Tournament Rules and Procedures

PreRequisites

A US Chess Federation Membership that is active / up to date.

Club Membership (Optional)

$20 Club Membership due Annually (prorated to $10 starting in July)

  • $5 discount on multi-week tournaments
  • Access to Club Chess Book Library
  • App Access to Building
  • Ability to join our Chess.com and/or Lichess Groups
  • Club Newsletter

Tournament Fees / PRizes

Tournament Fees are generally consistent and based on the number of weeks the tournament lasts, however please check website / newsletter for up to date prices.

  • Members pay $5 per week (paid upfront for the whole tournament);
  • Non-members additionally pay $5 more;
  • Students (K-12, College) and Seniors (65 and over) pay $5 less;
  • Single-night events are generally $5 (regardless of age or membership);
  • Events that take place on alternative dates (eg. Tuesday after Memorial Day) are usually Free

Tournament Payouts are awarded for the Multi-week Tournaments and are determined on a Section by Section basis (accounting for number of players and fees collected).

  • 50% will go to club – 50% to prize fund;
  • 1st Place will get 75% of the prize fund
  • 2nd Place will get 25% of the prize fund

Registration / Sections / Pairings

Sections are determined based on number of players and ratings spread of participants. We generally target 3 or 4 Sections for regular multi-week tournaments, 1 large section for blitz events, and Quads for quick rated, multi-game per 1 night events.

Ideally regular tournaments will have sections for:
1800+, 1400-1800, 1000-1400, under 1000
-or-
1700+, 1300-1700, under 1300 (due to our bottom section mostly being in the 800-1200 range).

Please Pre-Register via email or text to the Chief Tournament director. This allows for pre-planning of sections, increases speed of registration, and allows us to start on-time.

All Pairings will occur at the club, which makes it imperative that players have arrived or have texted / called me (email NOT acceptable) to let me know if they will be late.

Tournaments will use that month’s published ratings for pairings (alternative pairings used only if necessary at TD’s discretion).

Please, do not hound the tournament director to determine who you will be paired against. First person to mention this specific rule will get a $5 discount on the next tournament.

Player Expectations

On the first night of a new tournament (or one-night event)

  1. Members are expected to have arrived at the club between 6:30p and 7:00p to pay the fees for the entire tournament and be entered into the pairing software
  2. Please do not question the outcomes of sections or pairings.
  3. Pairings will be posted at 7:05p, players should locate their opponents and confirm their boards and clocks are set.
  4. Announcements will occur at 7:10p, and play will begin at 7:15p.
  5. Play should NOT be started prior to the TD giving the go-ahead.
  6. If you have not arrived by 7:00p, and have not texted or called me to say you will be late, you will not be paired in Round 1

For all subsequent rounds of the tournament

  1. Members are expected to have arrived at the club between 6:30p and 6:45p to check in with the tournament director
  2. Pairings will be posted at 6:50p, announcements will occur at 6:55p and play will begin at 7:00p.
  3. If you have not arrived by 6:45p, and have not texted or called me to say you will be late, you will not be paired.

Tournament Rules

The club follows US Chess Tournament Rules

  • Notable exception is a 30 minute limit before player is forfeited due to being late.