Club Charter
Reno Chess Club Charter
Approved on 28 09 2023
This Charter establishes guidance for the management of the Reno Chess Club and how it conducts business with Mathewson Bridge Center, Washoe County, the United States Chess Federation, and other club/business needs.
This Charter is written by the elected representatives of the Reno Chess Club and endorsed by the voting majority of Reno Chess Club members in good standing during the Annual Reno Chess Club Meeting held on the third Thursday of every August and takes effect on 1 October following the Annual Reno Chess Club election.
This Charter is a living document and may be amended when required to comply with the current United States Chess Federation (USCF) Official Rules of Chess and to maintain a standard of fair playing conditions for all members of the Reno Chess Club.
1. Reno Chess Club Establishment
Address: Mathewson Bridge Center
125 West Plumb Lane, Reno, NV. 89509
Phone: (775) 502-1802 (Chess Club - Google Voice)
Forwards: 1. Jason Thoel
2. Jeff Bilyeu
3. Tony Chinnici
4. (Open)
5. (Open)
6. (Open)
Phone: (775) 827-3867 (Mathewson Bridge Center - Hardline Phone)
Website: www.renochess.org
2. USCF Affiliation
USCF Affiliation: A5012490
Club Representative: Fred Roscher
Phone: (###) ###-####
Email: #@#.#
3. Elected Representatives and Responsibilities
The following positions will be voted upon by the Reno Chess Club members in good standing on the last Thursday of every August at the Annual Reno Chess Club Meeting and takes effect on 1 October following the Annual Reno Chess Club Meeting:
President
- Presides over the Reno Chess Club Board of Directors
- Promotes fair playing standards for all members of the Reno Chess Club
- Promotes the Reno Chess Club within the local community
Vice President
- Supports the President and the Reno Chess Club Board of Directors
- Promotes fair playing standards for all members of the Reno Chess Club
- Promotes the Reno Chess Club within the local community
Historian/Librarian
- Manages the Reno Chess Club Library
- Maintains Reno Chess Club historical documents
- Provides Media Director(s) with website historical/biography updates
Media Director(s)
- Managers of the Reno Chess Club Social Media websites
- Publishes updates of news, events, and results to websites
Secretary
- Records minutes of meetings and forward to Media Director(s) for publishing on website
- Assists the Treasurer with account management
- Issues, receives, logs, tallies, and announces annual election results
Sergeant at Arms
- Maintains order at Reno Chess Club sponsored events
- Manages keys issued to the Reno Chess Club from Mathewson Bridge Club
- Care of facilities and equipment
Tournament Director(s)
- Schedule annual tournaments, formats, and time controls
- Provide Media Director(s) tournament announcements
- Ensure all tournaments abide by the USCF and Reno Chess Club Rules
- Report results to USCF, Historian, Media Director(s), Secretary, and Treasurer
Treasurer
- Manages Reno Chess Club financial accounts
- Ensures all Reno Chess Club payables are met
- Assigns and awards cash prizes to tournament winners
4. Elections
The Reno Chess Club will perform annual elections on the last Thursday of September every calendar year.
Only members in good standing and renewing their Annual Reno Club membership during the month of September are eligible to participate in the election of the Reno Chess Club officials.
4.1. Election Schedule
4.1.1. First Thursday of August
4.1.1.1. Announcement of upcoming elections.
4.1.1.2. Individuals may begin nominating for contested positions.
4.1.1.3. Media Director publishes announcement on website.
4.1.2. Third Thursday of August
4.1.2.1. Secretary finalizes all nominees and contested positions.
4.1.2.2. Media Director publishes final nominees and contested positions on website.
4.1.3. First Thursday of September
4.1.3.1. Secretary will have printed ballots available for renewing Reno Chess Club members.
4.1.4. Second and Third Thursday of September
4.1.4.1. All nominees are allotted 5 minutes each both weeks to debate.
4.1.4.2. Secretary begins accepting sealed ballots.
4.1.5. Last Thursday of September
4.1.5.1. All sealed ballots returned to the Secretary no later than 6:30 pm or void afterwards.
4.1.5.2. Secretary publicly tallies and announces results of ballots.
4.1.6. First week of October
4.1.6.1. Officials assume elected positions
4.1.6.2. Media Director publishes officials and positions on website.
4.2. Election Voting Procedure
4.2.1. Election ballots will consist of one paper ballot and one envelope.
4.2.2. Election ballots will include the following:
- Blank space for USCF membership number
- Date all ballots will be returned to the Secretary for election count.
- All Reno Chess Club elected positions and nominees contesting each position.
4.2.3. Members will receive one ballot and one envelope from the Secretary at the time of their membership renewal during the month of September.
4.2.3. The Secretary will log each ballot given to members at that the time of issue.
4.2.4. The Secretary will log each sealed ballot when returned from members.
4.2.5. The Secretary will open and tally each ballot in presence the Reno Chess membership at 6:30 pm on the last Thursday of September. Any ballot not returned by 6:30 pm on the last Thursday of September will not be included in the election ballot count.
4.2.6. The Secretary announces to the Reno Chess Club membership the final count and winner of each contested position.
4.2.7. The President and Vice President confirms the results by the Secretary and announces to the Reno Chess Club membership the newly elected officials who will assume their positions on 1 October.
5. Financials (Not to be published on the public website)
Accounts
- Bank Account Information:
- Paypal:
- Venmo:
- Apple Pay:
- Google Pay:
Income
- Annual Membership (renews 1 October of every year)
Adult: $60 ($5.00 pro-rated per month)
Student (under 18): $30
Family: $30 per family member
Senior (over 65): $40
- Tournaments:
Class / Club Championship: $40 per entrant
Memorial Tournaments: $40 per entrant
Club Equipment Fund Raiser Tournament: Donation
4-week Tournaments: $10 per entrant
6-week Tournaments: $20 per entrant
Sunday Rapid Tournaments: $5 per entrant
Alternate Format Tournaments (960, Bughouse, etc.): Free
Payables
- Annual
United States Chess Federation Affiliation: $40
Annual Player Appreciation Night: Cost of food and utensils
Annual Player Awards/Trophies: Cost of trophies and engraving or printing
- Monthly
Mathewson Bridge Club
Rent:
Utilities:
- Periodical
USCF tournament game submissions:
Tournament prizes: See Section 6.
Club equipment purchases: As needed
Advertising: As needed
6. Reno Chess Club Annual Awards
The Reno Chess Club sponsors the following annual awards presented during the Annual Reno Chess Club Meeting held on the third Thursday every August.
6.1. Reno Chess Club Annual Awards
6.1.1. Reno Chess Club Championship (1800 and above)
- Reno Chess Club Champion
- Reno Chess Club Runner-Up
6.1.2. Under 1800 Champion (1799 and below)
6.1.3. Reno Chess Club Class B Championship (1600-1799)
- Reno Chess Class B Champion
- Reno Chess Class B Runner-Up
6.1.4. Reno Chess Club Class C Championship (1400-1599)
- Reno Chess Class C Champion
- Reno Chess Class C Runner-Up
6.1.5. Reno Chess Club Class D Championship (1200-1499)
- Reno Chess Class D Champion
- Reno Chess Class D Runner-Up
6.1.6. Reno Chess Club Class E Championship (up to 1199)
- Reno Chess Class E Champion
- Reno Chess Class E Runner-Up
6.2. Reno Chess Club Annual Award Certificates
- The Mikhail Botvinnik Award for Most Improved Player (Rated and Unrated)
- The Anatoly Karpov Award for Most Won Tournaments
- The Magnus Carlsen Award for Most Won Tournament Games
- The Anish Giri Award for Most Drawn Games
- The Robert James Fischer Award for Biggest Upset
- The Paul Morphy Award for Quickest Checkmate (game submission)
- The Makhail Tal Award for Most Feared Player (by vote)
- The Vishy Anand Award for Sportsmanship (by vote)
7. Reno Chess Club Tournament Trophies and Prize Pay-Outs
7.1. Reno Chess Club Championship
7.1.1. Reno Chess Club Champion
- 4 times tournament entry fee and trophy
7.1.2. Reno Chess Club Runner-Up
- 2 times tournament entry fee
7.2. Reno Chess Club Under 1800 Championship
- 4 times tournament entry fee and trophy
7.3. Reno Chess Club Class Championship
7.3.1. Reno Chess Club Class Champion
- 3 times tournament entry fee and trophy
7.3.2. Reno Chess Club Class Runner-Up
- 2 times tournament entry fee
7.4. Reno Chess Club Ryba Memorial Tournament
7.4.1. Overall Winner
- 4 times tournament entry fee
7.4.2. Class Winner
- 3 times tournament entry fee
7.4.3. Class Runner-Up
- 2 times tournament entry fee
7.5. Reno Chess Club Swiss Tournaments
7.5.1. 1st Place Winner
- 3 times tournament entry fee
7.5.2. 2nd Place Winner
- 2 times tournament entry fee
7.5.3. 3rd Place Winner
- 1 times tournament entry fee
7.6. Reno Chess Club Team Tournament
7.6.1. 1st Place Team
- 30% of tournament entries collected
7.6.2. 2nd Place Team
- 20% of tournament entries collected
7.6.3. 3rd Place Team
- 10% of tournament entries collected
7.7. Reno Chess Club Sunday Night Rapid Games
7.7.1. 1st Place Winner
- 3 times tournament entry fee
7.7.2. 2nd Place Winner
- 2 times tournament entry fee
7.7.3. 3rd Place Winner
- 1 times tournament entry fee
7.8. Free Entry Tournaments
7.8.1. No trophy or prize money awarded
Reno Chess Club Rules and By-Laws
Approved on DD MMM YYYY
The United States Chess Federation Official Rules of Chess is the official rulebook for the Reno Chess Club and takes precedent unless variations to these rules have been approved by the majority of the Reno Chess Club membership.
Reno Chess Club Board of Directors and Reno Chess Club Tournament Directors have the discretion to interpret the USCF Official Rules of Chess and Reno Chess Club rules for all Reno Chess Club sponsored events to ensure all players are treated fairly and games are played according to the rules published prior to the start of each event.
1. Rules of Chess (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 1)
1.1. Any variations to the United States Chess Federation Rule of Chess by the Reno Chess Club will be approved by the majority of Reno Chess Club membership and amended to this document and posted to the Reno Chess Club website for review.
1.2. Tournament Directors have sole authority to enforce all United States Chess Federation and Reno Chess Club rules during tournament rated games.
1.3. The Chief Tournament Director of a tournament will have sole authority to enforce standard and non-standard penalties during all rated tournament games. This authority includes warnings, adjustments to player’s clocks, declaring won/lost or drawn positions, or correcting an illegal position in a game.
2. Rules of Tournament Chess (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 2)
2.1. General
2.1.1. Tournament Announcement, Entry Fees, and Objections
2.1.1.1. Tournament format, schedule, time controls, entry fees, byes, and rules will be announced to the membership of the Reno Chess Club prior to the start of the tournament and published on the Reno Chess Club website.
2.1.1.2. All entry fees will be collected prior to the start of the tournament. Exceptions will only be considered by the Chief Tournament Director.
2.1.2. Tournament Game Start Time
2.1.2.1. All players must be present or notify a tournament director of being late no later than 6:15 pm the night of scheduled tournament game is to be played.
2.1.2.2. All games will start 10 minutes after pairings have been announced. 10 minutes allows time for pairing corrections, players to meet opponents, set boards and clocks, fill out scoresheets, etc.
2.1.3. Players may only submit objections to the Chief Tournament Director prior to the start of a tournament. Players forfeit all rights to objection after start of a tournament.
2.1.4. Tournament Byes
2.1.4.1. Maximum Byes Allowed Per Tournament:
4 Round Tournament: 1 bye
6 Round Tournament: 2 byes
8 Round Tournament: 3 byes
Championship Tournaments: 2 byes
2.1.4.2. Unpaired Player Given Bye(s)
2.1.4.2.1. Players will be given a 1-point bye for not being assigned a pairing at the start of a tournament round.
2.1.4.2.2. No player will be given two unpaired byes in a tournament.
2.1.4.3. Player Requested Bye(s)
2.1.4.3.1. Players may request a 1/2-point bye for a later round before the start of the 2nd round of a tournament.
2.1.4.3.2. Players may not request a 1/2-point bye for a later round after the 2nd round of a tournament.
2.1.4.3.3. Players may call and request a 1/2-point bye before 6:15 pm the night of a scheduled tournament round for emergencies (family, medical, traffic, weather, etc.).
2.1.4.4. Player No Call or No Show at Start of Tournament Round
2.1.4.4.1. Players will receive a 0-point bye for no call/no show at 6:15 pm before the start of a scheduled tournament round.
2.1.4.4.2. Players will be considered forfeited and withdrawn from a tournament after two consecutive missed tournament rounds.
2.1.4.5. Late Entry Player Bye(s)
The Chief Tournament Director may accept a late entry player after the start of a tournament and assign the following bye points at the start of the given round:
4 Round Tournament:
Round 2 - 1/2 point
Round 3 - 1 points
Round 4 - 1 1/2 points
6 Round Tournament:
Round 2 - 1/2 point
Round 3 - 1 points
Round 4 - 1 1/2 points
Round 5 - 2 points
Round 6 - 2 points
8 Round Tournament:
Round 2 - 1/2 point
Round 3 - 1 points
Round 4 - 1 1/2 points
Round 5 - 2 points
Round 6 - 2 1/2 points
Round 7 - 3 points
Round 8 - 3 points
Championship Tournaments:
No Late Entries Allowed
2.2. Variations
2.2.1. Major variations or exceptions to a tournament will be announced to the members of the Reno Chess Club the week prior to the start of the tournament and published on the Reno Chess Club website.
2.2.2. The Chief Tournament Director may make minor variation changes during a tournament to accommodate players with disabilities, late player entries, player withdrawals, or player mismatches.
2.3. Swiss System Tournaments
The Swiss Pairing System is the preferred tournament format used at the Reno Chess Club with exception to the following tournaments:
Club Championship: Bracket/Knock-out
Class Championship: Quad Double Round Robin
Team Tournament: Single Round Robin
2.4. Swiss System Pairing Procedures
The Reno Chess Club uses both computer Swiss Pairing software and player pairing cards for tournament pairings.
2.5. Round Robin Tournaments
The Reno Chess Club uses player pairing cards for tournament pairings.
3. Chess Notation (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 3)
All players may use any approved chess notation during tournament games.
4. Equipment Standards (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 4)
Players may use their own equipment or the Reno Chess Club equipment for all tournament games provided the equipment meets the following standards:
Chess Pieces
- Minimum King Height: 3.50”
- Maximum King Size: 4.00”
- Piece Material: Wood or Plastic
- Piece Color: Natural Wood, White, Off-White, Black
- Piece Design: Conservative, “Staunton” design
Chessboards
- Minimum Square Size: 2.25”
- Maximum Square Size: 2.50”
- Board Material: Wood or Vinyl
- Board Color: Natural Wood, Vinyl White/Green or White/Black
- Board Design: Conservative with no distracting design or print
Chess Clocks
- Preferred: Digital clocks (Chronos, DGT, or similar)
- Secondary: Analog clocks
Score Keeping
- Electronic (MonRoi or similar) with no internet/database access
- Paper scoresheets either purchased or self-generated with no previously recorded notes on scoresheets
5. Players Rights and Responsibilities (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 5)
All Reno Chess Club members will abide by the Rights and Responsibilities in this chapter.
6. Code of Ethics (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 6)
6.1. All Reno Chess Club members will extend every courtesy to all other members and guests regardless of protected status, experience, or ability.
6.2. Standard of Conduct
6.2.1. All Reno Chess Club members will abide by the Standards of Conduct in this chapter.
6.3. Procedures
6.3.1. All Reno Chess Club members reserve the right to present grievances as allowed in this chapter to the Reno Chess Club Board of Directors or the USCF Ethics Committee.
6.4. Sanctions
6.4.1. The Reno Chess Club Board of Directors will enforce all warnings, suspensions, and expulsions as allowed in this chapter.
6.4.2. All Reno Chess Club members reserve the right to appeal any sanction decision by the Reno Chess Club Board of Directors to the USCF Ethics Committee.
7. Tournament Director Certification (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 7)
Reno Chess Club Tournament Directors will meet or exceed the requirements to manage Category D level tournaments as required in this chapter.
8. US Chess Rating System (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 8)
8.1. Reno Chess Club Tournament Directors will abide by the Rating System in this chapter.
8.2. Reno Chess Club Tournament Directors will use the current published ratings on the USCF website for pairings prior to the start of all tournaments.
8.3. Ratings will not be adjusted after the start of the tournament.
8.4. Tournaments results will be submitted to the USCF within two weeks following the completion of the tournament.
9. US Correspondence Chess Rules (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 9)
9.1. Section not applicable to the Reno Chess Club.
10. Internet Chess (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 10)
10.1. Section not applicable to the Reno Chess Club.
11. Blitz Chess (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 11)
11.1. Standard Blitz Time Control- Game in 5 minutes with no delay or increment.
11.2. Alternate Blitz Time Controls-
11.2.1. Minimum Time Control- Game in 3 minutes with 2 second increment.
11.2.2. Maximum Time Control- Game in 10 minutes with no delay or increment.
12. Round Robin Pairing Tables (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 12)
The Reno Chess Club will follow the recommended pairing charts for Round Robin player pairings.
13. The US Chess Federation (USCF Official Rules of Chess, Chapter 13)
13.1. Section not applicable to the Reno Chess Club.
Addendum
1. Reno Chess Club Time Controls
1.1. Standard Time Control
- 90 minutes with 30 second increment
1.2. Rapid Time Control
- 15 minutes with 10 second increment
- 25 minutes with 3 second increment
2. Grand Prix Points
(Being reviewed)