New
York State Scholastics:
Answers
To Frequently Asked Questions (Updated 3/4/2024)
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 Restaurant Pre-Function Area 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. Six of 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.
Two
sections, the Middle School Championship and K-8 Under 1600 Section will play
in the Saratoga Music Hall, 1½ blocks south of the Convention Center (a 5
minute walk on Broadway) at 474 Broadway, in the Saratoga Springs City Hall
Building. This space became available
after entries in the City Center and the Hilton had closed due to capacity
limitations (this happened well before even the first advance entry deadline
had been reached). Over 180 players had
requested to be placed on the Waiting List after that point. By using this additional playing hall, these
players were now able to participate in the State Championship. More details will be posted about this
additional location and the What’sApp group to be used to notify group members
when players’ games have finished.
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/2024
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 9/1/05 in grades 9-12 in the High School Championship
qualifies for the Denker National Tournament of State High School Champions at
the 2024 U.S. Open in Norfolk, Virginia; the top-scoring New York player in grades
6-8, born after 9/1/09, 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 9/1/12, of the Elementary Championship qualifies for the
Rockefeller National Tournament of Grade K-5 Champions, also at the 2024 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 or the
Philadelphia International receive a $100 discount on the World Open entry fee
(some Continental Chess tournaments also have minimum rating requirements for
their top sections as well).
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, in previous years we ran a special tournament for you! Unfortunately, this year with our larger
number of players, we may not be able to hold this event. It would be a separate, one-day tournament,
called the
Parents and Friends Tournament.
It would begin at 10:30 am EDT Sunday (register at Chess Control in the
Hilton between 9:30 – 10:15 am). This
event would be 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 not be held this
year. Last year it was in the City Center, and was limited to 10
players. In the unlikely event that we
are able to actually have this event this year, this will be announced at Chess
Control at the Hilton. 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 56th edition!