DATE : July 20-21, 2024
VENUE: This will be an online Chess Tournament. The game service provider is LiChess.org.
You must have an active user account with www.lichess.org to play in the tournament (the accounts are free).
PLAYER ELIGIBILITY: This tournament is open to any player who has an active US Chess Federation membership and is a resident of the U.S.A.
ENTRY FEES & REGISTRATION
- Early Entry Fee - $40 by Friday, July 5, 2024
- Mid-point Entry Fee - $50 by Friday, July 12, 2024
- Late Entry Fee - $60 by Thursday, July 18, 2024
- No entries allowed after midnight on Thursday, July 18, 2024
REGISTRATION DEADLINE - July 18, 2024
REGISTRATION CATEGORIES
The tournament is organized into three (3) Divisions: Novice, Amateur and Championship. A current membership in the US Chess Federation is required to participate in this tournament (www.uschess.org).
- The Novice Section is for players who are relatively new to chess or to competitive chess. It is for players whose US Chess rating is below 1200 or for players who do not yet have a US Chess rating (e.g. an "unrated" player).
- The Amateur Section is for players accustomed to competitive chess and have a US Chess rating under 1800. This section also is open to players who do not have a US Chess rating, but who feel they are strong enough to be competitive in this section.
- The Open Section is intended for the most experienced players regardless of age. You must currently have a, or have had in the past year, a US Chess rating of at least 1600 to play, preferably above 1800.
- NOTE: During Registration, you will be asked about ratings you have in other systems. You must disclose this information. If we discover you have a rating in another system that you did not disclose, you may be declared ineligible for the Section or Tournament. (See also Ratings and Sectioning below under RULES.)
COMPETITION FORMAT: This tournament will consist of 5 rounds of US Chess-rated play using the Swiss System. This is not an elimination tournament, every player plays 5 games unless there is an odd number of players in a section. Click here to read more about a Swiss System chess tournament.
RULES:
- The Time Control for Rounds 1, 2, and 3 is Game in 60 minutes with a 10-second time increment. This means each player has as much as 60 minutes of “thinking time” to complete all their moves, plus as additional 10 seconds per move for each player. On Sunday, for Rounds 4 and 5, the Time Control is Game in 75 minutes with a 10-second time increment.
- Bye Requests: One half point Bye is available in ROUND 1 ONLY. No other Bye requests are available. If you do not show up for a round, you will be disqualified from the tournament. Other than that, everyone gets to play 5 rounds of chess—this is not an elimination event!!
- Ratings and Sectioning:
- For Section purposes, the Chief Tournament Director will place players in sections using the higher of their over-the-board Regular US Chess Rating and their On-line Regular US Chess Rating. Player Ratings for section eligibility shall be those found in the US Chess Rating Supplement for July 2024, which the US Chess Federation will publish on/about Jun 16, 2024.
- Player Ratings from other rating systems (e.g., FIDE, England, Canada, Northwest US, etc.) will be reviewed for sectioning purposes. Ratings in online platforms such as LiChess, Chess.com, Chesskid.com, ICC, etc., are not considered. The Chief TD will make section eligibility rulings at the time each player enters the tournament. If you are unsure of your current US Chess rating, go to www.uschess.org.
- Fair Play:
- All games are monitored for Fair Play by LiChess’s game review algorithm. This is a real-time analytical capability.
- Suspect games will be flagged and subjected to post-event analysis before any prizes are awarded.
- Players violating Fair Play are subject to disciplinary action by the US Chess Federation up to and including permanent loss of US Chess membership.
EVENT SCHEDULE:
Saturday, July 20 - Rounds at 10AM, 1PM and 5PM
Sunday, July 21 - Rounds at 10AM and 2PM
REFEREE
Mike Hoffpauir, US Chess Federation National Tournament Director
Email: mhoffpauir@aol.com
AWARDS
- Cash Awards for 1st-3rd places in all three sections. All prize values listed here are GUARANTEED.
- Championship Section: $125, $75, $50
- Amateur Section: $100, $60, $40
- Novice Section: $80, $40, $30
- NOTE: If there are more than 40 total players, prize amounts will be increased.
- Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals for 1st–3rd places in each section. These are large medallions, and they are very nice!!
- The Chief Tournament Director will post Preliminary Standings on the event website (www.vachess.org) 1-2 hours after the tournament ends. However, all Preliminary Results are subject to post-event Fair Play Analysis for a period of up to 2 weeks. (See also Fair Play under RULES below.)
FOR QUESTIONS
Online Registration & Sport Specific Questions: Contact Sport Director Mike Hoffpauir at mhoffpauir@aol.com or 757-846-4805 . Also see www.vachess.org
General Questions: Contact the Virginia Amateur Sports office at registration@commonwealthgames.org
All dates, times, locations and formats are tentative at this time. Virginia Amateur Sports reserves the right to make changes to the sport information noted on this page. Some dates, locations and times may change due to registration numbers. Participants are encouraged to check sport info often for any changes.
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