2024 National Chess Day Festivities

Final Standings: Kids Swiss -- Blitz -- Prize Winners
 

Date & Location -- Schedule of Events & Registration links -- Side Activities

Wearing a mask is optional.
Tournament capacity: 80 players.

In 1976, by presidential proclamation, President Gerald Ford declared October 9 (the second Saturday of the month) to be National Chess Day: a day to celebrate the royal game. National Chess Day takes place every second Saturday in October. Mechanics’ Institute will celebrate National Chess Day on Saturday, October 14 with tournaments, casual play, a Kibitz Korner, and more. All are welcome for a fun celebration of chess.
 

1. Date & Location

• Saturday, October 12, 2024
• Location: Mechanics' Institute Chess Room
  57 Post Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104 (click here to map)
   

2. Schedule of Events

Time	Event	Format	Entry Fee	Registration Link
10:00AM - 12:30PM	Scholastic Swiss Tournament	3SS G/25;d5	$20 / $30	Register here
12:30PM - 1:00PM	Author Talk with Kyla Zhao		Free!	No Registration Required!
1:00PM - 3:00PM	Bughouse	4SS G/5+0	$25 / $35	cancelled
3:30PM - 5:30PM	Blitz	7SS G/3+2	$30 / $40	Register here

Register for at least two events and revise a $10 discount!
 

3. Format of the Events

Scholastic Swiss

• Tournament Format: Swiss System
• Total Rounds: 4 rounds
• 2 or 3 sections depending on number of registration: 700+, under700 or 700+, 400-699, u400.
• First Round: 10:00 am and consecutive rounds are on a rolling schedule. Estimated end-time: 12:30 pm. 
• Round 1 start time: 10 am, with Rounds 2, 3, and 4 on a rolling schedule
• Time Control: G/30;d5  (Game in 30 minutes with a 5-second delay on each move.)
• Games will be US Chess regular-rated & quick-rated (so-called dual-rated). The tournament results will be submitted soon after the last round is finished.
• Tiebreak: Standard scholastic tiebreak methods following current published US Chess Scholastic Regulations will be used to differentiate between players with the same final results. 
• Trophies to the top players in each section.

 

Blitz:

• Tournament Format: Swiss System
• Total Rounds: 7 rounds of single games (7SS)
• First Round: 3::30 pm and consecutive rounds are on a rolling schedule. Estimated end-time: 5:30 pm.
• Time Control: G/3+2  (Game in 3 minutes with a 2-second increment with each move.)
• Games will be US Chess blitz-rated. Tournament results will be submitted immediately after the last round is finished.
• One Section: Open
• Pairings are based on the Oct 2024 OTB supplemental regular US Chess rating. 
• Byes can be requested for a maximum of 2 rounds, with receiving 0.5 points for each round.
• $540 based on 60 paid entries: 

  	Open
  1st Place	$200
  2nd Place	$125
  3rd Place	$90
  Best Under 1800	$75
  Best Under 1300	$50

 

 

4. Author Talk with Kyla Zhao

Please join us for a special author talk with our guest and chess player Kyla Zhao at 12:30 pm. Kyla will be talking about her new book May the Best Player Win and her own experience as a scholastic chess player.  Read below for a description of her book, which should interest our chess community!

The clock is ticking for May Li, whose middle-school chess team just earned a victory at the state championship—and with it, a ticket to nationals. What’s even more exciting is that May got an award for being the top female player and a splashy feature in the biggest chess magazine in the country. May should be thrilled. But some of her teammates, including her supposed-to-be-friend Ralph, aren’t too pleased with the attention she’s getting—and they’re even questioning her skills. Backed into a corner, but not one to back down, May makes a move as bold as any of her chess tactics: She bets Ralph she can win the school’s internal tournament and be chosen as team captain for nationals. The crown is May’s for the taking... except she’s starting to crumble under the weight of everyone’s expectations. Anxious feelings begin to affect her performance and, what’s worse, eat away at her love for the game. Now May is left to wonder: Can you still play for fun when you’re playing to win?