2023 West Auckland Interschools Dates and Venues
WCC will be holding two Regional Qualifiers as follows:
Intermediate Schools and Senior Schools -Tuesday 25th July at Kelston Boys High School.
Primary Schools on Thursday 3rd August at St Pauls, Massey.
Entry Fees for 2023 – NZCF has has increased its Interschool levy to $15 per team (up from $10 2022). The West Auckland Regional Qualifying events will have a $5 increase of the entry fee per team on the 2022 price.
Please watch this space for updates. An entry form will be added to this page soon.
2023 Rules for Interschool events
These are qualifying events for the 2023 NZCF National Interschool Championships, (held in September). The winner of each regional event will represent that region in their division (Primary, Intermediate, or Secondary). If 20 or more teams compete, a second school will qualify; if 30 or more teams, a third school will qualify. Schools may enter as many teams as they like, but can only win one qualifying place. (NOTE the above may may be modified if there are limits on numbers of people who can be present.)
Venue Temperature and Masks: To make the venue safer, windows and doors will be open creating a cross breeze in the playing hall – so all players and supervisors are encouraged to dress in warm clothes before they arrive. Players and accompanying persons are encouraged to wear masks in the playing venue.
Tournament Format: Matches are played on four boards (two with white and two with black pieces), so four players are required for each team. Teams can have 3 players but not fewer. Teams may have 5 players (with one resting each round) but the rule about staying in the same order applies. There will be six rounds using the Swiss pairing method.
Teams and Board Order: The players in each team should be ranked as closely as possible in order of playing strength, with the strongest player on board one, the second strongest on board two, etc. This order must remain unchanged throughout the day. Please indicate the order on the entry form and confirm with the arbiter on arrival. Furthermore, a school’s A-team should be stronger than its B-team, etc. Primary players must be from Years 1-6, Intermediate from Years 7-8, and Secondary from Years 9-13. No team may have more than 5 players listed. Note that all 5 can play some games – one player drops out, the Reserve plays on board 4 and other team members move up.
Playing Times: Teams need to register their presence before 9:00am on the day of the tournament. A players’ meeting will follow and the first round should start about 9:15am. There will be a break for lunch and we aim to finish by 2:30pm. Digital chess clocks will be used with each player having 15 minutes base time for the game plus additional time of 5 seconds added per move. This time control is similar to that used in the National Finals.
Illegal Moves: The second illegal move loses the game.
Adult Support: Visiting school teams must have an adult (teacher, parent, or guardian) present to supervise ALL PLAYERS in their team(s). WCC will provide arbiters and make the pairings. However, we are not able to supervise the students, and it is the responsibility of their school (not the venue) to provide sufficient adult supervision. Teams that arrive without a designated adult will not be allowed to compete. Teams whose supervisor leaves during the event will be removed from the pairings.
Entries: Online registration will be available. Schools will be issued with invoices. All entries will be acknowledged and more detailed information will be circulated as soon as possible along with the entry deadline (which has not been set yet).
Prizes: There will be no prize-giving at the event – teams are free to leave as soon as all their games are finished. West Auckland has trophies (for each event winner) which are awarded annually – if you are in possession of such a trophy, please remember to bring it to the event!