Tour Rules

Details

Illinois Chess Tour – Rules

Purpose

The purpose of the Illinois Chess Tour is to provide a fun and engaging benefit to members of the Illinois Chess Association. The ICA Tour is intended as a “tour” of Illinois chess. This tour does require that the participants be able to travel, either by themselves or with others. 

Goals include: increased participation in upstate and downstate Illinois chess tournaments; increased travel to Illinois tournaments, in order to build a stronger social network of players bringing a greater diversity of opposition in over-the-board play; and increased ICA membership.

Structure

The Board of the Illinois Chess Association shall appoint a Tour commissioner (Emily Dawson & Patrick Cohen) to a two-year term. The Tour commissioner shall appoint assistants as necessary, including, but not limited to, a statistician and a marketing director. All Tour positions will be volunteer positions without compensation.

Amendments to these rules, as well as the yearly approval of the Tour schedule, Tour awards, and Tour budget, as outlined below, will be made by majority vote of the ICA Board. The commissioner shall make recommendations to the Board on an annual basis, but shall not have the authority to amend rules, or set the schedule, awards, or budget, without Board approval.

Event Selection

To be considered for inclusion as a Tour event, a tournament must be open to all USCF members, without any minimum or maximum rating requirement. Events must have a minimum of four rounds and be played at a time control of Game/60 or slower. New events will not be eligible during their first year.

In choosing Tour events, preference will be given to prestigious, long-running, weekend events. Events should be spaced a minimum of two weeks apart, with a wide geographic distribution.

The Commissioner will recommend a schedule to the ICA Board for ratification by majority vote.

12 Events (6 Northern & 6 Downstate)

  1. Tim Just Winter Open, Jan. 5-6
  2. Bradley Winter Open, GPCF/Bradley University Feb 3  $1160 purse
  3. Springfield March into Spring March, Springfield Chess Club
  4. Greater Peoria Open, GPCF, April 6-7,  $1870 purse
  5. Chicago Open, Continental Chess Association, May 23-27, 100,000 purse
  6. Springfield Mid-Year Open, Springfield Chess Club, July 1
  7. Chicago Class, Continental Chess Association, July 19-21
  8. Bradley Summer Open, GPCF/Bradley University,  End of August,  $1160 purse
  9. Illinois Open, Aug. 31- Sept. 2,  ICA 
  10. Springfield Harvest Time, Springfield Chess Club, Nov 1 
  11. Midwest Class, Continental Chess Association, Oct. 11-13  $20,000 purse
  12. Illinois Class, ICA, Nov. 17  

 

Scoring

The Tour will award both performance and participation points on the basis of a simple scoring system. 

Performance points will be awarded per tour event on the basis of the tournament score earned (1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw, with byes included).

Participation points will be based simply on the number of tournaments played. One bonus point will be given per tournament on the tour schedule. To earn the participation bonus, at least one-half of the scheduled rounds must be played (byes not included).

Tiebreakers - 

The first tiebreaker for performance awards will be the number of tournaments played. 

The second tiebreaker will be total number of wins. 

The third tiebreaker will be the biggest upset at a Tour event as measured by rating difference at the time of the match.

 

Membership Requirement

Tour events require USCF membership. The Tour events themselves may not require ICA membership but to qualify for either performance or participation awards, individuals must be a member at the time of the Tour event or become ICA member within 6 weeks of the Tour event inorder to retain the earned points and maintain membership throughout the balance of the Tour. 

 
Prizes

A list of awards will be presented by the Commissioner to the ICA Board for ratification by majority vote on a yearly basis. In determining the quantity and value of awards, performance and participation will be weighted approximately equally.

When possible, prizes will be awarded in January 2025 or sooner. 

2024 Prizes 

  • Open: Awarded to players with the most Tour points accumulated in open or top-level sections, including the U2300 section at the Chicago Open.
    • $500.00 1st 
    • $450 2nd
    • $400 3rd
    • $350 4th
    • $300 5th
  • Reserve – Adult:  Awarded to players 19 years of age or older as of the final Tour event who played in one or more reserve or class sections.
    • $300 1st
    • $250 2nd
    • $200 3rd
    • $150 4th
    • $100 5th
  • Reserve – Scholastic: Awarded to players under 19 years of age as of the final Tour event who played in one or more reserve or class sections.
    • $300 1st
    • $250 2nd
    • $200 3rd
    • $150 4th
    • $100 5th

Players will earn participation awards based solely on the number of tournaments entered, subject to the requirement of playing a minimum of at least one-half of the scheduled rounds (byes not included).

  • 7 Tour events played - Free ICA Membership for the following year ($15.00 value)
  • 9 Tour events played - $25 chess merchandise gift
  • 11 Tour events played - $50.00 chess merchandise gift
  • 12 Tour events played - $100.00 chess merchandise gift certificate

 

Funding

The Tour will seek sponsorship and donations outside of the ICA to cover annual Tour expenses, with the goal of self-sufficiency. In addition to sponsorship, the Tour may supplement revenue through the sale of promotional items such as t-shirts though third party sites.

2024 - Title/Main sponsorship OPEN

In the case of a budget shortfall, the ICA, to the extent practicable, will cover expenses to maintain the Tour’s viability. ICA also reserves the right to contribute to the Tour budget on a voluntary basis as it sees fit.

The Commissioner will submit an annual budget to the ICA Board for approval.

Acknowledgements

The Tour recognizes and acknowledges the contributions of the many individuals involved in the drafting of these rules, including ICA Board members, and members at large. Also, thanks go to the inspiration and guidance offered by the rules of other state chess association tours, especially our neighbors in Wisconsin, and also West Virginia, Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, North Carolina and Delaware; the previous Illinois tour; and the USCF Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix.

Emily Dawson
ICA Treasurer & Tour Commissioner
January 2024

Amended January 15, 2024