It was agreed at the 2018 AGM to allow the SPA Tournament Director, SPA Individual Membership Secretary and SPA Promoter to review the Individual Membership Series of events going forward. Any changes have to be confirmed prior to entries for the following season.
With that in mind these three named persons have been collectively working to review the IM series for 2019. These proposed principle changes are now stated below (although some finer points may need refined prior to entries being taken).
Number of Events
From 2019 the number of events shall be reduced to four. There will be no other IM events outside of these four main events.
Entry Fee
Entry Fee for 2019 will be £25 per player.
From 2020, entry will be £25 for each player outwith the Top 16. Auto qualifiers (Top 16) shall pay £125 to enter.
Qualifiers
The current ranking system is based on 256 qualifiers and the Top 64 in the rankings being auto-qualifiers. This was a condition of entry for the 2018 season and as such shall remain for 2019, however, it is noted that from 2020 IM series shall reduce to 128 qualifiers, with the Top 16 in the rankings being auto-qualifiers.
Number of Venues
Each IM shall use two venues on the Saturday and one venue on the Sunday. Timings have been reviewed and are viable. These can be discussed if required.
National Finals
Where possible, it will be ensured that any single venue will have the same cloth on all tables for each day’s play. This will not necessarily mean both venues will have the same cloth.
National Finals, if possible, will be held in March, April, September and October. However, this will ultimately be dictated by the calendar and availability of venues.
No-Shows
Any player that cannot attend the National Finals must inform the SPA a minimum of twenty four hours in advance. Any player that fails to notify the SPA in this time period shall be given a warning. Any player that has received a warning, who fails to notify the SPA in subsequent events shall be removed from the remainder of the IM season in that calendar year. Should a players suspension be incurred at event four then they shall be suspended for the first two IM events from when they next register to compete.
SPA IM Secretary
Arbroath & District Match Secretary
In addition there is no proposal to amend or change the current ranking system. As I discussed on Sunday, in my opinion, the current system is the best we have had since the IM inception. players are separated throughout and all the way through.
SPA IM Secretary
Arbroath & District Match Secretary
2019 & 2020 IM Changes
