The Scholastic Committee of the Texas Chess Association is working on a list of frequently asked questions for our web site. (We will work on the answers after we get the questions figured out!)
I have a list of questions, but I would like to add to it. If any of you have ideas for the most commonly asked questions at scholastic tournaments, please share your thoughts.
Thanks,
Brenda Hardesty
Senior TD
Austin, Texas
Chair, TCA Scholastic Committee
I’m reminded of a sign that was posted at a tournament some years ago:
ANSWERS
40/90, 30/30
10:30, 2:00, 6:00
Down the hall and to the left.
No, we can’t do anything about the Coke machine.
Brenda:
Most of the questions will come from the parents, not so much from the scholastic players. With the players its’ more the simple questions like how and why use a chess clock, or what is the time controls. Both parties will be asking questions, but having questions and answers built just to deal with a tournament, answers used once for each tournament is not the long term answers.
Having answers on how many state level scholastic events. This would give a understanding for the parents, as most parents have a limited amount of time and energy to send their child or children to a event.
The reason for having, the scholastic tournament(s) at that time of the year. As a number of parents would question why a scholastic event happens at this time of the year.
Who are the directors, and the reason why they are the director(s), as parents some times do not understand the complex relationship that happens at a tournament level and the federation as a whole.
The number of questions with ratings, like provisional ratings and when their child will get one. The questions on what is a regular rating and a quick rating. Scholastic players and parents, this is a high level topic at any event.
The questions on who gets a trophy and how their child can get one. The questions on how a chess team comes up from time to time. What type of standard equipment would be accepted, and what type would not be accepted.
The question and answers should be universal. Should be used from one year to the next without much change. The question I have given, do think you have come up with these questions yourself, so do not think I have given much in ideas to the problem.
In most scholastic tournament we attend, a question about tie-break system seems to always come up.
On the version I saw, there were three more:
No.
No.
See 5 and 6.
Bill Smythe
ChessMama is right, as tie-breaking is always important with scholastic tournaments. For most parents, they do not care what happens during the event. Only care to get a trophy, what they have to do or tell their child or children. As you will run into two different groups on this, the first being a parent that has little understanding how or what event happens in a tournament. The goal is trophy hunting, they are more demanding for the family to take home a trophy then the child itself. The second, the parent that demands their child learns everything they can. Demanding the child learn everything they can, even pushing the child into chess even when its’ more then they should do.
There are a the parents that only want their child just to have a good time. They are relaxed to any of the rules you and your committee will ever come up with. They will ask questions, they are not going to be asking questions on every little problem that could happen. With trophies being the top of the list, all other questions have to be designed as solid as it can be.
Frequently asked questions become in time the standing rules of the organization.
Brenda,
My lengthy TD announcements before scholastic tournaments begin have been the stuff of legend. However, it seems that when I cut back and some things aren’t mentioned, they almost inevitably come up. Therefore, I drafted a list and blew through it rather quickly at the Jenks Winter Open this past Saturday. Since then, I’ve polished it up a bit and put it on a web page at
okschess.org/starting/TournamentFAQ.htm
Please reply back if you see anything that needs adjustment or have anything else to add.
Mike Swatek
Mike:
Do not see a problem with the information. Its’ written for the age group of a scholastic player, with the answers for both the players and the parents. If you were going to add something to the list, could make a statement what you would do with horse play and fighting.
Doug,
That raises a good point. I normally only address the TD related items. The tournament Organizer makes a separate set of hospitality and facility related announcements. This serves to reinforce the difference between our roles. Horseplay and fighting, presumably outside the tournament rooms, should probably be addressed in the organizer’s announcements.
Thanks,
Mike Swatek
michess.org/scholastic/codeofconduct.shtml
The Michigan Chess Association code of conduct. Its not a code of conduct with the scholastic players as a whole, but with a coach, parent, ect.
I find I get more questions about how ratings are computed than about tie-breaks, at least until the trophies are handed out. 
The current ratings formula is not easily explained, at least not to
someone lacking a PhD in mathematics.
Thanks to everyone for the helpful remarks. It will take our committee a while to gather our ideas and post our Q&A on the Texas Chess Association website. In the meantime, if you think of anything else, I would be pleased to hear any more suggestions.
Regards,
Brenda Hardesty
Chair, Texas Chess Association Scholastic Committee
Mike,
One thing I would change to your excellent list is the rule about parents and coaches in the tournament room. I always tell them in advance that I will kick them out after the first 5-10 minutes (for photos). I have found that it gets entirely too noisy with spectators. I am sure some parents don’t like this, but since I am consistent, they don’t complain too much.
Brenda Hardesty
The parents may not like it, but with very few exceptions the kids are much happier with their parents out of the playing room. I think they play better chess then, too.
An even more important reason to keep parents out of the playing room is chess lawyering by the parents. Initially, only a very few will be guilty of this, but then others will jump in, feeling they need to counteract the lawyering of their kids’ opponents’ parents.
Bill Smythe
Brenda,
Here’s some links you may find useful:
nychesskids.com/files/ScholasticChessFAQ.pdf
chess.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsi … uide2.html
Hope they help
I thought some of you might like to see my compiled list of questions. Thanks for all your help!
Teams
Tournaments
7. How do they decide who plays who for each round?
8. Why is there so much time between games?
9. “What’s the difference between JV and Championship? How do I know which section I should play in?”
10. Anything related to reading the Cross tables
11. “What is a bye?” “Why does it say ‘Please Wait?’ How long do I have to wait?”
12. “Why are the tournaments always in Dallas?” Or “Why is the tournament in a different place every year?”
13. This chart says my player lost his third round, but he says he won. What should we do?
14. The tournament director made an incorrect ruling…what can we do about it?
15. Are parents and coaches allowed in the playing hall? Why?
Tiebreaks and trophies
16. I beat that player and we have the same score. How come he finished higher than me?
17. “How many points does it take to win a trophy?”
Memberships
18. What is TCA membership?
19. Why does my child need to pay a USCF fee in order to play in the chess tournament? I already paid the tournament entry fee.
Clocks
20. “Do my players have to use a clock? They have never used one before and they get nervous.”
21. My son just bought a new clock, and he wants to use it, but his opponent wants to use her clock. Can you tell her to use my son’s clock instead?
22. Why do they allow so much time for each game? Almost everyone gets through early…
Chess Rules
23. What is touch-move?
24. My son doesn’t understand en passant…
25. He doesn’t know how to write down his moves? What should we do?
Ratings
26. How does my child get a rating?
27. She doesn’t have a rating yet? Can she play anyway?
28. Why does my son always get paired against someone rating so much higher/lower?
29. Why does it take so long for the ratings to get updated?
30. How can I find out what my rating is?
Brenda Hardesty
Senior TD
Chair, TCA Scholastic Committee
Austin, Texas
A well-ordered list, Brenda. You may want to add some questions about teams and home-schooled students, though the answers on that could vary a lot depending on the state and the type of event, I suppose.
You should also review the FAQ on the MSA page, it answers some of them and may contain a few questions you’ve missed. (We get a lot of questions about dual-rated events, for example.)
The answer to the question about why it takes so long for an event to be rated is about to change dramatically, at least for some events.
We’re expecting to do the first rate with the new ratings software this coming week, and once we’ve run a few controlled batches it won’t take long before we’re ready to start rating events as they’re submitted online. In many case that will result in those events being rated within 15 minutes.
I suspect that will create a whole new series of questions to TDs, as I expect that players will figure out quickly that some events get rated very quickly and they’ll wonder why other events don’t.
A great list, Brenda! Maybe you could give me a link where I could view the answers? I might want to “borrow” from you! 