This tournament has been completed.

1. GOALS

   1.1. Determination of the 2020 U.S. Collegiate Rapid and Blitz Individual Champions.
   1.2. Determination of the 2020 U.S. Collegiate Rapid and Blitz Team Champions.
   1.3. Popularization and growth of collegiate chess in the U.S.



2. ORGANIZER AND ARBITER

   2.1. The tournaments are organized by the Saint Louis University.
   2.2. Chief Organizer: GM Alejandro Ramirez
   2.3. Chief Arbiter: IA Grant Oen



3. VENUE

   The tournaments will be hosted on the chess platform lichess.org
   The pairings, standings, registration, and information of the event can found at this website. Links are on the tabs of this page: PAIRING PAGE, STANDING PAGE, and TEAM STANDING PAGE.

4. SCHEDULE
   
   Note: all times in Central Daylight Time!

   
   Rapid Championship Schedule

   DAY	TIME	EVENT
   Saturday, September 26	UNTIL 10 AM	Rapid Registration Closed
   	11:00 AM	Rapid Round 1
   	11:40 AM	Rapid Round 2
   	12:20 PM	Rapid Round 3
   		Lunch Break
   	01:30 PM	Rapid Round 4
   	02:10 PM	Rapid Round 5
   	02:50 PM	Rapid Round 6
   		Second Break
   	04:00 PM	Rapid Round 7
   	04:40 PM	Rapid Round 8
   	05:20 PM	Rapid Round 9

   
   Blitz Championship Schedule

   DAY	TIME	EVENT
   Sunday, September 27	UNTIL 10 AM	Blitz Registration Closed
   	11:00 AM	Blitz Round 1
   	11:15 AM	Blitz Round 2
   	11:30 AM	Blitz Round 3
   	11:45 PM	Blitz Round 4
   		First Break
   	12:30 PM	Blitz Round 5
   	12:45 PM	Blitz Round 6
   	01:00 PM	Blitz Round 7
   	1:15 PM	Blitz Round 8
   		Second Break
   	2:00 PM	Blitz Round 9
   	2:15 PM	Blitz Round 10
   	2:30 PM	Blitz Round 11
   	2:45 PM	Blitz Round 12
   	3:00 PM	Blitz Round 13




5. FORMAT

   5.1. The 2020 U.S. Collegiate Rapid and Blitz Championships shall be treated as two back-to-back events that include a 9-round Swiss System rapid tournament and a 13-round Swiss System blitz tournament.
   5.2. The pairings, registration, and information of the tournaments can found at this website.
   5.3. The build-in lichess.org rules shall be used.



6. REGISTRATION AND ELIGIBILITY

   6.1. Players shall register at this website.
   6.2. There shall be no entry fee for the 2020 U.S. Collegiate Rapid and Blitz Championships.
   6.3. A USCF membership is required. Foreign GM/WGM/IM/WIM are exempted from the requirement.
   6.4. The tournaments are open to students of any U.S. post-secondary school (university, college, community college, academy, seminary, conservatory, institute of technology, etc.) enrolled in at least one class in the Fall 2020 semester.
   6.5. Players having a title of GM/IM/WGM/WIM shall be full-time degree seeking students in the Fall 2020 semester. In the final semester of their degree program, students can be enrolled in fewer classes, if it suffices to complete their degree requirements.
   6.6. A player shall not be enrolled in high school.
   6.7. There is no limit as to the number of participants per educational institution.
   6.8. Faculty and staff are not eligible to compete. In this context, “staff” is not intended to include student workers or teaching assistants.



7. TIME CONTROL

   7.1. Rapid: The time control shall be game in 10 minutes, with a 5-second increment from move one (G/10+5).
   7.2. Blitz: The time control shall be game in 3 minutes, with a 2-second increment from move one (G/3+2).
   7.3. The game is lost by the player who arrives at the chessboard 5 minutes after the start of the round. The clock will start running only after each player has made a move.  



8. PAIRINGS & SCORING

   8.1. The tournaments shall be paired and scored individually.
   8.2. The newest available version of SwissSys shall be used for pairing purposes.
   8.3. US Chess regular ratings shall be used for pairing purposes for all participants.
   8.4. If a player does not have a regular US Chess rating, their FIDE standard rating shall be adapted per:
   
   http://www.glicko.net/ratings/rating.system.pdf
   USCF = 180 + 0.94×FIDE if FIDE≤2000
   USCF = 20 + 1.02×FIDE if FIDE>2000
   
   8.5. Both rapid and blitz tournaments shall be submitted to US Chess to be rated for their respective USCF ratings. The tournaments shall not be FIDE rated.
   8.6. Players from the same educational institution shall not be paired against each other in any round.
   8.7. Players can take as many zero-point byes as they wish, but they shall request it before registration closes (one hour before the tournaments).
   8.8. Players wishing to withdraw shall inform the Chief Arbiter before the pairings for the next round have been published.
   8.9. A win is worth 1 point, a draw is worth 1⁄2 point, and a loss is worth 0 points in every game.
   8.10. The top four individual scores from a school will count toward team prizes. If more than one team ties for first place, the teams will be declared co-champions.



9. STANDINGS

   The Final Standings are determined by (in the descending order):
   9.1. Number of scored points.
   9.2. Solkoff: For each player, this system sums the number of points earned by the player's opponents. Unplayed games by the opponents count 1⁄2 point. Unplayed games by the player count zero points.
   9.3. Cumulative: To calculate this, sum the running score for each round. For example, if a player has (in order) a win, loss, win, draw, and a loss; his round-by-round score will be 1, 1, 2, 2 1⁄2, 2 1⁄2. The sum of these numbers is 9. Additionally, one point is subtracted from the sum for each unplayed win, and 1⁄2 point is subtracted for each unplayed draw. In the previous example, if the fourth-round draw was instead a 1⁄2 point bye, then 1⁄2 point would be subtracted and the final sum would be 8 1⁄2.
   9.4. Cumulative of Opposition: This sums the cumulative scores of the player's opponents.
   9.5. Coin Toss: If necessary, a coin toss will be the final tiebreak.



10. EQUIPMENT, INTERNET CONNECTION AND ZOOM CONNECTION

    10.1. Players are required to be on a video call via Zoom during the tournaments. The Zoom link will be e-mailed to all the participants before the start of the first round. Players are not allowed to use virtual background.
    10.2. Players shall have their microphones off.
    10.3. Players without a camera, or refusing to turn it on, will not be allowed to play that round.
    10.4. Players are required to share their screen with the Zoom call.
    10.5. Headphones, earphones and any kind of audio device or electronic devices not used for playing will not be allowed during the rounds.
    10.6. Outside assistance of any kind is strictly prohibited.
    10.7. Players must remain in front of the camera during the game. If a player goes off-camera during, that player will be forfeited for that round.
    10.8. No other software shall be running besides Zoom, the web browser that is connecting to lichess.org , and software needed to make the camera work.
    10.9. Players are required to move their webcam to show the Chief Arbiter their playing area upon request.
    10.10. 10.10.Players are responsible for ensuring their internet connection is stable for the tournaments.
    10.11. A short disconnect (<1 minute) will keep the clock running on lichess.org . A longer disconnect will result in a forfeit.



11. FAIR PLAY

    11.1. By participating in the tournaments, the player agrees to adhere to the rules and regulations presented here. The player is also responsible for adhering to the Fair Play Rules and the Terms of Service of the hosting website: lichess.org. The rules can be found at www.lichess.org/terms-of-service.
    11.2. The Chief Organizer will appoint an independent Fair Play Committee before the tournaments start. To ensure that there are no Fair Play Violations, this committee will review the games played in the tournaments as well as the recorded Zoom Call. If necessary, the final standings will be adjusted.
    11.3. The tournament staff may turn on a player’s microphone for the purpose of ensuring Fair Play.
    11.4. Players found to be in violation of the Fair Play Rules or of the Terms of Service will be assessed with a loss for all of their games. The player will be submitted to their educational institution’s ethics review board, as well as to the US Chess Ethics Committee.
    11.5. Players that were paired against someone that was found to be in violation of the Fair Play Rules or of the Terms of Service will receive an extra half (1/2) point for that game, not to exceed one point (1.0).
    11.6. The Fair Play Committee will be given two weeks to review the tournaments. Final Standings will be published by the Chief Arbiter.



12. AWARDS

    12.1. The following National Titles will be awarded to the winners:
    a). 2020 U.S. Collegiate Rapid Champion
    b). 2020 U.S. Women's Collegiate Rapid Champion
    c). 2020 U.S. Collegiate Rapid Champions (team)
    d). 2020 U.S. Collegiate Blitz Champion
    e). 2020 U.S. Women's Collegiate Blitz Champion
    f). Second and third-place individuals in each event
    
    12.2. Prizes will also be awarded to:
    a). The second and the third-place individuals in each tournament,
    b). The top player in each tournament rated under 2200, under 2000, and under 1800 based on established USCF Ratings.  



13. MISCELLANEOUS

    13.1. Decisions of the Chief Arbiter are final.
    13.2. The final interpretation of this document belongs to the Chief Organizer.
    13.3. If you have any questions send email to Chief Organizer GM Alejandro Ramirez or Chief Arbiter IA Grant Oen
    13.4. If you need to cancel/withdraw before the tournament, use this form.
    13.5. If you have any problems with registration, send email to Chacha Nugroho
    13.6. Original document of this regulations/rules can be downloaded here.