Episode 49: Can UJ Become Gauteng University Chess Champions? · Maverick Chess Podcasts · Radar

Tournament Format and Schedule0:32 – 2:07

Matthew RichardsHost

0:32

This is, of course, my first event as part of the team, which is quite nice.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:36

So the Gauteng University Chess Championship for 2026.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:40

This was an event that UJ, I believe they won it last year.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:43

They performed very, very well.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:45

And so we'll get onto the team and what happened last year as well.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:47

I'll show you the photo.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:48

But in terms of the tournament overview, it is a five-round Swiss system.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:53

Five-round Swiss.

Matthew RichardsHost

0:55

And it will be chess SA rated, not FIDE rated, although I have given them my FIDE ID.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:00

So maybe, but I doubt it very much.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:02

The time control is very interesting.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:04

It is going to be 30 plus 30.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:06

Not 30 plus 30, 30-30.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:08

So you have 30 minutes on your clock for the match.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:11

It's just going to help for the flow.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:14

So section is all open, but we'll talk about the composition of the teams in just a second.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:17

It's going to be at WITS.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:20

Schedule round one is at 9 o'clock, which is actually quite a bit later than some of the other tournaments I've played, where it's been like round one starts at 8, but that's generally for my standard and or classical tournaments.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:31

And then we should be done probably by 5 o'clock.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:33

The prize-giving ceremony is slated to start at 4 p.m., It might, it might not, because the thing is, the rounds are meant to start exactly an hour after each other, because you have exactly an hour on the clock between the two of you.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:44

However, it might finish earlier, might finish later, depending.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:48

So I assume round two, three, four, and five will be at rates of play.

Matthew RichardsHost

1:53

Simply because if two players take near an hour, you have to capture the result, and then you have to do the draw, and then you have to give players 10 minutes or so after the draw has been done.

Matthew RichardsHost

2:03

So we shall see.

Matthew RichardsHost

2:04

I'll talk about how I'm going to do the review in just a minute as well.