Mike Gosselin of the Waltham Chess Club was asked to tell us about the format they use for their Club Championships. Below is a copy of the email and document he sent me.

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Attached is our proposed format for the Waltham Chess Club championship. This is the format being used to determine the 1998 club champion.

When I belonged to the Wachusett Chess Club, we had five qualifying sections. Let's assume that there were 40 players. They would be seeded into the five sections as such:

Section A B C D E

------- -- -- -- -- --

1 2 3 4 5

10 9 8 7 6

11 12 13 14 15

20 19 18 17 16

21 22 23 24 25

30 29 28 27 26

31 31 33 34 35

40 39 38 37 36

Each section would be 7-RR, and the top two finishers in each section would qualify for the championship event, which was a 9-RR. All others would then play in more sections in a 7-RR event, grouped by ratings.

This ran for the entire months of February, March, April, and May. Of course, there was no need for us to pay rent, since the site was free to club members (all of us had to join the St. Joseph's Club, which was cool because after chess club we could go downstairs and play pool afterwards).

I think our event has the advantage of running for less time, and it gives the top players exactly three weeks off to prepare as they see fit. They can still come to club, but they won't (or at least shouldn't) play in the main event, and also give people who couldn't join early (students, transients, and cheap bastards) a chance to compete for the championship.

Incidentally, all players in the qualifier must be club members, and the club dues is incorporated into the entry fee. This is the upside of having the membership expire on 1/31; when they join, it's only for four months.

Waltham Chess Club Championship

The Waltham Chess Club Championship is an annual event, reestablished in 1998. Only club members may compete for the title of club champion. The championship is an eight-player round-robin tournament, held in November and December of each year.

Eligibility

Only Waltham Chess Club members who have joined before August 1 of the current year may receive an invitation to play. Anyone is eligible to play in the qualifying tournaments, but must join the Waltham Chess Club.

Qualification

There are three ways to qualify for the club championship:

1. The six players with the highest aggregate rating for that year receive invitations to participate. The next four players with the highest aggregate rating receive invitations as alternates, and are given priority in terms of their aggregate rating, in the event that one or more of the six invitees declines the invitation. See below for calculation of aggregate ratings.

2. The winner of the qualifying tournament, held in October, receives a seed into the championship.

3. The winner of the qualifying junior tournament, held in October, receives a seed into the championship.

Aggregate Ratings

Aggregate ratings, used to qualify for the club championship, will be calculate as the sum of:

· 50% of the rating listed in the USCF Annual Rating List for that year;

· 40% of the rating listed in the USCF June Rating Supplement for that year; and

· 10% of the rating listed in the USCF August Rating Supplement for that year.

In cases where there is no listed rating for a particular supplement, aggregate ratings will be calculated using the last active rating.

Qualifying Tournaments

The Waltham Chess Club will run two qualifying tournaments to seed two players into the club championship. These tournaments are during the month of October. The two tournaments are:

· Open -- open to all players; and

· Junior -- open only to players who will not have reached the age of 18 by the end of the calendar year.

Format for both sections should allow all players a chance to qualify for the championship event. Thus, Swiss system tournaments are the preferred style for the qualifying tournaments.

Entrants for both qualifying tournaments must be Waltham Chess Club members in good standing, or join the club at the time of registration.

Tiebreak Methods

The following tiebreak methods will determine qualifiers and winners of the championship events:

· In the case where two qualifiers have the same aggregate rating, the player with the higher current rating will receive priority.

· In the case where two players tie for first in a qualifying tournament, the two players will play a non-rated playoff game at the time control of G/15. The player with the black pieces receives draw odds to qualify for the championship. Players will determine colors for the playoff game by lot, unless the two players met in the qualifier, in which case colors for the playoff game are reversed from their previous game.

· In the case where three or more players tie for first in a qualifying tournament, suitable tiebreak methods, as approved by the US Chess Federation, will determine the qualifier. The tournament director has sole discretion as to the tiebreak methods used for each qualifying tournament, but the director must clearly list and post the tiebreak methods before the start of the tournament.

· In the case where two players tie for first in the championship, the two players will be declared co-champions, and will divide equally the cash and cash-equivalent prizes. The two players will also receive equivalent non-cash prizes, such as trophies.

· In the case where three or more players tie for first in the championship, suitable tiebreak methods, as approved by the US Chess Federation, will determine the champion. Players will divide cash and cash-equivalent prizes as equitably as possible. The players will receive non-cash prizes according to the tiebreak methods used. The tournament director has sole discretion as to the tiebreak methods used for the championship, but the director must clearly list and post the tiebreak methods before the start of the championship event.