Two, Two, Two Events in One

There is no confirmation that the Doublemint twins will be in attendance, but you never know who will show up for these events! Registrations are flowing in for December 3rd competitions.

First Saturday in December will bring two events to the friendly confines of DeKalb Chess Club's base of operations: the hospitable First Congregational Church.

The FCC is a marvel of the community, providing us with a comfortable base of operations for our Monday casual play and, when they're not hosting lavish weddings on Saturdays, we are lucky enough to turn the church into tournament central (well, part of it, at least). The Fellowship Hall provides some excellent playing conditions.

Saturday, December 3rd will feature both a US Chess Federation-rated event and a tournament for up and coming juniors. Registration for both events kicks off at 9am to 9:30am during which players are also invited to warm up with casual game play or ponder some last-minute analysis of the latest opening line.

Tournament play will get going around 9:45 for both groups. Both events will feature three rounds of play. The USCF event features Game/65 + 5 which means both players get 65 minutes to complete their moves PLUS an extra five seconds for each move. You'd be amazed at how much some players can squeeze out of that extra 5 second boost. This event will include a lunch break over the noon hour and should run until 5:30pm.

For the juniors event, the younger kids will start off without a clock but the tournament director reserves the right to place one at the board if a game is starting to languish (if you know what I mean). The older kids will enjoy 30 minutes to make all moves for a particular game (each side). Sections will be developed based upon registration, but it's hoped we'll have enough for K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and maybe even 9-12. This event should wrap up by 12:45 followed by a brief awards ceremony.

The USCF event should feature some excellent competition. Sections will be developed upon registration confirmation, but preliminarily, we're looking at an open section and a section for players rated Under 1600. The elite Open Section is generally reserved for players in the top one-sixth of all active players (84th percentile), no small feat.

USCF membership is required for the rated event. No such requirement for the junior event, although USCF rules will generally be followed. This means touch move and quiet decorum during game play. As a coach, I highly recommend taking notation so a player might reconstruct a game and learn from the experience, but writing down ones moves is not required for the juniors event.

For the USCF event, cash prizes will be awarded as scheduled elsewhere on this site. Those prizes seem to spark the interest of some participants, who knows why. In addition to the section winners, the top-points earners Under 1800 and Under 1400 will also be eligible for monetary prizes, see "Payouts" tab for complete details.

Observers are welcome but should use hushed tones as they walk among the games. Nothing portrays excitement like a pawn advancing to the sixth or seventh rank 45 moves into a two-hour game. You just have to see it to believe it!

Those interested in playing should contract registration@dekalbchess.com but on-site registrations are accepted as well.