Post-Primary School Championship (draft)

Aims of the competition

• Building community through chess, and promoting inclusive society
• Talent development and recognition among junior players
• Promoting chess in post-primary schools
• Providing opportunities for students to represent their schools in the competition
• Deciding the title of “Cork County Post-Primary School Champion” for individuals and for schools, and other placement awards

Organisers

In cooperation with the Munster Chess Union (MCU) and with the Irish Chess Union (ICU), the competition will be organised by Piece of Chess under the ICU and FIDE tournament organisation rules.

Venues (provisional)

Provisionally, we divided Cork County into 6 districts based on their EIR codes, distance, and close to equal representation of Cork County. In this districts, the number of students in post primary schools are similar (cca. 8,000), i.e. there is a close to equal chance to get into the final from any of the districts. For each district, there is a centre from where post primary schools in the districts are within 30 minutes drive.

In terms of EIR code districts:

• North (P32, P51, P56, P61, P67)
• East (P24, P25, P36, T45, T56)
• South (P17, P43, P72)
• West (P12, P47, P75, P81, P85)
• North Central (P31, T23, T34)
• South Central (T12)

Dates (provisional)

Participants

Individual competition: Anyone can participate who how is a registered student in one of the post primary schools in Cork County. Age groups are determined the classes the students are enrolled to:

• Age Band 1: 1st and 2nd year students
• Age Band 2: 3rd and 4th year students
• Age Band 3: transition year, 5th and 6th year students

Students can only be registered in a single age band. Any student can be registered in a higher age band, but not the other way around. The number of players from a single school is not limited in the district level event.

In each age band, any district can send up to 6 players to the Final, but no more two player shall be from the same school are allowed. Qualification for the Final is determined by the ranking of the players in each district and age band. Organisers reserve the right to invite more players if the number of players in the final is relatively low, or in case there the number of participants are not even.

Team competition: A team consists of 5 players regardless of their age band, 4 regular players plus a substitute. Any school can register any number of teams, but there shall be no overlapping between the players of different teams. During the registration of the teams, the order of the players is also submitted for each team (so-called team sheet), and it cannot be changed during the competition. If the team is qualified to play in the Final only the substitute player is allowed to be replaced by another player. Note that, the substitute player does not need to be the last player on the team sheet, it can be any of the players.

The winner of the district tournament qualifies to the Final. Organisers reserve the right to invite more teams under special circumstances (e.g., withdrawal of the tournament, disqualification, pandemic sickness, etc.).

Combined competition: The rules are the same as with the individual competition in terms of player registration.

In the combined competitions teams are determined dynamically by the individual player performances in different age bands. The teams are only determined at the end of the competition. The first team of a school consists by the players of the school with the most points in Age Band 1, 2, and 3. The second team consists of the second most points of players of the school in the different age bands, and so on.

The best 6 teams are qualified to enter the Final, but no more then 2 teams from the same school are allowed.

Structure

Time allotment: 15 minutes per clock.

Individual and Combined competition: Swiss Tournament format, that means, players only face other players with similar or equal points in each round, except their own school mates in the district competition, or in the Final.

Up to 8 rounds in the district competition (depending on the number of registered players). 6 rounds in the Final.

Team competition: Depending on the number of registered teams, the district level competition is either organised as a Swiss Tournament or as a Round Robin tournament (5 rounds).

Points

Each individual game is determined by a win (1 point), a draw (½), or a loss (0 point).

Individual competition: the overall point of a player in competition is the sum of the point the player collected in each individual game (round) they played.

Team competition: the team score in each round is the sum of the points the team’s players collected in their individual games during that round. In each round, the first, second, third, and fourth board players of the teams are facing each other in an individual game. If one of the teams collected more than 2 points in the round then they won against the other team, and get 1 point, while the other team get 0 point for that round. In case the overall score is 2:2, the overall team score is a draw (½ point). The overall points of the team is the sum of the overall team scores.

Combined competition: Team points are determined by the sum of the individual players’ points. For instance, if the team A consists of players who have 4, 5, 6 points in age bands 1, 2, and 3, respectively, then the team A has 4+5+6=15 points.

In case of a tie, the individual ranking is determined by so-called:

• modified Buchholz (cut 1), i.e. by the sum of the opponents’ points except without the highest and the lowest values.
• Buchholz points, i.e. by the sum of the opponents’ points
• Sonneborn-Berger points, i.e. by the sum of the opponents’ points the player won against, and half of the points if the game was drawn.
• progressive value
• result against each other
• coin toss

In case of a combined event tie, the ranking is determined by:

• sum of the reverse ranking value, i.e. if a team consist of players who ended up in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in age band 1, 2, and 3 where the participants were 35, 40, 30, respectively then reverse ranking value is calculated by (35-1)+(40-2)+(30-3) = 99.
• average of the ranks achieved by the team members, where the lower is the better
• the sum of the modified Buchholz points (cut 1)
• the sum of the Buchholz points
• coin toss

Registration

Registration can only be submitted by member of the school staff by sending email to TBD no later than 31st October, 2024.

Fees

€15 / player / district level event. There is no additional costs for the Final. Costs cover the organisation fees (renting places, providing equipment, controller fees, insurance, awards, etc.), but they do not cover e.g. the cost of transportation, food, and other services.

Trophies and Awards

The individual winners in all age bands receiving a trophy, and they will hold the title “Cork County Post-Primary School Champion” for a year in three competitions. Winners are directly qualify to the next year final. Runner-ups and second runner-ups are awarded by medals.

In team competitions, podium teams receive a team trophy. Members of the winner team also get a trophy, while runner-up and second runner-up team members receive medals.