The Top 16 2003/04 was the 25th French team championship in chess . At the same time, this was the first season in which the top flight carried this name until the 2002/03 season she was named National I .
The tournament was divided into a preliminary round and a final round. The 16 participating teams were divided into two groups of eight ( Groupe A and Groupe B ) and played a simple round-robin tournament in these . The first four of both groups played in Poule Haute , the last four in Poule Basse against relegation. Teams that met in the preliminary round did not play against each other again in the final round. First, the total of the team points achieved in the preliminary and final rounds (3 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 point for a defeat, 0 points for a defeat without a fight) decided on the placement, then the difference between winning and losing games ( also taking into account the preliminary and final round) and ultimately the number of winning games.
Game dates
The competitions were held from January 30 to February 1 5. from 1 to 4 April and to 8 May 2004. The Groupe A were in the first three rounds of two races in Nancy and Evry played while the fourth to seventh round was aligned centrally in Evry. In Groupe B, two competitions each were played in Clichy and Cannes in the first three rounds , while the fourth to seventh rounds were held centrally in Montpellier . All of the Poule Haute and Poule Basse competitions took place in Belfort .
Preliminary round
Grouping
The 16 teams were divided into the two preliminary rounds as follows:
Groupe A
Groupe B
Paris NAO (1)
Club de Clichy-Echecs-92 (2)
Club de Mulhouse Philidor (4)
Association Cannes-Echecs (3)
Club de Echiquier Niçois (5)
Club de Montpellier Echecs (7)
Club de Orcher la Tour Gonfreville (6)
CEMC Monaco (8)
Club de Bischwiller (9)
Club de Vandœuvre-Echecs (10)
Club de Echiquier Nanceien (12)
Club de Cavalier Bleu Drancy (11)
Evry Grand Roque (A)
Club de Echiquier Orangeois (A)
Cercle d'Echecs de Strasbourg (A)
Lille Echiquier du Nord (A)
Note : The previous year's position is shown in brackets, with the newcomers an "A" is given instead.
Groupe A
While NAO could not be driven from the top of the table before the last round, Mulhouse, Nice and Gonfreville only secured their places in the Poule Haute in the last round.
NAO entered the finals with a 2 point lead over Monaco and Cannes. After all three teams won the first two rounds, NAO defeated both competitors and thus defended its title.
In the relegation round, Drancy had only been relegated before the last round. Nancy, Orange, Strasbourg and Lille fought to stay in the last lap. Nancy defeated Lille, so that Strasbourg, Orange and Lille had to relegate.
