Rules
Rules for The 2008 US State Champion of Champions
April 12th, April 19,20th, 2008
Venue: World Chess Live (WCL)
I. SCHEDULE
All dates are WCL server time, this is New York Time (EDT).
1. Qualification tournaments
April 12th, 15:00: Eastern Conference (Zone 1 and 2).
April 12th, 15:00: Western Conference (Zone 1 and 2).
2. Finals
April 19th, 15:00: Semi Finals (winners of Zones 1 and 2).
April 20th, 15:00: Finals. (East vs. West)
II. PLAYING SYSTEM
1. Qualification tournaments
Both Eastern and Western Conference will be a double-round all-play-all
tournaments split into two zones with a time control of 5 1 (Five
minutes initially plus one second added per move). The games will be
unrated on WCL and seeding will be based on USCF ratings. In the event
of one conference group not having sufficient numbers, WCL will have
the right to merge two groups into one large group with both the winner
and runner-up meeting in the semifinal. The games in the qualifiers
will
be USCF "quick" rated.
TIP FOR PLAYERS NEW TO INTERNET CHESS: This TC is fast. You should try to play as many games with this time control on WCL prior to the event to get used to it. Most players find they can adjust to it and be comfortable provided they get enough practice games in. Be forewarned!
IMPORTANT: World Chess Live (WCL) uses the interface called Dasher. Blitzin WILL NOT WORK so one MUST download Dasher 1.2.2 for World Chess Live. **BLITZIN, OR DASHER, FOR ICC WILL NOT WORK** Download Dasher for WCL at http://www.worldchesslive.com/ and click on "Download Software", left column.
2. Qualification to the Finals
In both Eastern and Western Conference, the top two finishing players
from each zone will qualify for their conference semifinals, the
winners
of which will play in a final which will have one player from the
Eastern Conference and one from the Western Conference. In case of ties
in the Conferences, the same rules as in the Finals (see there) will
apply.
3. Finals
Each round of the finals (semi finals, finals) will be played in two
rounds, alternating colors, with a time control of 60 minutes initially
plus 3 seconds added per move. If a match of two games ends 1-1, there
will be two games with a time control of 5 1 between those two players
to determine the winner. Should this tiebreak match also end 1-1, there
will be an 'Armageddon game': White will receive 5 minutes against
Black's 4 minutes, no time increments. Black will advance on draw in
that game. The responsible WCL tournament director will draw lots in
order to determine colors in this Armageddon game. The games in the
finals will be USCF "dual" rated.
In the semi finals, pairings will be:
Eastern Conference Zone 1 winner vs. Eastern Conference Zone 2 winner
(SF1)
Western Conference Zone 1 winner vs. Western Conference Zone 2 winner
(SF2)
In the finals, the winner of SF1 will meet the winner of SF2 and colors
in the first game will be determined by the responsible WCL tournament
director drawing lots. Should a tiebreak match be necessary, colors in
the first tiebreak game will always be the same as they were in the
first regular game of that match.
III. PRIZES
Prizes for the tournament are as follows:
1st: 250 US-Dollars
2nd: 150 US-Dollars
3rd/4th: 50 US-Dollars each.
The winner will be seeded into the field and move foward into the US
Championships under the following condition:
In the event that the 2008 US Championship is held as a Swiss or a 32
player knockout, the winner will qualify, providing he or she was a
current USCF member and US player prior to the start of the event.
IV. TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT, WCL RELATED RULES
1. General
The participants will receive accounts on WCL for the duration of the
tournament free of charge. Those accounts have names like
"CofC-Alabama". All participants must use the program "Dasher" to
connect to WCL while playing in the tournament. This program is
available free of charge at http://www.worldchesslive.com , left
column.
(NOTE: Dasher for ICC will NOT work)
In order to obtain their passwords and further instructions, players
should email arclight@worldchesslive.com, in time.
Players will be prompted to match their designated opponent at starting
time.
There is no need to issue any additional commands. The tournament will
be organized in WCL channel 227, using the semi-automated pairing robot
'pear'.
2. Playing games on WCL
During an internet chess game, it could happen that one player loses
his
connection to the server. In this case, the game is automatically
adjourned. The disconnected player should try to return to WCL as soon
as possible. When he logs back in, he and his opponent are notified of
the adjourned game. Both need to resume the game as soon as possible.
In
order to prevent games from not being adjourned, all players in the
tournament must have their “noescape” variables set to false.
WCL has a mechanism which compensates the clocks of both players for
internet latency. Details about this mechanism can be obtained by
typing
help timestamp on WCL.
Draw offers and draw claims may be made by clicking the Draw button
prior to making a move. The server does not give draws on repetition or
by applying the 50-moves rule automatically. The draw must be claimed
by
clicking the draw button before moving. There is no possibility to
claim
draw on insufficient losing chances. The ending King, Knight, Knight
against bare King is not called draw immediately, but must be played
out
50 moves, if not agreed. Please read:
http://www.worldchesslive.com/help/draw for how draws are handled by the WCL server. A game declared a draw
automatically by the WCL server stands. No appeal to the TD will be
entertained.
3. Miscellaneous rules
The WCL tournament directors may at their discretion make a ruling on a
particular game or eject a player from a tournament for any reason
including but not limited to: failure to show up on time or to start a
game on time, concern that the player's internet connection is not
reliable enough for the game to finish in a timely manner, suspicion of
chess computer use or suspicion that a player is receiving assistance.
Participants must supply their real name, full address of their playing
location and phone number. They agree that their real name is made
public during the tournament.
The games in the finals will be proctored by a person chosen by USCF
and
WCL.
Before the finals begin, the presence of the proctor at the playing
location will be verified before by the responsible WCL tournament
director. In order to achieve this, the following procedure will be
used:
1. The player logs into WCL under his account name.
2. The player lets the proctor use his computer and the proctor sends a
tell on WCL to the responsible WCL tournament director containing a
pre-agreed password.
3. The player takes over the computer again.
4. After the session is finished, the proctor again uses the players
computer and sends a tell on WCL to the responsible WCL tournament
director, containing a pre-agreed password in case everything was in
line with the rules.
In case a player is disqualified from the tournament, WCL
tournament
directors can, at their discretion, rule that the game of that player
in
the running round is lost for him, and won for his opponent. However,
results by that player in prior rounds will not be reverted.
WCL TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS:
Head TD:
Arclight (Chris Fitzgerald) Arclight@worldchesslive.com USCF "Local Tournament Director" Phone: 402-879-4115
APPENDIX
Division of states into Eastern and Western Conference:
Eastern Conference (Saturday, 12 April)
Zone 1.
1. Maine 2. New Hampshire 3. Vermont 4. Massachusetts 5. New York 6.
Connecticut 7. Rhode Island 8. New Jersey 9. Pennsylvania 10. Michigan
11. Ohio 12. Wisconsin 13. Illinois 14. Georgia
Zone 2.
1. Virginia 2. West Virginia 3. Delaware 4. Maryland 5. Kentucky 6.
North Carolina 7. Tennessee 8. Arkansas 9. Alabama 10. Mississippi 11.
Indiana 12. District of Columbia 13. Florida
Western Conference (Saturday, 12th April)
Zone 1
1. Alaska 2. Washington 3. Oregon 4. North-California 5. Idaho 6. South
Dakota 7. North Dakota 8. Nebraska 9. Montana 10. Wyoming 11. Minnesota
12. Iowa
Zone 2
1. New Mexico 2. South-California 3. Hawaii 4. Texas 5. Oklahoma 6.
Kansas 7. Colorado 8. Nevada 9. Arizona 10. Missouri 11. South Carolina
12. Louisiana 13. Utah
These rules subject to change at any time.
WCL in collaboration with USCF.
Good Luck from the WCL Tournament Team.