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Tournaments

This is where you can find all of the United States Blind Chess Association current correspondence and realtime tournament listings and rules.

For tournament standings, see the Standings page.

Tournament Director Contact Information

Please write this information down somewhere other than on your computer in case you do not have access to your computer when you need it. It is your responsibility to keep this contact information where you can access it.

Current Tournaments

Currently, the US BCA is holding its ladder and Norm Doerner Memorial Correspondence Revival Round-robbin tournaments.

After reading through the below rules, if you have any questions, please feel free to let the tournamaent director know.

The Official 2023 USBCA Norm Doerner Memorial Correspondence Revival Round-robbin Tournament

Welcome to the 2023 US BCA Divisional Correspondence Revival Tournament. In this tournament, there is a prize fund of 500 USD. Each division winner will get a share of the prize fund. Divisions created based on the US BCA ratings found at https://americanblindchess.org/ratings/.

Please see the tournament rules below.

  1. This is a single round robbin tournament. That means that each player will play each other player in their division once. The TD will do as much as possible to pair players up so that they alternate colors.
  2. The tournament will consist of rounds that will start on the first of the month. For example, September 1, October 1, and so on.
  3. Matchups for each round will be sent out by the Tournament Director. All players playing white must send their first move by midnight (0500 UTC) on the start date of each round. Failure to do so will result in being charged a day of allotted time.
  4. Each player will play one game per round.
  5. For each game you win, you earn 1 point, a draw earns half a point, and a loss earns 0 points. The player who has the most points at the end of the tournament will be the division winner.
  6. The time control Rule of 24 hours will be in place. This means that you will have 24 hours from the time stamp on your opponent’s email to submit your next move. For example, if the time stamp reads 9:05 AM on Monday, that means you have until 9:05 AM on Tuesday to submit your next move. Failure to submit your move on time will result in losing a day of your allotted time.
  7. Each player will be given 5 days "Allotment Time" at the start of every game. Once a player completes 39 moves in a game, they will receive an additional 3 days of "Allotment Time" on their 40th move.
  8. If one of you exceeds your total allotment of days, the player who first exceeds the time limit loses the game on time violation. What is a day of allotted time? one day of allotted time is a day that you do not submit your next move within the required 24-hour period (see #6 above). For example, before move 40, If you have 5 total allotted days, and you make a move late one more time, you have used up all your allotted time. That means you lose on time. After move 40, if you use up all of your 8 days of alotted time, and you use up another day, you lose on time. To clarify things, you should update your score on move 40 and add the 3 more allotment days.
  9. Regarding the allotment time rule above (rule #8), the "Carbon Copy Rule" will be mandatory in this event. If your opponent has missed 2 consecutive allotted Days, send an email message to them with "Repeat Move" in the subject line and copy your Tournament Director to show you are trying to contact your opponent.
  10. Legal moves. All legal moves are binding once they are sent to your opponent. So be sure you double check your typing before hitting the send button. Clerical errors are binding and once sent, can in no way be taken back. Hint. also check your opponent’s move. You may want to check each character. Screen readers pronounce moves such as b3 and Bishop to echo 3 the same way when speaking algebraic notation.
  11. Impossible moves. An impossible move is one that cannot be played as recorded. Notify your opponent immediately of your finding. An impossible move or an illegal move in no way obliges the player to move the piece in question.
  12. Ambiguous moves. If either player makes an ambiguous move, they must correct it to make sure it is clear. For example, if the move is Nd2 and either Nbd2 or Nfd2 can be played, the person writing the ambiguous move must correct the score to indicate which move they are making.
  13. If a player makes an illegal, impossible, or ambiguous move, their clock continues to run until they make a legal move.
  14. The best way to ensure that your move is clear and how much time is on the clock is to send a complete score, and keep all emails until the game is complete. A game record might look like this:
*** Sample Game Record ***
2023 Correspondence  Tournament
Player A verses Player B
Player A allotted time used: 0 / 5
Player B allotted time used: 0/5
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3.
*** End of Sample Game Record ***
  1. The winner of a game is responsible for reporting the game and sending the game record to the Tournament Director. In case of a draw, the player playing white is responsible. If you claim to win on a time violation, this must be noted both in the subject and in the game record.
  2. Any vacations or time that you plan on being away from home must be submitted to the Tournament Director 2 weeks prior for consideration and approval so it will not count toward your allotted time. Submissions are not guaranteed to be approved, So the earlier this information can be submitted, the better.
  3. Sickness, Hospitalization, family emergencies, and computer issues. All these situations will not count against your allotted days as long as you contact the Tournament Director either by email or phone. Failure to contact the Tournament Director risks having to use your allotted days for missed time.
  4. Forfeits. If you are playing white and you fail to send your first move within 5 days from the start date of the game, you lose on forefit. If you are playing black, and do not send your first move within 5 days of receiving white’s first move, you lose on forefit. After 2 forfeits, the Tournament Director will remove you from the tournament. An exception to this rule is if the Tournament Director has determined that there was a legitimate reason that kept you from sending your move during that time.
  5. All games will count toward your correspondence ratings.
  6. Regular tournament updates will be posted to the USBCA List and to the USBCA website.
  7. Regarding determining the winner of the tournament, in case of a tie, the division winner prize will be divided up among the players with the most points.
  8. Your move should be the product of your own brain. Help from another human or any electronic device (I E, computer, smart phone, or tablet) is not allowed in any way, and this includes, but is not limited to, computer software, phone apps, etc. In addition, you are also not allowed to use computer software or phone apps to keep track of and make your moves. Use of any of this for your games will be deemed as cheating.
  9. Cheating. If you suspect your opponent is cheating, please do not say anything to your opponent or anyone else. Please immediately send a copy of the game record to the Tournament Director fully explaining your suspicions. The Tournament Director will then forward all relevant information to the US BCA Cheating Committee. The Cheating Committee will make the final decision.
  10. Any disputes and all adjutications are the final decision of the tournament director.

This concludes the official 2023 Norm Doerner Memorial correspondence revival tournament rules. for any questions about the rules, contact the tournament director.

The Official Rules for the 2023 US BCA Correspondence Ladder Tournament

  1. The tournament starts on February 1, 2023, and ends on December 31, 2023. The person who holds the #1 position on the ladder on December 31 at midnight Eastern Time will be crowned the winner of the ladder for this year. Any games not completed by December 31 at midnight Eastern Time will not count towards the final ladder standings, but will still count towards your Correspondence Rating.
  2. The starting positions of the ladder will be in reverse order of last year’s ladder on December 31, 2022. All players who are rejoining the Ladder Tournament will be put back approximately where they left the Ladder. All new players will be added to the top of the Ladder.
  3. Each player can only play one ladder tournament game at a time. So, if you are currently playing a ladder tournament game, you cannot challenge another player, or be challenged by another player.
  4. Each player can challenge someone 1 or 2 ranks above them, depending on availability. If the 2 ranks above you are unavailable, you may challenge a player 3 ranks above you if they are available. Here is an example. If you are currently ranked #10, you can challenge players ranked ninth or eighth, and only if those players are unavailable, you are allowed to challenge the player ranked seventh. If all three players above you are unavailable, you will have to wait until one of them becomes available before you can challenge someone.
  5. Challengers take White for their first, third, fifth, and so on, challenges. If the letter W follows your name on the ladder list, you get white when you next challenge. If the letter B follows a player’s name on the ladder list, you get black when you next challenge.
  6. If the lower ranked player wins, they will move up to the higher position, and everybody else will be pushed down one rank. If the higher ranked player wins or if there is a draw, there will be no change, and both players will remain where they are. Here is an example: If you are ranked 6, and you win your game with the player ranked fourth, you will move up to rank 4, and the players currently ranked fourth and fifth will be moved down a rank.
  7. The same 2 players cannot play two consecutive games in a row. After completing their first game, At least one of them must play a different eligible ladder player first. This is to help keep a single player from tying up someone, not allowing others to make challenges in trying to reach the top position.
  8. To challenge someone, do not send a message to the person you want to challenge. Instead, please send a message to the Tournament Director at the email address given at the top of this page. Please put “Ladder Challenge” in the subject line. Challenges will be processed in the order the Tournament Director receives them. If the player you want to challenge is available, both players will be notified. The player playing white will have two days to send their first move, and after that will start using allotted days.
  9. The time control Rule of 24 hours will be in place. This means that you will have 24 hours from the time after receiving your move to submit your next move. All emails are time stamped, so you will have 24 hours from the time stamped on the email you receive to submit your next move. For example, if you receive your last move at 9:05 AM on Monday, that means you have until 9:05 AM on Tuesday to submit your next move. Failure to submit your move on time will result in losing some of your allotted time.
  10. Each player will be given 5 days “Allotment Time” in which to complete all the moves of a game. This means that if one of you exceeds your allotment of 5 days without completing the game, the player who first exceeds the time limit loses the game on time violation. What is a day of allotted time? In basic terms, one day of allotted time is a day that you do not submit your next move in 24 hours (see #9 above). So, in simple terms, if you make a move late 5 times, you have used up all your allotted time. And just one more late move could result in you losing the game on a time violation.
  11. Regarding the 5 days of allotted time rule above (rule #10), the “Carbon Copy Rule” will be mandatory in this event. If your opponent has missed 2 allotted Days, send an email message to them, with “Repeat Move” in the subject line and copy your Tournament Director to show you are indeed trying to contact your opponent.
  12. Also regarding the 5 days of allotted time rule above (rule #10), please be aware, your time continues to run if you make an impossible or ambiguous move, so be very careful. An impossible move is a move which cannot be played as recorded. Notify your opponent immediately of your finding. An impossible or an illegible move in no way obliges the player to move the piece in question. In a case of an ambiguous move, the ambiguous move must be clarified and executed. For example, if your opponent writes Nd2 and either Nbd2 or Nfd2 can be played, the person writing the ambiguous move must execute Nbd2 or Nfd2. Clerical errors are binding and once posted, can in no way be taken back.
  13. When sending a move, you should not only repeat your opponent’s latest move and give your new move in your game Record, but you should also declare how many days of allotted time your opponent has used up and how many days of allotted time you have used up. A sample of a game record might look like this:
*** Sample Game Record  ***

Player A verses Player B
2023 Ladder Tournament
Player A allotted time used: 0 / 5
Player B allotted time used: 0/5
1. e4  e5
2. Nf3  Nc6
3.
*** End of Sample Game Record  ***
  1. A. The winner of a game is responsible for reporting the game and sending, via email, the game record to the Tournament Director. In case of a draw, the player playing white is responsible. If you claim to win on a time violation, this must be noted both in the subject and in the game record. A sample subject line for submitting the game record would be" Ladder Game Results, player A- player B 0-1." No challenges will be accepted from either player who just completed a game until the new Ladder List is published to all the Ladder players. B. If you try to make a challenge before the new Ladder List is published, you will be placed on challenge probation for 14 days. Challenge probation is a period where you are not allowed to challenge anyone. You may still receive challenges during this period.
  2. A player may notify the tournament director that they will be unavailable for a challenge for a period not to exceed one month. There needs to be a good reason to make yourself unavailable. If you are still unavailable at the end of the time period requested, you should remove yourself from the ladder. A player on the top five rungs of the ladder must be available to receive challenges every day between November 1 and December 31 inclusive. If such a player is unavailable during that period, they will be moved down one rung.
  3. Sickness, Hospitalization, family emergencies, and computer issues. All these situations will not count against your 5 allotted days if one important thing is done. As soon as one of these unfortunate events happens to you, it is extremely important that you contact the Tournament Director either by email or by phone. All contact information is given at the top of this page. Failure to contact the Tournament Director is risking having to use your 5 allotted days for missed time.
  4. If you decline a challenge, it will count as a loss by forfeit against you.
  5. All games will count toward your correspondence ratings.
  6. Any new players added to the ladder after the tournament begins (refer to rule #1) will start at the bottom of the ladder. Also, any player can leave the ladder at any time if they are not currently in a ladder game, but if they want to return, they will be treated as a new addition and will start at the bottom of the ladder.
  7. Player statuses. Beside each player’s name you will find their status. There are four statuses:
  1. An updated Ladder List will be sent out by email upon completion of each game, so any new challenges can be made. And in the case no games have been recently completed, an updated list will be sent out to the list and all participants twice a month. Also, the Ladder is continuously updated on the US BCA Website.
  2. Your move should be the product of your own brain. Help from a computer or another person is cheating and not allowed. No help of any kind is allowed during a tournament game.
  3. Any disputes arising should be referred to the Tournament Director. The Tournament Director’s ruling on a dispute is final.
  4. The Tournament Director’s decision is final.

This concludes the official ladder tournament rules. for any questions about the rules, contact the tournament director.