Skerries Chess Club

Tournaments

Rules

General

Board setup: White square on each player`s right. White queen on a white square. Black queen on a black square. White pieces on the first and second ranks (1 and 2). The black pieces on the 7th and 8th ranks.

Touch move: If you touch a piece you must move it. If you let it go you must leave it there.

Clock: Black chooses which side to put the clock on. You must press the clock with the same hand you moved the piece with.

Defaults / Not turning up

Normally if you do not turn up for a game you get 0 points and your opponent gets 1 point for a walkover. However it is very disappointing for your opponent who was probably looking forward to a game and instead was left waiting to see if you would be turning up late. Please contact the controller if you are unable to attend for any round of a tournament, as early as possible so we can adjust the pairings. See Contact.

Byes

Each player is entitled to one half point bye if they notify the controller in advance, except in the final round. In some cases two half point byes may be awarded.

If there is an uneven number in any round the player on the lowest score who has the lowest rating is awarded a one point bye. This player should still turn up as if another player is missing they may be paired with the missing player`s opponent. No player will receive a one point bye more than once in a tournament.

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Spring Open 2013

Starts

Tuesday 8th January 2013, has 9 rounds and runs for the 9 weeks coming up to Easter, excluding match nights. On these nights other events will be run. Please read the Rules above in particular in relation to defaults: players not turning up. The tournament controllers are Paschal O`Shea and Enda Joyce so please let them know if you wish to enter, preferably by e-mail as in Contacts above.

Sections and Prizes

There is only one big section so everyone has a chance to play anyone else in theory. An accelerated draw for the first two rounds means that only the top half of the players play each other and the bottom half likewise. From round 3 on players on similar scores play each other. Even though everyone is in one section together, small prizes will be awarded for the best scores within each of 4 rating bands. The rating bands depend on each player`s initial rating on 8/1/13 as in the List of Players.

Open/Seals (open to all): Higher rated players or players who are unrated at the start.
Herons: initial rating below 1300.
Seagulls initial rating below 1000.
Cormorants initial rating below 770.

In each section there will be a small grading prize for the best improvers with at least provisional ratings at the start. The grading prizes will depend on the change in ratings from 8/1/13 to the last round including friendly games. No player may win more than one prize.

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Christmas Turkey Tournament 2012

Starts

Tuesday 6th November and runs for the next few weeks coming up to Christmas, including match nights, though on these nights some opponents may have to wait for team players to finish their league match.

Entry fee

€5, free for paid up members. Also bring a pen to write with.

Sections and Prizes

Three sections divided by rating with examples of likely prizes.

Open (open to all): 1st place: Christmas Turkey or voucher to same value. 2nd prize: Ham/voucher. Random prize: Pudding/voucher. Grading (Improvement) prize.

Seagulls (rated below 1300 or juniors): 1st - Ham/voucher. 2nd - Pudding/voucher. Random prize: Crackers/voucher. Grading (Improvement) prize.

Cormorants (rated below 900): 1st - Pudding/voucher. 2nd - Crackers/voucher. Random prize: Sweets/voucher. Grading (Improvement) prize.

In each section there will be a small grading prize for the best improvers with at least provisional ratings. The grading prizes will depend on the change in ratings from 31/10/12 to the last round including friendly games. No player may win more than one prize.

Rounds

There will be about 4 to 6 rounds depending on the number of matches that interrupt them. One round will be played per night. Other games after that will only count towards grading prizes.

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Common seal

Common seal
  Common seagull

Common seagull
  Cormorant

Cormorant

Time controls

Time controls: Clocks should be used in the Open section and moves must be recorded until 5 minutes remain. Between adults the default time control is 1 hour each for all moves but as in the leagues longer time controls may be used as agreed by the players. If games are played between adults and juniors a suitable start time and finish time should be agreed between them and a suitable time control chosen. Between juniors a suitable time control should be used to finish by 8.15 or so. Moves should be recorded where possible.

Recording moves:

This enables us to analyse our games afterwards with our opponents. We try to learn from our mistakes. Without recording moves you may not claim a draw by threefold repetition or otherwise. Learning to annotate also opens a whole new world of chess literature. It has been said that there are more books written on chess than on all other sports combined. A player does not have to record moves when they have less than 5 minutes left on their clock.

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Set and clock

  Scoresheet of a game between Victor Korchnoi and David McAllister

Scoresheet of a game between Victor Korchnoi and David McAllister

If you have any news, pictures or links to other chess sites that you would like to see added to this website please e-mail them to See Contact for more details.

©Copyright Skerries Chess Club 2012.

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