Time Trouble Rapid & Blitz

Time Trouble is a recurring tournament on scheduled Saturday afternoons from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Time Trouble is formatted on an alternating schedule as either a Rapid G/10+5, 5-Round Swiss or a Blitz G/3+2, 6-Round Double Swiss, depending on the scheduled Saturday. $400 Prize Pool b/30.

Standard registration is $20. Paid club members are $15. "Paid Club Member" rates are for players with Columbia Chess Club Memberships only. See our website if you are interested in becoming a member of the Columbia Chess Club.

Entry for titled players (National Master and above) is free, standard entry fee deducted from prizes. If you are a titled player, simply use the "Titled Player" option at checkout. 

K-12 Player? Consider playing in our Palmetto Scholastic Chess League during the morning before Time Trouble.  More Details >>

BLITZ SATURDAY SCHEDULE (G/3;+2, 6-Round Double Swiss):

• Round 1: 2:00 p.m.
• Round 2: ASAP
• Round 3: ASAP
• Round 4: ASAP
• Round 5: ASAP
• Round 6: ASAP
• Estimated Completion 4:30 p.m.

RAPID SATURDAY SCHEDULE (G/10;+5, 5-Round Swiss):

• Round 1: 2:00 p.m.
• Round 2: 2:45 p.m.
• Round 3: 3:30 p.m.
• Round 4: 4:15 p.m.
• Round 5: 5:00 p.m.
• Estimated Completion 5:30 p.m.

Blitz Tournament: 6-Round Double Swiss, meaning that the player plays two games against each opponent, alternating colors. Time control is G/3+2 (3 minutes starting time with a 2-second increment), which will be USCF Blitz rated. Note that per USCF rules, if a player hits their clock after an illegal move, it is a loss (opponent may capture the king). See Ch. 11 USCF Blitz Rule 7(d).

Rapid Tournament: 5-Round Swiss. Time control is G/10+5 (10 minutes starting time with a 5-second increment), which will be USCF Quick rated.

All equipment provided. USCF Rules Apply, active USCF Membership required. If you need to renew or obtain a USCF membership, please visit https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess.

Rules Note: Per USCF Rule 28T, the pairing system will avoid pairing players registered under the same team during the first-half of the event.

$400 b/30* (both the Blitz and the Rapid formats)

1st: $100; 2nd: $80; 3rd: $60; 4th: $40

Top Under 1800: $40

Top Under 1300: $40

Top Under 800: $40

Players that are unrated in the applicable USCF rating category (Blitz or Quick) will ordinarily be assigned a rating for tournament purposes based on their standard rating, quick rating, or blitz rating, whichever in the list of rating categories is first available, and would be eligible for rating-based prizes based on that assignment subject to the tournament director's discretion. Players that are unrated in all rating categories are not eligible for rating-based prizes.

*Based on 30 players, meaning that 50% of all prizes are guaranteed and scale with participation to the amount shown. 

A single half-point bye is available any round (1-point bye in double Swiss format), including the final round. The bye may be requested as a part of the advance entry or on site before the tournament starts. Thereafter the only bye available is a zero-point bye. The chief tournament director shall have the ability to grant a half-point bye for any round on unusual circumstances.

Time Trouble tournaments will be live-streamed to the club's Twitch channel, and thereafter archived at the club's YouTube channel.

Columbia Chess Club

6169 St. Andrews Rd.

Columbia, SC 29212

Email info@columbiachess.org or call/text James Brandmair at 803.569.0938.