Tournament rated games:

- You must write down your moves and those of your opponent (see notation guide below). You are exempted from this requirement only if you have less than 5 minutes to make a time control.
- If you touch one of your pieces, you must move it if there are legal moves for it. If you touch one of your opponents pieces, you must capture it if you can do so legally.
- You must press the clock with the same hand you make your move.
- Black chooses where the clock is placed.
- You cannot take back a move.
- Make sure you understand castling, en passant, the three conditions for mate, stalemate, pawn promotion, three-fold repetition draw, 50-move rule draw, insufficient material draws, insufficient losing chances draws.
- The proper way to offer a draw is by making your move, offering a draw, and then pressing your clock. A draw offer cannot be withdrawn. Your opponent has to either accept it or make a move (which implicitly declines it).
- You are not allowed to intentionally distract your opponent.
- Make sure to notify the Tournament Directors for any rounds you are going to miss. You can get half a point for one absence if you notify us in advance. This is called a half-point "bye".
- If there is a dispute or you have doubts about anything whatsoever, please contact a Tournament Director (Luis, Brian or Frank).

Notation Guide:

K           - King         |        (piece)     - promotion to piece
Q           - Queen        |        O-O         - Castling kingside
R           - Rook         |        O-O-O       - Castling queenside
B           - Bishop       |        x           - capture
N           - Knight       |        e.p.        - pawn captured en passant
+           - check        |        ++          - checkmate

Most boards have coordinates for files (vertical lines) and ranks (horizontal lines). These are written out in lower-case. a1 and h1 should have white rooks at the beginning of the game.

You write a move out by writing the piece upper-case letter and the coordinates to which it moves. For example, knight to f3 is Nf3. If two equal pieces can get to the same square, you write out first the file and if that's the same, then the rank. For example, for a knight at d2 and another one at g1, you would write Ndf3. For a knight at g1 and another one at g5, you would write N1f3.

Pawns only list the square they are moving to. For example, e4 means the pawn at e has moved to e4.

You indicate a capture by using x before the target square. For example, a pawn taking at d5 would be exd5. A knight taking at d5 would be Nxd5.

A pawn moving two squares that then gets captured en passant: c4 dxc3 e.p.
A check: Qh5+
A mate: Qxf7++
Promoting a pawn to a queen: g8(Q)

Sample first moves:

1. e4     e5
2. Nf3    Nc6
3. Bb5    a6
4. Ba4    Nf6
5. O-O    O-O
6. d4     exd4
7. Bxc6+