must be a "non-playing" umpire who only plays games to avoid byes when there is an uneven number of players.
• The competition must be held somewhere easily accessible to public transport and international visitors.

Independent Teams

Regardless of origin, all players are permitted to form independent teams and compete for the Independent Team trophy/prizes. Independent Teams are self-selected.

Regional Teams

Regional Teams Recognised for the Aynsley Consulting Celtic Cup

Regardless of origin, all players are permitted to compete in the Celtic Championship. However the only countries/regions eligible to enter Regional Teams to compete for the Aynsley Consulting Celtic Cup are: The Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. Each region may only enter one representative team (see Selection of Regional Teams below).

All members of Regional Teams must either be resident or born in the region for which they represent. In addition, at least two of the members of a Regional Team must be resident in the region which they represent.

Selection of Regional Teams

This is a matter for local players or organisations in the regions concerned. RINIWA is recognised as the local organisation for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The designated BHGS Scottish representative is recognised as the local organiser for Scotland. Where regions have no local representative organisation, the Celtic Championship organisers will endeavour to put all applicants from that region in contact in order to sort out amongst themselves a designated Regional team. If the applicants cannot agree a consensus Regional team, the Celtic Championship organisers reserve the right to award that status to one group of three players from that region or to disallow any Regional team from that region as they see fit.

Team Scoring

Each round, a Regional or Independent Team's score will be the sum of the individual results of the three players on the Regional Team. Team scores have no effect on competition pairings which are entirely determined by the team members' individual scores in the Celtic Championship competition.

Note that Regional Teams and Independent Teams do not compete with one another, these are effectively two separate competitions with separate prizes.

Finance

There is no fee or charge to host the Celtic Championship. The local competition organisers must fund the expenses of holding the competition but they also control any revenues from the competition to do with as they see fit. The Aynsley Consulting Celtic Cup perpetual trophy for the winning Regional Team will be supplied by the previous year's winners who must inscribe their region name and the year won on it.