Starting a Chess Tournament – 2

Additional comments that are appropriate for Tournament Directors in the opening announcements include:

Describe the expectations of the use of the Match Results Form.  Each player should write their names on the line associated with the color of the pieces they are playing.  One player should write in the board number and the round number.  At the end of the game, one player should circle the entry for the correct outcome of the game.  Then both players should raise their hands to alert a TD.  The TD should verify all entries on the form, especially the names related to the correct color of pieces, which I find is the most common error in a scholastic tournament.  I prefer that both players then take their Match Results Form sheet to a Results Table, but on occasion, I have the TDs collect the forms and turn them in later.

Give your rules on players leaving their board during play.  Bathroom visits are allowed as long the players don’t talk to anyone outside the tournament room.  I also allow the players to get up and walk around the room to look at the play on other boards with the caveat that they do not make eye contact with any other players – that they should look at the games of their teammates from behind that player.

Be sure that all players understand that they are to play quietly.  Comments are allowed between the players at a board to point out illegal moves, etc, but no comments should be made to any other player in the room during a round.

Starting a Chess Tournament – 1

In my book on page 36, I mention the activities that the tournament host and the Tournament Director will perform.  I would like to elaborate on the TD duties.

In my opinion, scholastic tournaments run more smoothly if the parents and coaches are not in the tournament room.  In my announcement remarks, I make it clear that all parents and coaches are welcome to be in the tournament room to assist their players find their seats at the proper board and on the correct side of that board.  They can also take pictures of the players at that time.  Once I see that most players are at their boards, I announce to the room that final pictures most be taken and everyone except the players should leave the room so we can get the round started. 

I ask that there be no food or drinks, except water, in the tournament room.  In most scholastic tournaments, the tournament room is the school’s gymnasium and the host’s are concerned about spilled drinks or sticky items getting on the floor.  Another thought on this is that at some tournaments the players come from different backgrounds so the concept of food (i.e. odors & wrappers) in the room will vary widely.  And the responsibility of the players picking up after themselves can also be an issue.

Finally, try to get the players to expect a fun experience during the day; we want them to enjoy playing the game of chess.

Chess in Education

I am often asked for my thoughts on the value of chess relating to the improvement in a student’s learning abilities.  Since I’m not an education professional, I don’t try to address this issue; many people in the educational field have tried to tie chess and education together without the success most other educators would appreciate.  Mr. Maurice Ashley, in his excellent book Chess for Success, gives many examples of the value teaching professionals put on chess in their schools.

Here are some others I found on the Internet:
* Dr. Fred Loveland, superintendent of the Panama City schools, voiced his opinion: “Chess has taught my students more than any other subject.”
* “It’s the finest thing that ever happened to this school. …chess makes a difference…what it has done for these children is simply beyond anything that I can describe.”
* A guidance counselor uses chess “to help raise the self-esteem and higher order thinking skills for young students, particularly those at risk.”

If anyone has similar experiences with chess, I would love to hear your story.

How Many Trophies?

When you set up a chess tournament, how many trophies should you plan to award?  This is always a good question.  I have attended many tournaments here in Texas and the number of trophies awarded has varied greatly between them.  Local tournaments usually present trophies to the first 3 to 5 winners in each section.  At the State tournament there are often trophies for the top 15 players, and those trophies are sometimes as tall as the players winning them.

My thought is that the trophy won should represent the effort required to win it.  At local tournaments there may only be 50 to 100 players and the competition isn’t necessarily as difficult as that seen at a State tournament.  Also, State tournaments will often have several hundred players in each section while the local tournaments may only have 8 or 10 players in some sections.

Other awards can be given to the participants, such as medals and ribbons.  At St. Vincent’s we typically give out trophies to the first three places and medals to all players who won half of their matches.  All other players get a ribbon for their efforts.  This way, each winner can be proud to show their award because it represents the effort they expended to win it.

Non-rated scholastic chess tournaments

Here in North Texas, we have many scholastic chess tournaments.  Some are rated, meaning the results are submitted to the US Chess Federation for rating, and some are non-rated, meaning the results do not get submitted.  Each chess tournament is posted as being one or the other, or a combination of both types. 

Entry fees for the rated tournaments are slightly higher to cover the cost of a US Chess Federation Certified Tournament Director and the rating fees the USCF charges to do the ratings.  Also, each player in a rated tournament must be a member of the USCF, which is an additional cost to the player.  Non-rated tournaments usually pay little or nothing to the Tournament Director and they do not have rating fees.

Is one type of tournament better than the other?  Well, that depends on the goals of your chess program.  Beginning programs, or programs composed of mostly beginning players, might benefit from the non-rated tournaments.  The competition will not be as difficult and the Tournament Director may be more lenient on the players.  Beginning players, or their parents, may not want to pay for USCF memberships until they see how much interest there is in chess for the longer term.  (The USCF does have some unadvertised rules that allow some players to play in a rated tournament without paying for memberships at the first tournaments.)  Additionally in non-rated tournaments, the players are usually grouped by school grades and not skill levels, so the competition will be more erratic.

I encourage my players to play in rated tournaments.  These tournaments run more smoothly, the competition is more stable, and the players can watch the USCF website to see how their skills are progressing compared to their fellow players.

Again, this is how chess tournaments are organized in this area.  Other areas do organize their tournaments differently, so check out the protocols where you live.

Enjoying the game

Each week I play one or two games of chess with some friends during lunch or a morning break, usually at a local restaurant or coffeehouse.  After the game we sometimes talk about how the game progressed, often laughing at a blunder or two we each made.  We don’t think about our USCF rating as we play a game, or try to win at all costs, we just enjoy the mental challenge each game presents.

Over time, I have played with many different people, at a chess club or with an acquaintance when visiting a foreign country.  I have been fortunate to have had opponents who also enjoyed playing the game for the fun of playing.  We didn’t worry about the outcome as we played, just gave it our best effort and accepted the result. 

This is the type of appreciation of the game that I try to instill in my players.  Most children don’t care about their USCF rating.  They want to learn how to play this complex game well enough so that others will respect them for their ability to give most other players a good game, regardless of the outcome.  And, yes, there are the extra benefits of chess play, like improving the child’s mental and social capabilities.  But none of that matters if the players don’t enjoy playing the game.

It’s about the children

I’m often asked why I spend so much time with scholastic chess since I don’t have any children or grandchildren playing the game.  My reason is that I believe that children who play the game are better citizens, the kind of people I want to be around.  I have met very few people who are chess players that I didn’t like, so my goal is to have more children learn to play chess and become that type of people. 

A part of my teaching of chess has to do with the social aspect of the game.  I encourage the children to enjoy playing the game and to show it.  We are usually quiet while trying to think of the next move, but talking about the game as it progresses improves our understanding of the game. Then discussing the game after it ends helps us be better players and to get to know each other better.

Yes, learning to play chess has many positive aspects for the children. But I believe that the socializing one will have the greatest benefit for them.  It will make them into people that other people like to be around.