The South African Closed is an annual championship for the title of South African Champion. Since 1999, it has consisted of three main stages. The first stage consists of the various qualifying regional and club open championships (the Qualifying stage). Performance in these tournaments is then considered for entry into the Candidates tournament – the second stage (originally called the “Challengers’ stage”). The third and final stage is the Contenders tournament.
Contenders
This is an eight-player round robin tournament, and the winner is then the South African Closed Champion. The top four players from the Contenders tournament in the previous year are joined by the top four players in the Candidates tournament. Games are played over the board where possible.
Candidates
The aim of the Candidates’ stage is to select up to 4 players to proceed to the Contenders’ stage.
Up to twelve players are invited to participate in the tournament, based on their performance in tournaments held since the previous Candidates tournament. The level of competition in each qualifying tournament is taken into account when evaluating player performance. In the event that there are insufficient qualifying tournaments, the player ratings according to the SAGA rating system may be used.
The tournament format depends on the number of candidates who enter the tournament:
11 or 12 candidates–All but the top four strongest candidates play in a three-round Swiss tournament on the first day. The top four players proceed to the second day, where they join the top four strongest candidates in another three-round Swiss tournament.
9 or 10 candidates–The lowest-seeded four players will play a three-round round robin on the first day, the top players in the round robin joining the remaining five or six players to bring the number to eight. These eight players then play a three-round Swiss tournament on the second day.
7 or 8 candidates–A three-round Swiss tournament will be held.
5 or 6 candidates–A 5-round round robin tournament will be played
Up to four candidates–No tournament is held. The relevant candidates proceed directly to the Contenders stage.
Qualifying Tournaments
SAGA affiliated clubs may host qualifying tournaments in their region. The “Quarterly” tournaments and the Winter League provide a route to qualification for players who do not have an affiliated club in their region. Qualifying tournaments shall be 1-day, 3-round tournaments, with the exception of Winter League. The tournament shall provide at least 45 minutes thinking time per player as “main time” plus at least 15 seconds per move overtime.
Tie-Breaking Mechanisms
Ties can arise during the SA Closed, notably during the round robin Contenders stage. In the event of ties, the following rules are applied to break the tie:
a). The results of the games between the tied individuals will be compared first, the winners of such games will be placed higher.
b). If condition a) does not apply then the places of each player in the previous years’ Championship will be compared. The player with the higher place in the previous year will be placed higher.
c). If both conditions a) and b) do not break the tie then the tied players will share the places and placing points for which they have tied.
Draw Schedule for Three Round Swiss Tournament
The Swiss tournament rounds in the Candidates tournament has the goal of producing four players to progress. Therefore the schedule below is used for the draw. In the schedule, player 1 is the highest seed and player 8 is the lowest seed. If there are only seven players, then player No. 5 will be the dummy player.
Round 1.
Game 1 Player No. 1 vs. Player No. 5 (or dummy)
Game 2 Player No. 2 vs. Player No. 6
Game 3 Player No. 3 vs. Player No. 7
Game 4 Player No. 4 vs. Player No. 8
Round 2.
Game 5. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 6. Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 7. Loser Game 1 (or dummy) vs. Loser Game 3
Game 8. Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4
Round 3.
Game 9. Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Game 10. Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 6 (was Game 5 prior to 2006)
Game 11. Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 5 (was Game 6 prior to 2006)
Game 12. Loser Game 7 (or dummy) vs. Loser Game 8
If both players drawn to play each other do not play then neither player scores a point but, to enable the draw of the next round to be made, the stronger player will be considered to be the winner.