Rules and Guidelines

1. Each competitor will play at least five games. All competitors will play three games in the morning session to be followed by a lunch break around noon. The remaining games will be played starting an hour after lunch in the afternoon.
2. The first round of competition will be randomly matches.
3. The most similar records will always be matched for the games for successive rounds.
4. For the first three rounds, every effort will be made to avoid matching players from the same school and players who have already been matched in the day. For rounds four and five, the most similar records will be matched regardless of the school.
5. If players from the same school are matched and if both the players and coaches agree, then they may elect to "stalemate" instead of play.
6. Games will be timed without chess clock for thirty minutes. If the game is not complete, then the students will be given an additional ten minutes each using the chess clock.
7. Touch rules and rules of fair play regarding spectator conversation will be strictly enforced.
8. Games officials shall witness all games ending, settle disputes, and clear up misunderstandings in addition to recording the results.
9. Ranking at the end of the tournament games will be based only on total points. A checkmate counts as one point and a stalemate counts as a half point.
10. Any ties at the end of the tournament games will be resolved by looking at the sum of the opponents' wins.