2022 Virginia Commonwealth Games Online Chess Tournament

THIS IS AN ONLINE TOURNAMENT

2022 Virginia Commonwealth Games Online Chess Tournament

DATE: July 23-24, 2022

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 all US Chess members. You must be a resident of the U.S.A. to play.

ENTRY FEES & REGISTRATION

• Entry Fee -  $30 per person
• Registration Deadline:  July 22nd at 8AM (EST, USA)

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 of no more than 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 have 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.

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 all games is Game in 60 minutes with a 10-second time increment.  This means each player has as much as 60 minutes to complete all their moves, plus as additional 10 seconds per move for each player.
• 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!!
• 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. Ratings in other rating systems (e.g. FIDE, England, Northwest US, etc.) will be reviewed for sectioning purposes. The Chief TD will make section decisions at the time each player enters the tournament.  If you are unsure of your current US Chess rating, go to www.uschess.org.

EVENT SCHEDULE:

• Saturday, July 23 - Rounds at 10AM, 1PM and 5PM
• Sunday, July 24 - Rounds at 10AM and 2PM

REFEREE: Mike Hoffpauir, US Chess Federation National Tournament Director, Email: Click here to show email address

AWARDS

• The Chief TD will post Preliminary Standings on the event website (www.vachess.org) 1-2 hours after the tournament.  However all Preliminary Results are subject to post-event Fair Play Analysis for a period of up to 2 weeks.
• Awards for the event include 2022 VA Commonwealth Games bronze, silver and gold medals for 1st-3rd places in each category/division as well as 4^th-6^th place ribbons.  There are no monetary prizes.

FOR QUESTIONS

• Online Registration & Sport Specific Questions: Contact Sport Director Mike Hoffpauir at [email protected] or 757-846-4805 .  Also see www.vachess.org
• General Questions: Contact the Virginia Amateur Sports office at 540-343-0987 or Click here to show email address