It's time!! It's time! Time to start the 5th DHLC Classic Tourney (60+30s)

Gather round and rejoice! After some necessary time away, we are ready to start the 5th iteration of the DHLC Classic Tourney (60+30s). The chess world is abuzz with excitement as the pairings are announced and the games will begin! And, as an added bonus, we have Mittens along for the first round ... 

For the newcomers (and as a refresher for the returners) here are the rules and some things to note:

This is a long announcement, but it is worth reading. 

First, the rules. 

- Time control for this tourney will be 60 minutes plus 30 sec increment.

- All games must be rated games. There are no exceptions. 

- All byes will now be just a ½ point. Only one requested bye per tournament will score a ½ point. 

- This tournament will be 6 weeks, each round 1 week. 

- All first-round games must be completed and posted by Monday, 13-Feb at 18:00 ET (Monday, 13-Feb 22:00 UTC). Remember this when scheduling. Also remember that you may be playing a player in a much different time zone, take that into account when you offer times.

- We play negotiated chess games. This implies that each pair of players must find a mutual, suitable day and time to start their game.  VERY IMPORTANT – if an agreeable time cannot be reached you can settle on a scheduling draw. However, both sides must make a good faith effort to reach a playable time. 

- Failure to attempt to negotiate a playing time in good faith will results in a 1 week, 0-point bye and a “yellow card”. Two weeks in the same tourney will result in a “red card” and removal from the tournament. 

- It is a good idea to start negotiating as soon as possible to allow the maximum amount of time to come to an agreement. All negotiations must take place in the chess.com messaging system unless both players agree to use a different method. 

- We recommend that the players make each other aware of all their availability (PA) at the very beginning of their discussion. In our discussions, we will only consider the starting time of the game, and not its duration. Make sure that you have enough time to play a long game that would reach the endgame. For instance, a 60min + 30sec increment, 60 move game (60 moves per side), will last for 3 hours, if both players use all their time. 

- A round lasts 1 week and starts Monday @ 10:00 PM US ET (Tuesday @ 3:00AM UTC) and ends the following Monday @ 6:00 PM US ET (10:00PM UTC). We use the US Eastern Time (US ET; New York) or UTC/GMT if both players are familiar with that time in any discussion. (One week per round.)

- All players need to be aware of when time changes happen in their country. In the US this will happen at 2am on 12-March in areas that observe it, other countries (if they change) may be different. PLEASE ENSURE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS WHEN YOU NEGOTIATE/SCHEDULE FOR THAT WEEK. (A very useful link from @chevezo for finding time in different time zones for scheduling - https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html Thanks @chavezo!)

- Both players will post the day and starting time for a game in the comments of the Announcement associated to the pairings. A "thumbs up" to the posted game time is considered an acknowledgement/second posting of the accepted game time. Then there is no need to do anything else.  

- Both players have the responsibility to show up for the game on time. It is suggested that you "Friend" the person before the game to make it easy to challenge/find your opponent. We recommend that the players arrive in LIVE chess 5 minutes before the beginning of the game. The players have a 10-minute period of grace in case they are late. After the period of grace has passed, the non-faulty player can claim the win by posting in the Comments associated to the pairing's announcements. Please send a screen capture to me in a private message that shows what time it is, proving that the opponent did not show up.

- If there are any disputes/issues with negotiating or your opponent not showing for the game, screenshots are always needed. Please submit screenshots when informing/requesting no-shows/no negotiations. Any disputes need to be done via DM to me, not in the comments of the round.

- The winner of the game must post the result of the game, as well as a link that leads to it, in the Comments associated to the pairings announcements. In case of a draw, both players must post.

What follows are among the things that are forbidden and considered as cheating.

* Using an engine.
* Being helped by another person.
* Using databases and books.
* Testing variations during the game.
* Behaving in such way as to disturb the other player, e.g., making multiple draw offers.
Any player who is found guilty of one of the offenses explained above is liable to be suspended, or even banned.

A question that is often asked in these types of tournaments: 

Q. Can I use a real chessboard?  

A. It is permitted to use a physical chess board to play the game (and probably is a good idea as well!) if the player does not use it to test variations during the game. A piece touched must remain a piece played, just like in OTB chess. The player should make sure that the sound of his/her computer is turned ON so that the player is aware when the opponent plays a move. With the advent of the electronic boards which send the moves to chess.com as you move your pieces, please be aware that the technology is not perfect (I have 4 different ones myself). You can get disconnected or time out without knowing it. A game lost like that is a game lost. 

Now, on with the pairings!

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

DHLC Classical Tourney #5 1600+ Pairings

DHLC Classical Tourney #5 U1600 Pairings

DHLC Classical Tourney #5 U1400 Pairings

DHLC Classical Tourney #5 U1200 Pairings

As always, if I have made any mistakes please let me know and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, either here or by sending me a direct message. I will do my best to respond/answer within just a few hours (unless I am sleeping ...)