Your First Scholastic Event With the Columbia Chess Club

A youth US Chess membership is required for players in K-12 to participate in rated events. As of January 1, 2025, a 1-year youth membership from US Chess costs $24.  However, the Columbia Chess Club provides easy ways for youth players to obtain memberships for the first time:

• A first-timer registering for a Palmetto Scholastic Chess League event gets a US Chess membership included with their registration.
• The Club's Tuesday Kid's Night has an "Unrated" tournament--the winner of which receives a free US Chess membership.

If you would prefer to purchase your own membership, you can do so directly from US Chess here: https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess.

Being a US Chess member means that the US Chess will track your personal rating and will send you monthly issues of Chess Life or Chess Life Kids depending on your age. You can review ratings information for any US Chess member using the US Chess Player Search: https://new.uschess.org/player-search. Here's the rating history of James Brandmair, for example: https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?14903162 

When it's time for the first round, pairings will be posted in multiple locations: first on a television in the lobby area (as  shown in the photo) and second on paper pairings in the tournament hall. The white player will be listed first and the black player second, and the pairings will specify your board number.

Now that you know your board number from reading the pairings, go to sit at your  board at the color you have been assigned. The boards are conveniently marked with board numbers (as shown in the photo). Greet your opponent and wait for an announcement to start your clocks. Ordinarily your clock has already been set by a tournament director, but if it does not  show the correct starting time, a tournament director can assist you. 

When the announcement is given, you will shake hands with your opponent and start your clock. Each time a move is made, the players should hit the clock.

A tournament game differs from a casual game you might play with friends or family insofar as: a clock is used and the "touch move" rule is followed. 

• If your opponent's clock runs out, you win. If your clock runs out, you lose. 
• If you intentionally touch a piece, you have to move it if you can. If you intentionally touch your opponent's piece you have to take it if you can.

A win will earn you one "point" in the tournament. A loss will earn you zero points. A draw will mean that each player gets 1/2 of a point. The winners of the tournament will be decided based on who has accumulated the most points. Points are also used to pair players from round to round, and you should typically be matched against someone with the same score (i.e. if you are undefeated, you would likely face  someone undefeated, or if you are winless, you will likely face someone who is also winless).

When you are done with your game, you and your opponent should record the  result on the paper pairings that are up in the pairing hall. You write a "1" next to the player who won, a "0" next to the player who lost, and in the event of a draw, you write a "1/2" or "0.5" next to both players, as shown in the photo example. You are done with your first round and are free until the next scheduled round. If you lost, you are not eliminated, and you should play all the rounds! In fact, it is typical that the winner of a tournament will not have a perfect score, so hang in there and enjoy the ride.

Rinse and Repeat until the tournament is over!

If you finished with a score that is good enough to place, we will distribute trophies at the end of the event. The Columbia Chess Club also often has special prizes for new players, so even if you did not win the tournament you may receive recognition for your performance.

The Columbia Chess Club prides itself on submitting its tournaments to the USCF quickly, and ordinarily ratings will be updated the night of the tournament. Simply search your name in the US Chess database the evening after the tournament concludes. If this is your first tournament, congratulations on your new rating! The Columbia Chess Club also sends out a weekly newsletter acknowledging our recent winners, as well as informing about upcoming events. You can now count yourself among the esteemed field of tournament chess players!