Taken at the 2022 Earthquake Relief Fundraiser Tournament, hosted by Linde, Inc.
Have you played ever played chess?
If so, come show us your skills! We guarantee we can help you improve, and show you the wealth of resources WNY has for an aspiring player.
If not, this is the perfect time to learn! Our instructors will be happy to teach you how to play, and win!
Free pizza will be provided while supplies last!
When?
Saturday, July 20th (International Chess Day!)
11:00am - 4:00pm
Where?
BECPL Audubon Branch - Amherst Public Library
350 John James Audubon Pkwy, Buffalo, NY 14228
Taken at the annual Grand Island Valentine’s Tournament in 2022.
Schedule
11:00am - 4:00pm: Free Play and Chess Clinic - Come hang out and have our instructors help you up your game!
12:00pm - 1:00pm: What is Bughouse? A crash course on how to play team chess.
1:00pm - 2:30pm: Bughouse Tournament - Team up with a buddy to show your skills! Sign Up below or at the door.
3:00pm - 4:00pm: Puzzling Progress - How to Use Puzzles to Improve Your Chess Game
Students and instructors playing Bughouse.
Bughouse Tournament
Details: This will be an open, unrated tournament. Time control will be 5-0 (5 minutes, no delay). Every team will play 5 rounds, regardless of whether they win or lose. Pairings will be made using the Swiss System, and prizes will be granted to first, second, and third place winners. Additional prizes (sportsmanship, brilliancy, etc) may be awarded at the tournament directors’ discretion.
Did none of this make sense to you? Check out our tournament dictionary below!
What is Bughouse?
We will be having a full class on this, including practice rounds, at 12:00pm! Check it out!
Chess is frequently associated with silence, solitude, and intense thought. Bughouse has one of those things - you still need to think! In Bughouse you are playing with a teammate against two opponents. You and your teammate both play on seperate boards, and as opposite colors.
Bughouse follows all of the rules of normal chess, with a few extras:
If your game ends, so does your teammate’s - and vice versa! Whether you win, get checkmated, draw, or your clock runs out you’re dragging your teammate along with you.
Games will be played with a 5 minute timer. This gives each player 5 minutes of thinking time. If you run out of time you lose, so keep an eye on it!
When you capture a piece, you hand it to your teammate.
On your turn, you can place a piece on the board instead of moving.
Pieces CANNOT be dropped on top of another piece to instantly capture it. (As this would allow you to instantly capture the King and win.)
Pawns CANNOT be dropped on the 1st or 8th ranks of the board. In other words, you cannot drop a Pawn onto the end of the board to instantly promote. You also can’t drop them on your very first line, as they cannot normally get there.
Pieces and Pawns CAN be dropped to make check or checkmate, and to block check! You can even drop pawns a step away from promotion.
Due to the chaotic nature of over-the-board Bughouse, and the short timers involved, mistakes sometimes happen! As such:
Snap King: If a King is left in check, you may capture him. This instantly wins the game, just like checkmate.
If this sounds confusing, don’t worry! Come to our Bughouse class and you’ll find yourself getting used to it in no time.
For more information, check out this excellent write-up on Bughouse on Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/terms/bughouse-chess
Four students playing chess at a summer camp.
Tournament Jargon Dictionary
Bughouse: Chess played with four players in two teams on two boards. Pieces captured on one board can be placed on the other.
BYE: A free win or draw, generally granted because there was an odd number of competitors.
Clock/Chess Clock: Specialized timers used for games of chess. These will be set to 5 minutes for Bughouse.
Open/Open Section: Anyone may play, regardless of skill level.
Swiss System: The most commonly used pairing system in chess tournaments. Round 1 players are paired based on their ratings (strongest vs. weakest, 2nd strongest vs. 2nd weakest, etc). After that you are paired based on your record (if you win, you play someone else who won).
Unrated: A chess rating is not required to play in this event, and it will not affect your chess rating.