Online National Elementary Championship

The inaugural US Chess/ChessKid Online Elementary Championship will take place August 8-9, 2020 on the ChessKid.com live server. The event is open to any child in grades K-6 attending school in the U.S. or its territories (grades are based on the grade just completed, not the upcoming grade in the fall). Read more details about the event here.

Sections

The tournament will take place in four sections: K-1, 2-3, 4-5, and grade 6. Children are not allowed to "play up" into an older grade section, with one exception: Kids who were in Pre-K and are going to be in Pre-K again, or are entering K in the fall, may play in the K-1 section. The K-1 and 2-3 sections will be Saturday, August 8 at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern. The 4-5 and grade 6 sections will be Sunday, August 9 at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern.

Section eligibility is determined by the grade just completed, not the grade entering into this fall.

In addition, there will be a "warmup" event for all sections on Saturday, August 1 at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern. This event is highly encouraged so that kids and families can practice using the ChessKid.com "Fast Chess" server, test their internet and browser, and other areas of troubleshooting.

Format

All sections will play under the same format, which is a seven-round Swiss, with time control of 15+5 (15 minutes + 5-second increment per move). The maximum time for each round is therefore about 40 minutes, meaning the total possible time would be a little less than five hours.

However, there are not "set" round times like an over-the-board tournament; the next round begins when all games have finished from the previous round. In practice, this means the tournament will likely take about 3.5-4 hours to complete, although you should plan for five hours.

The tournament will be US Chess Online Quick-Chess Rated. Players will be assigned a special one-time use ChessKid account (not their normal account) so a child's "normal" ChessKid rating will not be affected. The one-time use account will have the child's US Chess rating, so that the Swiss pairings will be accurate.

REGISTRATION

All registrations will be taken here.  Early registration deadline is June 28.

The entry fee is $40 by July 28, $60 from July 29-August 2 1-2, and $75 August 3-5. There will be no absolutely registrations after August 5.

Note that players must be current members of US Chess to participate. If your child is not a member, or has had their membership expire, you may join/renew at the same time you register for the tournament.

FAIR PLAY

No outside assistance of any kind is allowed, including use of computers, other humans, books, past scoresheets, writing down notes, databases, etc.  All ChessKid.com/Chess.com fair play measures will be in place and all US Chess rules must be followed.

Every game is subject to review by the ChessKid.com fair play team. After consultation with tournament directors, if a child has been determined to have violated the tournament's policies, he/she will be removed from the tournament by the US Chess TDs. This may occur during the event or after. All conclusions by tournament staff are final and may not be appealed. Players in violation of fair play may also be subject to review by the US Chess Ethics Committee.

In addition, all players and parents will be required to sign a fair-play agreement and watch a fair-play video prior to the tournament.

Register now!