We’re excited to get off to a quick start again this year in Seaside with our traditional Blitz Tournament. Note that contrary to popular belief, the USCF blitz rules (p. 136) that we are using here are touch move, so you have to move the piece you touch, the move is determined when you release that piece on a square or touch an opponent’s piece; and the move is complete when the clock is pressed.

Here’s how to get yourself onto the pairing sheets for blitz and win one of those coveted awards:

1) Register online by clicking here. If you registered for blitz, you will be listed here. If you’re not listed, check your email confirmation and then contact us. We are not accepting cash payments this year. Please register no later than 4pm Friday — ideally sooner.

2) Check in. You must check-in at the Blitz-Bughouse check-in table in the Seaside Convention Center Lobby by 4pm. We just need to know that you are there (or going to be there) in person. Note that you DO NOT need to check into the main event before checking in for blitz or bughouse.

NOTE that if you’re playing Bughouse, you must also check-in for Bughouse on-site at the Blitz-Bughouse table Friday — before you begin playing in the blitz tournament because Bughouse check-in will close before you are done with your Blitz games.

3) Once checked-in, come back for your Blitz games by 4:45, with play to start around 5 pm.

You should arrive in the large “Pacific Room” (the large Skittles room with stage) no later than 4:45pm, and we will begin play around 5pm. As you’re gathering, we are cross-checking our data and pairing all players who were checked in as of 4pm. As soon as we’re able, we will post in several locations a list of players sorted alphabetically by last name. The list will tell you what playing group (lettered from A-Z, then AA-ZZ) you will be in; we group most players by ratings. There will be signs on the tables telling you where playing groups are; you should go to the table for your playing group. On the table, we will place pairings sheets for recording rounds. We will talk a little bit about the basic rules of blitz before we start. These will be double-round-robin matches. In each group, every player plays every other player twice — play once, then flip colors and play again. Mark down the score for each game. Each quad manages its own play. The youngest players may need assistance with this; for adults of the youngest kids, please assist as best you can. For the oddly-sized sections (i.e., more than 4 players), the players will usually play each other only once, but we will talk about it with those groups. Reset your boards once done for the Bughouse tournament.

If there’s a tie, we will have the tied players play each other again — come tell the emcee what happened. Winners get a state championship medal!

Generally speaking, we finish about 75 minutes after we start, so we’ll be done between 6:00 and 6:30 — just in time for bughouse to get going around 6:45-7:00.

Have fun!