# House player has too many games? **URL:** \ **Category:** Running Chess Tournaments\ **Created:** [July 11, 2026, 5:56am UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404 "2026-07-11T05:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chuckbo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/chuckbo/32/16_2.png) [@chuckbo](https://forum.uschess.org/u/chuckbo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 5:56am UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/1 "2026-07-11T05:56:20Z")
I’m trying to submit the results for my weekly tournament, and I have an error I’ve never seen before and don’t understand. I had 19 players. Fortunately, there was a man in the restaurant who had been a member and had played one tournament before his membership expired four years ago, and he agreed to be a house player. So he played a game in each round to make an even 20. I found him online, and he had a rating of 101 — which worked out well since eight of my players were unrated. When I tried to submit the tournament, I got an error: House player (#14) has too many games (3, max: 2) Am I reading this right? Is this saying that a house player can only play in two rounds and that I have to have an odd number or find a different house player for the other rounds. I can’t believe that. What am I doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![nolan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/nolan/32/174_2.png) [@nolan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/nolan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/2 "2026-07-11T17:43:15Z")
There used to be a way to override this, I’m not sure how to do that on MUIR. I’ve forwarded this on to the ratings staff and the programmers for their advice. Have you tried submitting it to see if it goes into a ‘needs approval’ state? The other idea that comes to mind is to create a 2nd house player with the same ID (ie, 2 different pairing numbers) and split the games between those pairing numbers. They’d get aggregated for ratings purposes. Mike Nolan ---
**Author:** ![chuckbo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/chuckbo/32/16_2.png) [@chuckbo](https://forum.uschess.org/u/chuckbo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/3 "2026-07-11T20:28:41Z")
When I submit it, I get the message: **1 restricted values found** Restricted values must be approved by USCF. For more detail, see [validation report](https://ratings.uschess.org/portal/tmnt-report/202607110013/validation) I took your advice and I went ahead and submitted it and it’s waiting for the USCF to review it and approve it. But going back to the actual error. Is that a rule about house players that I’m not aware of? Are they only supposed to be able to fill in for up to two rounds? ---
**Author:** ![nolan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/nolan/32/174_2.png) [@nolan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/nolan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/4 "2026-07-12T00:38:59Z")
Mostly that’s a rule to keep TDs from putting someone in as a house player and having them eligible for prizes, since a house player is in the event for the convenience of the other players. I’m not sure it’s implemented in the validation code the same way on MUIR as it was on TD/A, though. This is the first one I’ve heard about, but I don’t handle the approvals on submitted events. ---
**Author:** ![ulmont](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/ulmont/32/151_2.png) [@ulmont](https://forum.uschess.org/u/ulmont)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 11:51am UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/5 "2026-07-13T11:51:24Z")
> [@nolan](#): > > I’m not sure it’s implemented in the validation code the same way on MUIR as it was on TD/A, though. It doesn’t seem to be. I never had any issues with a single house player for a 4 round event before MUIR. ---
**Author:** ![TomDoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TomDoan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/TomDoan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 12:19pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/6 "2026-07-13T12:19:41Z")
I’m a bit confused. Isn’t the issue with the fact that the house player is a non-member? How would it know that a MEMBER was acting as a house player? ---
**Author:** ![ulmont](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/ulmont/32/151_2.png) [@ulmont](https://forum.uschess.org/u/ulmont)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/7 "2026-07-13T12:57:35Z")
All house players have to have US Chess IDs; the only difference is that their membership doesn’t have to be current. Rule 28M1 doesn’t say this, mind you, but that does seem to be how the checks are implemented. ---
**Author:** ![chuckbo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/chuckbo/32/16_2.png) [@chuckbo](https://forum.uschess.org/u/chuckbo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 1:34pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/8 "2026-07-13T13:34:31Z")
Maybe I’m mis-interpreting the error message: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/uschess/original/2X/6/69c0c446dd507617c5d70593fa87358029504e8a.png) But I submitted the tournament with the error and I’m waiting for it to be reviewed. ---
**Author:** ![TomDoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TomDoan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/TomDoan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/9 "2026-07-13T14:30:17Z")
Sorry. I meant non-member in the sense of having an expired membership. ---
**Author:** ![ulmont](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/ulmont/32/151_2.png) [@ulmont](https://forum.uschess.org/u/ulmont)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/10 "2026-07-13T14:55:27Z")
Yeah, the system has an option to indicate “house player” during the report process. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/uschess/original/2X/1/13e4cf928004d83469a142d371b696dae875ca29.png) ---
**Author:** ![nolan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/nolan/32/174_2.png) [@nolan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/nolan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 3:10am UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/11 "2026-07-14T03:10:54Z")
The current validation program will raise a warning if a player listed as a ‘house player’ competes in 3/4 or more of the rounds. The TD can still release the event, but it will require staff approval before it can be paid for and rated. This is similar to the rule we had on the previous system but since house players are declared up front it shows up much earlier in the process of validating an event. Under the previous system, you had to make exception requests for house players. We will be discussing this at an upcoming staff and developer meeting, but I don’t know if that will result in any changes. House players exist for the convenience of the registered players in the event, so those players don’t get full-point byes, but the house player should generally be rated in the bottom third or so of the field, is not eligible for prizes, and should not be strong enough to be in contention for any place prizes. Current membership is not required but the player must have a valid US Chess ID (including a birthdate and gender coding) and not be on the suspended or revoked player lists. ---
**Author:** ![ulmont](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/ulmont/32/151_2.png) [@ulmont](https://forum.uschess.org/u/ulmont)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 12:27pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/12 "2026-07-14T12:27:01Z")
> [@nolan](#): > > Under the previous system, you had to make exception requests for house players. Yes…but the first exception request for a house player was automatically approved instantly. The net result was that if you only had one house player you could complete submission of a 4 round event with the house player in all 4 rounds without waiting on staff. > [@nolan](#): > > The current validation program will raise a warning if a player listed as a ‘house player’ competes in 3/4 or more of the rounds. EDIT: this seems like a weird restriction. If there is a need for a house player, you would expect that the need is going to be present in 100% of rounds where there were not an odd number of requested byes, and I have no idea why “ok, 1/4 of the rounds will have an odd number of requested byes” was baked in. ---
**Author:** ![TomDoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TomDoan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/TomDoan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/13 "2026-07-14T14:55:08Z")
28M1 says nothing about no more than 3/4 of the rounds. In fact, it recommends a “permanent” house player if one is available (who presumably would play all rounds if there were an odd number of regular entrants for each round). A house player tag isn’t part of the upload spec and I don’t remember it being part of any (previously) proposed upload spec. It sounds like there is really no advantage in declaring someone to be a house player unless there is an expired membership issue. ---
**Author:** ![nolan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/nolan/32/174_2.png) [@nolan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/nolan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/14 "2026-07-14T15:05:31Z")
In over 85% of events rated on MUIR, the house player does not play in every round. Mostly this is done to check that the dedicated house player is not being used as a way around the member requirement. It is on the agenda for the next staff/developers meeting, though. And you are correct that there is no reason to flag someone as a house player unless they do not have a current membership. It is not on the upload specs because they were all written before the house player rule came into effect. ---
**Author:** ![KenFarrar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KenFarrar](https://forum.uschess.org/u/KenFarrar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/15 "2026-07-14T17:26:42Z")
Mike…you agreed that there is only 1 reason to declare someone a house player. However, what if the Assistant Chief TD is playing in the 4 round tournament and he is exempted from winning any prizes in the tournament? It might even be declared in the TLA that the house player is not eligible for prizes. ---
**Author:** ![ulmont](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/ulmont/32/151_2.png) [@ulmont](https://forum.uschess.org/u/ulmont)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/16 "2026-07-14T17:43:12Z")
If the “house player” is a current US Chess member, then there’s no reason to declare them a house player in the tournament rating report. Whether or not they are prize eligible is a TD / organizer issue that doesn’t affect if US Chess will accept the rating report. ---
**Author:** ![chuckbo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/chuckbo/32/16_2.png) [@chuckbo](https://forum.uschess.org/u/chuckbo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/17 "2026-07-14T17:57:22Z")
I agree. When I don’t have so many new players, I’ve often been my own house player. I don’t charge myself an entry fee and I never include myself in the prizes. But I just include myself in the report. It doesn’t affect the ratings if I’ve been a house player. ---
**Author:** ![nolan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/nolan/32/174_2.png) [@nolan](https://forum.uschess.org/u/nolan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/18 "2026-07-14T17:57:57Z")
House player games ARE rated! I think the rulebook may even suggest that if a new player in a 4 round event gets a bye, the TD may try to arrange a 4th game so that new player gets a published rating from the event. ---
**Author:** ![chuckbo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.uschess.org/chuckbo/32/16_2.png) [@chuckbo](https://forum.uschess.org/u/chuckbo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://forum.uschess.org/t/house-player-has-too-many-games/61404/19 "2026-07-14T18:10:16Z")
Sorry - I meant that whether I’m listed as a house player or not doesn’t affect the formulas; there’s no different effect from whether I’m a house player or not — my new rating will be the same either way.