Scholastic Chess Site Organizer’s Checklist
Ideal Site: The site has separate rooms for Primary/Elementary Section and Jr. High Section (meeting minimum board set-up listed below), as well as having separate rooms for skittles/teams/parents and snack bar.Acceptable Site: The site is large enough to set up at least 225 boards in one/two rooms, with classroom/hallway/outdoor space for skittles/teams/parents and snack bar.
Any site should be large enough for table set-up of at least 150-175 boards in the Primary/Elementary section and 60-75 boards in the Jr. High section. Allow for a minimum spacing of 18" between boards.
One-Two months in advance: Sign contracts with site manager and School District Risk Management Office. The district will need to have a copy of current SACA Liability Insurance (available through the Scholastic Director) on file prior to final site usage. The district may require that your organization pay for the janitorial/maintenance staff. This will need to be done in advance. With the site manager (usually the school’s office manager), detail exactly how you want the site set up, when you need access to the site (both the day/evening before and the day of), and how communication will be maintained with the janitorial/maintenance staff during the event. Set up of the site the day/evening before event is generally at no additional charge. Details should be in writing so there is no confusion of your expectations!
Three-Four weeks in advance: Assemble volunteers for the tournament. Volunteers will be needed for set up (proper placement of tables and chairs and numbering tables), set up, running, and clean up of snack bar, and final clean up of site.
Two-Three weeks in advance: Contact local businesses about donations/reduced pricing of items for the snack bar. Make arrangements for pick-up/delivery for the day of the tournament of items such as pizza, sandwiches, bagels, etc.
One-Two weeks in advance: Purchase all non-perishable snack bar items.
Monday/Tuesday prior to event: Contact volunteers again with reminders of their commitment. Verify written details with site manager. Arrange specific times to be on site to drop off snack bar items and for room(s) set-up.
NOTE: Keep a detailed account of snack bar purchases/usage. This is extremely useful when planning your next event and for sharing information with other schools/groups.
Wednesday/Thursday prior to event: Contact Scholastic Director regarding how tables should be numbered. Actual numbers may not be available until the morning of the event, but Scholastic Director should be able to estimate based on previous numbers. Prepare board numbers in advance, if desired.
Hint: Board numbers may be printed by computer (different colored paper for different sections), handwritten in black marker on index cards cut in ½ or ¼, or simply numbers written in black marker on masking tape.
Friday after school/early evening: Check site set-up, move tables and chairs (if necessary), number boards and sections, put up signs, set up snack bar (if inside). Contact Scholastic Director or Chief Tournament Director to verify what time they will be on site. Anything you can do the night before the tournament will make life less stressful the day of the event!!!
Table assignments and labeling at the site: The Elementary Section includes all teams K-6. There are at most 6 sections total, i.e.:primary and elementary are mixed together in the team events. The Section titles are: Premier, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, and Iron. Some events may not require an Iron section, so check with the Director (on Friday after 8pm) to see if you will need to label tables for that section. Each section will have 8 teams and 4 Tables with 5 boards each. Label each table, e.g.: "...Premier 3, Premier 4; Gold 1, Gold 2, ..." etc.
Calculations: Each section needs room for 20 boards with 20" per board length and 20" between players (elbow room). Per section: 20" x 40" = 800' = 66.6 linear feet of table per section. In practice, a common cafeteria folding double table will seat one team along each side. Four of these double tables would make up each Section.
Saturday: Plan to arrive on site no later than 7:00 AM. Meet with janitorial/
maintenance staff and establish how communication will be done throughout the day (walkie-talkies are great, if available and in good working order). If additional tables/chairs are needed, arrange for them NOW. Have students from your chess club finish any additional numbering of tables, if number of players is greater than anticipated. Get snack bar ready and plan to open by 8:00 AM. Plan to close snack bar approximately ½ hour prior to end of tournament play (middle of final round).Approximate Site Hours for Tournaments:
Site Arrival* Site Departure**
League Match – 3 rounds 7:00 AM 3:00 PM
Special Event – 4 rounds 7:00 AM 5:00 PM
Special Event – 5 rounds 7:00 AM 7:00 PM
*Site arrival is based upon preliminary set up being done the day/evening prior to tournament.
**Site departure may be slightly earlier/later than listed. When signing contracts with the school district, use these time guidelines! Departure is dependent upon how much clean up must be done (ie: return tables/chairs borrowed from classrooms, pick up trash on school grounds, break down/clean up of snack bar area) AND how many volunteer helpers are available. Establish during contract signing which of these tasks must be done by your volunteers and what clean-up will be done by the paid janitorial/maintenance staff. In general, the paid janitorial/maintenance staff will take care of moving tables & chairs, as well as restroom clean up, and emptying of trash. You & your volunteers will be held responsible for all other clean up.
One final note…if you are planning to use the great outdoors for either the skittles/team/parents area or the snack bar, decide in advance what will be done in the event of rain, high winds, snow, etc.!
DO NOT PLAN ON HOLDING TOURNAMENT GAMES OUTSIDE AS THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!