Tournament Chess
1. What kind of tournaments do you run?
We run a variety of US Chess rated tournaments, including Classical, Quick/Rapid, and Blitz. Primarily we run 3 to 5 week long tournaments with one match every Monday. We generally intersperse Quick or Blitz single night tournaments between our longer tournaments. You can see our tournament schedule here.
Our time controls are generally G/60;d10 or G/75;d10, which means each player has 60 or 75 minutes for their moves, and the clock waits 10 seconds before it begins counting down.
Meanwhile our Quick and Blitz are usually G/20;d5 and G/5;d2 respectively.
2. What do I need to participate in a tournament?
- A US Chess Federation Membership
- Ability to use a chess clock and keep score.
- Optional Club Membership (see section below for details)
- Tournament Entry Fee (see individual tournament pages for details)
3. What do I need to bring?
- USCF ID #
- Entry Fee (if applicable)
- BCM provides chess sets, clocks, and score sheets.
4. Can children/students participate?
Students are welcome, as long as a parent or guardian remains on-site at all times.
Parents are welcome to watch the game(s), however should provide no guidance or coaching during the matches. This includes pointing out illegal moves or opponents time running out.
Bergen Chess Mates
1. How much is club membership / What is the benefit?
Club Membership is $20, paid annually, for the calendar year. Beginning in July it is prorated to $10.
Club Membership provides a $5 / tournament discount on the entry fee, and it provides access to our library of books.
2. What are the rules and general etiquette?
- Our Tournaments follow Standard USCF Rules.
- Some common points:
- You do not need to say “Check”
- You can adjust your pieces by announcing (clearly yet quietly) “Adjust”, however do this only on your turn.
- You may also ask to see your opponents score sheet, but only on your turn.
- Players should remain quiet, only speaking to each other or an arbiter if necessary to resolve an issue.
- Spectators should be silent at all times, not assisting players at any time, even innocently. It is up to the player or their opponent to notice illegal moves or a clock’s time expiring, for example.
- To offer a draw: Make Your Move, Offer The Draw, And Then Press Your Clock. https://new.uschess.org/news/just-rules-draw-offer-blues
- If you’d like to go over a game, or play a casual game, please do so in the other room.
3. How do I get into the club?
Access into the church is via the East Room door which is the door closest to the parking lot. If you are new to the club you may need to wait for someone to be coming in as well, or reach out to the tournament director if you cannot get in. Once you are a member we will work with the church to give you access to the door via an app on your phone.
Bergen Chess Mates 