Questions and Answers

Q: What is it?
A: 2019 North Carolina K-12 (Scholastic) State Chess Championship.

Q: Who can play in it?
A: Any students who live or go to North Carolina schools from pre-K to grade-12.

Q: Where is it?
A: Charlotte Convention Center. 501 S College St, Charlotte, NC 28202.

Q: When is it?
A: March 29-31, 2019. Main events are only on March 30-31 (Saturday-Sunday).

Q: What sections students/players can play?
A: We have K1 Championship, K3 Championship, K5 Championship, K8 Championship, K12 Championship. K8U1200 and K12U1500.

Q: What does it mean by K1 Championship?
A: K1 or K-1 means Kinder to 1st grade. Only first grader or lower can play in the section/group of K1 Championship.

Q: K3 Championship, K5 Championship, K8 Championship, K12 Championship?
A: Read answer above.

Q: Can first grader play in K12 Championship?
A: He/she is eligible to play in K12 Championship section, but not advisable. Unless he/she has been playing in the tournaments and having rating more than 1500. In North Carolina, as fas as we know, no first grader has 1500+ rating.

Q: What is the best section for first grader?
A: K1 Championship. Schedule only Saturday.

Q: Can first grader play in K1 Championship and K3 Championship?
A: Yes. This is the only exception where a player can play in 2 main event sections. K1 Championship is on Saturday, then he/she can enter K3 Championship and bringing half points he/she earned on Saturday to the section. This option we call it "K-1 re-enter to K-3 division Sunday", and it cost $20 more.

Q: What is the best section for second grader?
A: K3 Championship. He/she can't enter K1 Championship because K-1 means kinder to first grader.

Q: Can second grader play K12 Championship or K8 Championship or K5 Championship?
A: He/she is eligible to play in K12/K8/K5 Championship section, but not advisable.

Q: What is the best section for third grader?
A: K3 Championship. This tournament is designed for players to play in their school grade group, so please play in K3 Championship instead of K5 Championship

Q: What is the best section for fourth grader?
A: K5 Championship.

Q: What is the best section for fifth grader?
A: K5 Championship.

Q: What is the best section for sixth/seventh/eighth grader? K8 Championship or K8U1200?
A: Most of sixth/seventh/eighth graders have established chess rating. So depending on their ratings. If he/she has rating under 1200, best section to play is K8U1200. If he/she has rating over 1200, best section is K8 Championship. He/she may play K12U1500 for some reasons (i.e. school team).

Q: What is the best section for ninth/tenth/eleventh/twelfth grader? K12 Championship or K12U1500?
A: Most of ninth/tenth/eleventh/twelfth graders have established chess rating. So depending on their ratings. If he/she has rating under 1500, best section to play is K12U1500. If he/she has rating over 1500, the only section he can play is K12 Championship.

Q: My child/player rating may up and down before the tournament. How can he/she register in U (under sections)?
A: Please register him/her anyway for early entry because it is cheaper, and we will double check players rating before the tournament. Any players who are not eligible anymore playing in U sections, we will move them up.

Q: My child/player goes to school A, can he joins school B team?
A: NO. This is a strict rule. They are only allowed to play in their school team.

Q: How about home schoolers?
A: Home schooler can use their zip code to make a team if they live in the same zip code.

Q: I registered my child/player to wrong section. How do I change it?
A: Please go to Change Request page. It is self-service form: fill the form, submit, check email, click the link, and double check in pre-entries page.

Q: I registered my child/player to wrong school team, but he/she really does not go to that school. How do I change it?
A: Same answer as above. Please go to Change Request page. It is self-service form: fill the form, submit, check email, click the link, and double check in pre-entries page.

Q: I registered my child/player to wrong grade. How do I change it?
A: Same answer as above. Please go to Change Request page. It is self-service form: fill the form, submit, check email, click the link, and double check in pre-entries page.

Q: I tried to fill the Change Request form, but it did not find my child/player name. What should I do?
A: Try to use their complete name. Try to use exact name appear in the pre-entries page. Or simply, try to use USCFID.

Q: I registered my child/player, but we have decided to cancel it. How can I cancel and get refund?
A: Any cancelations/changes that will require a refund, please contact us.

Q: Does my child/player will play again even if he loses a game?
A: Yes.This is not a knock out tournament. A player will play 5/6/7 rounds depending what section they play, win or lose.

Q: What is BYE?
A: A BYE is an option for a player to request a pass in requested rounds for any reason (i.e conflicted schedule, can't come, etc). When BYE requested, player won't be paired for the requested round(s). We do not check your request manually. Last year we still had a player who requested/checked BYE all rounds, did not get pair first round, and complained. Please only check BYE, if you know what it is.

Q: My child/player came late and miss a round, but he/she wants to play next rounds. Should I report it?
A: YES. If a player no show in a round, their opponent will report your child/player for forfiet lost. When there is a forfiet lost, the player will be remove from the system and won't be pair for next round. So the answer for this is YES, you have to report that your child/player came late, but they want to play next round.

Q: My child/player does not want to play against their friends from same school. Can he/she?
A: YES. This is automatic feature. Players from the same school won't play each other except the last round for Championship. Please double check this rule to the chief TD.

Q: My child is so tired and can't continue to play anymore. Should I report it?
A: YES. If you withdraw from the tournament, please report to the tournament director room/staff.

Q: My child does not have USCFID. This will be him/her first tournament. Can he/she register w/o USCFID?
A: On registration page, there is option "STEP A: First Time Player?". Please use that. It will cost $10 more to cover 1 year USCF membership.

Q: My child does not have USCFID. I registered him to this tournament and pay extra $10. Can I get USCFID now, so he/she can start playing rated tournament?
A: Yes. Usually, we give/create USCFID after the tournament ends, but if your child/player wants to play rated tournaments before this tournament, definitely we can send it to you. This is a manual request, please contact us using the contact form.

Q: I got message that my child/player USCF membership will be expired on the time of the tournament. Can he/she still register?
A: Yes. Please keep going on registration. It won't stop your from registration. Before the tournament begins, we will send reminder to all players to make sure their USCF membership is current.

Q: I wanted to order photos, but I forgot to request it on the registration form. Can I still do it?
A: We will take as many photos as possible even for non pre-orders, but the prices will be different. It will $5.99, and there is no guarantee that your child/player photo will be taken. Please send us message if you need to make sure we take your child/player photos.

Q: I paid/checkout on Paypal, why my child/player name is not showing up in pre-entries page?
A: If after 5 minutes you checkout on Paypal and name is not showing up in the pre-entries, please contact us. Make sure you did search in the pre-entries page first. Pre-entries page is real time registration. If you do not see your child/player name, it means registration is not completed and they won't be paired in the tournament.

Q: I was wondering what will be missed if my son (3rd grade) does not participate in the Friday portion of the tournament? Is the main event Saturday? What happens on Sunday?Also, since he is in 3rd grade does that mean he should register for the K-3 tournament?
A: The main event begins on Saturday and goes through Sunday. The Friday (blitz) tournament is not obligatory. Yes. 3rd Graders should enroll in the K-3 section.

Q: I registered my child/player as new first time player, and purchased USCF membership at the checkout by paying extra $10. I received email with USCFID that starts with 99xxxxxx. Can I use this ID to play rated tournament before March (the NC K-12 State tournament)?
A: NO, you can't use the ID that starts with 99 at USCF rated tournament because it is not USCFID. It is ChessStream temporary ID. If you plan to play USCF rated tournament before this tournament, you will need to request to generate USCFID now. Please contact us and mention in it. Otherwise your USCFID will be generated in March when the tournament report being published and membership will start from March until March next year. If you request an ID now, the membership will start from current day for 1 year.

Q: How can I register Bughouse?
A: Bughouse registration is on site only.

Q: Is there any chess group discounts for hotels around the convention center?
A: Yes, we do have. The link to get discount is on the home page.

Q: Any other questions?
A: Submit your question here.