Which section is best for my child?

First - Ask your coach for advice!

If you don’t have a coach…

1. For 2015, there are no unrated sections. ALL sections are sanctioned by the United States Chess Federation. Membership is required (see Membership Options on the back page).

2. Choices: For players who are in the 2nd–3rd grade group, 4th-6th grade group, 7th-8th grade group, or 9-12th grade group there are two divisions (Championship or Junior Varsity). For K-1 players, they can choose to compete in the K-1 Championship or in the K-3 U400 (if their rating is below 400). Players can always play in an older age section, but not in a younger one.

3. Championship vs Under section

a. Championship sections are for players of all ratings in a particular grade group.

b. Under sections are only open to players who meet the rating and grade group criteria. For example, K-3 U400 is only for players in grades K-3 who are rated under 400. We will use the February 2015 supplement ratings which can be found in early February at www.uschess.org/msa

Teams/Clubs

For school or club teams, the points you earn will count towards your team’s total, however, only for the team in the section in which you are playing. For example, if you play for Green Valley Elementary, and you are competing in the K-3 U400, your points won’t count towards Green Valley’s score in the K-3 Championship division.

Format

6SS means “6-round Swiss System.” 5x2SS = 5 DOUBLE-rounds (2 games – one White, one Black) a total of 10 games will be played! In a Swiss System, players are paired each round with a player of approximately the same score. If after 2 double-rounds, for example, a player is 1-3 (1 win, 3 losses), he/she will likely play someone with the same score. G/30 means “Game in 30 minutes.” Each player has 30 minutes on his/her clock.

Side Events

Blitz & Bughouse are called “side events” to differentiate them from the main tournament.
Separate awards are given for these events.

What are Blitz & Bughouse?
Blitz & Bughouse are fun side events which are separate from the main event. They follow different rules under the USCF.

Blitz – 5 minute chess. Players each have only 5 minutes to play all of their moves. The main difference between regular chess and Blitz is that an illegal move can be grounds to lose a game. And, if a player leaves their king in check in Blitz, it can be captured. As of January 1st, 2013, Blitz is Touch-move!

Bughouse – team chess. Two players sit at boards side by side. One is white, one is black. The one playing white captures black pieces and passes them to their partner who, on his/her turn can “drop” that piece on any empty square! Sound crazy? It is! All tournament bughouse games are played with 5 minutes on each clock. As in Blitz, kings can be captured.

For More questions feel free to contact us via the Contact Page.