ISCA Online Tournaments
The Indiana State Chess Association runs various online tournaments throughout the year. Read on to see a list of upcoming events and to learn how ISCA online tournaments work.
Upcoming Online Tournaments
ISCA Online Sunday
ISCA typically holds a free online tournament every Sunday at 1:00 P.M. ET on Chess.com. This tournament varies in format, sometimes being an arena event and sometimes being a Swiss event. The time controls and other details vary from week to week. These tournaments are not USCF rated. Most weeks there are no prizes, but the first Sunday of each month there is usually a 1-month Diamond Chess.com Membership awarded to the top finisher(s). Registration for these events begins 1 hour prior. To check the status of the next tournament and join, visit ISCA's Chess.com Club. These events and their results are also announced on our Facebook page.
ISCA USCF-Online-Rated Tournaments
Indiana Online Open
June 1, 2024, 9:00 A.M. ET
USCF-online-rated
4SS, G/15+10
Full Information Page
How ISCA Online Tournaments Work
Event Types
ISCA online tournaments fall into the following general types:
A. Events without prizes that are not USCF-rated. Such events may be either Swiss events or arena events. These games will be rated in the host site's rating system. There is no entry fee.
B. Events with prizes that are not USCF-rated. Such events may be either Swiss events or arena events. These games will be rated in the host site's rating system. There is usually no entry fee.
C. USCF-online-rated events. These events are only of the Swiss format. Such events do not affect a player's over-the-board USCF rating but do affect the online USCF rating and are also rated in the host site's rating system. There is usually an entry fee and registration process.
Participation Requirements
Online events are hosted on a 3rd party server, typically chess.com or lichess.org. A player who wishes to participate in an ISCA event that is to be hosted on chess.com must have a chess.com account (either free or paid) and must join ISCA's Chess.com Club. A player who wishes to participate in an ISCA event that is to be hosted on lichess.org must have a lichess.org account and must join ISCA's Lichess.org Team. If the event is a USCF-online-rated tournament (see Type C above), then the player must also have a current USCF membership. USCF-online-rated tournaments may require the player to temporarily join an additional club on chess.com used to stage the tournament; information about this will be described in the tournament's flyer.
It is the player's responsibility to obtain, maintain, and know how to use all the necessary equipment to participate online. Most ISCA online events are played without the use of cameras, but if a tournament requires them, this is also the responsibility of the player.
Because online chess uses a different interface from playing over-the-board, there are special rules concerning touch-move, the clock, determination of the move, notation, and other aspects of the game. Please familiarize yourself with Chapter 10 of the USCF Rulebook to understand how online chess differs from over-the-board chess.
Fair Play Rules
As with over-the-board tournaments, participants in online tournaments are expected not to use assistance. This includes receiving information from chess engines, from notes and opening books, and from other persons.
When a tournament is hosted on chess.com, all players are expected to follow Chess.com's Fair Play Policy. When a tournament is hosted on lichess.org, all players are expected to follow Lichess.org's Fair Play Policy.
All tournaments played on Chess.com and Lichess.org are subject to fair play review, a sophisticated statistical analysis that detects cheating using a variety of techniques. By participating in an ISCA online event, the player agrees that Chess.com or Lichess.org is the sole and final adjudicator of fair play violations.
A player who is judged to have committed a fair play violation is expelled from the tournament and its standings. If the tournament is a Swiss tournament, the opponents of the expelled player will have their scores adjusted, for the purpose of standings and prizes, according to USCF rule 28I2. The expelled player will also have their account suspended by Chess.com or Lichess.org. ISCA has no control over such account suspensions. The suspended player may appeal the suspension to the respective site, and if granted, ISCA will reverse the tournament expulsion. If the alleged fair play violation occurs in a USCF-online-rated tournament, the tournament director will report the incident to the USCF, which will review the matter and may or may not impose additional penalties.