World Chess Festival - Las Vegas
Terms of Service, Information, and Contact Us
The following apply to both the World Chess Festival - Youth Championship as well as all Side Events.
These rules, policies, information are taken and applied from:
1. 2025-2026 US Chess Rulebook
2. 2025-2026 Scholastic National Tournament Rules and Regulations.
Spectator & Behavior Policy:
For fun, fairness, and safety for all, the playing halls will be open to the following people while games are in progress:
Parents, coaches and other attendees who do not fall into the above categories must remain outside the playing hall. Next, these hallways have to remain clear for foot traffic to flow through them.
Next, any unacceptable or destructive behavior will be handled by and at the discretion of the Tournament Committee with possible consequences anywhere from a warning to removal of the tournament. The decision by this Tournament Committee is final. There are no refunds in these situations.
Cancellation/Refund Policy:
All refund requests of tournament entry fees will be granted with a fee of $20 per tournament ($10 for all side events; Example: Puzzle Competition, Warm Up Scholastic, etc.) prior to May 1 at midnight EST. No Refunds are offered on May 2 or after.
Roster & Section Changes:
Section changes, Team/Club changes, adding of a team/club member, or any section changes are accepted for no fee until Sunday July 5. After, any change/addition will be accepted with a fee of $20 until round 2 begins. After round 2 begins, there are no section changes, club/team additions, or member additions.
Official Rating Used For All Tournaments:
The official rating date used for placement for all players is July 28, 2026.
Pairings & Tiebreaks: Pairings of players for each round/each tournament: The SwissSys software is used at all Festivals for pairing purposes. This is both US Chess and FIDE approved. This software has all of the US Chess rules programmed in it. Ties between players arise in almost every tournament for final places. The SwissSys software automatically calculates these. The 4 tiebreak systems it calculates in order of priority are: Club/School Team Totals: A school or club must have 2 players in the same section/tournament to qualify for the Club/School awards. The top 3 scorers count. Reporting of Game Results:
The game result is determined (and cannot subsequently be changed) after both players agree regardless of the position on the board.
Tournament Director Intervening in Games.
The director’s intervention in a chess game shall generally be limited to the following:
Required Equipment: We will be providing: Electronic Devices/Cell Phones: Electronic Devices (END) are not allowed unless there is a proven disability or religious reason for using one. This must be approved and inspected by the Organizer/Chief Tournament Director prior to using. These devices must meet specific anti-tampering and rules-compliance guidelines. Parent Requirements: All players/participants are to be supervised at all times when they are not competing in tournament games. The World Chess Festival, Joe Hanley, Hanley Chess Academy, World Chess Festival Tournament Directors, other staff, have zero/no responsibility for your child/children once they are finished competing in a tournament game and leave the competition ballroom. Any child under the age of 18 left unsupervised while not competing is subject to the following at the organizer's and tournament staff's discretions:
How To Follow Pairings & Standings of All Tournaments Throughout Festival: Please follow these steps:
Contact Us: Pleae contact Joe Hanley at hanleychessacademy@gmail.com for all questions. Thank you.
If you would like more information about the pairings rules programmed into the SwissSys software, please refer to Rules 27A-27A5 on page 75 of the US Chess rule book.
Modified Median: A method to rank players with identical scores. It sums opponents' final scores, excluding specific results based on a player's performance: typically, the lowest score is dropped for positive scores, the highest for negative scores, and both for even scores. Please reference Rule 34E1 on page 121 of the US Chess Rulebook.
Solkoff: This system is the same as the Median system, except that no scores are discarded. Please reference Rule 34E2 on page 121 of the US Chess Rulebook.
Cumulative: To determine cumulative tiebreak score, simply add up the cumulative (running) score for each round. For example, if a player's results were win, loss, win, draw, loss, the wall chart would show a cumulative score round by round as 1, 1, 2, 2.5, 2.5. The cumulative tiebreak total is 9 (1+1+2+2.5+2.5 = 9). If another player scored 2.5 with a sequence 1, 2, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, the tiebreak points scored would be 10.5 (1+2+2.5+2.5+2.5 = 10.5). The latter player's tiebreaks are higher because he or she scored earlier and presumably had tougher opposition for the remainder of the event. One point is subtracted from the sum for each unplayed win or full-point bye (22B); likewise, one-half point is subtracted from the sum for each unplayed draw or half-point bye. Please reference Rule 34E3 on page 121 of the US Chess Rulebook.
Cumulative of Opposition:This sums the cumulative scores of the player's opponents. Please reference Rule 34E on page 122 of the US Chess Rulebook.
Definitions of a Club:
1. A School Club is a club whose team members meet in any brick-and-mortar school, home school, or virtual school. School club players shall be students who go to the same school.
2. An Outside Club is a club who draws its players from different schools and whose players meet regularly. Outside clubs may meet at any location.
3. Private Lessons: A group of students who receive individual private lessons from the same coach are not a club.
Any student who desires to play for a School or Outside club must attend at least six regularly scheduled club meetings over a period of at least three months immediately preceding the tournament and must be verified by the club president or designated club official. A club team member cannot count more than two attendances for any seven consecutive days for purposes of this regulation.
There is no maximum number of players who may compete on a chess club team.
The following tournaments offer School/Club Awards:
1. Youth Championship (All sections; Over 1500, Under 1500, Under 1000, U600, U300 & UNR)
2. Non-Rated/Capture the King tournaments.
A. If both players agree, the result is confirmed regardless of the position on the board.
We will not be providing:
All players (ages 7 or higher) in all tournaments with the exception of the K/8 Non-Rated tournaments on Friday, Friday Blitz tournament, and Saturday Puzzle Solving Competition will be required to take chess notation of each game.
Cell Phones: Any cell phone brought into the playing hall(s) must be turned off and kept s on the floor.
The penalty for violating these rules may be any of the following:
a. The player is forfeited.
b. 20 minutes or 75% of the remaining time, whichever is less, is deducted from the player's clock.
c. 10 minutes or half the remaining time, whichever is less, is deducted from the player's clock.
d. 10 minutes is added to the opponent's clock.
e. If no more than 5 moves have been played, the offender may receive a warning rather than a penalty.
The TD will determine the penalty or combination of penalties, taking into consideration the details of the offense and the scores of the players. A second offense will generally result in forfeit. If there is evidence of cheating the player will be forfeited and usually ejected from the tournament with no refund.
There are no refunds offered if these situations occur. No appeals will be heard once the World Chess Festival staff have rendered their decision. In addition, you, the parent, agree to hold harmless The World Chess Festival, Joe Hanley, Hanley Chess Academy, World Chess Festival Tournament Directors, other staff from any issues arising when they are not in the competition ballroom.