Archived Tournament

2nd Spy's Mate Rapid with Thinkers Publishing

Join us for our second Rapid tournament with Spy's Mate author Brad Buchanan! 

Brad will give a book talk about his fantastic chess novel at 6pm with a 5 round rapid tournament following it at 7pm. The publisher, Thinkers Publishing, is also generously donating $350 to the prize pool and book prizes so don't miss out!

Top 6 boards are broadcasted on Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/events/2nd-spys-mate-rapid-with-thinkers-publishing

Register or Join Wait List Change Request Form

Registration

• Online Registration Open Until: Tuesday, April 28: 6:00 pm
• Onsite Registration: 6:00-6:45pm
• Entry fee for Mechanics' Institute Members: $25
  • Play-up fee: $10
• Entry fee for Non-Members: $30
  • Play-up fee: $15
• Late fee: $10
• $5 admin fee for all cancellations & refunds.

Two ways to check your entries:

• Check the live entries on the Jumbula page.
• Check the processed entries here a day before the event.

Please note our late fee may be in effect and is usually added 24 hours before the start of a tournament in case capacity reaches 90%.

Tournament Format

• Tournament Format: Swiss System
• Total Rounds: 5
• Time control: 15 min basetime + 3 sec increment
• Round Times: and remaining rounds are on a rolling schedule
• Sections: 1800+ u1800

Play-up "200-rating point rule":

Players must have an 1600 USCF regular supplemental or actual regular rating to be eligible to play up to the 1800+ section.

US Chess rating will be used for section determination and pairings.  FIDE or other ratings are only used if no US Chess rating is available. 

Pairings are based on the April 2026 regular supplemental regular US Chess rating.

Prize Fund

• Prize explanations are coming after the event.
• Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing prize checks.
• Per IRS rules anyone with a cumulative $2000+ prize in any calendar year will need to fill out a W9 and Mechanics' Institute will be providing a 1099 form. 

• Prize Fund:

  • $400 based on 40 paid entries + $350 from Thinkers Publishing
  • Actual Payout: $330 based on 33 paid entries - 83% payout.

$350 Prize from Thinker's publishing will be distributed:

• $200 to the 1800+ section: $100, $70, $30
• $150 to the u1800 section: $75, $50, $25

 

Byes

Byes are available for players in any round in case they can't participate but would like to stay in the tournament.

Byes can be requested up to 15 minutes prior to the round start time.

Last round bye must be requested by the start of Round 1.

Late registrations will receive a 0.5 bye for any missed round, up to a total of 2 rounds.

Eligibility

Players must have current US Chess Federation membership. Expiration date of their US Chess membership must be later than the last day of the tournament.

Not sure if you have a membership? Need to check the expiration date of your members? Visit: https://new.uschess.org/player-search

Become a member or renew your membership: https://new.uschess.org/join-us-chess

Tournament Rules

• Forfeit time: 15 minutes. 
• We provide clocks and set it up for players.
• Games will be US Chess and FIDE quick/rapid rated. Modified FIDE rules apply.
   
• What do the time controls mean?
  Time controls tell you how much time you have for each game.
  G/15+3 means game in 15 minutes with a 3-second increment with each move. This means you get 15 minutes, your opponent gets 15 minutes, and with each move players get 3 seconds added to their clock. One game may last up to 30-35 minutes.

Sick Policy:
The Mechanics' Institute Chess Club asks that any player who is feeling unwell withdraw from the tournament to help protect the health of others. The club reserves the right to deny entry to players who appear visibly ill. Players who withdraw due to illness before the start of the tournament will receive a full refund as a credit to their Jumbula account.

Mechanics' Institute Chess Club reserves the right to update any details of this event (including but not limited to sections, time control, round times, prize fund, etc.) as we get closer to the event date to ensure an excellent tournament experience for players.

Standings

 

 

 

Pairings

Pairings are posted on the wall of the club. We do not post pairings online for 1-day events.