2024 USTCL Offseason Mini Leagues (U1400) & (U1600)

Hey everyone! Sorry for the late start to the mini-leagues, some life stuff got in the way. But, I'm ready to announce the divisions for this year's mini-leagues. Due to the tight timeframe, I think it's best if we keep the leagues small, so we'll stick with the teams that signed up initially in the comments of our off-season announcement. IF YOU WISH TO WITHDRAW, please say so and we can try to find a replacement.

Based on those teams, and the average size of the teams involved, here are the divisions:

• U1400 Division 1
  • Arizona
  • New York
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
• U1400 Division 2
  • Alabama
  • Indiana
  • Kentucky
  • New Hampshire
• U1600 (optional, since all teams are already competing in the U1400 leagues)
  • Alabama
  • Indiana
  • Oregon
  • New Hampshire

If you missed the registration but want to sign up for matches, feel free to use this thread to find an opponent! For one, the new Illinois Chess Team is looking for offseason opponents in preparation for a potential return to the league.

1. Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters:
   
   1. Game Type: Standard Chess
   2. Days per Move: 3 days
   3. Rating Range: Max: 1400/1600, Min: None
   4. Minimum Games: 0
   5. Players per Club: No minimum (but the more the merrier!)
   6. Concurrent Games per Player: 2
   7. Start Date: A suggested schedule is provided below.
   8. Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET)
   9. Auto-Start: No
   10. Rated: Yes
2. League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in this thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings.

3. Prizes: Trophies for 1st place in both mini-leagues. Trophies will be awarded by July 1st, 2025, but may be awarded sooner if all matches complete.

4. Player Eligibility: A player should only play for one team in the mini-leagues throughout a season regardless of division. We won't be checking these with the same rigor as the main league matches, but please try to avoid multi-team violations where possible.
5. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker.
6. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup.
7. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse. This will occur prior to announcing the final standings.
8. Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to this forum that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. If a challenge is not accepted by June 28th, 2024, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team. If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0.

U1400 Division 1 Pairings

U1400 Division 2 Pairings

U1600 Pairings (optional)

Suggested Schedule

Teams may either elect to follow this schedule, or if teams agree, they can schedule their matches earlier or later than this schedule indicates. All matches should be underway by June 30th, 2024.