5th Annual Mid-Atlantic Grade Chess Championships

Saturday 19 January 2019, 09:30am - 05:00pm

Contact tournaments@mdchess.com

Open to all K - 12 players from anywhere

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly High School) & Western High School
1400 W. Cold Spring Lane (off I-83)
or
4600 Falls Road (for local commuters east of Falls Rd.)
Baltimore, MD 21209
Skittles Rooms: Western HS's Cafeteria & Auditorium
Tournament Rooms: Poly HS's Cafeteria (adjoining Western HS's Cafeteria) & Room A-28 (older players only)

Recent History of the Tournament, Site, and/or Date

SECTIONS
Section & Grade	US-Chess Rating	Rounds	Time Control	Individual Prizes	Team Prizes
11^th & 12^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G35 d5	*	**
9^th & 10^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G35 d5	*	**
8^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G30 d5	*	**
7^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G30 d5	*	**
6^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G30 d5	*	**
5^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G25 d5	*	**
4^th	any rating or unrated	5SS	G25 d5	*	**
3^rd	any rating or unrated	5SS	G25 d5	*	**
2^nd	any rating or unrated	5SS	G25 d5	*	**
K & 1^st	any rating or unrated	5SS	G25 d5	*	**

SCHEDULE
8:15 - 9:00	Players, parents, & coaches settle in the skittles room(s) and then help set up boards & pieces in the tournament room(s).
9:00 - 9:10	Pairing notification: individual pairings texted & emailed; pairing sheets taped beneath section headings & beside wallcharts.
9:10 - 9:20	Players to their board in the tournament room(s). Parents & coaches are welcome.
9:20 - 9:30	Tournament announcements. Parents & coaches are welcome.
9:30	Round 1 begins for all sections. Parents & coaches return to the skittles room(s).
Scheduled Rounds
Section & Grade	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Awards Ceremony
9^th - 12^th	9:30	11:00	12:30	2:00	3:30	5:00 — or sooner ***
6^th - 8^th	9:30	10:45	12:00	1:15	2:30	3:45 — or sooner ***
3^rd - 5^th	9:30	10:30	11:30	12:30	1:30	2:30 — or sooner ***
K - 2^nd	9:30	10:15	11:00	11:45	12:30	1:15 — or sooner ***

LEGEND
#SS	# of rounds in which a player plays 1 game against an opponent determined by Swiss-system pairings (SS)
G#	Base time: # of minutes per game (G) each player has to complete all of the player's moves
d#	Delay time: # of seconds of delay (d) that elapse before a player's base time begins to elapse, when the player is on move
*	Trophies: top ≈ 25% of players or players with ≈ ≥70% of available points (3.5+/5, 2.8+/4)
**	Trophies: top ≈ 40% of teams or teams with ≈ ≥50% of available points (10+/20, 8+/16)—based on top (highest-finishing) 4 players
***	Each section's separate awards ceremony will begin ASAP after its final round has ended.

The individual & team winners (or co-winners) of each grade's section will be the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Grade Chess Champion for that grade.

Registration Fee for Tournament (extra for US-Chess membership)

To register for this tournament (starting 1 month beforehand), click on Register at bottom of page.
To register for any upcoming tournament run by MD Chess, click on View All Events at bottom of page.
If player's US-Chess membership will be current, then select 1^st option for Registration Type: Tournament Registration (player's US-Chess membership will be current / will not have expired).
If player will lack current US-Chess membership, then select 2^nd option for Registration Type: Tournament Registration & US-Chess Membership (new or renewal).
$20—Tuesday, 2019.01.15, if completed by 11:59 PM (Early)
$40—Thursday, 2019.01.17, if completed by 11:59 PM (Regular)
$60—Saturday, 2019.01.19, if completed by 8 AM (Last-Minute: ½-point bye possible in Round 1)
$80—Saturday, 2019.01.19, 8 - 9 AM (At-the-Door: if space is available; ½-point bye likely in Round 1)

This tournament is supported generously by the Baltimore Kids Chess League.

Radisson Hotel at Cross Keys is within walking distance (18 minutes) of the tournament site.

Registered Players & Wallcharts

Individuals (Attendees)—includes players registered currently (updated automatically)
After clicking on the link above, click on Attendees beneath a specific scholastic tournament. At the top of the page, enter into the Search bar the player's first or last name (but not both), or the purchaser's first or last name (but not both). Or, at the bottom of the page, change the # of players displayed to All ; sort by clicking on Player's Name, Purchaser's Name, etc.
Individuals (alphabetically)—includes players registered by 2019.01.18 02:10—177 players
Individuals (by section)—includes players registered by the date & time above
Teams (by section)—includes players registered by the date & time above

US-Chess Membership

To compete in this US-Chess-rated tournament, a player must have a US-Chess membership that is current (not yet expired).
If a player has ever been a US-Chess member, then the player has a permanent US-Chess ID # that must be entered during tournament registration: player's US-Chess ID # and membership expiration date.
If a player will lack a current US-Chess membership during the tournament, then select the 2^nd option for Registration Type during tournament registration: Tournament Registration & US-Chess Membership (new or renewal). (Until MD Chess processes purchases of US-Chess memberships, a new member's US-Chess ID # will be listed as TBD [To Be Determined ] in the wallcharts listed above. MD Chess might wait until the day of the tournament to process those purchases.)
During the tournament a player who lacks a current US-Chess membership is ineligible to play, will not be paired in any round, & will receive a 0-point bye in all rounds, until the player purchases a US-Chess membership, by filling out MD Chess's US-Chess-membership form in the Tournament Directors' room.

For Which Section Should a Player Register?

If a player is registered for a section for which the player is ineligible by grade, then MD Chess will take 1 of 2 steps.

Registering for the Tournament

Do Players Need to Bring Anything?

Players do not need to bring any equipment. MD Chess will provide all necessary supplies: boards, pieces, notation sheets (for recording moves), and pencils. (Players are encouraged to bring sharpened pencils with erasers, because MD Chess's pencils lack erasers and might have dull points.)
Players do not need to bring a clock; however, MD Chess encourages them to bring one. MD Chess recommends the DGT North American digital chess clock ($36). Players may not refuse to play with a clock, if either player brings a clock to the board, or if a tournament director (TD) puts a clock on a game. A game may be started without a clock, if neither player brings a clock to the board.
Which Electronic Devices (including Notation Devices) May a Player Bring to the Board?
Food (pizza, candy, soda, etc.) should be available for purchase at the tournament.

Playing at the Tournament

A player who forfeits a game for an illegitimate reason must pay a $20 fine before the player will be permitted to play in a future scholastic or open tournament organized by Maryland Chess or Baltimore Chess. Examples of an illegitimate forfeit include (but are not limited to) the following:
Why the $20 fine? Because the player will have been paired against an opponent who will have had to wait at the board for the player's base time (25-90 minutes) to expire, before having been declared a forfeit winner. See further :
Players must notate (record moves)—unless they are in grades K-2. Players in grades K-2 are exempt from the notation requirement. Tournament directors (TDs) will enforce the notation requirement only after a player's complaint that the player's opponent is not notating. Click here to learn how to notate (record chess moves). Notation affords several benefits: it helps to resolve disputes, discourages cheating, & enables players to improve their skills through post-game analysis.
Which Electronic Devices (including Notation Devices) May a Player Bring to the Board?
Tournament Announcements before Round 1
US Chess's Official Rules of Chess, 6^th Edition (2014)
US Chess's Official Rules of Chess, 6^th Edition (2014)—search for rules & terms in GoogleBooks
US Chess's Official Rules of Chess, 7^th Edition (2019) (AVAILABLE BY APRIL)
US Chess's Official Rules of Chess, 7^th Edition—search for rules & terms in the free download version 7.0 (2018) (comprised of only the 3 most consulted chapters)
US Chess's Rulebook Changes (updated annually)
US Chess's National Scholastic Chess Tournament Regulations 2018-2019 (Note that these regulations apply only to the 7+ scholastic tournaments run by US Chess. They do not apply automatically to scholastic tournaments run by MD Chess and are listed here only for purposes of comparison with MD Chess's Scholastic Variations from US Chess's Rules.)
MD Chess's Scholastic Variations from US Chess's Rules (2018.08.16)
Even when More Than 1 Player in a Section Can Achieve a Perfect Score, There Will Be No Major Variations; However, There Might Be Minor Variations. The following might be changed for any section, according to the number of players in the section: whether there are natural pairings (the norm at a Swiss-system tournament) or accelerated pairings in Rounds 1-2, and the number of trophies. In the rare instance of an exceptionally low turnout in a section, it might be merged with another section.
Procedures, Rules, and Etiquette for Players and Spectators at MD Chess's Scholastic Tournaments (some outdated)
Players, parents, and coaches with questions, concerns, or complaints during the tournament should speak with a tournament director (TD) on the tournament floor or in the TD Room, a back room also known as Chess Control.
Recommended Books about Tactics & Strategy & Great Moves: Learning Chess through History
Current Standings: Individuals & Teams (live results updated every 60 seconds)

Results of the Tournament

Final Standings: MD Chess's Crosstables (tied players in order of tiebreaks—TROPHY ORDER)
Final Standings: US Chess's Crosstables (tied players in order of subsequent unofficial US-Chess rating)
Trophies not picked up immediately at a section's awards ceremony will usually be awarded to the next-highest-finishing players or teams.
Trophies Awarded to Tied Players in Order of Tiebreaks—Not in Order of Subsequent Unofficial US-Chess Rating
How MD Chess Determines the Individual Winner of a Championship or Varsity Section, when There’s a Tie for 1^st Place
How to Find a Player’s New Unofficial/Unpublished US-Chess Rating after MD Chess's Scholastic Tournaments
How to Ask US Chess to Revise a Player's Name in Future Crosstables, Wallcharts, & Pairing Sheets
Photos of players taken by MD Chess's Photographer will be available for purchase at MD Chess's Photographer's website.

MD Chess's PROVISIONAL Scholastic-Tournament Calendar 2018-2019

The tournament-announcement page of a tournament listed in MD Chess's PROVISIONAL Scholastic Tournament Calendar 2018-2019 might not yet appear at the top of MD Chess's home page, because that tournament is so many months in the future.
Nonetheless, one can access that tournament-announcement page by alternate means:

On the lower, left side of MD Chess's home page, click on MD Chess's calendar.
Click on By Month (at the top of the page) to display all tournaments within a month.
Click on All Categories (at the bottom of the page) to display all types of tournaments (major & local scholastic tournaments, major & local open tournaments)—as well as chess camps.
Navigate to specific tournaments.

MD Chess's Social-Media Profiles

If the tournament were to be rescheduled or cancelled, then MD Chess would contact you (by email and/or text) and post an announcement at the top of this tournament-announcement page. The tournament will proceed as planned, if MD Chess neither contacts you, nor posts an announcement about a rescheduling or cancellation. Please do not contact MD Chess about a site's hypothetical closing because of dangerous weather, etc. A site closing would be announced separately by the public school's city or county administration, the private school, etc. If the tournament were to be rescheduled, then MD Chess would issue a refund, if a player were to withdraw from the rescheduled tournament. If the tournament were to be cancelled, then MD Chess would automatically issue a refund to all players within 1-2 weeks; there would be no need to inform MD Chess of a player's withdrawal from a cancelled tournament.

For more tournament information, email Maryland Chess at tournaments@mdchess.com.

Location Poly & Western HSs

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