Honest Chess League 1 Winter Season (Round 1)

My Dear Chess Friends!

I'm glad to announce that we start our Honest Chess League Winter Season Tournament. I'm sure that with all the measures I took, I will prevent cheating in this tournament again. Anyways, I want to ask you play FAIR!

Please, find the list of participants and pairings for the 1st round. Every Monday I will publish new pairings in our group on Chess.com. Don't forget to visit it at least weekly.

During this week (until February 14th) your task is to negotiate with your opponent, schedule the game and play it on lichess.org or chess.com
Time control: 45'+30"
Please, send the link to this game to my e-mail: tricksofchess@gmail.com

IMPORTANT! Last day to play the game of the 1st round is on Sunday, February 14th. Any games that are not played before Monday, February 15th, will be cancelled and both players will get a "0".

Starting List

Pairings for Round 1

You can reach your opponent to schedule the game sending him a private message on Chess.com and Lichess.org. In special cases I can provide you with his/her e-mail or skype (ask me if needed).

The following is the procedure that needs to be followed to properly schedule the game between opponents.

1) The weekly pairings will be released on Monday at 12:00 am EST. Both players are responsible for checking their messages on chess.com, to make sure they have received the pairings. If the participating player does not receive the pairing message, it is their responsibility to reach out to the tournament director. The games must be completed by Sunday at 10:00 pm EST.

2) It is both players' responsibility to reach out to each other within the first 48 hours after the pairings were released (i.e., Wednesday at 12:00am EST). When making an offer to your opponent, try to be considerate towards each other's time zones and provide a wide range of potential days and times. Players who are found to be inflexible on a weekly basis will not be invited to the future tournaments.

3) After the first player makes a contact with suggested times, the responding player must accept or make a counteroffer within 24 hours. Let the tournament director know if you did not receive a response after 24 hours. If there is no response by Friday at 12:00am EST, the player that made the offer can set day and time convenient for them, by sending it to the tournament director.

4) Upon completion of the game, it is recommended that both players contact the director with the result, however, it is the winning player's responsibility to provide the tournament director with the result of the match. In the event of a draw, both players must provide the tournament director with the result. The message sent to the tournament director must include a link to the game. If the tournament director does not receive the result of the game by Sunday at 10:00 pm EST, both players will receive 0 scores.

5) If a player fails to schedule a game or does not show up for the agreed upon time. The first time the player will receive a warning(i.e. yellow card), the second time the player will be removed from the tournament (i.e., red card).

Nicknames

If for some reason your opponent doesn't respond, please, e-mail me ASAP.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them here!

Good luck!
FM Victor Neustroev