2024 West Orange Chess Club Winter Swiss Octos

Below is the tournament information taken directly from the online registration form.

2024 WOCC Swiss Octos

This form will close at 5:00 p.m. on January 23, 2024. 

Online entry is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.  Attempting to register in person after 6:45pm on tournament day heavily risks being turned away or receiving a bye in round one.

Event information
1. This event will take place over three Tuesday nights: January 23 and 30, and February 13.  There is no tournament game on February 6.

2. Start time for the event is 7pm.

3. All games will take place at the West Orange Chess Club, located at the Toby Katz Community Center, 650 Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange.  (It’s tricky to find — take the access road between the high school and baseball fields.  Look for a little building at the end of the road.

4. Entry fee is $20 for club members, and $25 for non-members.  

5. Optional club dues for 2024 will be collected at the event.  The price is $10/calendar year, or $5/year for people under 18, over 55, or residents of West Orange.  Dues entitle members to a $5 discount at most WOCC tournaments (including this one).

6. All games will be USCF-rated.  A USCF membership is required to participate.  (Don’t have one?  Email me.)

7. Registration for each tournament will close on tournament day at 6:45pm.  Late registrations may receive a bye in round one or may be turned away completely.

Tournament information
1. Time control is G75 d5 (“75 minutes per player with up to five additional seconds per move”).

2. Players will be placed into sections of eight people.  The eight highest rated players in the first section, the next eight highest rated players in the second section, etc.   Sections will run Swiss-style.

3. At the tournament director’s discretion, section size may be increased or decreased by 1-2 players if doing so would prevent a mismatch of 400 points or more between the affected player(s) and the next closest player in the adjoining section.  

4. The bottom section will have a minimum of four people (ie; enough for everyone to play at least three games).  Should the section only have four players, it will be run as a round-robin.

5. One half-point bye is available for rounds 1-2.  This must be requested by 6 pm on the day of a game.  Late requests may not be honored.  Only zero-point byes are available for round 3.

6. Prize fund.  $15 per player.  50% of the pool goes to first place.  30% to second place.  20% to third place.   At eight people, this will be $60 for first place, $36 for second place, and $24 for third place.  Sections with more or less than eight players will be adjusted proportionally.

7. Boards, sets, and clocks will be provided.  Players are welcome to bring their own equipment, and may use them with agreement of their opponent.

Need more information?  E-mail Stephen Lorimor at [email protected].

Once you sign up, you are registered for this event and will be paired unless you contact Stephen Lorimor at 908-286-0720 (voice or text) or [email protected].

Here is the link for online registration: https://tinyurl.com/swissoctos2024