New York State Scholastics:
Answers To Frequently Asked Questions (Updated 3/8/2023)
1. Where do I check-in? You don’t need to check in if you’ve already
registered and paid the entry fee. You
already paid, so we expect you to be here by 11:00 am! It’s actually a good idea to arrive about 20
minutes or so before your game begins, especially for your first game, so you
can get ready and set to play your game.
If you have not yet paid or registered, or if your USCF membership is
not current, or if you are in the wrong
section, on the other hand, you should do that before
10:00 am (on-site registrations may not be available this year)!
2. What time is the next round?
In all sections, the games begin Saturday at 11:00 am, 2:00
pm and 5:00 pm and Sunday (Eastern Daylight Time) at 9:00 am, 12:00 Noon and 3:00 pm.
3. Do we have to use clocks? Yes, if either player has one. If neither player can get a clock, they can
start their game without one. However,
if their game goes too long, we may need to find a clock to put on the game,
with both players having a limited time to finish the game at that point (for
example, five minutes each). As we advertised in advance, the tournament does
not supply clocks.
4. What are the correct clock settings? The clocks should be set for one hour each
player, with a 10-second time delay for each move for each player. If you have
a clock without a time delay, set it the same as above, except that you don’t
set a delay if the clock doesn’t have a delay.
5. How long do the games last? The games could last up to two hours, or even
a bit more if both players take all their time.
Generally, the older and more experienced the players are, the longer
the games take. Probably the K-1 games
will be done pretty quickly, and the High School games will take a lot longer.
6. Where do I wait while the players are playing
their games?
Some schools with lots of players have team rooms. These team room assignments should be posted
at the hotel and maybe on the tournament website as well. If you don’t have a school team room, then
the waiting areas would be in the M1 Room (1st Floor) of the Saratoga Springs City Center
and also in the Canfield/Carousel Room at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel as well.
7. Where are the games played? The High School sections will play in the Excelsior Ballroom
next to the Courtyard
Marriott Hotel (11
Excelsior Avenue), about
a 10 minute walk from the Hilton (walk to the end of the Hilton Hotel’s
parking lot and then
continue
north on Excelsior Avenue, past the Olde Bryan Inn and onto the Courtyard Hotel
and the Excelsior Ballroom on the left).
The K-3 Under 800, K1 Championship and K1 Under 400 Sections will be in
the Saratoga Ballroom of the Saratoga
Hilton Hotel. All the
other sections will be in the Main Hall D (1st floor) of the Saratoga Springs City Center, adjacent to the Saratoga Hilton via
an indoor walkway, and in the adjacent Salon B Room (1st Floor) of the Saratoga Springs City Center.
8. When and where are the trophies, medals
and/or plaques awarded?
The Awards Ceremonies are scheduled
to begin at 5:30 pm Sunday, as
previously advertised. Most of the Awards Ceremonies should take place in the
same general areas as the games, because the trophies will already be in the
rooms. However, if an Awards Ceremony is
in a different room we will post this outside the rooms and announce it as
well. Players who win an award but do
not stay to receive it will need to contact Crown Trophy Company in Brooklyn at 718-769-4112 (ask for Larry
Brown) to make arrangements to purchase a replacement trophy (which can
also be engraved with the winner’s name) and pay for the shipping.
9. How do I know whom I should play? The pairings should be posted a few minutes
before each game, in the foyers outside the entrances to the playing rooms
above. Look for your name posted on the
yellow pairing sheets, check to see which Board Number you have been assigned
(the Board Numbers are on the far left-hand side of the yellow sheet), and
check if you are supposed to play White or Black. MAKE
SURE YOU ALSO CHECK YOUR OPPONENT’S NAME TOO— we don’t want you playing the wrong
person or with the wrong colors! If possible, we will try to text your
pairings (if you registered online and selected the texting pairings
option) and post them on our website.
10. What if I
can’t play all the games? In that
case we need to know that! We expect
that you will play all your games, and if you don’t tell us otherwise ahead of
time, you will get paired against somebody and then end up losing your game on
forfeit. We don’t want that. If you know ahead of time that you can’t
play, we can give you half-point byes (unrated draws) for up to two such
unplayed games. However, if you want
half-point byes, you need to request them before Round 2 (2:00 pm Saturday) and
then after Round 2 starts you cannot take them away. If you need to request half-point byes
because you won’t be able to play the first Round or because you have to miss
both Round 1 and Round 2, we need to know that in advance, before you get to
the hotel. If you want to request and
commit to taking byes beginning in Round 3, we don’t want to know this until
after you get to the hotel, in case you change your mind in the meantime (but
you still have to commit to the byes before Round 2 in any case). If it’s too late for half-point byes, but you
are not going to come to the next game, then we still need to know that. WE DON’T WANT YOU TO GET PAIRED IF YOU ARE
NOT GOING TO PLAY AND THEN LOSE BY FORFEIT!
11.
Who gets an award? Information about the
various awards can be found at this link:
Click
Here For Information About Awards (Awards Ceremony Scheduled For 5:30 PM
EDT Sunday)
This link is also posted at the
tournament website at: https://chessevents.com/event/nyscholastics/2023
You can only win one trophy, the bigger one (the place
trophy takes precedence over the “class” trophies (which are restricted to
players within certain rating classes), which is also why the place trophies
are supposed to be bigger than the class trophies. The same principle also applies to plaques
(restrictions such as these depend on the exact details of the awards). The five top-scoring school teams win a
trophy too. Please check to make sure
that you are listed under your correct school (NOT your Chess Club), otherwise
your school’s team score may not be counted correctly. You need to have at least two players from
the SAME school playing in the same section to count as a team.
12.
How many points do I need to get an award?! 5½ points is a pretty good bet (six points
even better)! Otherwise you need to
check to see how the other players in your section are doing and see who could
get more points.
In
the High School (K-12) sections, there are also Mixed Doubles Bonus prizes as
well! A Mixed Doubles Team is a special
kind of team: only two players, one male
and one female, and they don’t have to play in the same section or even attend
the same school. But the average team
rating of both Mixed Doubles teammates must be Under 2200. Both players on the five top-scoring Mixed
Doubles teams receive a chess set labeled with their Mixed Doubles prize! Register as a Mixed Doubles team on-site
only, before both players begin Round 3 and it does not cost anything extra!
13.
What about the other free entry prizes?
The top-scoring New York player born after 9/1/04 in
grades 9-12 in the High School Championship qualifies for the Denker National
Tournament of State High School Champions at the 2023 U.S. Open in Grand
Rapids, Michigan; the top-scoring New York player in grades 6-8, born after
9/1/08, in the Middle School Championship qualifies for the Barber National
Tournament of State Middle School Champions, and the top-scoring New York
player in grades K-5, born after 9/1/11, of
the Elementary Championship qualifies for the Rockefeller National
Tournament of Grade K-5 Champions, also at the 2023 U.S. Open! First
place individual (in any state) in the Championship Sections also wins 8 months
of free or reduced entry fees to specified Continental Chess non-youth tournaments
with all prizes 100% guaranteed, 6 months to 2nd and 4 months to 3rd
and 4th! Individual
free/reduced entry prizes in the other sections are 6 months to 1st,
4 months to 2nd and 3 months to 3rd and 4th! NY players who score 6-0 receive a 2-month bonus
on their prize period! Prizewinners
whose prize period includes the World Open receive a $100 discount on the World
Open entry fee. Players whose official Online
Regular Rating is more than 100 points over the section maximum cannot win a
First Place individual trophy or any free entry prizes.
14.
There must be more rules? Like “Touch
Move,” “en passant,” etc.? Of course! The rules
we have posted here and on our website are used for this
tournament. Other rules also apply, and
they are found in the Official US Chess Federation Rulebook (which might even
be on sale at the tournament). We have a
number of National Tournament Directors at this event (that’s the highest level
recognized by the US Chess Federation, BTW), and they have a lot of experience
dealing with a lot of strange things which sometimes happen in these
tournaments.
15.
How are the tiebreaks calculated? By computer!
The tiebreak
rules are somewhat complicated, and they are listed in the Parents’
And Coaches’ Guide at the tournament and also posted on our
website. The trophies and plaques and
medals and free entries are awarded using the players’ final standings, using
tiebreaks to break ties, if necessary.
However, ONLY for players who
score 6-0, we have a special speed playoff, because tiebreaks do not work for
players who have perfect 6-0 scores.
16.
How are the pairings made?
By computer (hopefully)! General
pairing explanations are found in the Parents’
and Coaches’ Guide (a more detailed explanation is found in the USCF
Rulebook).
17.
How many rating points do I get? You should wait until Monday and check the
USCF’s website at: http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrLst.php
NOTE:
The standings listed on the USCF website DO NOT INCLUDE ANY
TIEBREAKS! They are often listed in
a different order than the order in which we display the awards,
because our standings include the correct tiebreaks (hopefully)!
18. Why is my child in a different section
than I originally selected? This could be for a number of
reasons.
We use the USCF
Official March Rating Supplement, and his/her official March published
rating may have been too high for the section originally requested. In
that case, the player is moved up to the next highest section for the player's
grade level. If you would like a different section, (assuming the player
is also eligible by grade), please email us this information before it is too
late to director@chess.us (list the
player's name, USCF ID and which section you are seeking to enter).
The player
may have selected a grade which is too high for the section. In that case
we would move him up to the next lowest section above that grade.
The
player's coach may have switched the player for other reasons. In that
case, someone has to confirm which eligible section to use.
19.
Where do I get food?
The City Center has a special food concession prepared for the Chess
Tournament and the Hilton and the Courtyard Marriott have premade items for
sale as well. The hotels do not wish outside food being brought into the
meeting rooms or public areas, so please don’t get yourself (and us) in
trouble!
21. What if I get nervous or bored
while my kid is playing?
In that case, we are hoping to have a special tournament for
you! It’s a separate, one-day
tournament, called the
Parents and Friends Tournament.
It begins at 10:30 am EDT Sunday (register at Chess Control in the
Hilton between 9:30 – 10:15 am). This
event is four games, 30 minutes + 5-second delay each player, rated by the US
Chess Federation (USCF membership is required therefore). The entry fee is only $30, but parents,
coaches or those affiliated with the NY State Scholastics (as well as alumni
from previous years) get a $10 discount!
Medals are awarded to the 3 top-scorers!
The Parents and Friends game
times are 10:30 am, 12:00, 1:30 and
3:00 pm Sunday (two half-point byes are available if you lock them in by
12:00 pm). You have to supply your own
set and clock! NOTE: This tournament will probably be held in the City Center, and may be limited to 10
players. If you have to seat your
child for his or her games on Sunday, you might end up being late for your own
tournament game and may find that you have used up time on your clock in so
doing.
22.
Is there anything else? Yes!
We are hosting a New York State Chess Association (NYSCA) Meeting
and Open House on Sunday
at 9:30 am EDT, in the Wedge Room of the City Center (with limited servings of coffee/tea and
pastries). Here is your chance to provide feedback on the tournament and find
out more about the New York State Chess Association!
MORE
QUESTIONS?? Check
our websites at www.chesstour.com and www.chessevents.com for more
information!
Thank you for
playing in and supporting one of the US
Chess Federation’s
Longest-running
scholastic chess tournaments, now in its 55th edition!