Prizes

We are running a multiple day event over 9 months with players coming in and out. The rules state that the top over all 4 get prizes plus the top c,d and e rated players. The 5 th place player will be an e player and the top c player after the top 4 is not until 12th place. According to standard rules does the e player get the c prize or is he only able to win the e prize. It is worth more than the e prize. Very few c players played and skipped many tournaments.

Is this a rated USCF series? It really depends on exactly how you worded/advertised it.

If you advertised a C prize then you would only give that to a C player, not an E. You would have to give the C prize to the highest scoring C player.

Yes it is a USCF rated series, but a small scholastic one. Many more E-players than other classes. Your interpretation of the prizes was mine also, but it also seemed wrong that a lower rated player could not get the bigger prize, just because his ranking is lower.

If the prizes weren't class based and instead were under prizes, such as U1600, then he would have qualified for that prize with the higher score and being under that rating.

According to USCF rules a player who has a high score receives the next in line award. If they tie and money is involved then all the money is split evenly. But when it comes to awarding trophies, Martin_Stahl is correct to state that it depends on how the tournament was advertised. For example, if the advertisement specified "trophies for each class" then a class E player can not take the Class C trophy. Sorry, but that is right out of the USCF Official Rule book.

A similar situation happened in Detroit when we held the 'Michigan State Championship'. A player from Ohio took 1st place and so he won the 1st place money, but he could not take the 1st place trophy because it said (and was advertised) as "1st Place Michigan Champion".

Don

I'll double check the rule book when I get home but I'm pretty sure in the case of class prizes, including money, you can only win the money if you qualify for the class. I will admit, I don't know the prize award rules as well as I probably should but I also haven't ran a tourney with class based prizes yet.

OK, the rules about prizes are some of the least clear (to me anyway) rules in the book. Much of the section has guidelines and examples and fewer specfic rules.

Here is the section and example that I found about class prizes:

Example 2 in 32B2 gives the following:

1st = $400
2nd = $200
A = $100
B = $50

Players 1,2,3 score 5-0, players 4 (an Expert), 5 (an A) and 6 (a B) are next with 4-1. No other player has more than 3.5 points.

Players 1, 2, and 3 win $200 each (equal shares of 1st-2nd)

Player 4 wins no money

Player 5 wins $100 (the A prize).

Player 6 wins $50 (the B prize).

Note: If instead of the A prize of $100 and B prize of $50 an Under 2000 prize of $100 and Under 1800 prize of $50 had been advertised, players 5 and 6 would win $75 each.

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33C. A common variation on class prizes is the use of under prizes for players below a specified rating. There is a difference between a Class A prize and an Under 2000 prize, since only a Class A player may win the former, while  a Class A, B, C, D or E player can qualify for the latter. (emphasis mine)

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There are rules for ties for more than one prize, where prizes to get combined and split but nothing in the rules seem to indicate that a Class E could win the Class C prize. As long as that player, who was listed as getting 5th, didn't tie with anyone in the top 4 on points, then the Class E prize would be the only prize he qualified for.

Player 4 wins no money. Why?

Because he is above Class A and finished out of the score group that won 1st and 2nd overall.

Chess is fun. Looks like that was all he could get from it.

If a player got the 1st -5th place prize do they still get the under prizes? For example, if a 1300 player gets first place does he get the U1400 prize as well or does that go to someone else?

6 years too late buddy

In your specific instance, 1st place should always be more than any class prize, so if the player finished in clear 1st, they would get that prize and the class one would go the highest scoring class player.

If there are ties, it can depend. You can only get one regular prize in an event. If that player would get more money by getting the class prize than would be received for splitting a place priae, they would get the class prize. There are instances where such a prize could be added to the pool with the other players but there can never be more than one prize per player.

It can become pretty complex but it's hard to make that call without the related specifics.