PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ENTERING

The Colorado Scholastic Chess League is about to begin the 2024-2025 season. We are expecting teams representing schools from all across Colorado.

The league is a team tournament; a team is comprised of 4 players (or more). Players are arranged in playing strength order with the best player on Board 1, the second-best on Board 2, etc. Each player plays two games, one white and one black, against the same opponent. The pairing will be based on chess.com ratings - pairing a team's top seed against another school's top seed, 2nd seed against 2nd seed, and so forth.

A match has a total of 8.0 points available (4 players X 2 rounds = 8 points).

The final results for the year will be determined by adding up the total number of matches won by each team during the season. In the event of a tie, we will use the results for the tied teams. As a second tiebreak, the number of points won will be used as the tiebreak. If this still does not determine a winner, a playoff will be used to determine the winner of a division. If there is still a tie, we will declare the team's co-champions.

One more clarification needs to be made regarding the definition of “middle school”. Several school districts in our area offer K-5/6-8 and several offer K-6/7-9. One of the league’s guiding principles is to include as many students as possible. So, in the event that a school has both a middle school and an elementary school team that is in the league, students that are in the 6th grade must play in the middle school team. In the event that there is no opportunity for a 6th grader to play on a middle school team, they may play on the elementary team if the school is a K-6 school. Any questions or problems with this clarification should be directed to me as soon as possible.

Many schools have more than 4 players who want to participate. You can enter multiple teams in the league.

The time control is 30 minutes per player per game.

The entry fee is $50 per team and is for the entire school year. We are requiring all teams to have an email address that is checked at least once every two days. All information regarding the league will be through this email list.

***Important Rescheduling Information***

1. A request must be made two weeks prior to the match date otherwise there can not be a reschedule
2. Both teams are responsible to communicate and decide on a rescheduled date prior to the league ending March 1st, 2025 - this date is now permanent
3. If both teams cannot come to an agreement on a reschedule date then I will have the power to supersede and schedule a permanent non-negotiable match date before the end of the season.
4. If a team doesn't show up to the match then they forfeit - just like they would in any other match
5. In the event that the situation gets out of hand, I will make the final decision on what to do. I will either reschedule to a non-negotiable date or I may also choose to forfeit one or both teams from the said match.

We are looking to schedule the first matches for the first week of October 2024, and finish league plays no later than March 1st, 2025. THE DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS September 30th, 2024. NO EXCEPTIONS, PLEASE.

Matches will be scheduled on Thursdays from 6-7 PM. You can reschedule to the day/time of the week if both teams agree. Email Jesse at jessercohen@gmail.com to reschedule at least a week in advance from the scheduled date.

Colorado Chess League Tutorial Video - https://youtu.be/qItqv_YsNVo