Tournament Guide

• Spectators include non-players, parents, family, friends, and players not currently engaged in a match.
• Players may bring family and friends – within reason (1-4 recommended).
• Spectators must follow all rules listed and may be asked to leave if they do not cooperate.
• Do not crowd a player or game. Stand back at least 3 feet.
• Do not speak to any player EVER or offer any advice, including inadvertent facial expressions, or audible noises that may communicate to a player.  
• Parents should stand BEHIND their player or otherwise out of view to avoid conflict.
• Move around the room as quietly as possible.  
• Silence in general at all times. 
• Use common sense regarding food, drinks, phones off, etc. 

• Piermont Chess provides all necessary equipment for tournaments and casual. Players do not need to bring anything other than a positive attitude & some family and friends.
• We supply, score sheets, pens, pencils, DGT smartboards and pieces, DGT North American clocks (blue), standard vinyl tournament chess boards with 2.25″ squares & margin notation, and standard Staunton style plastic and wooden pieces, weighted, with 3.75″ king height as laid out by USCF. 
• Players must use the club equipment at tournaments.  For standardization and fairness we ask everyone to use our sets and clocks.

• Register for tournaments online using credit or debit, or in person at the club where we can accept cash or venmo.  
• All rated tournaments require all players to have an active membership with The US Chess Federation (USCF).   Join/renew here
• We list events on this website, on USCF, Facebook, Instagram, and in our weekly newsletter.  Subscribe to get the latest news and updates.
• We use a tournament directing program called Chess Nut where we recommend you create an account though you don’t have to. You will have the opportunity to make an account when you sign up for a tournament. Just follow prompts when signing up to do so.
• Unfortunately we do not offer refunds. This is to make sure players commit to attending. You may apply credit toward a future event.   Contact us to set that up or to discuss a special situation.
• If you know you will be late please call or text at (845) 273-0303 ASAP. If we don’t hear from you we will start your clock.  If you miss the first game with no contact, you will be withdrawn.
• When you arrive, introduce yourself to the Tournament Director and confirm your participation in the event.
• Please arrive around 10:30am to check in.  Doors to the building open at 10am.
• We are a casual and social club. We are not in a rush and like to give everyone some time to relax and chat before starting, and in-between rounds. The tournaments will usually begin “around” 11am.  Most events last ~4 hrs.

• A time control is the amount of time each player gets to make their moves.
• Written as “G/#” which means “game in # minutes.”  This is the “base time.”
• Commonly a time control will also include an additional increment, a bonus or a delay, per move. For example: “G/25+5” means “game in 25 minutes plus 5 seconds for each move.” OR “G/25d10” which means: game in 25 minutes with 5 second delay per move. These create subtle changes in strategy and stops “abusing the clock” in endgames.
•  At PCC we use different time controls for each event so be sure to read listings carefully.
• Some common ones are G/3+2, G/15+10, G/25, G/45+15, G/60d10 etc. 
• Officially, a time control equals the base time plus the increment.  Assuming 60 moves in a game, G/25+5 is a “30 minute game” and should last about an hour maximum. (25 min + (5 sec x 60 moves) = 30 min,  x 2 players= 60 min)
• You may also see terms like Blitz, Rapid, or Classical which are common descriptors of the game speed: fast, medium, slow, respectively. But what really matters is the “Rating Category” (see next item.)

• US Chess rates your ability in different time controls using rating categories.
• Unlike descriptors like Rapid or Classical, these are official terminology.
• There are 4 rating categories: Blitz, Quick, Regular, & Online. (We only use Blitz, Quick, and Regular).
• There are also 4 terms you will see that tell you which rating category will be affected: Blitz, Quick, Regular, & Dual. 
• Blitz rated: Any game 5-10 minutes with a minimum base time of 3 minutes (G/3+2 = 5 minutes)
• Quick rated: Any game greater than 10 but less than 30 minutes (literally: 10m01s – 29m59s) with a minimum base of 5 (hypothetically you could have G/5+24)
• Dual rated (applies to both quick and regular): Any game 30-65 minutes with a minimum base of 5. (eg: G/45+10)
• Regular rated: Any game greater than 65 minutes with a minimum base of 5. (eg: G/90+30)

• The TD will announce the start of the event, do a roll call, and review the rules.
• The TD will pair the first round. Pairings are projected on the TV.  At this point registration is officially closed. 
• Find your name, board number and piece color. Take a score sheet and pen if required, and take your seat. 
• Fill out the top portion of the score sheet. 
• When everyone is settled the TD will say to begin. 
• Set the rocker switch to White’s turn.
• Shake hands or bump fists with your opponent and say, “Good luck.”
• Black starts the clock by pressing the play button. 
• If a player is late, their opponent may start the clock in their absence. (Black starts the clock and waits, White may start the clock, make a move and start Black’s clock.) 
• Players take turns making a move, pressing the clock, and recording moves.
• When the game is over, shake hands again, say, “Good game” and stop the clock. 
• Reset the pieces and the clock. 
• Report the results to the TD.  Report the board number and which color won.
• Pause the clock to ask the TD for assistance at any time during the game.

• It is important to know how to operate the clock. 
• At PCC we use the blue DGT North American model.  
• It will already be set for the event.
• Players will need to know how to start and pause the clock and reset it.
• To start the clock at the beginning of a game, press the switch so that White’s side is “up.” On the screen you will see two kings crowns that should be the appropriate color respective to the players. They will switch if you press the lever while the clock is stopped. 
• Black player starts the clock by pressing the center button with the play/pause symbol. 
• Press again to toggle pause/play.
• The on/off button is on the bottom.
• To reset the clock, lift it up and press: Off; On; right button; center button; right button again. The clock will show the last used settings and be ready to start.

• Players sometimes have to skip a round. This is called a “bye.”
• There are two ways to receive a bye.
• Requested Bye: requested by a player due to conflict or illness. Requests must be made before the tournament starts by contacting the TD/club. Players who request a bye will receive a 1/2 point for the round.
• Assigned Bye: offered due to a lack of an opponent from forfeit/withdrawal, or an odd number of players. They are given once per round to the lowest rated player, with the fewest wins, who hasn’t had a bye already. That player receives 1 full point for the inconvenience. (The TD will often join the event to make an even number to avoid this situation) 

• One Hand Rule: the hand that moves a piece should also operate the clock.
• Touch Move/Touch Take Rule: a piece touched with intent to play must be moved unless illegal to do so. An opponents piece touched with intent to capture must be captured unless illegal to do so. 
• J’adoube/Adjust: a player may only touch a wayward piece to adjust it IF it’s their turn, and they say out loud “J’adoube” “I Adjust” or “Adjust.”
• Castling: the proper way to castle is to move the king first and the rook second using the same hand.
• Pawn Promotion:  remove pawn from the board (it doesn’t have to touch the 8th rank), and place the promoted piece on the 8th rank with the same hand. 
• Captured pieces are out of play and can be held or placed anywhere on the table.  

• Illegal moves are any move that violates the standard rules of piece movement. (See  How to Play Chess).
• A move is NOT illegal UNTIL the turn is COMPLETED by pressing the clock. A player may correct an illegal move before they press the clock.
• Illegal moves must be DECLARED by the opponent BEFORE completing their next move or no penalty can be applied and play continues. Responsibility lies with the last illegal move if multiple are made.
• Declare an illegal move by pausing the clock and calling the TD.
• Illegal moves incur a 2 minute time penalty where the non-offending player receives +2 minutes. The board is reset to the position before the move was made. 
• In Blitz time controls, an illegal move loses the game immediately.
• If the illegal move is castling, reset the king and rook and make a king move as castling is considered a king move. 

• Notation is required for any game 30 minutes or longer (Dual rated or Regular)
• Quick and Blitz do not require notation.
• In any game requiring notation, both players may stop taking notation once either player has fewer than 5 minutes remaining.
• Any game with a +30 second increment requires notation throughout.
• Notation can be made at any time. 
• You can borrow your opponents sheet to correct yours but you must do it on YOUR TIME.
• Players with inexperience or disability may use an assistant, digital devices, request a time penalty of -5%, 10 minutes maximum (20= -1min), or be excused at TD discretion. 

Algebraic Notation:

• Rows 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are “Ranks”; Columns – a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h – are “Files”
• Each square has an address/name, a letter and a number. “a1, b2, c3, d4, etc”
• Initials for pieces: King= K; Queen= Q; Knight= N; Bishop= B; Rook= R; Pawn= the letter of the address it is on. 
• Move: Note the piece that moved and the new address, “Queen to e4” = “Qe4”, for pawns just mark the new address eg: “e4.”
• Capture: Add an x for “takes”,  “Queen takes e4” = “Qxe4”.  For pawns, record the letter it started on and the new address, “dxe4”
• Check: Add a plus + sign “Queen to e4, Check” = “Qe4+”
• Checkmate: Add a hashtag (or double plus ++) “Queen to e4, Checkmate” = “Qe4#” (Qe4++)
• Note the winner in the space after the last move:
• White wins: 1-0
• Black wins: 0-1
• Draw/stalemate: 1/2-1/2

Special cases: 

• Capture En Passant: add “e.p.” = “axb6 e.p.”
• Castle: king-side O-O; queen-side O-O-O
• Pawn promotion: add equal sign and promoted piece “a8=Q”
• Knights that can both move to the same square: specify which knight with the letter they are on, or the number if they have the same letter: “Knight on b to d4” = “Nbd4” or “Knight on 2 to d4” “N2d4”
• Rooks on the same rank or file: Similar to knights, specify the file if on same rank “Rad8″ or rank if on same file “R4d2″

• Game ends on checkmate, draw, resignation, or expired time.
• Checkmate: Game ends immediately with a legal Checkmate on the board.
• Draw: can occur by player agreement (all moves lead to no change), stalemate (king trapped but not in check and no other pieces can move), 3 time repetition (same position repeated 3 non-consecutive times), 50 move rule (50 moves with no pawn move or capture), lack of material (not enough pieces to create checkmate), and “double flag” time expire (both players run out of time without a declaration). 
• Time expire: Player who runs out of time loses, but opponent must declare it before they too run out of time. 
• Resignation: player gives up. Say out lout “I Resign” and offer your hand to shake.
• Confirm all results verbally with opponent. (Many handshakes were mistaken for resignations when draws were not made clear.) 
• Record results on score sheet Black 0-1; White 1-0; Draw 1/2-1/2.
• Report to TD board number and what color won.

• Prizes are listed as “Prizes b/20”, meaning “based on 20 players.”
• The prize fund is usually 50% of the entry fees and split into place and class prizes. 
• They will be listed like this: “$100-80; $60 U1800.” This means $100 for first place, $80 for second place and $60 for the best score for a player rated under 1800. 
• Cash prizes are split evenly in the event of a tie as per USCF.
• Tie break algorithms are used to determine the standings and the winner of prizes that cannot be divided, like trophies, Or players can agree to play a blitz tie break game.