Nevada Chess, Inc.

Tournament Directors (TD). Tournament directors will always be on the tournament floor to assist you in the event of any problems or questions. Just raise your hand and keep it in the air until a TD comes to assist you. Remember that a TD will generally not interfere with your game. It is up to you to make a claim. If you think a TD has ruled incorrectly concerning your game, you should ask to appeal to another TD immediately.  All TDs will be wearing red staff shirts.

Clocks and Time Controls. The time control for the K-3 Championship, K-5 Championship, K-5 Reserve, and K-12 Reserve sections is sudden death in 25 minutes with a 5 second increment. Digital clocks should be set at 25 minutes with a 5 second increment.  The time control for the High School Championship and Middle School Championship sections is sudden death in 30 minutes with a 10 second increment.  For these sections, digital clocks should be set at 30 minutes with a 10 second increment. Clocks must remain running at all times, except when a TD is called by either player to resolve a dispute. A player who wishes to make a claim of any sort, or see a TD for any legitimate reason, may stop both clocks and raise his/her hand to summon a TD, otherwise no player is permitted to stop both clocks while the game is in progress. Players must use the same hand to press the clock that they use to move their pieces. If a clock is not available at the start of a game, the players must begin without one. If a clock becomes available during the game, a TD will set the clock for you. 

Recording Moves. In the K-3 Championship, K-5 Championship, K-5 Reserve, and K-12 Reserve sections, each player is strongly encouraged to record the moves. In the High School Championship and Middle School Championship sections, each player is required to record the moves. A player who chooses not to record the moves may lose the right to claim a draw by triple occurrence of position or by the 50-move rule and may lose the right to challenge such claims by her/his opponent. Neither player is obligated to keep score when either player has less than five minutes left on the clock.

Touch move. If you deliberately touch one of your pieces when it is your turn to move, you must move that piece if you can legally do so. If you deliberately touch one of your opponent’s pieces when it is your turn to move, you must capture it if you can legally do so. If you wish to adjust one or more pieces on the board when it is your turn to move, you must say “adjust” (in any language) before touching any pieces that are on the board. When you release one of your pieces on a square that it can legally move to, you must leave that piece on that square.

Interference/Spectators (Including parents, coaches, and volunteers). NO interference in any game, or interference with the tournament in any other way, by spectators, other players, coaches, parents, or volunteers will be tolerated; penalties include expulsion from the tournament. Spectators are not allowed to make any comments, point out any irregularities or violations, or lodge any claims on behalf of players regarding any tournament game in progress. Only the players involved may point out irregularities to a TD. This should be done by raising your hand to summon a TD. To establish order, the TDs require that all spectators leave the tournament hall before the start of the next round.

Illegal moves. Only a player in the game in question can call an illegal move. The TDs will not call an illegal move, even if they see it. Neither players at adjacent games nor spectators may point out an illegal move.  Penalties for illegal moves are at the discretion of the tournament director and may include warnings or adjustments to either player’s clock.

Check. Announcing check is not required. It is the responsibility of the opponent to notice the check.

Time Forfeits. Only a player may claim a time forfeit. No parent, coach, or even a TD may make such a claim. A player must claim a time forfeit before time has expired on both clocks. If time has expired on both clocks, the game is a draw unless the position on board is checkmate.

Late arrivals. A player who is more than 30 minutes late for any scheduled round loses the game by forfeit and will normally be dropped from the tournament. The 30 minutes is measured from the actual starting time of the round, which may not be the scheduled starting time. A player should start his or her opponent’s clock once the TD announces that the round has begun. If the player with the white pieces is present, and black is absent, white should make a move and start black’s clock. If a clock is not available at the start of the round, any elapsed time before one becomes available will be split between both players equally. If both players are late for the start of the round, the first to arrive must split the elapsed time evenly before starting the opponent’s clock.

Draws. If you want to offer a draw to your opponent, you should do so after you make a move, but before you start your opponent’s clock. Your opponent may decline the draw by saying so or by moving a piece. A draw offer is valid until it is turned down by the opponent. If both players agree to a draw, the game is over. A reasonably complete and accurate score sheet is required to claim any draw by triple occurrence of position or under the 50-move rule. If such a claim is found to be incorrect, 2 minutes will be added to the opponent’s remaining time, as a penalty against the person making the invalid claim.

Sudden Death Rules. A player may claim a time forfeit in sudden death only if he/she stops the clock before both flags fall. If both flags are down, the game is a draw unless there is checkmate on the board. Upon request of a player who has less than 2 minutes remaining on a clock that cannot be set with an increment or delay, a TD may rule that the game is drawn if the player has insufficient losing chances. To make such a request, a player should stop both clocks and call a TD to rule on the claim.  Such a request may not be made if the clock is set with increment or delay.

Other Rules. The above rules summary is not all-inclusive. All other decisions will be based on the latest edition of the Official Rules of Chess as published by the United States Chess federation. Penalties for rule violations are at the discretion of the TD and may vary from warnings and time penalties to forfeitures and expulsion from the tournament. Players are responsible for knowing the rules.

Analysis of game. Do not analyze your games in the tournament room. Analyze your games outside the playing room.

Reporting Results. Immediately upon completion of the game, if both players agree on the result, both players should reset the chess pieces and go to the results table to report the result.

Pairings. Players will generally be paired against other players with the same score. Every reasonable effort will be made to avoid pairing players from the same school. The WinTD pairing program will be used for this tournament. Players should not receive the same color three times in a row unless no other acceptable pairing is possible. Players will never play the same person twice. If you believe there is a pairing error, report it to the TD immediately!! Once the round begins, it will probably be too late to change a pairing, even if the pairing is incorrect!

Half-Point Byes. A player may receive up to two half-point byes if the bye(s) is requested before the start of the tournament. Unlimited zero-point byes are available. It is necessary for any player who needs a bye, or who is withdrawing from the tournament, to inform a TD so that all players can be paired appropriately.

Conduct of players. Try to keep as quiet as possible on the tournament floor so you do not disturb other players. You may not speak to anyone other than your opponent while a game is in progress unless a TD is present. If there is a problem of any kind during a game, raise your hand immediately and a TD will come over. If you wait until your game is over, the TD will probably be unable to change the result, even if your claim was correct.  

If you need to go to the bathroom while the game is in progress, raise your hand to get permission from a TD. Do NOT stop your clock when you go to the bathroom. You may not leave the tournament area for any reason without getting permission from a TD if your game is in progress. Remember, you are not to discuss any game in progress with any person, not another player, or parent or a coach, nor may you consult any chess books, computers or other material during the game.

We encourage courtesy; introducing yourself to your opponent, shaking hands with your opponent before and after each game, and all-round good sportsmanship.

Tiebreak. If two or more players in the same section achieve a perfect score in a Championship Section, the champion will be determined by a playoff.  Such a playoff may be played either in person or online.  If two or more players tie for first place in a Reserve Section or with any score other than a perfect score in a Championship Section, they will be declared co-champions, and the placement of all tied players will be determined by tie-breaks as described in the Official Rules of Chess, 7th edition.