The Internet Chess Club, in conjunction with Chess Tigers, organizers
of the popular annual Mainz Chess Classic in Germany, are pleased to
present the 3rd Chess 960 Internet Championship! After the big success
of the last two qualifiers in 2007 and 2008 (see below), we will again
have a separate human section and a computer section this year.
The time control will be 3 2 in the Human Section, and 5 5 in the
Computer Section. All qualifiers will have 9 rounds, swiss pairings.
The games are rated in the Wild category. Latejoining is possible until
round 6, but half point byes are only available for the first three rounds.
Playing Schedule Human Section
There will be four qualifiers to the knockout finals. You can play in as
many qualifiers as you like.
- Qualifier 1: Tuesday, June 23, 6pm
- Qualifier 2: Wednesday, June 24, 3pm
- Qualifier 3: Thursday, June 25, 3pm
- Qualifier 4: Friday, June 26, 4pm
- Finals: Sunday, June 28, 3pm
Playing Schedule Computer Section
There will be one qualifier/final on Saturday, July 4, 1pm.
Tiebreaks to determine prizes will be right after that finishes.
Prizes
HUMAN SECTION:
- 1st prize: 700 Euro + Free entry to FiNet and Ordix + Hotel
and breakfast at Mainz
- 2nd prize: 350 Euro + Free entry to FiNet and Ordix + Hotel
and breakfast at Mainz
- 3rd/4th prize: 125 Euro + Free entry to FiNet and Ordix
- 5th-8th prize: 1 year ICC membership extension
- 9th-16th prize: 3 months ICC membership extension
Should GM/IMs win membership extensions, they can donate those extensions
to other players of their choice. Should the winner(s) be unable to accept
the invitation to the Mainz tournament, his/her cash prize(s) MAY BE REVISED
at the discretion of ICC with the invite(s) awarded to the next best player.
The reason for this is that cash prize(s) are intended to subsidize air fare
to play in the tournament along with invites to the Mainz tournament and hotel
accomodation. Please also note that top two cash prizes will only be paid out
during the Mainz tournament unless agreement has been made beforehand with John
Henderson (ChessFM), director of chess content at ICC.
Moreover, in EACH qualifier, three 3-month ICC memberships and three
$25-vouchers for the ICC store will be raffled amongst all players who
finish that qualifier orderly.
COMPUTER SECTION:
- 1st prize: 300 Euro + a place in the Livingston Chess960 Computer World
Championship + Hotel and breakfast at Mainz
- 2nd prize: 200 Euro + a place the in Livingston Chess960 Computer World
Championship + Hotel and breakfast at Mainz
Note that the first and second prizes in both sections will only be paid on
arrival at the tournament in Mainz. Moreover, the two prizewinners of the
computer section must be represented by the programmer of the engine during
the tournament in Mainz.
How to join the tournaments
No preregistration is necessary for this tournament. This event is only open
to full ICC members -- so don't delay, sign-up at www.chessclub.com today!
Show up about 10 minutes before the scheduled start and type "tell pear join"
(human section) or "tell automato join" (computer section) or click on the
entry button in your event list. Disconnecting before the start will remove
you from the tournament. If you disconnect after the start, you will not be
removed automatically, but you need to return as soon as possible, or the
manager will forfeit you. You can follow the tournament in channel 227 (or
226 for the computer section). Participants will automatically be placed in
those channels.
You need to have an ICC membership to take part in this tournament. You need
to use the most recent version of Blitzin or Dasher to play in the human
section of this tournament.
You may use any interface in the computer section of this tournament. You
need a (C)omputer user name on ICC in order to take part in the computer
section of this tournament.
Tournament System
The time control will be 3 2 in the human section, and 5 5 in the computer
section. In the human section, the top four players from each of the four
qualifiers will advance to the knockout finals. In the computer section, the
only qualifier will also constitute the finals.
In case of ties in the qualifiers, the Tomato tiebreak-system will be employed.
To learn about this, type "tell tomato help tie" on ICC.
In case of ties in the computer tournament, the tournament director will
determine a suitable format for tie breaking matches after the tourney.
In the knockout finals, "mini-matches" of four games will be played and if a
tie occurs after that, two more games will be played. If still tied, another
two games will be played, but at the reduced time control of 2 0.
If still tied after that, another two games will be played at a time control of
1 0. This continues until a decision is reached. In the final of the last two,
the match will have six games. In the case of a 3-3 tie, the procedure will be
as above. Any match in the finals ends before four (six) games are played, if
one player has 2.5 points or more (3.5 or more in the final of the last two).
Finalists will be sorted by the ICC Blitz rating they had when they played
their qualifier. The grid will display the following pairings (top to bottom)
and qualifiers who go through to the next round will be paired accordingly:
1-16, 8-9, 5-12, 4-13, 3-14, 6-11, 7-10, 2-15 and similar for the computer section.
How to play Chess960 on the ICC
Chess960 is a name for Bobby Fischer's new and improved
version of "Randomized Chess".
Chess960 uses algebraic notation exclusively
At the start of every game of a Chess960 game, both players
Pawns are set up exactly as they are
at the start of every game of Classical Chess.
In Chess960 just before the start of every game, both players
pieces on their respective back rows receive an identical
random shuffle decided by the ICC server, which is
programmed to set up the pieces in any combination, with the
provisos that one Rook has to be to the left and one Rook
has to be to the right of the King, and one Bishop has to be
on a lightcolored square and one Bishop has to be on a
dark-colored square. White and Black have identical positions.
From behind their respective Pawns the opponents pieces are facing
each other directly, symmetrically. Thus for example,
if the server places White's back row pieces in the following
position: Ra1, Bb1, Kc1, Nd1, Be1, Nf1, Rg1, Qh1, it will
place Black's back row Pieces in the following position, Ra8, Bb8,
Kc8, Nd8, Be8, Nf8, Rg8, Qh8, etc.
To play a game of Chess960 on the ICC,
type "seek w22" to issue a seek, or "match Fred w22" to offer a game
to a specific player (Fred for example).
Castling is basically the same as in regular chess, except the
king and rook may start on different squares from regular chess.
The king and rook end up on the same squares as in regular chess,
for example, c1 and d1, or g1 and f1 for White. All the other
usual castling rules apply (you cannot castle out of or into check,
squares the king passes over or onto cannot be attacked by the opponent
or occupied by pieces, squares the rook passes over or onto cannot be
occupied, and you can't have moved the king or rook previously).
A strange example of castling is that if your king and rook start
out on b1 and a1, you can castle "queenside" resulting in the king
moving to c1 and the rook to d1! But you can't make the move just
by moving your king from b1 to c1, because that will be interpretted
as a king move.
If your king is moving fewer than two squares when it castles, you
can make the move by typing "OO" (or "oo" or "O-O") for kingside
castling or "OOO" (or "ooo" or"O-O-O") for queenside castling. If
you are using BlitzIn 2.6+ or Dasher 1.1.2+ you can also castle by
dragging the king on top of the rook you are castling with. These
methods work for any castling situation. If your king is moving two
squares or more, you can just move the king and it will be understood
that you intend to castle.
Miscellaneous Rules
During the human section tournament, the most recent version of Blitzin
or Dasher must be used. A player must not enter a section on more than one
account, or risk being forfeited on both accounts.
The ICC tournament directors may at their discretion make a ruling on a
particular game, eject a player from a tournament, or refuse to allow a
player to join a tournament for any reason including but not limited to:
failure to show up on time or to start a game on time, concern that the
player's internet connection is not reliable enough for the game to finish
in a timely manner, suspicion of chess computer use, suspicion that a player
is receiving assistance (human section), suspicion that a player has used
multiple accounts during the tournament, or the fact that this player has
been caught violating ICC rules in the past.
Their reasoning need not be given, and there is no appeals process. We
appreciate the cooperation of all participants in keeping this contest
friendly, honorable, and running smoothly.
Participants must use the same computer during the whole tournament, unless
they are observed by an approved proctor.
In case a player is disqualified from the tournament, the ICC tournament
directors can, at their discretion, rule that the game of that player in the
running round is lost for him, and won for his opponent. However, results by
that player in prior rounds will not be reverted.
HELP Top
ICC Help: Chess960