US Chess/ChessKid K12 Showdown Coming December 12-13!

Update 12/11/20: Registration is now closed with 2867 players competing! Good luck to everyone. Players are not allowed to watch the live stream when playing their game but parents and coaches can follow the action at twitch.tv/chesskid or youtube.com/chesskidofficial starting Saturday, December 12 at 8am Pacific/11am Eastern.

Here comes the big one. And this time, it's a Showdown! Get ready young checkmaters to decide who is the best ChessKid in all the land in each and every grade.

Although the unfortunate cancellation of the 2020 "Grade Nationals" took place recently, US Chess and ChessKid acted swiftly to form a replacement event online. The US Chess/ChessKid K12 Showdown will take place from December 12-13, 2020 and will give a similar feel to the usual Florida event. 

The full details are here and registration is here. Note that "early registration" is preferred and ends November 23, 2020. Make sure you also read the full fair-play rules for the event.

Unlike the partnership between the two organizations in the very successful August event, kids will play over two days, not one. Kids will play exclusively other members of their own grade, in 13 sections (K-12). The event will be seven rounds over Saturday (four rounds) and Sunday (three rounds). All K-5 players will play on the ChessKid.com server, while all 6-12 players will compete on the Chess.com server.

This is not an official US Chess National Championship tournament but is expected to draw more than 2000 kids and give kids a marquee event to look forward to!

Also unlike the August tournament, there will be fixed round times, with US Chess staff handling all of the pairings (and results and tiebreaks). This means that matches will start "automatically" at the posted round times (or within a few minutes) and players will merely need to be in the live server at that time and wait for the game to auto-start.

This will be advantageous for many reasons: families will know exactly when rounds begin, allowing for more restful breaks between games. Also, since all pairings will be done "offline", team prizes will be awarded since teammates will not be paired with each other.

Below is an overview of the event. The official information page is here. Note that in the case of a discrepancy between this ChessKid article and the US Chess information page, the US Chess page should be considered the official source of rules, details, and prizes.

Rules and Details

• All players will play seven rounds, with four on Saturday, December 12 and three on Sunday, December 13.
• The time control is 25+5 (25 minutes with a 5-second increment per move).
• Round times for K-5 grades will be Saturday at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and Sunday at 11am, 1pm, 3pm (all times Eastern).
• Round times for 6-12 grades will be Saturday at 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm and Sunday at 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm (all times Eastern).
• Just like at the "regular" Grade Nationals, foreign players are eligible to play. However, all players must be current members of the US Chess Federation.
• All "mouse-slips" stand as played, as well as loss because of disconnect and inability to reconnect in time.
• Players are required to play in their own grade (K-12). No "playing up" to a higher grade.
• K-5 players will play on the ChessKid live server and 6-12 on the Chess.com live server.
• Players will use their "normal" accounts for the event -- there will not be "single-use" accounts created. If you do not have an account on the appropriate server, you need to create one before playing. For K-5 grades, make sure your ChessKid account is a "kid" account and not an "adult" account.
• US Chess is also requiring that you "link" your online account with your US Chess profile. Instructions for how to do so on their registration page.
• Also on the registration page, both players and their parent/legal guardian will have to agree to the ChessKid/Chess.com Terms of Service and fair play guidelines.
• This is listed in the above, but one new rule for this event is that only one browser tab is allowed to be open and no other programs are allowed to be opened. If a player is in violation of this, it will constitute a "technical violation" and will result in a forfeiture and removal from the tournament.
• Players are not allowed to transfer the moves to a physical chess set.

Prizes

• All 13 sections will offer plaques to the top 20% of finishers (plus ties).
• All sections will offer team awards to the top five teams, except for the 2nd through 5th grade sections, which will give awards to the top 10 teams.
• There are no class prizes, but the number of overall prizes has been expanded from a normal "grade nationals" to compensate.
• Every player will receive an electronic certificate of participation as well as a commemorative item.

 

Good luck to everyone! Register now!