Intermediate - West Auckland Interschool Chess Championship
Contents
| Date | Monday 1 July 2024
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| Time | Start at 9.15am; Finish by 2.15pm
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| Venue | Marina View School, 99 Marina View Drive, West Harbour
There is an off-street car park opposite the school, with a pedestrian crossing to the school.
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| Teams
| 4 players, all in years 7 or 8, ranked in order of playing strength as best you can
There is no limit on the number of teams you may enter but see below under entries. You should put your 4 best players in your A team.
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| Cost | $95 per team being $80 entry fee and $15 NZCF Levy
Your school will be invoiced after the event. There is no GST
Let us know if money is an obstacle to your school participating
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| Time Control | Each player has 15 minutes, plus an additional 5 seconds per move
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Do not confirm your bus or van hire until your entry is confirmed. Entries close on 31 May and will be confirmed on 1 June. If you need to know earlier please contact me
Late entries will either be placed immediately or go on the wait-list.
40 team places are available. Entries will be approved in the following order:
- Every school gets one team entry guaranteed
- Places are then assigned equally to each school that enters more than one team
- Any remaining places go first to the host school, and then a place to each school in order that entries were received
Unplaced entries will go on a wait-list. Please notify us immediately if you will be withdrawing a team. We may invoice you for teams that withdraw after noon on 30 June.
Download a chess entry template
You will need your school PIN that has been emailed to you to complete your online entry, or you can use the link in the email sent to you. Home-schoolers should contact us to receive a PIN.
Enter your teams online. You can enter your teams, and enter student names later. You can amend your entry any time.
New in 2024: Your team can have a name. This may not be offensive or deceptive. So do not name your team "has a bye this round".
- There are six rounds. Teams are paired based on the results of the previous rounds (swiss or power-matching)
- The top placed school receives a trophy, and is invited to compete in the NZCF National Interschool Championship
- If 20 or more teams enter, an additional school is invited to the National Championships. If 30 or more teams enter, the top 3 placed schools are invited.
- Official Competition Rules from the NZCF
- Official Laws of Chess from FIDE
- This event is organised by the Waitakere Chess Club. If you want to improve your chess, this is the best chess club to join south of the Harbour Bridges. And local.
- Our thanks go to the Auckland Chess Association for their support
- Wayne McDougall FIDE National Instructor is the Chief Arbiter for this competition. And responsible for the forthright opinions in this document. Anything you like about this competition, the credit goes to Waitakere Chess Club and their supportive president Chris Joel. Any errors, problems and mistakes should be attributed to Wayne McDougall. Feel free to complain - that may result in improvement.
- Teams consist of 4 players plus one optional reserve
- We will accept a team of 3 players but it means your team automatically loses one game in each 4 game match
- No team of two or fewer players will be allowed to compete
- The 4 team members must be ranked (1-4) according to playing strength, as best as you can estimate
- The team stays in this same playing order throughout the competition
- This playing order is referred to as "board number". So the best player in the team is playing on "board number 1", and so on
- If you enter more than one team, then we ask you to do your best to rank teams by playing strength. We will try to pair teams of about the same strength to avoid mismatches and give a more enjoyable competition. And your top-ranked team has a better chance of placing even if they have one bad result. The lowest ranked team could still win the competition. But there's no advantage to trying to "game" the system - all you do is take away a possible chance to recover.
- You may choose your reserve to play before the start of any round
- The reserve will always play on board number 4
- If the player being dropped from your team in this round is on board number 4, then this is a straight swap
- If the player being dropped in on board then then your board 4 player moves up to the number 3 spot. Similarly, if your number 2 player is dropped then your three and four board players move up on space. And so on
- It is not much fun being the reserve who does not play. So schools typically pick one or more of the following strategies:
- If entering more than one team then the reserve for team A will typically be the board number one of team B. Typically only your last team will have a reserve. Or if you have two reserves you would assign the two weakest players as reserves for your last two teams
- Some schools just cycle between their board number 4 and reserve, especially if the are roughly equal in strength, so both board number 4 and the reserve play in 3 matches each
- If you consider your team is not competitive for winning a place, or that becomes apparent after losing the first two rounds, then schools might cycle through their entire team, dropping player 1, then 2, 3 and 4 in the last 4 rounds, allowing the reserve to play in 4 matches, and everyone else to play in 5
- A refinement of this is in consideration of board prizes. So you may not want to shuffle or move players who would otherwise be eligible for a board prize. Losing 1.5 points or more (one loss and one draw or worse) almost certainly means you will not win a board prize.
- And some reserves will accept their role to stay out of a team, if it means their team has a better chance of getting a medal (including them) or to allow a team member a chance to win a board prize (heroic)
- Sample invite letter to send to parents/caregivers - adjust the suggested fee per student to reflect any school contribution and your transport costs.
- You do not need to bring chess sets or experienced chess players as judges
- All that is required is to bring your chess team(s) and adult supervision (as required by your school. We do not provide supervision.
- You should bring warm clothing - a school jersey or jacket
- You must bring your own packed lunch - you cannot buy food
- No food in the playing venue. Only water is allowed in the playing venue, if you must, and water bottles must be on the floor and not on the playing tables
- The draw for each round depends on the results of the previous round. So a new round does not start until all the games in the previous round have been finished, been recorded and processed
- You should bring a quiet activity (cards, a book) and something to play outside (maybe a handball for a group). If you finish your game early you will have a long wait until the next round
- You may be paired against another team from your own school. You should do your best to win your games
- Basic Chess Strategy
- Chess Tips for Tournaments
- There are no badges to be won in this tournament
- When you finish your game, you should ideally leave the playing venue. There is a school playground available with some restrictions
- You must not talk in the playing area
- You must not talk or gesture or make facial expressions while watching other games. You must not talk to the players. Doing so may result in your team's loss of game,
Illegal Moves
Under the official rules of chess, your opponent may claim a win if you make two illegal moves. Touch-move violations are not illegal moves.However in interschool tournaments we play as good sports. We want the results to be based on playing ability and not technical rule breaches.
If your player makes an illegal move, then politely point it out, restart their clock, they take the move back and choose a different move. Touch-move still applies so if they can legally move the piece then they must do so.
If you cannot resolve this between yourselves, pause the clock and raise your hand. If they persistently make illegal moves or you think they are trying to gain an unfair advantage, raise your hand.
As arbiter I will forfeit the game for repeat offenders who are in a losing position, and for those seeking to gain an unfair advantage.
Time
In theory a chess game could last for days. In practice this is rarely a problem; students usually play too fast. But we do need to finish on time. So we will follow this protocol for the last 3 games being played in each round:
- No game will be ended unless all 3 are ended
- A player with a winning position that doesn't know to convert to a checkmate will be suggested as a draw
- An obvious winning position will be suggested as a win
- An apparent draw will be suggested as a draw
- If the games are not critical to the outcome of the tournament, an ending will be pushed for - this might be scoring as a win to both players
- A critical game that threatens the tournament schedule may be preserved to be run at the end of the tournament as a play-off if required to determine a result
- The official rules is that no spectators are allowed in the playing area. I will not enforce that unless it becomes necessary
- You must comply with the rules on phones, photos and health. You are encouraged to wear a mask. You are not permitted in the playing area if you are sick, including a persistent cough or runny nose
- Tea and coffee will be available
- The winning school receives an engraved trophy to hold until next year's competition
- The first, second and third placed team members (including reserves, even if the reserve has not played a game) each receive an engraved medal
- Players with an outstanding performance will receive a medal to commemorate their achievement
- All players will receive a certificate to record their participation and results
- These will be distributed to schools within a month of the end of the tournament
A board prize recognises that you are a good player that may not be in a good team. So if you win all your matches you could win a board prize even if your team doesn't receive any medals. This can be a problem when there are reserves. Let's say you win 5 out of 6 games on board 3, and then your number 1 player has a bye and you move up to board 2. You win, but that doesn't count as a win on board 3. We don't think that's fair. So we reward "outstanding performance" regardless of which board numbers you played on. That said, playing against board 2 player is harder; you are more likely to lose. So some schools won't use reserves in a way that upsets potential board prize winners.
You might be a reserve that only plays 3 games but wins all 3. We will recognise such a top performance on your certificate.
- Do not bring players who are obviously sick. Those with persistent coughs or runny noses will not be allowed to compete. We understand that this means you may not be able to field your strongest team. We are happy to discuss options.
- Masks are strongly encouraged. Players will be face to face for up to 3 hours. It is a high risk environment for respiratory diseases. We will do what we can to provide fresh air ventilation. The Chief Arbiter will be modelling mask wearing. Please bring your own masks, but masks will also be provided.
- Always wash your hands with soap and hot water before leaving a toilet or bathroom, regardless of what you have done in there or what you have touched.
- Phones are not allowed to be used in the playing area. This applies to both adults and students. Except adults may use their phones to take photos for the first 5 minutes of each round.
- Student phones should be switched off or on silent. Ideally they should be in school bags and not in pockets or on the body of the student while they are playing.
- Photos may only be taken in the first 5 minutes of each round, and during prizegiving
- Photos may be taken in accordance with New Zealand law in a public place
- Please let me know if there is a student player who does not wish to be photographed. If this is a preference, then I will encourage people to comply. If there is a sound reason (eg court action) then I will be as active as possible to prevent unwanted photography
Wayne McDougall coaches chess as an unpaid volunteer at many schools. My interest is not in promoting one school or one player, but to see all schools and players have the option to perform to their best.
Players I have taught don't like it when I make decisions on their games because they know I know they know the rules so they don't get the benefit of the doubt. :-)
If you have any concerns about me judging or assessing issues or games, please discuss with me and see the section on disputes
I do pride myself on being fair to all and have never had a problem - but you don't have to accept my word for that. If you are unhappy, challenge away. I'm happy to discuss.
Anything weird like a player apparently engaged in cheating - we would involve the adult supervising the team.
If you have any problems then feel free to discuss with me. I don't mind criticism or complains and I'm happy to explain and to try to make you happy.
If you aren't comfortable with that, there is a formal dispute process in the official rules: Official Competition Rules from the NZCF
And you could complain to Chris Joel - the fantastic president of the Waitakere Chess Club
But seriously, if you have any issues you'll probably get better and fast results from contacting Wayne McDougall directly: talking, texting or email.
- Full names and photos will be published by chess organisations in New Zealand. Students may receive a chess rating.
- Please let me know if there is a reason not to publish a student's full name or their photo
- Information I collect will only be used for the purposes of promoting chess. You have all rights to check and correct any information that I hold about you.