Your team plays another school's team. Your Board 1 plays their Board 1, and so on. So, you will find
out which school you are playing, and you will line up 1-5 against their team.
There are some rules you must know about
and be able to follow:
1--You must take notation (record the moves) of your game until either you or your opponent
has less than 5 minutes left on the clock.
2--You must be able to use a chess clock.
3--You must not speak to your opponent about any matter other than the few things that chess requires, such as "I offer
you a draw." It is NOT required to call "check." Touch-move, touch-take rules are enforced.
4--Electronic devices, including cell phones, MP3 players, etc. are not permitted in the tournament playing
area.
5--Any distractions whatsoever, including tapping pencils, audible sighing, etc. can cause you to be reprimanded or penalized
by the Tournament Director (TD). If you believe you opponent is distracting you from playing your best, you have the
right to pause the clock, raise your hand, and have the TD make a ruling.
6--In large sections, we use the Swiss System for pairings. Here's how that works:
Each team will be seeded going into the tournament. The basic rules for seeding can be found in the by-laws.
The Swiss System is not like basketball, where 1 plays 16 first. For some reason, the Swiss System divides the
field in half and puts the top half of both groups against each other.
So if we have 16 teams, it will look like this
1 will play 9
2 will play 10
3 will play 11
4 will play 12
5 will play 13
6 will play 14
7 will
play 15
8 will play 16
In the next round, it is possible that we could have three different score groups.
Let's say teams 1-5 and 7 all won their matches, but there was a draw between 6 and 14, and another draw between 8 and 16.
That
gives us three score groups: Teams that won, teams that drew, and teams that lost.
So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 all
won. They would be matched as follows:
1 will play 4
2 will play 5
3 will play 7
Now we come to
the group that drew their first match.
6 is supposed to play 14, but they already played, so they can't be paired again.
Now it is up to the TD to decide what to do. Most likely,
6 will play 16
8 will play 14
Now the teams that lost are paired:
9 will play 12
10 will play
13
11 will play 15.
You can see that, with the possibilities of wins, losses, and draws, the next round could have
as many as 5 different score groups. There could be teams that won both matches, teams with a win and a draw, teams
with one win (or two draws), teams with one draw, and teams with 2 losses.
If a score group has an uneven number of
teams, the TD usually has to move someone up from the next lower score group, or to move someone down from the next higher
score group. In that case, their seed doesn't matter, they go immediately to the bottom (or the top) of the group they
were moved into.
Also, if there is an odd number of teams, one team will get a BYE. We will try hard not to have an odd number
of teams. Our plan is to have one of the B teams move into the A division if necessary to give us an even number there.
This
whole system can be complicated, so if you don't understand your pairing at any time, please ask.
OK, so you are paired
and you take your places facing the other team's player at the same board as you. As I said earlier, your Board 1 plays
their Board 1, Board 2 plays Board 2, and so on. During the match, you must record your moves and use the clock.
In a previous e-mail, I explained some of the rules around choosing which sets to use, and choosing on what side of the board
the clock is placed.
When the match is over, shake hands with your opponent and circle the name of the winner (or if
there is no winner, circle DRAW) on the sheet at the end of the table. Then go to the TD table and report your result
there as well. Once you are finished, leave the playing area. Go out to the "skittles" room or follow whatever
instructions your coach has given you. Remember, there should not be talking, distracting shuffling of equipment, post-mortem
analysis, or so on in the tournament room.
The match is over when all five games are finished. Add up the points
you have scored, with a win on any board being worth 1 point, and a draw being worth a half, and see if you won the match
or not. Obviously, with five points possible, you need 3 points to win the match. Check at the TD table to be
certain that the result has been recorded correctly. The number of points you scored is important; it can be used to
break ties at the end of the tournament, so be certain the TD has the correct final score of your match.
When all the
rounds are over, there should be just one team left that has not yet lost or drawn a match. That team will be designated
the OHSCTA champion for 2006. However, it's possible that even after playing a number of rounds, there are still ties.
To find out how ties are broken, read the latest bylaws posted on this website.
Finally, we have determined the winners of the team trophies. But that's not all that happens. Our tournament,
also declares all-state awards for perfect scores.
Now it is finally over, and time to hit the road home. If you have stayed with me through this whole long message,
I hope you have a clearer picture of how the tournament works. If you have any questions, contact the current OHSCTA
Excecutive Director listed on the home page.
We hope to make this a fun and educational opportunity for everyone who attends.
