Are rolled / roll-up chess sets legal for tournaments in the USA?

Sort:
jorgeribs

Hi everyone, I'm looking to participate in a few local tournaments and I'm looking to buy a chess set. I like the roll-up ones. Chess sets like this one say "This chess set meets all US Chess Federation tournament requirements" but the FIDE handbook says "...In all cases boards should be rigid" (page 6, section 3.1). Nothing is mentioned on the US Chess handbook (page 14, section 2). Any opinions? I had the same question for weighted or non-weighted pieces, but FIDE says as long as it's comfortable, it's fine. 

Thanks in advance!

Martin_Stahl
jorgeribs wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm looking to participate in a few local tournaments and I'm looking to buy a chess set. I like the roll-up ones. Chess sets like this one say "This chess set meets all US Chess Federation tournament requirements" but the FIDE handbook says "...In all cases boards should be rigid" (page 6, section 3.1). Nothing is mentioned on the US Chess handbook (page 14, section 2). Any opinions? I had the same question for weighted or non-weighted pieces, but FIDE says as long as it's comfortable, it's fine.

Thanks in advance!

Roll-up boards are allowed in US Chess rated tournaments and generally speaking, 90% of them are likely to be. They should be able to lay flat though.

jorgeribs
Martin_Stahl wrote:
jorgeribs wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm looking to participate in a few local tournaments and I'm looking to buy a chess set. I like the roll-up ones. Chess sets like this one say "This chess set meets all US Chess Federation tournament requirements" but the FIDE handbook says "...In all cases boards should be rigid" (page 6, section 3.1). Nothing is mentioned on the US Chess handbook (page 14, section 2). Any opinions? I had the same question for weighted or non-weighted pieces, but FIDE says as long as it's comfortable, it's fine.

Thanks in advance!

Roll-up boards are allowed in US Chess rated tournaments and generally speaking, 90% of them are likely to be. They should be able to lay flat though.

ok, thank you! Do you know if the pieces need to be a certain style or something?

Martin_Stahl

They need to be of normal colors and there are size ranges that acceptable.

rooksb4

You have to bring your own boards?

RussBell

Chess Sets for Club & Tournament Play...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/chess-sets-for-club-tournament-play

Sets with 3.75 inch King height are the "standard" size for "official" competition...

The FIDE Manual, Sections 2 & 3, also specifies board and pieces sizes (i.e., for FIDE events)...

https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/Standards_of_Chess_Equipment_and_tournament_venue.pdf

Chess Board Dimensions | Basics and Guidelines...

https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-board-dimensions

OldPatzerMike
R00KB4 wrote:

You have to bring your own boards?

Yes, at most tournaments in the US you have to bring boards, pieces, and clocks. In the last few years I've noticed that more events are supplying boards and pieces, but you normally have to bring them. And clocks are almost never supplied.