Chess tournament

Since the 1960s, chess computers have occasionally entered human tournaments, but this is no longer common.

Although modern chess had been established since around 1475, the first tournament (in the sense of structured competitions) was in Leeds in 1841.

[5] It was won by Adolf Anderssen of Germany, who became regarded as the world's best chess player as a result.

By the end of the 1850s, chess tournaments had been held in Berlin, Paris, Manchester, New York City, San Francisco, Birmingham, and Vienna.

[8][9][10] By the end of World War II there were 24 international chess tournaments per year, and by 1990 there were well over a thousand.

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) was formed on the closing day of the first unofficial Chess Olympiad.

If it is found that an illegal move has been made, the game must return to the position directly before the irregularity.

For the first illegal move by a player, the arbiter shall give two minutes extra time to his opponent.

At the conclusion of the game, both players must sign each other's score sheets and turn them to the event organizer if instructed to do so.

In fast chess games, players are not required to record moves, as it would take away from important thinking time.

[21][22] The quickplay finish is the phase of the game when all remaining moves must be made in a limited time.

The arbiter must decide if the player's opponent is making any attempt to win the game by normal means, or if the position can be won in any way.

If the arbiter decides against a draw, the player's opponent will be awarded two extra minutes of time.

In 1976, smoking was banned in a major tournament for the first time (the National Open, Las Vegas).

[25] The arbiter must see that the Laws of Chess are observed and make decisions in the best interest of the competition, but must not interfere with the game otherwise.

Member federations are allowed to ask FIDE authorities to give an official decision about problems relating to the Laws of Chess.

Round-robin tournaments are often used for small groups because the element of luck is reduced when every player plays everyone else.

In recent years, however, a few tournaments, such as Bilbao and London, have experimented with the football 3-1-0 scoring system to encourage players to go for wins.

Although it is often not an issue, as the tied players often split prizes equally, in case of necessity (for trophies, qualifications to other tournaments, etc.

Resolving ties is absolutely crucial in this format, with the modern rule generally following: 1.

For example, the following cross table shows the result of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament: From this table, it can be seen that tournament winner Pillsbury lost to Chigorin, Lasker and Schlechter; drew with Blackburne, Walbrodt and Marco; and won his remaining 15 games.

Sylvia Chidi of Nigeria didn't enter the tournament until after the first two rounds were played, so her first two games are listed as forfeited.

Advancements in camera technology allowed zooming clearly at the players' board, although relaying moves was still done manually.

In the early 2000s, autosensory boards were introduced, allowing moves to be relayed instantaneously, but are not commonly used due to their cost.

Advances in chess engines also allow for casual viewers to evaluate the position in real time; for this reason tournament broadcasts commonly include a 30-minute delay.

[42][43] The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014, held from 29 January to 4 February 2014, was the first ever category XXIII tournament, with an average Elo rating of 2801.

The 2014 Sinquefield Cup, held from 27 August to 7 September, was the second category XXIII tournament, with an average Elo rating of 2802.

To gauge tournaments held before 1970, Jeff Sonas devised an unofficial class system, intended to roughly correspond to categories.

This is simply based on the presence or absence of the world's ten highest-ranked players at the time, and does not involve rating numbers.

The three main types of time controls used in chess tournaments are blitz, standard, and compensation.