T59 is on!

We are now just days away from the return of organised, long time control team chess on FICS. 42 teams are competing in 6 sections, so every team will play 6 games with 1 bye, over 7 rounds. There now follow some important reminders.

First off, everyone should note that the FICS servers have moved since our last tourney, so server time is now US Eastern time. All of Teamleague's deadlines have therefore changed to allow for the time difference, so each round now starts on Tuesday at 22:00 server time.

As always, new players are encouraged to read the Player's Handbook, which can be found under the Documents tab. Most importanty, remember to set your password via FICS, using the command "tell teamleague set password", and start all teamleague games with "tell teamleague play".

Game negotiations must take place in the Game Forum, where a portal will appear when you are paired with an opponent. Please use server times when making offers (using the 24 hour clock is also preferred), and make at least 3 initial offers on more than one day. Also, to avoid confusion, all offers should be made in server time, which can always be seen on FICS by using the "date" command.

Captains may add new players until the beginning of round 6, so long as the average of the 4 highest-rated players does not exceed the cap shown next to each section, on the teams page. Requests to add players can be done via the Captains Page, however they must be received by 22:00 on Monday to have effect for the coming round.

Questions are always welcome in channel 101, or can be sent by FICS message to the TeamLeague account.

Our thanks to everyone who has joined this tourney, and  who have waited so patiently for the league to return. Good chess to all!