My understanding is that players with fewer than 4 games are unrated; 4-25 games are rated provisional; and 26+ games are established players. I am not able to locate this, however, in the most recent 7th edition. I am hosting a tourney, and some “unrated” (new or with fewer than 4 games) players appear to be eligible for either or both the top (non-class) prize and an unrated (less than 4 games) prize (that is, one prize only from those two categories). Is this correct? At this time, I do not have an unrated (less than 4 games) category, but new players have asked whether this is possible.
It’s a little more complicated than that.
Players with 1-3 games have a provisional rating, but not a publishable rating and they are still considered unrated. That rating would be used as their pre-event rating in their next event but should not be used for any other purposes.
It takes 4 games to have a publishable rating. Published ratings are what the rulebook recommends be used for pairing. TDs are permitted to use unofficial ratings or their own estimate of a player’s strength instead of that player’s published rating, but only if that unofficial rating or estimate is higher than their published rating.
Organizers may, with appropriate advance notice in their pre-tournament publicity, specify that they will use a different ratings list than the one that would be official for that event. (For an event in December, the December list would normally be considered the official list.)
Players with less than 26 games, or player who have won all their games or lost all their games are provisionally rated. (Note, though, that the special ratings formula is used for players with 8 or less games and for players with all wins or all losses, everyone else uses the standard ratings formula.)
Players with a rating who are not provisionally rated have an established rating,
Players with an established rating can have a floor of 1200, 1300 … 2100. In order to have a 1200 floor, a player’s peak post-event established rating must be between 1400 and 1499. Higher ratings trigger higher floors, up to 2100. Players who have played 300 regular OTB games with a pre-event rating of 2200 or above are Original LIfe Masters and have a floor of 2200.
Inexperienced players have a floating floor of 100-150 based on the number of games they have won and the number of events they have played in with 3 or more ratable games. Floating floors do not apply to online ratings.
The rating procedures are not part of the US Chess rulebook, though there are several rules that refer to ratings. You can find an explanation of the US Chess ratings system at:
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No, you can use unofficial ratings that are lower if it’s announced in the pre-event publicity.
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Is that 100% or are there some edge cases – e.g. can you make someone ineligible to play in a Grand Prix section by giving them a lower live rating vs published?
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Thanks for all the info and book source.
Bottom line:
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According to 28D it is permissible to allow non-established players (less than 26 games) to obtain a top prize (non-class). This does not need to be announced (pre-publicity) as it is in the rule book.
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The organizer can also open a separate category for unrated (new or less than four games).
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Two unrateds enter a tourney. One scores 4 of 4 (the only one to do so). He wins the top prize (non-class). The other unrated with a score of 0 wins the unrated category (only one remaining in the category, as the other unrated won the top prize (open, if you will, but not class prize).)
Of course, I could keep this simple and have unrateds (less than 4 games, not published) in only one unrated category prize. However, some will jump or enter the tourney for a top prize.
It’s good that you’re thinking out the possible scenarios, but remember that just because you CAN do something (such as a rules exception that is noted in advance publicity), that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it.
Designing and organizing an event that players will want to play in is a very different skill set from being a good TD. US Chess doesn’t really acknowledge that, but players quickly figure out which organizers run events they enjoy.
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I think it was Tim Just who noted that players want events:
- With low entry fees
- With high prize funds
- With lots of rounds
- With slow time controls
- Over a weekend
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You forgot:
Registration ends at 10
Pairings posted at 10
Lunch break
Prizes handed out by 5PM
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Also: If your state basketball or football team is playing in the finals on the day of the tournament, it’s understood everyone agrees to a draw for that round.
I held a few tournaments during Husker games, and players wanted the radio call of the game piped into the playing hall (at a local shopping mall.)
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Decades ago, when I held tournaments in Lexington, KY, during the U of KY games, many people offered draws to watch the games. We had giant screen TVs in the Student Center.