Step-up Chess Tournament 2024 Spring

Regulations

Dates/Venue/Format

・Date: Sunday, February 4

・Venue: Ikegami Hall 3rd Floor, Audiovisual Room
1-32-8 Ikegami, Ota-ku, Tokyo (map)

・Format: 4 Rounds, Swiss, 15 min + 10 sec/move, National Rapid Rated

・Participants will be divided into two tournaments, Open and Group A.

Registration

Entry criteria: Japan Chess Federation members (yearly or 1-time tournament members), players either rated under 1400 in National Rapid Rating (If none, National Standard Rating) as of December 1st, 2023, or not rated, exclusively.

Group A is only for players with a National Rapid Rating under 1000 (If none, National Standard Rating). Participants who do not have a preference at the time of registration will be assigned to the appropriate group.

*Guideline for the class you will participate in

If you are participating in an official Japan Chess Federation tournament for the first time, i.e. without a national rating, you may refer to the Chess.com or Lichess ratings. For example, if your Chess.com rating is 1200 points or higher, we recommend the Open Class.
*Please make sure that your membership is in effect until the date of the tournament.

If you are not a member, please purchase tickets on Peatix and register as a member as soon as possible.

・Entry fee: 3,000 yen

・Registration: Purchase tickets through [Peatix] during the application period (Limit: 48 spots)

A “waiting list” ticket will be sold at the same price along with the “participation ticket” on Peatix.
“Waiting list tickets” can be purchased only when the capacity has been reached and regular tickets are sold out. If a cancellation occurs, the participants will be allowed to participate in the tournament in the order in which they purchased their “waiting list tickets,” and the purchase price will be applied directly to the entry fee. If the waiting list is not filled by one week prior to the tournament, the purchase price will be refunded.

If a waiting list ticket purchaser becomes eligible to participate in the tournament, he/she will be notified via his/her registered email address.

・Registration Period: From 22:00 on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 to 23:59 on Thursday, February 1, 2024

Playing Schedule

Sunday, February 4

13:45 -14:15　Check-in

14:15　Opening Ceremony

14:30　Round 1

15:30　Round 2

16:30　Round 3

17:30　Round 4

18:45　Prize Giving

Prize

Open: 1st 5,000 yen, 2nd 4,000 yen, 3rd 3,000 yen,and certificates to 4th-6th place.

Group A: 1st 3,000 yen, 2nd 2,000 yen, 3rd 1,000 yen,and certificates to 4th-6th place.

・Tie-breakers will be used to determine the ranking, and prize money will not be shared among players with the same points.

Other regulations

Tournament rules

・Tie-breaks: 1.Buchholz Cut-1, 2. Buchholz, 3. Sonneborn-Berger, 4. Sum of the ratings of the opponents, 5. Drawing of lots.

・Default time: If any player is not present within 10 min after the game starts, she/he shall lose the game by default. The game is not rated.

・Advance Bye: Bye (non-playing) declarations will be accepted until 18:00 on the day before the tournament day, and must be entered on the Bye Request Form. A player will receive 0.5 points for an advance bye and 0 points for a bye declared after the deadline, but all byes declared in the final round will receive 0 points. Players with more than one round of declared byes will be eliminated from the prize pool.

・The compulsory Bye (Bye on the pairings) will be 1 point.

・Pairings for the first round must be made after 18:00 and before 24:00 on the day before the tournament.

・If you wish to declare a bye or cancel your participation in the tournament after the closing time of the previous day, please contact japanchess.info@gmail.com .

・If a player missed the last round without prior Bye report, and does not contact the above address by email at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the next round, he/she will be disqualified and will be excluded from the tournament. For example, in this tournament, a player who is absent from the first round without notice and does not contact the tournament office by email 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the second round (15:00) will be disqualified and will be excluded from the tournament as of 15:00.

・Players must use clocks, chess sets, and score sheets provided by the organizer.

・It is not necessary to record the moves. After the game is over, both players must sign each other’s score sheets and report the result to the arbiter. The results must be confirmed before signing.

・All electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, smart watches, etc. must be turned off and put away in a bag during the game. They must not be worn during the match and must not be taken out of the venue in a bag. This rule applies regardless of whether or not the electronic devices are turned on, and any player who violates this rule will lose the match immediately, not by default. The use of smartphones or any other communication devices in the venue is also prohibited for observers and players who have finished their matches.

・The order of precedence of the criteria for determining starting order shall be National Rapid Rating (if you do not have one, you will take over the National Standard Rating), Title, and Alphabetical order.

・The other criteria will be determined in accordance with the FIDE Rules. However, illegal moves, wrong clock presses, use of both hands, etc. are also infractions, but since this is a tournament for beginners, the second time will not be considered a loss.

Media related rules

・The tournament results will be posted on the Internet (chess-results.com) for reporting purposes. The game record may also be published on the Internet. Participants agree to the publication of their real names, results, and game records.

・Observers are allowed to take photos for the first 10 minutes of each game, including the use of a mobile, but after 10 minutes, all mobiles have to be put away by the observers, and they are not allowed to use them in the playing room. Exception for people with special permission.

・Individuals who wish to use photos or videos of participants (during games, award ceremonies, etc.) must be careful to protect their privacy. In addition to obtaining comprehensive consent in advance, for example, in the case of minors, the permission of their guardians must be obtained, and due consideration must be given to the protection of personal information and portrait rights.

・The organizer will take photos, record videos, and broadcast the event live. These may be published and used in media such as websites, SNS, video sites, and journals managed by the Japan Chess Federation. Participants shall agree to the publication and live broadcast of these photos and videos.

COVID-19 Guideline

・All players have to follow the COVID-19 Guidelines 4th Edition.

Other rules

・The organizer reserves the right to change the above conditions in case of reasonable cases before the first round begins.

・Due to the spread of coronavirus infection or other unforeseeable reasons, there may be unavoidable changes to the duration of the event, or the event may be cancelled.

・If cancellation is made before the day 8-days before the registration deadline and the number of participants has not reached the maximum number, a refund will be made. We do not refund from 7-days before the application deadline. We do not refund once the number of applicants has reached the maximum.
( email: japanchess.info@gmail.com)

・The Japan Chess Federation cannot be held responsible for any problems that occur between individuals.

・If there is a discrepancy between English and Japanese, the Japanese version prevails.