Scholastic Tournament FAQ's
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TOURNAMENT RULES? :
This tournament will follow all USCF Official Rules. Below are some of those rules. All rules referenced below refer to the USCF Official Rules of Chess. A copy of this rule book is available for reference in Tournament Headquarters.
1. Who is allowed in the tournament playing hall: Only players with games in progress, and designated tournament officials are allowed in the playing hall during games. Coaches, parents and advisors must leave playing area when the game begins or at the discretion of the Section Chief TD.
2. Tournament Directors (TD): Only those individuals specifically appointed as Directors and Assistants for this tournament may act in that capacity.
3. Kibitzing: No one other than a designated TD may intervene in a game. Any advisor with a concern about a game or player should contact a TD. Any player needing to communicate with someone other than his/her opponent or TD, must contact a TD first, who must be present during the conversation. Any communication by a player with someone other than his/her opponent may be grounds for forfeiture of the game and/or expulsion from the tournament, depending on the severity.
4. Behavior: Players must be quiet in the tournament while games are in progress. They should not engage in any behavior that is distracting to other players. NO practice or skittles games are allowed in the tournament room. All players, coaches and parents are expected to exhibit good sportsmanship and courtesy at all times.
5. To make a claim: Call a TD immediately. Claims about positions or situations no longer in existence on the board generally cannot be considered. Claims after the game are over are generally denied.
6. If you do not stop both clocks while making the claim, you will lose whatever time elapses on your clock during the process.
7. When your game is over and both players agree that the game is over, shake hands, fill out the results sheet, raise your hand and wait for a TD to confirm the results of the game by asking both players about the outcome of the game. These result are binding. Reset the pieces so the board will be ready for the next round. Do not leave tournament room until TD has the result slip. Please take all personal items with you when leaving the room since you will not be allow back in.
8. Score keeping is required. The only reasons to not notate are because of religious reasons, not knowing how or a medical condition. The TD may subtract 5 minutes for players in any section who do not record their moves. This does not mean that you do not have to keep score. If you know how to keep score then you should. (If your time control is G/30, the TD may instead add 5 minutes to the opponents of those not keeping score for valid reasons.) Note that in the Elementary, Middle School and High School sections, it is expected that all players learn to notate by the end of the 4th round. Notating is not difficult. Primary sections will be excused from notating at the TD’s discretion but the TD may still access time penalty. Players must ask for the penalty with plenty of time left. (You may not ask for the 5 minute penalty when the opponents has less than 10 minutes left.)
9. Recording moves: Score sheets will be made available at tournaments. If both players have more than 5 minutes left on the clocks, both players should record their moves (“keep score”). (Very young players who have not yet learned to keep score may be excused) If either player has less than 5 min. left, neither player is required to continue keeping score. A complete score sheet is not required to win on time since all games in this tournament are played at a “sudden death” time control, however, you must have a complete score sheet to claim draw by repletion or by the 50 move rule, or to challenge such a claim by your opponent.
Pairing Rules
28N. Combined individual-team tournaments.
Scholastic events are often held as individual Swiss systems, with both individual and team awards. Players are paired individually and team standings are determined by adding the scores of each school’s top scorers, usually the top four. The director should try to avoid pairing teammates against each other, but an absolute prohibition of such pairings can give an unfair advantage in the individual standings to players on strong teams, who may be “paired down” against players with a lower score rather than facing each other.
See also 28A, Pairing cards or program and 31A, Combined individual-team tournaments.
28N1. Plus-two method.
a. If a score group can be paired among itself without players from the same team facing each other, this should always be done.
b. For score groups of less than plus two (plus two means at least two more wins than losses), if there is no way to pair the score group without players from the same team facing each other, these players should be raised or lowered into the nearest appropriate score group to avoid pairing teammates.
c. For score groups of plus two or greater (at least two more wins than losses), players should not be removed from their score group in order to avoid playing those from the same team.
Variation 28N2.
Players from the same team should never be paired against each other unless it is the last round, one is in first place, and if this leader is not paired against a teammate he or she will have to play someone with a lower score.
Variation 28N3.
Rule 28N1 may be modified to use a score other than plus two as the point at which teammates will not be paired out of their score group to avoid facing each other.
Variation 28N4. The director may decide when it is appropriate to pair players from the same team against each other to maximize fairness in individual or team standings.
Excerpt From
United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess, Sixth Edition
Us Chess Federationhttps://books.apple.com/us/book/united-states-chess-federations-official-rules-of/id858638457
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