Hits: 25997

MCA’s Scholastic Team Policy

 

MCA’s scholastic team policy at ALL scholastic tournaments (exceptions below in red)

 

What Constitutes a Team?

All players on a team must attend the same school in the same building with the same administration.  A mix of ES, MS, and/or HS players from, say, a K-8 or K-12 school, any of whose various divisions (ES, MS, or HS) is housed in a separate building and/or is run by a separate administration, may NOT form a single team.   

Home-schooled players who reside in a single school district may form a team.  Alternatively, a home-schooled player may play for the team from the public school he or she opted out of attending. 

 

Which Players May Play for a Team? 

A player is considered to attend a school only if he or she physically attends classes at that school building and receives more than 50% of his or her core curricular instruction during those classes.

 

How Many Players’ Individual Scores Count Toward a Team’s Score?

Within all sections, a team's score is the sum of at least the top 2 scores and at most the top 4 scores by players from the same school.

 

How a Team May be Constituted within a Section

A school may enter an unlimited number of players in any/all sections. 

If a school has a large team in a section, it may subdivide into at most 2 teams of any configuration of players.  The players on those teams might be paired against each other, however, because the teams will be considered separate teams.  The players on the 2 teams (School Team A and School Team B) must be designated by the scheduled end of online registration (on Thursday at 7 PM); they may not be switched, after having been designated.  If a school subdivides into 2 teams, both teams may win a team trophy. 

 

Currently, MCA's team rules are identical to USCF's team rules, which are located in USCF's National Scholastic Chess Tournament Regulations and are posted at http://www.uschess.org/images/stories/scholastic_chess_resources/CurrentRegulations.

 

MCA’s scholastic team policy at Local Scholastic Tournaments & the MD Junior Open

In Varsity a team’s score is the sum of at most the top 2 scores.

 

MCA’s scholastic team policy at Mid-Atlantic Girls Chess Championship

In all sections a team's score is the sum of at most the top 3 scores.

 

MCA’s scholastic team policy at Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Team Championships

There is no limit on the number of teams a school may field in a section.

Board order on a team is determined by players’ USCF ratings, with higher-rated players seated above lower-rated players, and with all rated players seated above all unrated players.

Teams from the same school will not be paired against each other, unless there is no other way to pair the score group.  (This is an exception to the standard suspension of the team restriction for individual players from the same team with scores that are +2 or more, or -2 or more, at a combined individual/team tournament.)

 

MCA’s scholastic team policy at MD Scholastic Team Championships

       All players must attend a school in Maryland or be home-schooled in Maryland.

There is no limit on the number of teams a school may field in a section.

Board order on a team is determined by players’ USCF ratings, with higher-rated players seated above lower-rated players, and with all rated players seated above all unrated players.

Teams from the same school will not be paired against each other, unless there is no other way to pair the score group.  (This is an exception to the standard suspension of the team restriction for individual players from the same team with scores that are +2 or more, or -2 or more, at a combined individual/team tournament.)

 

MCA’s scholastic team policy at MD ES Chess Championships

MCA’s scholastic team policy at MD HS & MS Chess Championships

All players must attend a school in Maryland or be home-schooled in Maryland.

 

Except for tournaments that are specifically team tournaments, MCA scholastic tournaments are primarily individual tournaments and only secondarily team tournaments.  At MCA scholastic tournaments other than specifically team tournaments, we usually activate a team-restriction option, so that most players from the same team won’t play against each other in a section.  However, since most MCA scholastic tournaments are only concomitantly team tournaments, the paramount goal of the tournament is to determine the best individual players in each section.  Therefore, starting with Round 3, players from the same team might play against each other, if they are either near the top or near the bottom of their section—that is, if they have a plus-2 score (2-0 or 3-1) or a minus-2 score (0-2 or 1-3).  For example, if it’s Round 5 and there are only 2 players who are 4-0 and they attend the same school, they’ll be paired against each other (rather than against players who are 3-1), because we want the tournament to identify the best individual player in each section.  On the one hand, then, outliers (players near the top or bottom of their section) will not be pushed out of their score group to avoid playing against a teammate.  And on the other hand, inliers (players in the middle of their section) will rarely play against each other; however, occasionally it’s unavoidable because a single team comprises approximately 1/3rd  or more of a section’s players.

 

© 2012 John D. Rockefeller V

MCA Scholastic Director

[version 2: 1/28/2013]