FAQ

Any tournaments scheduled will be listed on the Events page.

Training Tournaments

Training tournaments may be held over one day, or might be held one round per week at the same time each week, over a period of several weeks. In these tournaments, games will be reviewed so that students can look for immediate feedback on their play.

One-Day Tournaments

These events can be of a few different types, but typically will look one of the following three designs:

  1. Swiss System, 3 rounds, G/60; d5

  2. Swiss System, 4 rounds, G/40; d5

  3. Round Robin, 4 like rated players, G/60; d5

In both systems (Swiss or Round Robin) - no one is eliminated - they play all the scheduled games. See below, “Swiss System/Round Robin.”

Two or Three-Day Tournaments

Swiss System

Round Robin System

Byes (Scheduled, Unplayed Games)

Notation/Keeping Score

These tournaments will generally be more serious, with longer time controls, probably no less than an average of two minutes per move, with delay or increment. There will general five to seven rounds during the tournament.

The Swiss System is similar to a bracket system, but a player is never eliminated - they keep moving on to new brackets. Someone who wins their first round but then loses their second round is in the same bracket as someone who loses their first round but wins their second round. So, like a standard bracket, divide the “point-group” into two, and the upper half plays the lower half.

One difference between the Swiss System and brackets that many people are used to, is that the lower half of a group is not inverted.

For example, in the first round of a ten-player Swiss System, player #1 plays player #6, not player #10.

Players are ranked in order based on their US Chess ratings. Unrated players are placed in alphabetical order following the rated players.

The Round Robin System is known as all-play-all. Although it is the fairest-known tournament format when there are no withdrawals, it cannot accommodate many players, and so is used much less than the Swiss system. Players are usually ranked in order by rating, and then are grouped up and play each other at least once.

A bye is a scheduled, unplayed game.  If a player receives a bye due to an odd number of players, they will get a free point. However, in many events, a player can schedule a bye in advance and receive a ½-point bye. 

Although byes (usually a maximum of two ½-point byes. Any more will be 0-points or up to the discretion of the tournament organizer) may be scheduled for any round, for fairness, the timing of this schedule must happen while the tournament outcome is still unpredictable. So byes MUST be scheduled before the end of round 2. Once round 2 is completed, no byes may be added or rescinded. Note that since there isn't a precise round schedule, any half-point byes must be carefully scheduled. To schedule byes, you'll just have to make your best guess. If you guess wrong, you may still have a 0-point bye for any missed rounds.

Byes may be scheduled online during registration or at the tournament site before the end of round 2 by going to Chess Central.

US Chess rules apply to rated tournaments. Usually, if you are 7 or older, you will be expected to notate/keep score (write down your moves). It is important to write down the moves so the game may be reviewed afterward, or in the case a game needs to be set back up (i.e. someone bumps into your table, causing all of the pieces to get mixed up and fall. Having a notation sheet will help to reconstruct the game.)

Click this link for a guide on how to notate.