What to Expect

A tournament day is a long one, but a fun one! Please check the Event Info > Schedule Page for a better breakdown of the specific start times. We are expecting more than 2500 people on-site that day, so please read through the following if you have any questions.

Players, coaches, spectators, and everyone in attendance is expected to follow the WSECC Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct may be found here: Code of Conduct

Entering the facility

If you enter at the 15th St entrance you will enter on the 3rd floor. If you enter at the Commerce St entrance you will enter on the 1st floor. The 3rd floor has various team tables assigned to schools and the official Info Desk. The 5th floor has additional team tables, the food grill, and the playing hall. For Convention Center layouts click here: https://tacomaconventioncenter.org/floor-plan-capacities.

Team tables are assigned by school. To find your team table please use the following drive link (explanation below): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W5IEwNtRJP0MkihFXkOGyZZ6_tfaJMC4?usp=drive_link
The folder contains the following files:

Team Table Assignments by School Name - Look for your school’s name to see what floor/room your team is seated at
Team Table Assignments by School Code - Look for your school’s code to see what floor/room your team is seated at
Floor 3 Team Table Layouts - If your team is located on the 3rd floor, please use this to see where exactly your team table is
Floor 5 Team Table Layouts - If your team is located on the 5th floor, please use this to see where exactly your team table is
Playing Hall Guide - This is a general layout of what part of the playing room each grade will be. Each player will receive individual board numbers each round

Before Saturday Morning - PLEASE review where your team table will be and how to find the playing hall. Players not in their seats ready to play by 9am may forfeit their Round 1 game. *Note - Middle School and High School Open sections will be at the adjacent hotel, their tables are noted as “Hotel (Skybridge)”

BEFORE THE GAMES

This year we will play the Washington State Elementary Chess Championship at the Tacoma Convention Center. There are multiple parking lots in the surrounding area, but please plan to arrive at least 15-20 minutes early. Parking and Entry will take some time and we will not hold the round if you are late.

Once you are on-site, child care is not provided at events. A parent or guardian must be there with the student throughout the entire event. When you arrive, there will be many rooms designated as waiting spaces for parents, families, and friends! Teams will have tables dedicated to them, with their name or number cards on them (we will do this based on registration). Once pairings are released, they will be available via chessreg.com/wsecc and will be physically posted in the playing area. Pairings will be alphabetical and say what table their child will play their next game. Standings will be available via the same link.

Parents may escort their students to the assigned table, but should leave once they are seated. Only players are allowed in the tournament area during the rounds and rounds may be delayed if parents/guardians cannot leave in a timely manner. Players are dismissed from the playing area after they complete their game. Make sure your student can find his/her way back to the waiting area after s/he's done with the round. We often suggest a meeting place (such as their team’s table) that the player can return to after their game.

There are 5 rounds, and everyone will get to play all 5 games (there's no elimination, so your student will play all 5 rounds). There is a lot of down-time between games. In between rounds players should stay should stay in the building, or at least be back before the next scheduled round time. You can also bring books, games and electronic diversions to pass the time.

LUNCH

There is a longer break between Rounds 2 and 3 for lunch. Box lunch tickets will be available for purchase at a designated desk on the 3rd floor in the morning. Box Lunch pickup will take place on the 3rd floor. For full information please check out the Travel and Dining > Lunch-Options page. There are other food options available on-site as well.

Pairings, Gameplay, Judging, and Scoring

Once pairings are finalized they will be posted alphabetically for each section of the tournament. The time control for all games (except the MS-Open) is Game/25;d5, which means each player has 25 minutes to make all of their moves, with a 5 second delay each turn before their clock starts counting down. Please see the Event Info > Sections and Qualifications page for more information on notation requirements, clocks, and other game information for the various sections. Tournament Directors may add clocks to any games that appear to be running long (This usually happens after 30-40 minutes), and when clocks are added at that point each player is given 10 minutes to complete the game. If for any reason you need to leave the event early, make sure to speak with the pairings director before leaving so that they can properly withdraw you from the event. There is no penalty for withdrawing early with the pairings director.

The Kindergarten section will be in a room away from the main tournament area. This allows them to run that section separately and they will immediately pair the next round for Kindergarten even if there are still people playing in the other sections. This means the Kindergarten students are able to get finished sooner.

Before the start of the first round the Chief Judge will go over the basic rules for the tournament, such as touch move. At any point during tournament play, if players have a question or dispute about their game they should raise their hand and wait for a judge to come over. If a player does not agree with the judge or requires further explanation then they may ask to speak with the Chief Judge.

When a game is complete, both players should note which board they were on and go to the scorer’s table to report their results. Players should not reset their board prior to reporting their result. This will be repeated by the Chief Judge prior to the first round. A player's score is calculated as 1 point for a win, 1/2 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. A running tally is kept throughout the tournament and standings will be posted after each round. Keep in mind that standings will not contain the results of the most current round. For example, say a player has just completed their 4th game and goes to look at the standings; they will only see the results of their first 3 games. If you look at the standings and believe that an error in scoring has occurred, please contact the Pairings Director immediately.

Notating isn't required in any Premier Section, and is not required in Championship Grades K-2 sections. Notation will be required in Championship sections in grades 3 and higher. Full and accurate notation are required for certain claims during the game, but if a player makes a mistake notating they may skip a move and continue as best they can. Having a notation of your game can be helpful to review and see where your strengths and weaknesses are. Having a record of the game will also be helpful if there's a dispute about the game. Encourage your student to notate as long as s/he can without it becoming a distraction.

Tournaments observe the touch-move and touch-take rule. If you touch a piece you must move it during that turn. If you touch an opponent's piece you must capture that piece if possible. If a piece is jostled out of position during play, a player should announce that s/he is adjusting the piece before doing so. Also, if a student needs to use the restroom during a game, s/he can raise a hand and be excused for the restroom by a judge. These will also be reviewed by the Chief Judge prior to the 1st Round.

Awards, Tiebreaks, and Ratings

After the final round is complete the final standings will be calculated. Trophies are determined by score. No tiebreaks will be used to determine individual trophies.

At WSECC, everyone participating gets an award. Trophies will be available for pickup following the completion of the final game. Awards may not be picked up early. Those who score 3.0 or more will earn a point trophy for their accomplishments. Those who do not earn a trophy will get a State Medal with this years logo. Players who score 4.5 or 5.0 will be announced on stage and receive their trophy during a small ceremony. We will also announce Team Awards at this time. Team Awards are calculated by the sum of the scores and tiebreakers of the top 4 players from each school in each section (Championship Grades K-6, and Premier Grades 1-6)

After the tournament is completed the results will be submitted for rating in the NWSRS database. Once the tournament has been rated the ratings report will be available at: http://chess.ratingsnw.com/tournreports.html - please note that this only shows who each person played and their starting and ending ratings. It does not show tie breaks and may not be in the same order as the final standings of the tournament.