Consultation on Online Tournaments

[Andy Howie]

Good evening everyone, 

We are thinking of running a series of online Chess Tournaments as Official Chess Scotland events and allowing  the grading of the online games from the tournaments on the Allegro grading list.  By doing this we can link to the Grand Prix next year and keep that relevant and has the benefit of money coming into Chess Scotland as we are losing income from Grading Fees.  The events would take place on Lichess as from an arbiting point of view it is easier to view games.  The draws would be done offline using Swiss Manager or Vega.

We would really like to hear your views on this as there is no point doing it if no one actually wants to play.


All tournaments will award prizes and prizes will not be released until the Anti cheating checks are done. I will outline the Anti cheating measures in a separate post.

We are running some test tournaments with the SCT and will work with them so we are not competing over dates and have things spread out.  Depending how it works with the experimental tournaments we are doing, we are considering holding some competitions with prizes. and using the allegro grading so they can count towards the Grand Prix.    

In all events, 50% of the Entry fee goes to prize fund  47% goes to Chess Scotland 3% are Paypal fees.  Nothing goes to the Organisers or arbiters, we are giving our time free here.


The plan would be for Chess Scotland Members only, however the first non titled tournament would be open.  We are having discussions about membership at the moment but I will hold off for now until we have agreement on it.

Events I am thinking of at the moment are (the events and entry fees are not set in stone!)

June 

Scottish Online Rapidplay Championships - Entry £10, 5 Rounds in a day., CS members only Time control 25+5

Scottish Online Lightning Championships - Entry £5, 9 Rounds in a day, CS members only Time control 5+3

July

Scottish Online Championship - Entry £15, - 9 round championship played in the evening 

Played from Sat to Sunday.  U1500,  U1800 and Weekend Open events as well - CS Members only,  Time control 60+15     

August

Scottish Triathlon Chess Event - Entry £10 - 3 Round Normal, 3 Rounds rapid, 3 rounds Time  Lightning, over 3 days each
day has 1 of each, open to all    , Time controls 45+15, 25+5, 5+3

Starting August / September

Monthly Online Grand Prix Weekend congress - Entry £15 5 rounds as normal weekend congress or 5 evenings,First Open to all then members only, Time control 60+15 or 45+15

Monthly Online Rapidplay Grand prix event - Entry £10, 5 rounds alternating Saturdays and Sundays so people can play.  First open to all then members only Time control 25+5  

Here is a rough idea of how the prizes would break down.

Code:

Players            20    30    40    50    60
1st            45    60    80    100    120
2nd            25    30    50    60    70
3rd            15    20    30    30    50
Grading 1    15    20    20    30    30
Grading 2         20    20    30    30

I have put together a short survey to allow you to express your views, especially on cost of the events.  It is anonymous and i would appreciate it if you would take the time to  do it.  The link is https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/25MLF7R

[Andy Howie]

Here are my thoughts about fair play rules.  If anyone suggests webcams, I will throw something at you as they are incredibly easy to get around!

Anti cheating regulations for the tournaments

Internet chess provider anti-cheating dectectopm will be in place, with provider sanctions and rights of appeal as set out in the provider’s terms and conditions; in the event that a player’s account has been marked or closed by the provider for using computer assistance any appeal must be made to the provider.

In addition we will be screening the PGNs of the games using the FIDE Screening tool run by Professor Ken Regan.  We will also have a member of the FIDE Fair Play Commission overseeing the Anti Cheating measures.

A player whose account on the provider’s website has been marked or closed for using computer assistance, or has been picked up in the FIDE screen, will have their results set as a loss and removed from the tournament.  A report will be sent to the Scottish Anti-Cheating Committee who will make a determination as to any further punishment as required. 

Please note, as we are using a provider, if you use computer assistance in other games, your account could be banned mid tournament even although you have not been using it for the tournament!

Players have the right to appeal.  For a removal from a tournament due to FIDE screen, it would be to the Anti Cheating Committee.  For a subsequent punishment from the Anti Cheating Committee, it would be to the Management Board.

It is a condition of play that players agree to these rules.

[StevieHilton]

Have you considered using Skype for tournaments?
We in the braille world have been using this for tournaments for 7 years.
playing on skype with another skype user is free

[Alan Tate]

The point of using webcams is so that people feel better by being able to see their opponent. I feel like a large part of the problem right now is that people are paranoid that their opponent is using an engine - probably there are more false cases than real ones. Also webcams would hopefully deter any 'new' cheaters.