The Everything Chess Basics Book (60 page)

What happens at a chess tournament?
Chess players get together at chess tournaments to meet other chess players and enjoy several games of chess in a structured and sometimes competitive environment. Most chess tournaments are not elimination tournaments, so expect to play all of the scheduled rounds. Between scheduled tournament games, players eat, socialize, play casual (nontournament) chess games, or enjoy other activities. It is not uncommon for a game of soccer, tag, or basketball to spontaneously develop between the scheduled rounds of a scholastic chess tournament.

When is my child ready to play in a chess
tournament?
Ask yourself two questions. Does my child know all the rules of the game? Does my child enjoy playing chess? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then your child is probably ready to play in a chess tournament. Don’t worry about how many games your child will win or lose. The goals for your child’s first tournament should be to have fun playing chess and to make some new friends. Every child who enters his or her first tournament with these goals in mind will be a winner, no matter how many chess games are won or lost. You can find information about upcoming tournaments in the tournament life section of
Chess Life.

What should I bring to a chess tournament?
You should bring your own chess set and board, since many chess tournament organizers do not provide boards and sets. You should bring a chess clock if you own one. We also recommended that your child have a pen or pencil and his or her own personal chess scorebook to keep a record of the games. At most large tournaments, there will be a concession area where you can purchase these supplies. It’s a good idea to bring some snack food and a favorite quiet toy such as a coloring book or a handheld electronic game. A tournament is always more fun when your favorite food is available, and that toy may come in very handy during the downtime between tournament games.

What is the Swiss system?
The Swiss system is the most common system used for making pairings at chess tournaments. Swiss-system pairings match players against other players who have a similar or identical score. For example: in round two, players who won in round one are paired against other winners, and players who lost in round one are paired against other players who lost their first game. At the beginning of a tournament, there may be many mismatches. However, in the later rounds of a Swiss-system tournament, players often face opponents who are at approximately the same level of ability. One of the results of the Swiss system is that many players end the tournament with a roughly even score, such as 2 points out of four games.

What is a
½-point bye?
If you know that you will not be able to play in one of the scheduled rounds of a tournament, you may be allowed to take a ½-point
bye. A player who has a
½ point for the unplayed round. You will only receive a ½-point bye if you request it in advance. Some tournament organizers place restrictions on the number of ½-point byes that a player may take, and tournament advertising will often mention these restrictions.

What is a full-point bye?
If there are an odd number of players in a section of a tournament, then one of the players in that section will not have an opponent. If you are not able to play in a round of a tournament because you are the odd man out, you will receive a full-point bye. When it is necessary to award a full-point bye, the full-point bye is usually awarded to the lowest-rated player in the lowest score group who has not yet received a bye. The recipient of the full-point bye gets a full point without playing a game.

What is
blitz
?
Blitz chess is chess that is played very quickly. In a blitz game a chess clock is used and each player has a small amount of time (often five minutes) to complete the game. In order to win a blitz game, you must checkmate your opponent before you run out of time. Since there is not much time in a blitz game, blitz players must be thoroughly familiar with the rules of chess and have enough chess-playing experience to quickly make good chess decisions. The advantage to playing blitz is that many games can be played in a relatively short period of time.

What is
bughouse
?
Bughouse is a chess variant that is very popular with young players. Bughouse is a chess partnership. When playing bughouse, you play chess against an opponent, and your partner plays against your opponent’s partner. When you capture a piece, you give it to your partner. When your partner captures a piece, he or she gives it to you. When it is your turn to move you may place a captured piece on the board instead of making a normal chess move. To find a complete set of bughouse rules, visit
www.kcrcc.org/supernationals
, click on “side events,” click on “bughouse,” and then follow the “rules” link.

What is
skittles
?
Skittles is the word that chess tournament Q players use for the casual games that they play before or after their serious tournament games. Many tournaments have a skittles area or a skittles room where players can go for skittles or analysis. It is very bad chess etiquette to play skittles games in the main playing hall of a tournament.