For questions, call Todd at 303-770-6696.

Tournament Rules, Tie-breaks, Pairings, and Byes

United States Chess Federation rules will apply. Tournament is 5 Rounds.

Tie-breaks determining trophy winners in each section will be in this order: Modified Median, Solkoff, Cumulative, Opponent’s Cumulative, Head-to-head, Coin Toss.

If there are an odd number of players in a section, one of the players will be awarded a 1.0 point BYE for the round according to the normal pairing system.

If you have to miss a Round 1 or Round 2, you may request a ½ point BYE for either or both of these rounds. The BYE request must be made before the round begins. No ½ point BYE requests will be awarded after the second round (you will receive a zero point BYE if you have to miss a later round) as this can have a major impact on the final tournament results.

Members from the same Team will not be paired in the first two rounds. After that, the pairings are the same those for a regular tournament.

Divisions may be combined if one has a low turnout.

Organizers may change the rules at any time to improve the tournaments.

All players scoring 3.5 points or more will win a prize!! 

Team Trophies for each tournament in the Denver Series

For each tournament, a 1st and 2nd place team trophy will be awarded in each the K-3 and 4-6 Rated and Unrated divisions. This may expand, depending on the number of teams entered.

Eligibility:

A 6th grader who is in Middle School, can play as a member of the Elementary School in his neighborhood that he attended. If this is the case, enter the name of the Elementary School on the application form in the "School" box. This must be entered into the computer correctly prior to Round 1. We cannot add a new member of a School Team after the tournament starts.

Home school children only qualify to be a member of the team (if there is one) from the public school in their neighborhood that they would normally attend.

Total points from the top two finishers from each school count toward the team trophy. (A team of one player gets that player's point total counting toward that player's school team.)

A)    TIE-BREAKS: In the event of tied Team scores from above, tie-breaks will determine prize winners.  The following rules describe the tie-breaking system used:

A1) The first tie-break is the sum of all the total points achieved by the top three finishers from the same school.  If still tied, then the top four finishers, etc.

A2) The second tie-break is total number of players on each team (this encourages participation). The team with more players in the divisions wins.

A3) The forth and final tie-break is the sum of individual tie-breaks, in order posted above, of the top two finishers on the team.

Denver Scholastic Chess Series End of Year Series Trophies

A)    ELIGIBILITY: A player must compete in at least 4 of the seven events to be eligible for an end of year SERIES PRIZE. This encourages participation.

A1) MAKEUP DATE: Any player who misses an event can do a makeup in Colorado Springs on March 14, 2009 at the Colorado Springs Scholastic Chess Series. (The makeup date for the Colorado Springs Scholastic Chess Series is the March 21 tournament in Denver.) The result from March 14 will be substituted for a missed event in the Series, excluding the April 11 (#7) tournament. For Tie-Break purposes listed below, the March 14 makeup date in Colorado Springs will be substituted in the series for the last event missed, before the final series event on April 11.

B)     SCORING:  The first scoring criteria for all trophies and prizes is total accumulated points from all played events. This is a straight number and is not pro-rated in any way.

C)    TIE-BREAKS: In the event of tied scores at series end, tie-breaks will determine prize winners.  The following rules describe the tie-breaking system used:

          C1) The first tie-break is total number of events played. The player who played in the MOST events to achieve score wins. This is to encourage and reward participation.

          C2) The second tie-break is grade. The player in the LOWEST grade wins. This rewards the player with the least experience (presumably).

          C3)  The third and final tie-break is final event finish. The player who placed highest in the final event wins. (If neither played in the final event, we go backwards to the next to last final event, etc.)

D)    MULTIPLE SECTION PLAYERS:  Some players compete in multiple sections. Sometimes this is a result of “playing up” with an older group, or from players becoming rated.

                 D1) Players who “play up” will have scores accumulated from different sections. The scores of such players will be applied to the section where the MAJORITY of his\her games were played.  If an equal number of games were played in each section, the score will be applied in the section where it gives the player the LESSER prize. This results in less prize impact on other players. This also discourages players from trying to create a score to apply selectively and advantageously at the last event.

                D2) Players who become RATED will have their scores applied to wherever the majority of their games were played as in D1. 

                    D2a) Players who play in the series as UNRATED players but become rated prior to the final events to play in the Colorado State Scholastic Championship in February, will be allowed to complete the series in the UNRATED division. While such players are encouraged to play RATED in the last event(s), it is not mandatory as such a decision could be construed as penalizing players for playing in the State Championship.

                      D2a1) Players who play in rated events OTHER than the Colorado State Scholastic Championship prior to the final events DO NOT receive the exemption in D2a and must play rated.

E)     PRIZES: Players who meet eligibility requirements outlined in A) and who’s scores are sufficient will be awarded SERIES PRIZES.

E1) SERIES TROPHIES:  Players finishing 1-5 in each division (K-3 Rated; 4-6 Rated; 7-12 Rated; K-3 Unrated; 4-6 Unrated; 7-12 Unrated will receive series trophies. 

E2) SERIES COMPLETION: All players who complete the tour and play in ALL SEVEN EVENTS will receive an award.

E3) DUAL SERIES COMPLETION: All players who complete all seven events in the Denver Scholastic Chess Series Tour and the Colorado Springs Chess Series Tour (14 total events) will receive an award.

E4) SPECIAL AWARDS:  Special awards are the sole discretion of the organizers and may be given arbitrarily. Graduation, sportsmanship, improvement, and courage, are examples of possible reasons for such awards.

The above rules have been carefully created to be clear, simple, and equitable. Great care has also been taken to implement rules that are difficult to manipulate or “loop-hole”. Suggestions are always welcome. Explanations of these rules and motivations for them are always given. Final ruling on any dispute or disagreement is reserved by the organizer.