Black Friday Blitz: US Chess Rated

⚡🖤 Black Friday Blitz! Skip the shopping lines and burn off the Thanksgiving turkey with seven rounds of fast, US Chess rated blitz and $500 in cash prizes.

📅 Friday, November 27 · Round 1 at 7:00 PM CT (Zoom check-in opens at 6:30 PM) · done by about 9:30 PM
♟️ 7-round Swiss · 5 minutes + 3-second increment · US Chess online-rated blitz
🏆 Cash for the top 3, plus Top Under-1600 and Top Under-1200
🎥 Fair play first: one camera on Zoom for the whole event, plus Strategem's engine review of every game. Prizes are paid once the fair-play review is certified.

Who can play: anyone with a current US Chess membership, all ratings welcome.

When you register, enter your US Chess ID and your current US Chess rating (your online blitz rating if you have one). The entry list shows everyone by rating, highest first, and pairings use these ratings.

How to enter: get your entry on this page, then on Friday sign in at play.strategem.us with the same strategem.us account and join from Tournaments.

📺 LIVE on YouTube! Every round of Black Friday Blitz streams live on the Strategem Club YouTube channel: the top boards, the time scrambles and the playoff drama if it comes down to Armageddon (shown on a 15-minute delay for fair play). Subscribe and hit 🔔 so you're there when the crown is decided.

Need a US Chess membership? Join US Chess here.

Fast hands, cool head. Who takes the Black Friday crown? ♞

Format: Swiss (one game a round), 7 rounds. One game a round, paired by score; colors are balanced over the event.

Prizes: 1st $200 · 2nd $125 · 3rd $75 · Top Under-1600 $50 · Top Under-1200 $50. The prize fund is based on 30 players: if fewer players enter, every cash prize is reduced in proportion (for example, with 15 players each cash prize is half the amount shown). Cash prizes for tied places are pooled and split evenly. Class prizes go to the best finisher under the rating limit by the US Chess rating given at registration (unrated players are not eligible); place prizes are awarded first and each player wins one prize at most. Prizes are paid after the organizer certifies the fair-play review; winners claim them within 30 days.

Ties for the prize places are played off: two 3+2 blitz games with opposite colors; if still level, one Armageddon game (White 5 minutes, Black 3 minutes; a draw counts as a win for Black).

US Chess membership is required: this is a US Chess online-rated event. When you register, enter your 8-digit US Chess ID and current rating.

Minimum 10 players: if fewer than 10 players have entered by 1 hour before the start (Fri, Nov 27, 6:00 PM CT), the tournament is cancelled and every entry fee is refunded in full.

Online tournament on Strategem Play. Time control: 5+3. Who can play: Ticket holders (paid members buy at 50% off).

At start time, sign in at the tournament page with the same strategem.us account you used for your ticket, and click Join. Paid members get 50% off the entry: sign in to see your member price.

Be respectful to everyone. Chats are monitored, and members reported for violating club policy may have their membership terminated.