Archived Tournament

Spy's Mate Rapid

Join us to hear from Brad Buchanan about his new novel Spy’s Mate and stay after to play in or watch our Rapid Tournament

Set in the late Cold War-era Soviet Union, SPY’S MATE: A NOVEL follows the coming of age of Yasha Basmajian, a young chess prodigy of Armenian origin who rises through the ranks of the Soviet chess establishment with dizzying rapidity. Along the way, however, he must contend with many pitfalls, including operatives who manipulate him, jealous rivals who try to humiliate him, and high officials who threaten him when he asserts his independence or takes a principled stance. 

With help from a renegade coach and a team of anti-establishment grandmasters, Yasha manages to run the gauntlet of two Candidates Tournaments until eventually he faces the sinister, predatory World Chess Champion, Evgeny Volosin, in a match where the stakes are nothing less than life and death.

 

Top games are broadcasted on Chess.com's events page.

Register or Join Wait List Change Request Form

Registration

• Online Registration Open Until: Thursday, November 13: 6:00 pm
• Onsite Registration: 6:00-6:15pm
• Entry fee for Mechanics' Institute Members: $30
  • Play-up fee: $10
• Entry fee for Non-Members: $40
  • 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: 4
• Time control: 15 min basetime + 2 sec increment
• Round Times: 11/13 6:30pm and remaining rounds are on a rolling schedule
• Sections: 1800+ Under 1800

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 Nov 2025 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 $600+ 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
  • Actual Payout: $200 - minimum payout required.

 

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.

• 2025-11-13 18:30:00

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 blitz 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.

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