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19th William J. Browne Memorial
May 13 @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
$32 – $40
The Pittsburgh Chess Club is proud to host our 23rd William M. Byland Memorial.
Tournament Registration Links
Schedule | Format | Prizes | Eligibility | Byes
Rules | Fair Play | Contact | Registration Details | Advance Entries
Schedule and Location
Tournament Rounds: 10AM | 1PM | 3PM
On-Site Registration: 9AM – 9:45AM
Location: The Pittsburgh Chess Club, 5869 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Capacity: There is a maximum capacity of 32 players. It is recommended to register early.
Parking: There is street parking, parking lots, and a parking garage available.
Tournament Format
Format: Quadrangular (aka. Quads), a 4-player Round Robin chess tournament. There are three (3) rounds: each player plays one game against each of the other three players.
Time Control: Game/60 delay 5 (Each player starts with 60 minutes on their clock with 5 second delay before subtracting time)
Sections: There will be one Open section. Within the Open section there will be as many quads as possible, formed from players entered. Quads will be defined and paired in accordance with USCF Rule 30G. All entered players in the Open section will be listed in order by rating, highest to lowest. Working from the top of the list down, each group of four players will be designated as a quad. Within each quad, the four players will be assigned pairing numbers 1 through 4 in order by rating from highest to lowest. If a group of 5, 6 or 7 players is left over after defining all other quads for a section, that group will be paired as a three-round Swiss. If fewer than 4 players enter any section, that section will be eliminated, and affected players will have a choice of playing in a different section or having their entry fee refunded. Pairings: Pairings for each quad will be as follows: round 1: 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3; round 2: 3 vs 1, 4 vs 2; round 3: 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4. For round 3 only, colors will be assigned randomly in each pairing (by a coin toss or hidden pawn choice), except that in the event of a forfeit or withdrawal, colors should be assigned so as to maximize color equalization.
Pairings: Pairings will be based on the US Chess rating supplement published during the month of the tournament (see Ratings below). The highest rating will be used for pairing purposes.
Ratings: All players must be current USCF members to play in this tournament series. Players can purchase or renew USCF memberships in conjunction with entering the tournament. To see membership options, details and dues or to purchase or renew memberships directly online, click here: https://new.uschess.org/become-member. Membership dues are non-refundable even if the tournament is cancelled or the player withdraws. All games will be USCF-rated. Official USCF ratings from the latest supplement will apply as listed below in order of priority:
- USCF Regular
- USCF Quick
- USCF Online-Regular
- USCF Online-Quick
The Pittsburgh Chess Club reserves the right to assign any player to a higher-rated section based on the player’s rating history. Any player who does not have any of the USCF ratings listed above will be entered as an unrated player.
Prizes
- 1st Place – $100 per quad. There is an additional +$15 Bonus for 3-0 perfect scores.
- If the lowest quad has at least 6 players, a 2nd place $65 prize will be added.
- If the lowest quad has 7 players, then a 3rd place $50 will be added.
- In case of a tie, cash prizes will be divided equally among the tied players.
Eligibility
- Players must be current US Chess Federation members.
- Expiration date of membership must be later than the day of the tournament.
- Not sure of the status of your US Chess membership? Visit: new.uschess.org/player-search
- You can become a US Chess member (or renew your membership) here: new.uschess.org/join-us-chess
- Players do not need to be Pittsburgh Chess Club members, but there is a discount on entry fees
- Not sure of the status of your PCC membership? Visit: members.pittsburghchessclub.org/portal
- Learn about becoming a Pittsburgh Chess Club member here: pittsburghchessclub.org/membership/
Byes
- No half-point byes allowed –please plan to play all rounds.
Fair Play
- Use of computer chess engines, databases, chess books, magazines, written notes and any other form of external assistance while playing is strictly prohibited. Assistance from other players is also prohibited and will result in disqualification.
- The electronic score keeping devices, ChessNoteR and eNotate, cannot be used at this tournament
Registration
- Advance entry is encouraged to be assured of a place in the tournament.
- PCC Member Advance Entry Fee: $32
- Non-Member Advance Entry Fee: $40
- On-Site Entry Fee: $45
- Online registration: closes at 9:00 AM.
- On-site registration will be available 9:00AM-9:45AM.
- All players must check-in with the Tournament Director during on-site roll call. Failure to check-in could risk automatic withdraw from the tournament.
- Commitment to play paired rounds: All players who have not withdrawn prior to the start of each round pairing will be paired and expected to play in that round -regardless of their results. A player will be forfeited if he or she does not arrive at his or her assigned board to play a scheduled game before the expiration of the default time, which is the lesser of the time control or 60 minutes. Once a forfeit occurs, the player is automatically withdrawn from the event and they will be charged a forfeit penalty fee.
- Forfeit penalty fee: $20
Advance Entries
