2021Texas State Scholastic Chess Championships

April 3, 2021

7 Round Swiss System, Game 15 + 5-Second Increment

Open to Texas Residents only!

This is a US CHESS ONLINE RATED EVENT

 

For ChessKid Tournament Announcement and Welcome Video from "Fun Master Mike," please see the ChessKid Announcement of the Texas Scholastic Championships

Winners of Championship Sections, including ties, will be declared 2021 Texas State Champions. 

This event will also qualify participants for a Round Robin playoff (date to be determined) for the following US Chess Invitational events:

Denker National Tournament of HS State Champions - Top 6 players in 9-12 Championship

Barber National Tournament of MS State Champions - Top 6 players in 6-8 Championship

Rockefeller National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions - Top 6 players in K-5 Championship

Haring National Tournament of Girls State Championship - Top 2 girls in each of the 9-12, 6-8 & K-5 Championship Sections

ENTRY FEE

$35 by midnight (Central), March 22 

$50 by midnight (Central), March 29

**No entries accepted after midnight March 29**

Withdrawals are subject to a $5 processing fee per player.  No refunds will be given for withdrawals after March 29.

 

US CHESS MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED!

The Texas Chess Association (TCA) has a limited number of US Chess membership vouchers which would save participants of this event needing a membership a significant amount of money (for the US Chess membership only, not the tournament entry fee).  Please go to http://www.dallaschess.com/getuscfgrpmem.htm to request a US Chess membership for $9.  Or, you may obtain a membership directly from US Chess, https://new.uschess.org/become-member, for $17 per player 12 and under, $22 for those 16 and under, or $26 for 24 and under.  These vouchers are only available for participants of this event on a first-come, first-served basis. 

 

Very important and must view!  https://www.chesskid.com/videos/fair-play

GM Julio Sadorra (UTD Chess Coach) and Jay Stallings (Coach Jay) will be streaming and commentating top games live!

  

 

SCHEDULE AND SECTIONS

All sections, Pre-K to 12th Grade, play starting  at 10AM Central (9AM Mountain) on Saturday, April 3rd.

There will be a 5-minute break between the conclusion of the last game in each section and the start of the next round.

9 - 12 Championship

9 - 12 JV (Under 1000)

6 - 8 Championship

6 - 8 JV (Under 900)

6 - 8 Novice (Under 600)

K - 5 Championship

K - 5 JV (Under 800)

K - 5 Novice (Under 500)

K - 3 Championship

K - 3 JV (Under 600)

K - 1 Championship

Students can only play in the section for their specific current grade (2021 Spring semester).  Students in the sections beginning with "K" may play in any section up to that section's upper limit, in grade or rating.  Students who qualify for the Under sections may play up in the Championship Section of the same grades section.  Unrated players may play in any section (Under or Championship) allowed for their grades.

This event is open ONLY to students attending Texas Schools, including home schoolers residing in Texas.

 

TCA MEMBERSHIPS

While the event does not require having to be a TCA member, we highly encourage you to join and support our official state affiliate.  Memberships start at just $5.00 ($10 for family) and can be purchased here: 

 https://texaschess.org/memberships/

 

CHESS KID INFO

There will be a 5-round “warm-up” G/5 + 1-sec increment,  free event on March 27, 2021 at 10AM (Central). This "warm-up" event should last less than two hours, is only open to those registered by March 22 and is highly encouraged so that kids and families can practice using the ChessKid.com "Fast Chess" server, learn how to register for the event, test their internet and browser, and other areas of troubleshooting.

You will be receiving an email from chess kid with your special user name and log in ID by March 25.

Your child will get a specific log in ID for this event. 

 If you register by March 22, you will be eligible to play in the practice run March 27

 

FORMAT

All sections will play under the same format, which is a seven-round Swiss, with time control of 15+5 (15 minutes + 5-second increment per move).

The maximum time for each round is therefore about 40 minutes, meaning the total possible time would be a little less than 5 hours.  However, there are not "set" round times like an over-the-board tournament; the next round begins when all games have finished from the previous round. In practice, this means the tournament will likely take about 3.5-4 hours to complete, although you should plan for five hours.

The tournament will be US Chess Online Quick-Chess Rated. Players will be assigned a special one-time use ChessKid account (not their normal account) so a child's "normal" ChessKid rating will not be affected.

NO BYES ALLOWED!!  Please disregard that option on registration page. 

 

PRIZES

The top 10 finishers in each section, after tiebreaks, will receive a custom plaque via mail. The number of awards will be increased if the number of entries in the section exceeds 100 players, at the rate of one additional award for each additional 10 players.  For example, if a section has 150 players, there will be 15 individual awards, etc.  The plaque will include the tournament's logo. Please note: the exact value of tiebreaks shown on ChessKid at the immediate conclusion of the event may be different from the official results.  All results - including tiebreaks - are tentative until the 3- week review period has been completed. 

TIE-BREAKS

When individual scores are equal, the following order of tie-break systems will be used to designate individual awards:  1) Modified Median, 2) Median, 3) Solkoff, 4) Sonneborn-Berger 5) Cumulative

When school team scores are equal, the following order of tie-break systems will be used to designate team awards:  1) Total Individual Median, 2) Total Solkoff, 3) Total Sonneborn-Berger, 4) Total Cumulative

 

TEAM PRIZES FOR THE TOP THREE SCHOOL TEAMS IN EACH OF THE TEN SECTIONS WILL ALSO BE AWARDED!! 

Up to four team members from the same school in the same section, will be awarded plaques!  In addition, the 1st Place school team in each section will receive a team plaque for display at the school! A school team will consist of at least two players in the same section.  There is no limit on the number of players who can participate from one school, but only the top four players from a school will be used for the team standings.  Team changes may not be made after the start of the event.  Schools are not allowed to designate more than one team in one section.

 

ChessKid reserves the right to ask for proof of identity for all prize winners.

  

SPECIAL RULES AND ANSWERS TO FAQs

• "Championship" sections are open to all players, including Unrated, with the grades specified.  JV and Novice sections are only open to those with established or provisional US Chess ratings below that threshold, including Unrated.
• Ratings for pairings and section purposes are according to US Chess higher of Regular over the board ratings or US Chess Online Quick ratings, using the US Chess March 2021 Rating Supplement. This event will be US Chess online rated after it concludes.
• All players must be current members of the US Chess Federation before registration and membership must be current through April 30, 2021.
• Students may play only in a Championship or Under section allowed by their grade and rating.  That means that a K or 1st grade student, for example, may play in K-1, K-3 or K-5 sections.  Students in 5th grade or below cannot play in sections higher than a K-5. Students in 6th through 8th grade can only play in 6-8 Section and, likewise, students in 9th through 12 grade can only play in 9-12 sections.
• If a player does not have an established US Chess rating (Regular or Quick Online) in the March Rating Supplement (and is therefore "unrated"), then he/she may play in any section allowed for his/her grade.
• The tournament staff will have discretion over determining if a child's multiple ratings qualify him/her for an "Under" section.
• There will be a warmup event on Saturday, March 27 at 10am Central/9am Eastern in which is highly encouraged for kids to play and practice using the site. This tournament will be 5 rounds of 5+1 and will only take one hour. (There are no prizes -- the intention is to test your computer, internet, and get used to registering and playing in an event.
• Unrated players will be listed at a rating of 400 on the tournament day for tournament purposes.
• Although team prizes will be awarded, there will be no pairing restrictions.  Although it may not happen often, teammates may play each other depending on their scores.  

 

Texas State and Chess Kids take Fair Play very seriously!

MUST-SEE CHESSKID VIDEOS

To prepare for the event, all participants must view the ChessKid videos.  It is particularly important that all participants understand the Fair Play rules, that specific video is mandatory and all participants understand and pledge to abide by the Fair Play rules.  Failure to abide by these rules could result in loss of game, removal from the tournament and ban from future events.

Joining an online ChessKid tournament:   https://www.chesskid.com/article/view/video-tutorial-series#JoinFastTournament

VERY IMPORTANT AND MUST VIEW!!! 

Fair Play Rules:  https://www.chesskid.com/videos/fair-play

Fair Play monitoring will be in effect during and after the tournament. 

 Crosstable results on ChessKid are NOT final on the day Fair Play Analysis.

 

 

Order your tournament T-Shirt and other chess merchandise at https://www.bonlorcreations.com/

Proceeds support the Texas Chess Association!

 

ChessKid Queries: enterprisesupport@chesskid.com 

TCA Queries:  flguadalupe@aol.com, (713) 530-7820, or renategarcia1@gmail.com, (915) 256-7783.