2023 Virginia Commonwealth Games Chess Championships

2023 Virginia Commonwealth Games Chess Championships

THIS IS AN ONLINE TOURNAMENT

DATES: July 22-23, 2023

VENUE: This is an online Chess Tournament. All games shall be played on the LiChess platform (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.

EVENT SCHEDULE AND FORMAT - 5 Rounds:

• Saturday, July 22 - Rounds at 10AM, 1PM, and 5PM
• Sunday, July 23 - Rounds at 10AM and 2PM
• 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.  

ENTRY FEES & REGISTRATION

• Early Entry Fee - $40 by Friday, July 7, 2023
• Mid-point Entry Fee - $50 by Friday, July 14, 2023
• Late Entry Fee - $60 by Thursday, July 20, 2023
• No entries allowed after midnight on Thursday, July 20, 2023

AWARDS

• Cash Awards for 1st-3rd places in all three sections. All prize values listed here are GUARANTEED.
  • Championship Section: $125, $75, $50
  • Novice Section: $100, $60, $40
  • Amateur 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.)

PLAYER REGISTRATION: Players shall register for the tournament through the links provided by the Virginia Commonwealth Games or the Virginia Chess Federation (www.vachess.org).

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 have a minimum 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 2023, which the US Chess Federation will publish on/about Jun 16, 2023.
  • 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.

CHIEF TOURNAMENT REFEREE / SPORT DIRECTOR: Mike Hoffpauir, US Chess Federation National Tournament Director, Email: Click here to show mail address

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 about the Virginia Commonwealth Games: Contact the Virginia Amateur Sports office at 540-343-0987 or Click here to show mail address