2024 Craftsbury Winter Scholastic Chess Tournament

This tournament is open to Vermont students in grades 6 through 12. Participants must be Vermont residents or be enrolled in a Vermont public or private school. No prior tournament experience is necessary. Home schooled students are eligible, as long as they are Vermont residents and under 19 years of age. Home schooled students in a program that doesn't use traditional grade levels should enroll in a section appropriate to their age.

High School and 8th Grade sections will be USCF rated, and current USCF membership is required for participation in those sections. Please make certain that your membership is current prior to registration. You may obtain or update a USCF membership online at uschess.org.

All players must pre-register for the event. No walk-ins allowed. Registration closes on January 21st. Registration may close prior to January 21st due to space limitations. Online registration only, no entries will be accepted via mail or email.

High School and 8th Grade sections will be USCF rated, and current USCF membership is required for participation in those sections.

• All High School and 8th Grade games will use a chess clock.
• Matches will be “Game 30, Delay 0” — each player has 30 minutes, for a total of 1 hour maximum per game, with no clock delay and no increment per move.
• Clocks will be provided.
• USCF players are required to notate their games. If unfamiliar with notation, do your best. Notation becomes optional for both players once there is 5 minutes or less left on the clock for either player.

6–7th Grade sections will be unrated, and USCF membership is not required.

• 6–7th first round pairing will be by random draw.
• Pairing for subsequent rounds will follow Swiss pairing rules, which matches players who have accumulated a similar score for the day's event.
• All games in each round are expected to be completed within one hour.
• Any game lasting longer than 40 minutes will have a clock applied to assure timely completion.
• Players are encouraged to notate their games but it is not required.

Ties: If there is a tie for the top position, results are checked to see if the top tied players have already played each other that day. If they have and there was a winner, that player is declared the winner. If not, a playoff game is played. If that ends in stalemate, additional games are played at successively reduced time controls until a winner is declared. Ties in all other positions remain ties.

A word about notation: Notating chess games is not hard; it just takes a little practice. A printable notation sheet is available. Notation lets you review your games afterward and helps correct errors and resolve disputes.

Results: Players' name, division and results will be published on this website after the event concludes. For rated sections, results are shared with US Chess in accordance with their reporting rules.