TOURNAMENT REGULATIONS
The KCF All-Girls National Championship will be utilizing the US Chess Scholastic Regulations. Any modification to US Chess Official Rules of Chess and/or the US Scholastic Regulations will be posted on this website.
TOURNAMENT EQUIPMENT – Chess sets, clocks, and score sheets are provided.
NOTATION SHEET – Players must use the official notation sheets provided at the tournament to record the moves during their games. All sections except U8 are required to take notation.
RATINGS USED – The April 2026 rating supplement will be used in compliance with the Scholastic Regulation.
The tournament reviews complete rating history for all players, per the Scholastic Regulations. Players on the rating report may be assigned ratings that are different from their US Chess regular rating in the rating supplement being used for the tournament. The most current version of the report is published here for transparency.
BYES – A single half-point bye is available for any round, except the last round. Bye request must be made at the time of registration, online by 11 pm on the day before the tournament starts, or on-site as follows:
Round 1 – 2-hours before the scheduled start time.
Round 2-5- 2-hours before the scheduled start of round 2.
Thereafter, the only bye available is a zero-point bye, which is an option for any round and may be requested up to 2-hours before the start of the round for which the zero-point bye is requested. Any bye, including a zero-point bye may not be revoked after Round 1 begins.
The Chief TD shall have the ability to grant a half-point bye for any round on unusual circumstances, except the last round.
LATE ARRIVALS – A player who is more than thirty minutes late for a scheduled round loses the game by forfeit and will normally be dropped from the tournament.
ACCELERATED PAIRINGS – If any section has more than 128 players, accelerated pairings may be used.
ERRORS IN STANDINGS – Any issues with Standings must be reported immediately in person at Chess Control .
Errors in scores reported after two additional rounds have been completed will most likely not be corrected for trophy purposes; however, they will be corrected in the final rating report submitted to US Chess.
TIE BREAKS –
Individual
- Modified Median
- Solkoff
- Cumulative
- Opponents Cumulative
- Median
- Head-to-head
- Total blacks
- Coin toss
Team
- Median
- Solkoff
- Sonnenborn-Berger
- Cumulative
- Opponents Cumulative
- coin toss
ELECTRONIC DEVICES – To alleviate the perception of cheating by players who use a cell phone or other electronic device while inside or outside the playing hall, we will be following the US Chess National Scholastic Regulations on Electronic Devices utilizing the below variation.
Cell phones are required to be turned off and placed inside the storage box provided at the boards in place of being placed face up on the table. The cell phone shall remain inside the box until the completion of the player’s game.
A player who needs to make a call or text while their game is still being played shall notify a Tournament Director (TD). The player may retrieve their cell phone from the box only after being given permission and may use it only while under the supervision of a TD. Upon completion of the call or text, the phone shall be turned off and placed back in the storage box.
SAFE PLAY POLICY
The KCF All-Girls National Championships a safe and welcoming environment for all our players and attendees and is covered by the US Chess “Safe Play Policy”
If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable in interacting with anyone during this event, please report the problem to a tournament director or at Chess Control immediately (or ask your parent or coach to do so)
You can view Renaissance Knights’ full Safe Play Policy by clicking here.
SPECTATOR POLICY
Spectators are not allowed in the playing area or within designated boundaries set by the organizer outside the tournament room(s).
A spectator is anyone that is not a designated member of the tournament staff and is not currently playing a tournament game (i.e. parent, coach, player whose game is finished).
The organizer, Floor Chief or Chief Tournament Director may grant exceptions to this rule on a case by case bases for select person(s). I.E. news media, photographer, special guests, etc.
