VALENTINE’S Scholastic Chess tournament
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Place: Grand Island high school, Cafeteria
1100 ransom road, grand island, ny 14072
Time: 9:30 - 4:00 PM (Registration 9:30-10)
Cost: $12.00 (includes Lunch & Registration)
Sections: unrated, open
Individual and Team trophies will be awarded for the top 3 in both the unrated & Open sections. Medals for best U1300, U1200, and U1000.
Questions?? Contact Ms. Szczublewski susanszczublewski@gicsd.org
A player's Modified Median score is found by adding the scores of the player's opponents, but not including the least important of those opponents. For players tied with more than half the maximum score (3 points or higher in a 5 round tournament), the lowest-ranked opponent is removed from the Modified Median score. For players tied with less than half the maximum score (2 or less in a 5 round tournament), the highest-ranked opponent is removed from the Modified Median score. For players tied with exactly half the maximum score (2.5 in a 5 round tournament), the highest and lowest-ranked opponents are removed from the Modified Median score. If the tournament has nine or more rounds, then the top and/or bottom two opponents are removed from the Modified Median score. For the purposes of determining the Modified Median, any opponent who had an unplayed game (bye, forfeit win, etc) shall have that round counted as 1/2 point towards the tied player's Modified Median, even if it was a full point bye.
Example 1: Tom and Jerry are tied with 4 points in a 5 round tournament. Tom's opponents' scores are 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 4. Jerry's opponents' scores are 2, 2.5, 3, 3, 4. Tom's Modified Median score is 2+3+3.5+4=12.5 (the opponent with a score of 1 is dropped). Jerry's Modified Median score is 2.5+3+3+4=12.5 (the opponent with a score of 2 is dropped). In this example, the Modified Median does NOT break the tie, and therefore we must go to the second tiebreak method.
Example 2: Jane and Fonda are tied with perfect scores: 7 points in a 7 round tournament. Jane's opponents have scores of 2, 2, 3.5, 4, 5, 5, 6, but the 6-point opponent had a full-point bye in the first round. Fonda's opponents have scores of 1, 2.5, 4, 4, 5, 5.5, 6. Jane's Modified Median score is 2+3.5+4+5+5+5.5=25 (one of the 2-point opponents is dropped, and the 6-point opponent is counted as 5.5 because of the bye). Fonda's Modified Median score is 2.5+4+4+5+5.5+6=27 (the 1-point opponent is dropped). Fonda wins on tiebreaks because her Modified Median is higher than Jane's.
The easiest to calculate, a player's Cumulative score is found by adding his/her scores from each round, from the start to the finish of the tournament. After adding the round-scores of a player, one point is subtracted if that player had a full-point bye or unplayed win.
Example 1: In a 3 round tournament, John won his first game, drew his second, and won his third game. John's score at round one was 1, round two was 1.5, and round three was 2.5. His Cumulative score is 1+1.5+2.5=5. James drew his first game and won his second and third. James's score at round one was 0.5, round two was 1.5, round three was 2.5. His Cumuluative score is 0.5+1.5+2.5=4.5. In this example, John wins on tiebreaks.
Example 2: In a 5 round tournament, Sally gets a bye, wins, loses, wins, wins. Her round scores are 1(bye), 2, 2, 3, 4. Molly plays all five rounds: win, win, loss, win, win. Her round scores are 1, 2, 2, 3, 4. Although Sally and Molly have the same round scores, Sally had the bye in the first round, so their Cumulative scores will be different. Sally's Cumulative score is (1+2+2+3+4)-1=11. Molly's Cumulative score is 1+2+2+3+4=12. Molly wins on tiebreaks.
A player's Solkoff score is calculated the same way as the Modified Median, except no scores are dropped.
Example 1: Tom and Jerry (same players from the Modified Median example) are tied with 4 points in a 5 round tournament. Tom's opponents' scores are 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 4. Jerry's opponents' scores are 2, 2.5, 3, 3, 4. Tom's Solkoff score is 2+2.5+3+3+4=14.5. Jerry's Solkoff score is 1+2+3+3.5+4=13.5. Tom wins a tiebreak based on the Solkoff method.
Example 2: May and April tie in a three-round tournament with 2.5 points each. They played each other in the final round and got a draw. May's opponents have scores of 1, 2, and 2.5. April's opponents also have scores of 1, 2, and 2.5, but her first opponent had a full-point bye. May's Solkoff score is 1+2+2.5=5.5. April's Solkoff score is 0.5+2+2.5=5 (the opponent with the bye counts as 1/2 point instead of full point). May wins the Solkoff tiebreak.
A player's Sonneborn-Berger score is determined by adding the final scores of opponents that the player beat, adding half the final score of opponents that the player drew, and adding nothing for games lost or for games not played (byes, forfeit wins, etc).
Example 1: In a four-player Round Robin event, Amos lost to Billy, beat Charles, and beat Devin (2 points total). Billy beat Amos, drew Charles, and drew Devin (2 points total). Charles drew Billy, lost to Amos, and beat Devin (1.5 points total). Devin drew Billy, lost to Amos, and lost to Charles (0.5 points total). Amos and Billy are tied with 2 points. Amos's Sonneborn-Berger score is 0+1.5+0.5=2. Billy's Sonneborn-Berger score is 2+(1.5/2)+(0.5/2)=2+0.75+0.25=3. Billy wins on tiebreaks.
Example 2: In a four-player Round Robin event, there is a clear winner but a tie for second place. Ian drew Jill and Kelly, and lost to Larry (1 point total). Jill drew Ian, beat Larry, and lost to Kelly (1.5 points total). Kelly drew Ian, beat Jill, and lost to Larry (1.5 points total). Larry lost to Jill, beat Kelly, and beat Ian (2 points total). For the second place tiebreak, Jill's Sonneborn-Berger score is (1/2)+2+0=2.5. Kelly's Sonneborn-Berger score is (1/2)+1.5+0=2. Jill is awarded second place on tiebreaks.
Spooky Tournament...Good Turnout...Thank You Vikings
Here are the Results:
The Open Section
Thank You Lyon Family for sponsoring a beautiful chess tournament.
These images should bring back many memories of players who loved playing against James.
2025 Blizzard Bowl Tournament
Thank You "Sonwil" for hosting the Blizzard Bowl at your new Headquarters.
Mr. Wilson and his personal assistant (Mrs. Nicole) went above and beyond to accommodate this staple Chess Tournament. Our WNY Chess community Thanks You.
November 23rd
2024
A huge Thank You goes out to Linda Zybert for organizing and sponsoring the "GIVING THANKS CHESS TOURNAMENT"
