The Member Chess Ladder is the best way to play unrated, time-controlled, and competitive games, against club members. Sign up today to test your skills against someone you'd like to challenge!

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• Member Chess Ladder games are not USCF-rated. Therefore, winning or losing a game does not impact a player's USCF rating.

• Players compete in one Ladder game on those Friday evenings the Ladder is held, starting at 6 PM and ending at 7:30 PM

• The Manasota Chess Center ladder program manager will create pairings for the Ladder games, based on the attending players.  As an option, players can also pre-schedule (via email or phone call) their ladder chess match, and advise the Manasota Chess Center Ladder program manager before pairings are made on Friday evenings.

• Ladder games must be played with a clock at a time control of game in 30 minutes, with a 5-second delay (G30;d5).

• Ladder matches will be played according to official USCF rules.

• Ladder players are encouraged (but not required) to notate and turn in a scoresheet of their games for possible publication on social media sites or a newsletter.

• New registrants for the Ladder will initially be placed at the bottom of the ladder.

• To be eligible for the Member Chess Ladder, a player must be a member in good standing with the Manasota Chess Center.

• Members must register to be part of the Member Chess Ladder.

• The Ladder rankings will be displayed on the Manasota Chess Center website on the “Ladder Standings” webpage.

• Exceptions to the Member Chess Ladder rules may occur at the sole discretion of the Manasota Chess Center Ladder program manager or the on-site Manasota Chess Center representative.

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• A Ladder player may challenge anyone who is one, two, three, or four spots above them on the Ladder.  However, at any Ladder event, if there is no available player within four “rungs” above a Ladder player seeking a game, they may challenge the next nearest Ladder player above them in the Ladder standings.

• If a Ladder participant is officially challenged to a Ladder match, and they are not already in a game (Ladder or other), and there are at least 90 minutes available to play before the Manasota Chess Center closes, and neither player has already played a match that week, the Ladder match must occur. Turning down a Ladder challenge will be treated as a loss for ranking on the Member Chess Ladder.

• No draws by agreement may occur prior to the 30th move of a Ladder game. An on-site Manasota Chess Center representative must approve any draws by agreement.

• After a Ladder match is played, at least one of the participants must play a Ladder match against a different opponent before they can play each other again.

• If a participant does not make themselves available for Ladder matches, at the discretion of the Manasota Chess Center Ladder program manager, the participant may be moved down the Ladder.

• The player making the challenge plays black. The player being challenged plays white. 

• If the lower-ranked player wins, the lower-ranked player takes the higher-ranked player’s spot on the Ladder, and the higher-ranked player moves down one spot.

• If the higher-ranked player wins, there is no change in either players’ Ladder rankings.

• If the game ends in a draw, the lower-ranked player takes the Ladder spot just below the higher-ranked player.

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   There is no fee for Manasota Chess Center members to participate in the Ladder.

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