Prizes

Individual Awards

Individual Certificates

Each player receives a certificate based on their team's score. Points Certificate Award 3.5 or less Merit 4 & 4.5 Credit 5 & 5.5 Excellence 6, 6.5 & 7 Distinction

The Top Players

Individuals who finish in the top 3 places are also recognised with individual medals. Players placings are determined by their individual score.

In the event two or more players scores are tied, the following tie-break systems will be used in this order to determine the winner:

1. Buchholz Cut 1
2. Buchholz
3. Sonneborn-Berger
4. Cumulative system - Sum of Progressive Scores
5. Direct encounter
6. The greater number of wins including forfeits
7. The greater number of wins with Black pieces 

Sometimes we use a round-robin format for a division where all players will play each-other. We often do this when there are 8 players in a division.
In the event two or more players scores are tied in a round-robin event, the following tie-break systems will be used in this order to determine a winner:

1. The greater number of wins
2. Sonneborn-Berger (the sum of the scores of the opponents a player has defeated and half the scores of the players with whom he has drawn).
3. Koya System (the number of points achieved against all opponents who have achieved 50 % or more)
4. The greater number of wins with Black (unplayed games shall be counted as played with White)

Here is a helpful article explaining the various tie-break systems above. All Chess Power events run in a swiss format or round robin use the above tie-break methods to determine a winner.

The Best Girls

The top girl individually receives a gold medal.

Champions Trophy Qualification

The Champions Trophy is a special event held at the end of the year comprising of the top junior chess players in New Zealand.

• The top 3 players in a division qualify for the Champions Trophy as long as they have 4 points or more.
• The top girl qualifies for the Champions Trophy as long as she gets 4 points or more.
• Additional players can qualify as long as they achieve the same score as the 3rd placed player.

Team Awards & Qualifying for the National Finals

Players at regional events are divided into separate divisions.

Events may be effectively split into separate tournaments if there are enough players in a single division. If they aren't enough players, events will be run all together making it possible for players from one division to play players from another. However, Team Awards are always recognised by separate divisions regardless of how the tournament is run.

Team scores are calculated by summing the points of the Top 4 scoring players from each team at the end of play, separated into the 3 different divisions.

In the event a teams score is tied, the next tie-break will be used. Here is the tie-break methods used in order for teams:

1. Sum of top 4 player scores
2. Sum of top 5 player scores
3. Sum of top n player scores
4. Sum of top 4 player countback
5. Sum of top 5 player countback
6. Sum of top n player countback

Schools are free to enter as many teams as they like across multiple divisions. Ties between teams are broken by including the 5th highest score, then the 6th and so on.

A team is defined as having 3 or more players. A school that sends just 1 or 2 players is not considered a team from a prize-giving and qualifications perspective.

Regional Team Medals are awarded to ONLY the Top 4 scoring players from the highest scoring teams. All players within a team who are tied on an equal score with the 4th best player will receive a medal. 

In some cases, players may be in a medal-winning team but miss out on a medal because they aren't one of the top four players. Additional medals are available to purchase for $5 each - this is intended for players who are part of a winning team but are not one of the top 4 players in that team.

Teams will receive medals and qualify for the National Finals based on the number of teams in a division at any given tournament. Essentially if you get a Team Medal your school has qualified for Nationals - but there are some exceptions (see below).

Note: Players in the "Rookies" division do not contribution to qualification to Nationals in any way.

If two teams get the same team score and are in the top 3 teams, they both qualify even if one of these teams is technically a 4th placed team.

If there is only one team in a division you automatically qualify for Nationals as a reward to taking the time and effort to organise a team and attend the Zonal event. This team effectively competes for medals in the division immediately above it. e.g. If there is only one intermediate school competing, they need to score in the top teams in the Senior division in order to attain medals, but will automatically qualify for Nationals.

If a regional event is cancelled, all teams (minimum of 3 players) that were registered for the event will receive qualification to the Teams Nationals.

For Auckland events the number of teams that qualify for Nationals is increased due to the size of these regions. The maximum that qualify for Nationals for Auckland is 5 teams. Note only the top 3 teams get medals. Note the rules around ties also apply. If the 5th and 6th teams score the same points they both qualify.

It is possible for a school to have multiple winning teams at a single regional event within a single division. If this occurs and the school is in-zone, this school qualifies additional players as per the table below. In addition the next placed school will also qualify for the National Finals. Note this team may not receive medals if they are the 4th placed team.

It is possible and encouraged for teams to compete out of their zone. Out of zone teams are limited to a maximum of 8 players. However, the out of zone Team will need to come 1st in their division to qualify for the National Finals. If an Out of Zone team does win a division the # Teams that will qualify for Nationals will be increased by one. For example, if there are three teams in a division, normally just one team would qualify for Nationals. But if the 1st placed team is Out of Zone, then the 2nd placed team also qualifies for Nationals.

If a school has multiple Out of Zone teams, only the 1st placed team qualfies for Nationals however the other teams still receive medals as per the stated maximums in the table above.

For all regional events other than Auckland, a school can qualify additional players for the National Finals based on the number of winning teams they have at one or more events.

ie A school gains one additional player for the National Finals for each team that achieves a winning place in a regional Zone event and each subsequent Regional Zone event that they have a winning team in the same calendar year prior to the National Finals event up to a maximum of 8 players.

For the Auckland regionals, a school gains the following number of players for Nationals, based on their placing at regionals. For a minimum of 10 teams competing at regionals:

If there are less qualifiers due to less than 10 teams competing, then the number of places at Nationals reduces, starting with a minimum of 5 places. For example, if just 3 teams qualified, 1st would gain 6 places, whilst 2nd and 3rd would gain 5 places each.

The following table shows how many nationals spots each winning team gains for Nationals, based on the number of teams entering an Auckland regional event.

National Finals

In the National Finals event, all players play 9 games, regardless if they win or lose.

The winners of each division in the National Finals will be crowned the Chess Power Interschools National Champions for that year.

Additional medals, if required, can be purchased by winning schools for $5 each from the organiser at the conclusion of the event.