Is there anyplace on the website where I can find the regulations about using JTP memberships for a scholastic tournament? I did a search and came up empty.
The rules as I understand them are fairly simple at this point, though how they got to their current state is more complicated.
Any affiliate can run a Primary JTP event for students who are in grade 3 or below.
A scholastic affiliate (ie, one with an ID that begins with the letter H) can run an in-school K-12 JTP event, but the affiliate must be one owned by a school and all of the players must be full-time students attending that school. (Chess training programs and other non-school entities are not eligible to run K-12 JTP events.)
Once a section is designated as a JTP event (using the ‘Section Type’ in the online editing form for rating reports), we do not check membership expiration dates, thus the players do not have to be current USCF members and can be former USCF members. If they don’t have USCF IDs, you will need to issue those, that can be done through the TD/Affiliate Support Area. We do check for reasonable ages and age-appropriate membership types, though, as there can be NO adults in a JTP event, not even house players.
I’ve been reluctant to suggest that the Scholastic Council/Committee, the Board or the Delegates try to clean up the rules because there’s always the risk that they would choose to make them more complicated, more restrictive or do away with the JTP program entirely, now that we have length-of-tournament memberships again.
I think, however, that there’s an item on the Board’s agenda for Saturday that may touch on this:
3 pm (Open): Quick rated scholastics
(That’s all I know about this agenda item at this time.)
Thanks, that helps. I am trying to decide if next year I am going to run my U400 section of my big RBO as a JTP, as most of the people in that section are PreK-3.
It is not a matter of “most” of the players being primary or younger. It is a matter of every player in the section being primary or younger. That is why Mike said an adult couldn’t even be a house player in a JTP section. If you plan on running it as JTP then you’ll have to advertise it as PreK-3 only.
That would actually be an easy change for me. It is already a U400 or Unrated PreK-3rd, and the majority are grade 3 or younger. I could just bump the few older kids to the U800.
There’s no ratings requirement, just that they all be in 3rd grade or below.
You may want to encourage some kids to play up a section (into something that isn’t a Primary JTP section), but if so they would have to be USCF members, of course.
Were there any changes on Saturday to the K-12 JTP described above? Is this described in the TD/A area? I’m new to it and probably skimmed over it.
Dwight
No, the Board didn’t look at JTP event issues at all.
I’m not sure where the information is posted.