Tournament Information


Tournament Information

 

We really hope that your child's first experience will be a good one. You may want to have a discussion, explaining that there will likely be children in the novice section who have been playing for some time. Most tournaments are paired using a swiss pairing system where players with similar scores are paired together. Scoring 50% in the swiss pairing system indicates average performance in the section. Consistently scoring higher than 50% indicates a player may be ready to progress to the next level of competition. A big part of chess is learning how to win AND lose gracefully.... Don't be intimidated by the competitive format....the kids have a lot of fun, and enjoy the in-between games and soccer as much as the tournament itself.

 

Some things students should be prepared for

 

Chess Etiquette:

 

Opponents shake hands before and after the game. While playing, participants should not be conversing, eating, or making noise to distract other players. If there is a question, or disagreement, a player should raise his/her hand, and a tournament director will respond. When the game is over, players remain seated. Again, they will raise their hand and the tournament director will verify the board and declare the winner.

 

Touch-Move:

 

"Touch-move" will be enforced at the tournament. It means that if a player touches a piece and that piece has a legal move, the player must move the piece. So in the starting position, if White touches the Knight (which has a legal move available), then the Knight must be moved. Touch-move also means that once a player lets go of a piece that is in the process of being moved, if that piece is on a legal square, it must stay there. So let's say we're in the starting position. If White moves the Knight to f3 and takes his/her hand off and then moves the Knight to h3 instead, that would be violating touch-move. The piece must "stop" once the player takes his/her hand off of it.

 

Touch-capture is also a tournament rule. It means that if you touch an opponent's piece that you can legally capture, you must do so.

 

Clocks:

 

Players will be using clocks during their games. If your child has rarely/never used one, don't worry. It's easy to learn...they will be shown how prior to starting.

 

There will be a light concession on site and you can buy pizza for lunch as well.

 

The tournament is held at the Human & Social Development Bldg, on the second floor. Please use the East door on the second level. If there is no parking in the small lot in front of the building, continue on to Lot E, where you can park for free on Sundays. Click here for more directions to the tournament site and maps.

 

See you there!