Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess
Tournament
Manual
(Second Edition - revised 12/03)
(Adapted to Web Page 11/04)
Table of Contents
Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess (LJSC)
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This manual was developed to help people promote scholastic chess. The Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess Association helps to start chess clubs, organize tournaments, and act as a resource for parents and chess coaches. Because we depend so heavily on volunteers, we wrote this manual so that anyone eager to help out can participate. To this end, we have established guidelines that should ensure smooth running of events. This manual was designed to pass on the understanding we have gained from past experience. Everyone involved with LJSC is a volunteer. Our events have a well-deserved reputation of running smoothly and providing a good chess experience for our youngsters. We want to have some guidelines in print so that as we expand and recruit more volunteers, that the same high level of quality can continue. LJSC policy almost always mirrors the latest edition of the USCF rules. Differences in policy should be posted. All LJSC rules are aimed at producing a level playing field for competition and reducing non-chess stress on the players. We intend to provide the most professional and supportive environment we can for these young chess players. We hope to increase volunteerism by making it easier to help with our activities. Anyone can volunteer to help, and the old adage of "Many hands make light work," is as true of scholastic chess tournaments as anything else. An influx of willing volunteers is crucial to the continued smooth operation of chess tournaments and indeed to the very survival of the Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess League. We welcome your input and interest. Mike Cornell, Past director of Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess The original draft of this manual was written by Mike Cornell while he was the director of Dominion Scholastic Chess League (1993-1997) the Virginia Chess Federation (VCF) Scholastic Coordinator (1994-2001). The manual was revised in December 2003 by Ruth Chodrow and Brian Dickerson. The manual was adapted to html format by Brian Dickerson. |
About
Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess
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1. Who are we? Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess( LJSC) is a loose association of parents, teachers, and coaches who are interested in children enjoying and benefiting from playing chess. 2. What do we do? Chess tournaments: We are best known for our scholastic chess
tournaments. We run an active schedule
of scholastic chess tournaments based in the Fredericksburg area, but reaching
out to other places such as Staunton and Culpepper. All our tournaments are rated competitions sanctioned by the
United States Chess Federation. School club development: We help school clubs or teams get started and organize events to publicize the benefits of chess. Lee-Jackson will place chess sets and boards with local schools. These are on long-term loan as long as that school has an active program. Some of our volunteers will go into a school program and provide direct instruction in playing chess. We help out parents who are interested in forming a school-based chess club. 3. What are our events? We also run events that are separate from a school chess club meeting. Typically, these are matches between schools or tournaments. Formal matches organized by school sponsors: these require that school sponsors of each club conform to their school's administrative rules for extra curricular activities. Transportation is arranged by the school. Informal Matches: Players can sometimes organize themselves outside of school and agree to meet with a group from another school to play a match. Transportation is arranged by parents and the “teams” that are organized this way do not represent the school or school system in any way. LJSC Tournaments: We run USCF-rated Swiss system tournaments in the “combined” (individual & team) style and one strictly “Team” event a year. Most of this manual will be devoted to explaining how to set up and run a tournament, for the benefit of volunteers who are interested in helping us out. BACK |
Introduction
to LJSC Scholastic Tournaments
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Who can play: Any student in grades K-12 may enter a tournament. Public, private, and home-schooled students are welcome. Team play: Two or more players from the same school playing in the same division constitute a team. Home-schooled students may form a team under the name of their home-schoolers association. You may have as many players on the team as you wish. A Team score is derived from the top four scores of players on the team. Under certain circumstances, club teams are allowed. System used: Swiss In a Swiss event, every student plays every round. No one is
eliminated. As the tournament
progresses, students are paired against others with similar won-loss
records. A Swiss system event aims to
maximize the number of games a student will get against a player of his or her own strength. Our tournaments are designed
to produce individual winners. Players attending the same school may have to
play each other in later rounds. Tournaments
run by LJSC: General Scholastic Tournaments: LJSC runs a series of tournaments annually. Both individual and team trophies are awarded. For a complete listing, see our website. Specialty
tournaments: These tournaments have different pairing formats and different price structures than the regular season events. VA has “Title” tournaments sanctioned by the VA Chess Federation. The Virginia Scholastic Chess Championship Tournament (VSCCT) is the oldest, started in 1974. The location is rotated, and LJSC runs this event about every three years. The other special LJSC
tournaments: VA Grade Championship
in January VA Scholastic Match
Team tournament in February. In this tournament we pair teams as
individuals based on their won-loss records. In this situation the top player
from one team plays the top player from another team, the second strongest the
other teams second strongest player and so on.
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Overview of chess tournaments
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Who may compete? Students in grades K-12 may compete in scholastic chess tournaments. A tournament usually has 4 sections : K-3 (primary, or PS), K-5 (elementary, or ES); K-8 (middle school or MS); K-12 (high school or HS). Trophies are awarded for individuals and for teams.
HS allows grades Kindergarten up through grade 12. MS allows players up to and including grade 8 ES allows players up to and including grade 5 PS allows players grade 3 and
down Note - a strong player may "play up" to a higher section. For example, a very good fourth grader might
want to play in the middle school section to get better competition. However, students may not "play
down" to younger sections. What LJSC does for a tournament: LJSC will advertise the tournament on its
webpage and accept on-line registrations.
They will provide the list of pre-registered people. LJSC will supply the trophies, the USCF
membership forms, the game recording sheets, and the on-site registration
forms. LJSC supplies or borrows the
chess sets and boards. LJSC will help find a computer Tournament Director (TD), floor TDs, and help
train volunteers to assist in running tournaments. The computer TD brings his
own computer, computer program, and USCF reporting forms. LJSC will bring a few clocks of its own to
deal with long games on the floor. LJSC policy on time
controls: “Regular season” time controls are usually G/30 Rds 1-3,
G/45 Rds 4-5. G/30 means that each
player has 30 minutes in which to make all his/her moves, for a total of an
hour for the entire game. The floor TDs
are responsible for enforcing time controls. Variations on the tournament set-up: Each of our regular season tournaments uses the “standard LJSC” format for sections. Our goal is to have a five round tournament whenever possible. With fewer players, we may have just four rounds. If we have a large number of players, we may have to use Accelerated Pairings. In very small tournaments, sections may be combined. However, trophies will still be awarded for each section. Trophies: We usually give out trophies to the top six individuals and the top three teams. More trophies can be added as needed. Expenses: A tournament
usually needs 60-70 players to break even. LJSC covers the expenses of flyers,
trophies and Tournament Director stipends.
LJSC will also cover the entry fee for the child of a volunteer such as
a volunteer floor TD or site organizer.
We sometimes run small tournaments at a loss just to provide students
with the experience of playing tournament chess. BACK |
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Director of Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess - For a tournament, this
person's primary responsibility
would be to find the person to be the Event
Organizer. The director has the
final say on all questions regarding a tournament. Event Organizer - This is the individual who schedules the
tournament and assumes the responsibility for obtaining the people to fill all
of the other tasks related to the tournament. This person may also act as the
site coordinator. Site Coordinator - Set-up of physical facility; arrangements to
open and close facility Computer Tournament Director (TD) - Registration, pairings, and report to the
USCF Floor TDs - monitor play on the floor Volunteer coordinator - signs up people as needed to help with
registration, lunch, etc. Awards Presenter - hands out the trophies Other volunteers - help with clerical work Sometimes these responsibilities are combined; at a small tournament, for
example, the volunteer coordinator may also present awards. The important thing is to know who is doing
what, so that everything is covered.
Some positions need special knowledge and training, such as tournament
directors; other positions can be easily filled with interested
volunteers. BACK |
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Event Coordinator: The Event Coordinator is responsible for making sure the on-site volunteers know exactly what tasks need to be performed and how best to do them. Typical pre-tournament responsibilities are:
Site coordinator: This is the one person in charge of the physical facility. He or she usually assumes the following tasks:
Floor TD
are individuals with knowledge of chess rules that help ensure that the
students compete in a comfortable and fair environment. They do this by making
sure the physical playing conditions are optimized as much as possible (given
the site) and that the rules are enforced.
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Requirements for the site are as follows:
Enough long tables for the following tasks:
Usually, a school is used but other sites are possible. Please note that a school organization (typically the chess club) sponsors the tournament. This means that, as a school function, no rental fee is charged to LJSC. The site coordinator is responsible for obtaining permission and doing the paperwork to use the site. This usually involves working through the school principal and sometimes the superintendent of schools. BACK |
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Have the
registration table and volunteers ready to go promptly at 8:00 A.M. Registration can make or break a
tournament. With lots of
pre-registration, good workers at the registration table, and a system in
place, people can be promptly checked in and play start on time. If that doesn't happen, the whole day can go
sour. Advance Registration is so
important that we charge much higher
fees to register on-site. Registration
by post office mail is discouraged; we encourage pre-registration by e-mail as
much as possible. Parents can register
on-line and then pay at the door. We
accept payment in cash and by check.
Registration typically closes the Wednesday before the tournament. In most cases, 90% of our competitors have
pre-registered by tournament day.
Have on hand:
People: Minimum 3 - one person and table for pre-registered A-L, person and table for pre-registered M-Z, one person and table for non-pre-registered. Pre-registered people simply need to have their USCF status ascertained, pay the entry fee, and be checked off. For detailed registration procedures, see Appendix. BACK |
Task Schedule for Tournament
Day
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This task schedule is set up so that everyone knows what needs to be done, by whom, and in what order. 7:30 A.M.
7:30 -8:00
8:00 - 8:30
Between 8:30 and
9:00 am
9:00 am
9:25 am
9:30 am
MID–TOURNAMENT TASKS Results Table There should always be at least two people available on the table. One of them may need to be a runner for the results table and the Floor TD. The scorekeepers at the “results table” (also known as “scorers table”) keep score sheets, pencils, clocks and tape available for the TDs. The results table workers receive a copy of the pairing sheet for each round from the Floor TD responsible for that section.
The Floor TD records the Start Time and the Clock Time on
the pairing sheet for each section. If
the Floor TD forgets, one of the scorekeepers should remind him. As the Floor TD
starts the round for a section he will go to the results table and write down
the time the round actually started on the pairing sheet for that section. That is the Start Time. The Clock Time is the time that the Floor TD estimates is 10
minutes before the Time Control expires.
For example, consider a Time Control of G/30 (game in which each player
has 30 minutes to make his moves). If
a round starts at 10:45 the Clock time would be 11:35 since that would be one
hour (30’+30’) away minus the ten minutes (5’+5’) students will get when the
Floor TD puts a clock on games that do not have a clock.
Also he
will also calculate a time at which any games still going MUST have a clock on
them.
The players generally reset the board to the starting position before coming to the results table. If they forget to do so, a Floor TD should remind them. Scorekeeper's Responsibilities: When a game is over both players
are to come to the results table together and tell the result to a scorekeeper.
A win is recorded as one point, a loss as zero and a draw as ½ . Have
each student initial beside his /her name on the pairing sheet. Both students must sign at the same
time. As soon as the sheet is completely signed then one person runs that completed sheet to the Computer TD. The completed pairing sheet needs to get to the Computer TD as soon as possible so the next round can be paired. After the Computer TD
pairs the next round he will have his clerical help run out and post it on the
wall. A second copy will be
given to the Floor TD who will give it to the results table as soon as he/she
has started the round in that section.
END OF TOURNAMENT TASKS As soon as a section finishes its last round the results runner brings the pairing sheet to the Computer TD. Next the Computer TD will enter the results. Then the Computer TD consults the Event Coordinator or the Awards Presenter as to the number of Trophies and medals to be given out per section. This is indicated on the final standings sheet by drawing a line across the sheet. Awards Ceremony Will always be held as soon as possible after a section finishes playing. BACK |
Round Times
Clocks
Lunch
Time:
Collecting e-mails and other addresses at the tournament
Time Controls
Cancellations BACK |
Appendix A - For and About
Tournament Directors
Floor TDs Floor TDs come in two flavors.
Flavor one: The Floor TD is a Certified USCF TD and can make a decision about any thing explicitly covered by the USCF Rule book. There may be some site specific considerations that aren’t part of the official rules and in those cases the Floor TD would defer to the Event Coordinator, Computer TD or Chief TD as appropriate. The lowest level of certification is "Club TD", then it goes up to "Local TD". Any chessplayer familiar with USCF rules can apply to be a Club TD by sending a letter to USCF. Flavor two: However, it is not required that the “Floor TDs” be USCF TDs providing
they are supervised by a USCF TD somewhere in the playing area. Ideally this is
a USCF TD who is also present on the floor. A non-certified Floor TD should not
make any decisions that are not authorized by a USCF TD.
Numbers: USCF has rules
about how many players a TD can supervise. Exact rules can be found in the USCF
rule book. Hints for the Computer TD for smooth registration: A pre-registration form is set up on the web and when it is filled out, the TD then has an email with all the information needed for the tournament, except the USCF Expiration Date. The Computer TD puts the information into WinTD and checks the Exp Date from within WinTD. WinTD uses a 6 digit alph/numeric code for schools. The Computer TF can print out a sheet from WinTD exported to Excel to check which memberships are expiring. Processing the USCF Paperwork: the Computer TD is responsible for making sure that all the paperwork gets to the USCF so that the tournament will be rated properly. The Computer TD sends the following to the USCF promptly after every tournament: The check for new/renewed USCF memberships The check for ratings (see Ratings Report Form) diskette with the tournament results postcard that will be mailed back to you as proof of receipt Ratings report form All renewal/new membership forms Paper version of tournament results |
Appendix B - Registration
Procedures
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Everyone who plays in a
USCF-rated tournament (such as ours) must be a member of the U.S. Chess
Federation. If a student has never
joined, they can fill out the form and join at the door. If the student's membership has elapsed, he
must renew it before he plays in this
tournament. Make sure the USCF
membership/renewal form has on it the name of the authorized affiliate, his ID
umber, and the name of the selling officer.
The USCF membership fee
is SEPARATE from the tournament entry fee.
We must collect both fees. All
fees may be collected at the door. Paying
at the door means that if a student pre-registers and then doesn't come, we
don't have to worry about sending back checks, etc. We don't give out receipts
unless someone asks for one. There is one
entry fee for people who have pre-registered before the deadline, and a much
higher entry fee for those who register on-site. This is because we want to discourage on-site registration as
much as possible. Each on-site
registrant costs us about 3 precious minutes to get him processed and into the
computer. This may not seem like much,
but that means that 20 non-pre-registered students could take an hour extra
time! Sample registration
procedure form for volunteers (put a copy on each registration table): Registration
Procedures 1. First ask, "Are you pre-registered?" If yes, find out what section. Go to the sheet, check off the name, and collect the fee. 2. If not pre-registered, ask "Are you a member of the US Chess Federation?" If yes, have the student (or parent) fill out the Lee-Jackson registration form and show you his USCF card. Check the expiration date on the card. If it has expired, give the student a USCF membership form in order to renew his membership. If the student is not pre-registered and is not a USCF member, give him the registration form and the USCF membership form. CHECK the forms for complete information. Be sure we know what section the student is playing in. Sections are K-3 (primary), K-5 (elementary), K-8 (middle school) , and K-12 (high school) . It is possible for a student to "play up" to a higher section (for example, a talented second-grader might want to play in the elementary section for better competition . So always check and ask if you're not sure). Give the completed registration forms and the USCF forms to the tournament director. Fee collection: For pre-registered students: If pre-registered and a current member of USCF: $8.00 for tournament entry fee If pre-registered and not a
current member of USCF: 14 and under: $13.00 USCF membership (no Chess Life Magazine) and $8.00 entry fee ($21.00 total) OR 14 and under: $19.00 USCF membership (includes Chess Life Magazine) and $8.00 entry fee ($27.00 total) 15 - 19 years of age : $25.00 USCF membership and $8.00 entry ($32.00 total) Over 19 years of age : see tournament director For non-preregistered
students: Not pre-registered
and a current member of USCF: $15.00 entry fee Not pre-registered
and not a current member of USCF: 14 and under: USCF membership (either $13.00 or $19.00)and $15.00 entry fee ($28.00 or $34.00 total) 15-19 years of age : $25.00 USCF membership and $15.00 entry ($35.00 total) Make checks out to: Lee- Jackson Scholastic Chess (for both entry fee and USCF membership) |
Appendix
C - Setting up the Boards
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1) Set up boards so the high school is towards the back of the room, then middle school, then elementary. Primary is closest to the door. This way, the younger players who finish faster (and noisier) can enter and exit with minimal disturbance to the older students who are still playing. HS is furthest from the door and Primary nearest it. Also the "lower boards" (weakest players) are always the nearest the door so when they finish (really early) they aren't walking past people still playing. 2) The tables in the playing area need to be
numbered. Each section should be numbered separately Numbering styles - HS
100, 101, 102, etc. MS 200, 201, 202, etc.
OR Consecutively
numbered from HS on down |
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Advertising is
created after the date and site are
secured. What LJSC does: 1) Notice is sent out by e-mail to all people who have signed up for our tournament reminder service 2) Our website will carry a Tournament Announcement (TA) about the event. 3) We will create flyers that can be handed out by local organizers and can be offered at local tournaments. Many times these flyers are distributed by the primary Chess Book and Equipment vendor – Dominion Scholastic Chess Supplies. What you can do: 1) Flyers can be brought to other chess tournaments, even ones not in the LJSC League. Many parents are willing to travel far distances to take advantage of chess tournaments. If you are starting a
tournament in a new location, it's especially important to get the word
out. Students can't come if they don't
know the tournament is there! Make
sure that your flyer is understandable to someone new to scholastic chess (see
sample flyer below) 2) Arrange for local
distribution. Often a school superintendent will allow chess
tournament flyers to be distributed within the schools, but you must obtain
permission first. Get creative - hand out flyers to Girl and Boy Scout leaders,
ask to post them in downtown stores or in your local library. If you are creating your own flyer, be sure
to get it approved by the Event Coordinator.
A chess flyer or TA constitutes an agreement between the League and the
players, and must be worded correctly. 3) Let chess clubs
know. Keep a list of people involved
with school chess clubs and make sure they have flyers to hand out to their
students. This is especially crucial
for attracting new students who are just starting out in chess clubs. 4) Generate lots of local interest. See if your local newspaper will run an article about scholastic chess before the tournament or report the results afterwards. Send photographs to your local paper after the tournament to increase awareness of scholastic chess and get people "primed" for the next tournament. |
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Come to the
first-ever Staunton
Scholastic Chess Tournament Who can come? any student, kindergarten-12th grade. (see over for details). When? Saturday, December 7, 2002 Where? Shelburne Middle School, 300 Grubert Avenue, Staunton, VA Directions: From the North or South: take I-81 to exit
225. At exit ramp, turn right (from north) or left (from South) onto Rte
275, Woodrow Wilson Parkway, towards Staunton. Cross Rte. 11 at light
(still on 275). Take next left onto Rt. 613 (Spring Hill Road). Follow
Spring Hill to where it ends at Gypsy Hill Park (about 3 miles). At the
park, turn right onto Churchville Avenue, Rt. 250W. Left at next light
onto Grubert St. Go 1/2 mile down Grubert and Shelburne Middle School
will be on the right. What time? Check-in is 8:00-9:00
A.M. Roll call is 9:00. Play starts at 9:30. . What does it cost? Every entrant must join the US Chess Federation if he/she is not
already a member. You can join when you
come to the tournament. USCF membership
$13.00/year for players age 14 and
under, and $20.00/year for players age 15-19.
There is a tournament entry fee of $ 8.00 for players that are
pre-registered. On-site entry fee is
$15.00. Fees can be paid at the door. Register now, pay
at the door. Please pre-register -it saves us time and you money. It's easiest to pre-register on the web at
http://spotsychessclub.freeservers.com/announcement/staunton.html
. You can also mail in your registration to Brian L. Roark, 1754 Elbert Dr
SW, Roanoke, VA 24018. For mail-in registration, include following:
the student's name, address, telephone
number, school, grade, section, and USCF number and expiration date (if you are
already a member). Non-USCF members write "New". Mail-ins
must be postmarked by December 1. The Staunton Scholastic Tournament
is sponsored by the Shelburne Middle School Chess
Club. Questions? contact Ruth Chodrow, local coordinator, at (540) 886-2252 or e-mail at rchodrow@cfw.com
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What Can I
Expect At A Scholastic Chess Tournament?
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Who plays? Any student can play. There are sections for Primary (grades K-3), Elementary (Grades K-5), Middle School (grades K-8) and High School (grades K-12). What if I've never played in tournament before? No problem. Tournament directors are there to help youngsters learn and enjoy the tournament. There are only a few rules. The most important rule is that if you touch a piece, you must move that piece if possible. Primary and elementary students are encouraged to notate their games, but this is not required. Middle school and high school students are required to notate. How many games get played? A tournament will consist of four or five rounds, depending on the number of players in each section. Every player plays every round. How are the pairings decided? Players of equal scores are paired as much as possible. A student is usually not paired with the same player twice. Generally players do not compete against students from their own school. Colors are alternated as much as possible for each player. What happens in between rounds? There is a room for parents and siblings to stay in; the players come here in between rounds. People usually read, snack, play pick-up games, or socialize in between rounds. What do we need to bring? Enthusiasm, your USCF card if you have one, and lunch money. There will be a concession stand on site for lunch and snacks. Rich Thode, vendor for Dominion Scholastic Chess Supply, will be at the tournament with chess-related items for sale. Bring your own chess set for pick-up games; sets for the actual tournament play are provided. Since middle school and high school players are required to notate their games; they should bring a pencil or two. Parents should bring something to entertain themselves during the day, since parents are not allowed in the playing room. How long does it last? Check-in is 8:00-9:00 A.M. Roll call is between 9:00-9:30. Play starts about 9:30. Usually the primary section finishes about 2 P.M. and the elementary section around 3. Middle school and high school players generally finish around 4 P.M. but may go later. Trophies are awarded as soon as play for that section is finished. How long does it last? Check-in is 8:00-9:00 A.M. Roll call is between 9:00-9:30. Play starts about 9:30. Usually the primary section finishes about 2 P.M. and the elementary section around 3. Middle school and high school players generally finish around 4 P.M. but may go later. Trophies are awarded as soon as play for that section is finished. How do I find out about the next tournament? Go to the Lee-Jackson Scholastic Chess website, http://spotsychessclub.freeservers.com/ , or the Virginia Scholastic Chess Association website, www.vschess.org .
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Tournament Checklist for Event Coordinators
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Roles filled Dates confirmed Computer TD ________________________ _____________ Floor TD_____________________________ _____________ Floor TD__________________________________ _______________ Floor TD__________________________________ _______________ Floor TD__________________________________ _______________ Trophy & Set up supply list ____ Trophies - order 3 weeks in advance ____ check to make sure all
trophies and plates are available ____ Sort
Trophies ____ Make sure plates are already on the trophies ____ Pack them ____ Any special orders (extra trophies or
plaques) with this order? ____ Does the person who picks this up get
another order also? ____ Does the person who picks up this order get
other materials (below) as well. ______ Medals ______ Bills ______ Flyers ______ Plates
for old awards ____ Special Trophies? Registration- Supplies____ USCF Membership forms - at
least 30 ____ Registration forms -
Blank 50+ ____ Registration forms - completed - even if already entered into the
computer. ____ Stapler ____ Scotch tape ____ Extra ink pens for registration ____ Cash box with 21 ones for change Site - Playing prep. ____ NCR Score sheets - 2 package - if available ____ 95 Chess sets - To set up
all the tables ____ 95 chess boards ____ Chess clocks - optional Site - Clerical prep. ____ Index Cards - for numbering tables ____ Black Magic Marker ____ Scotch Tape ____ Masking Tape ____ Emergency supplies - Pairing
cards ____ Copy of fee schedule for registration table (so parents know how
much to pay) Signs____ Signs - Roadside - Optional ____ Signs - Registration table Computer TD packet ______ Checks
from the Treasurer - for the person completing the membership ____ Copies of Win-TD for New
TD? ____ Any special messages, or
letters or flyers to get to someone? ____ Announcements |
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The Glossary contains a series of very short explanations of terms used in this Manual. If you want more detailed information on the subject then check the USCF Rule book that is in effect for your particular tournament. Please also remember that different types of tournaments may have slightly different policies with regard some aspects of tournament function. Check-in - the process by which an arriving player is verified to be on the pre-registration sheet in the correct division, and a current USCF member. Chief TD This is USCF Term that has to do with paperwork, lines of authority, ultimate court of appeal at a tournament site and ultimate responsibility for a properly submitted rating report. In LJSC the Computer TD, a senior Floor TD or the Event Coordinator will assume those on-site responsibilities and the liaison to USCF responsibility too. Combined Swiss Pairings. This is a format in the Swiss system of pairings in which the tournament is paired by Swiss rules for individuals but individual scores are added up to create a “team” score. It is an easy format to run but the results for both individuals and teams can both be skewed by factors outside the players control. Please see Combined Swiss Pairings in the Policy section (V) and Section II B “Our Format”. Crosstables are the sheets that show how individual players stand. Team standing sheets also show the number of points a team has. Time Controls refer to how many minutes a player has in which to make his/her moves. A time control of G/30 means that each player has 30 minutes. If a player runs out of time before a checkmate, resignation or draw, then that player loses. |