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About |
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FAQ
Q. Do I have to become a member of
the A. Absolutely not! We are a chess club first, and we aim to foster chess activity for all kinds of players. We became a USCF affiliate to run rated tournaments, but that's only one of the many kinds of activities we run. USCF membership is part of one path players can follow, and not necessarily for everyone. We encourage players who are serious about improving to join the USCF and participate in the many rated tournaments organized each year. We will be happy to discuss what USCF membership means for you in your own particular case. Q. Can kids come and play? Will anybody teach my kid how to play? Will anybody teach me how to play? A. Of course! There are plenty of players who are willing to play anybody who will play. Most people will be glad to point out tactical themes or strategy to people who want to learn, not only kids. There are currently kids between 6 and 13 years old who are members and play regularly. Most kids stay for an hour or two, and have plenty of fun. Kids are welcome with parental supervision if under 12; minors 12 or older are welcome with parental permission. Q. How do I play a game? Is there a protocol I have to follow? A. In general, you can ask anyone who is not playing if they would like to play a casual game, even if they are watching other games. Most times they will want to play, but may be timid about challenging someone. You can also wait for a casual game to be over, and ask if you can play the winner. This is standard practice, and people will be glad to rotate and experience different styles of play. You can recognize casual games, as opposed to rated, by looking for those where the players are not writing down moves. Clocks and scoresheets usually mean a rated game. You are also welcome to join the rated tournaments. Ask the Tournament Directors about playing in one. Q. What is the level of the players who come to the club? A. We have beginner to advanced players (from unrated to USCF ratings of 2100). See our members section. You can choose to play at your level, or against stronger or weaker opponents. Most players will gladly accept a challenge from opponents of different levels, so don't feel intimidated by someone's rating. We are all here to learn and have fun. Q. How many people come to the meetings on average? A. The rolling average for the last month and a half is 20 players a night (3/7/06). People who have come keep coming back. We have a great group of people. You can also take a look at our attendance charts. Q. I have never played a rated game; what do I need to know? A. We have put together a guide for beginning rated tournament players. The main differences from casual games is that adherence to rules is more strict. Writing down your moves and using a clock are required. Playing rated games is a great way to improve your game, as it forces you to examine positions more closely. It also helps you keep track of your progress. Q. I'm not going to be able to play a round in the monthly tournament; what should I do? A. Letting the Tournament Director know in advance helps a lot, as he won't have to wait until the last minute to know whether he needs to pair you or not. Automatic half-point “byes” are given in the first three rounds of the monthly tournaments but only one per player per tournament. What this means is that you get half a point, helping you stay competitive in the tournament. Q. How long will it take for my games to be rated? A. We submit events for rating to the USCF electronically less than a couple of hours after the event ends. The USCF's new online system will process the event in less than an hour, so you will get a new rating usually on the same night of the last round at the end of the month! Q. How do I submit games for posting? A. You can use a PGN editor to get your game into a format suitable for publishing. A good one is Winboard, which also can serve as a client application for playing games online. Also, if you don't want to download or install any programs, you can use this web editor. Let us know if you need help using either of these utilities. You can also email us your game as you wrote it on your scoresheet, but it may take longer to get it posted. If you have any objections to a game you played being posted, let us know and we will promptly remove it. It is better to ask your opponent before you submit a game, to avoid any misunderstandings. A. The easiest way is by registering through our online form. A. There are many ways you can help. We are looking for people who want to help organize tournaments and run the club. For rated tournaments, you would need to become a USCF certified Tournament Director. It's easy to become a certified TD. All you have to do is read the
USCF’s Official Rules of Chess, and sign a statement that you have done
so. The Club will provide you with your own free copy of this book if you are
seriously interested in helping out this way. Certified TDs can help ensure
that the Club is not dependent on only a few people to run smoothly. Come by the club and we can talk more about it. Q. Are meetings ever cancelled? A. No. The only reasons we would cancel or move a meeting would be for holidays, major emergencies, unexpected unavailability of the meeting place, or very bad luck if none of the organizers are available due to illness, etc. Unless otherwise noted on the homepage of this site, we are meeting at the regularly scheduled day and time. We have held meetings twice with large snow storms raging outside. :-) If we ever have a reason to cancel, we will contact everyone in our contact list, so make sure to get your details into it. If in doubt, send email to info@cranstonchess.org or call (401) 575-1520. A. Even though we meet until 10:30pm, the guard locks the door at 9pm. If you need to get in after 9pm, give us a call at (401) 575-1520, or knock on the glass door. Q. What's your policy on disruptions and noise? A. Read the policy page. We have players of varied experience and level; some need just a friendly reminder to keep their voices low while rated tournament games are ongoing. Also, we only have one room; it's possible that there could be a small amount of conversation at any given point in time. If someone is distracting you and you are playing a rated game, please notify the TD. We try to make it pleasant for everybody. Q. What's your privacy policy? A. We take the trust you place on us seriously. Your contact information will only be used in case of emergencies, for tournament communications, and for the club newsletter (once a month, unless you request not to receive it). We will not give your contact information to any third-party, be it chess-related or not. Only TDs have access to your contact information. Q. Your club is too far away; is there anything closer to me? A. Look under our Resources section. We list all clubs and tournaments in the area (that we know of), as well as links to sites that may be of help in your search. Alternatively, if you know of other players in your area, have you thought of starting your own club? We will assist you in any way we can if you want to start your own club. We are serious about helping chess in RI grow. Q. Can you recommend any good books? A. We have many players who have read many different books and will be happy to talk about them. The best way to improve your game is to read books and play games with slower time controls. Feel free to drop by or send us an email if you are interested in a particular kind of chess book. Q. Do you sell chess books, sets, merchandise? A. We can assist you in buying equipment at good prices from different sources. Occasionally, we will buy some equipment in bulk as a group, and everyone benefits from the wholesale discount. Let us know what you need. Q. My questions are not answered here! A. Send an email to info@cranstonchess.org with your questions. We will usually respond in less than a day. |
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Contact: info@cranstonchess.org |
Copyright © 2005 Cranston-Warwick Chess Club
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