Strategem: The October Haunted Queen’s Gambit

🕯️ When the October moon rises over the 64 squares, the Queen offers her pawn… and dares you to take it.

On Saturday, October 17, Strategem opens the crypt for The October Haunted Queen's Gambit. Every game rises from the same shadowy position, the Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7), our Opening of the Month. Each opponent faces you twice, once in the light as White and once in the dark as Black, so there is no hiding from the line. Four rounds. Ten minutes on the clock and five seconds a move. Pieces vanish, kings are hunted, and only three players (and two brave giant-slayers) claim the treasure. Come if you dare: the board is waiting, and it remembers every move.

👻 THE ESSENTIALS
• Date and time: Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 1:00 PM Central Time. Rounds run back to back, about four hours in all.
• Format: 4-round Double Swiss. Each round is a two-game mini-match against the same opponent, one game with each color.
• Section: Open (one section, everyone welcome).
• Opening: every game starts from the Queen's Gambit Declined position above.
• Time control: G/10;+5 (10 minutes per player, plus 5 seconds a move).
• Rating: not US Chess rated, and casual on Strategem Play.
• Where: play.strategem.us, on the web (the Strategem app works too).

💀 PRIZES: $500 GUARANTEED
• 1st place: $200
• 2nd place: $120
• 3rd place: $80
• Top Under-1600 (class prize): $60
• Top Under-1200 (upset prize): $40
Each player wins one prize at most. Place prizes are awarded first; a class prize goes to the best finisher whose US Chess rating at registration is under the limit (unrated players aren't eligible for class prizes). Cash for tied places is pooled and split evenly. Winners claim their prize in the app within 30 days, after the results are certified.

🎟️ ENTRY
• $25 (paid Strategem members get 50% off: $12.50). Pay with a ticket on strategem.us or with Gems on Strategem Play.
• To register, enter your 8-digit US Chess ID and your current US Chess rating (or tick that you don't have one yet). The entry list on the tournament page shows every registered player by rating, highest first. Only the tournament director sees your ID, and checks it before round 1.
• Registering means accepting the Strategem fair-play agreement and the video call rules for this event.
• Registration closes when round 1 starts.

🎥 THE VIDEO CALL (REQUIRED)
• Every player keeps one camera on for the whole event, showing face, hands and the desk, on the event's Zoom meeting.
• Microphones stay on; no headphones or earbuds. Play from one screen with only the game open. The tournament director may ask for a screen share at any time.
• Join at 12:45 PM CT for a video check-in. Use your Strategem username as your Zoom name: the tournament director admits players from the waiting room by matching names to the entry list. Players under 18 check in with a parent or guardian present.
• The meeting link is private. Registered players get it on the tournament page and in their confirmation email, through a Strategem link that opens the meeting only for them. Please don't share it.
• If you need to leave the camera's view, tell the tournament director in the meeting chat first. Unexplained absences during a game can lead to a forfeit.
• The call may be recorded for the fair-play review; recordings are kept for 30 days after certification.

🛡️ FAIR PLAY, CERTIFICATION AND PROVISIONAL RESULTS
Results and prizes are provisional until the tournament director certifies the event. Here's how it works:
1. During the event, every registered player is locked out of every engine tool on Strategem (analysis, the engine window, play vs the computer, the opening explorer and trainer) from the start until the event ends, even between rounds.
2. Every game is analyzed by Stockfish as soon as it ends and checked against conservative fair-play signals (engine agreement, accuracy for the player's rating, move timing, leaving the game window, shared networks). Alerts reach the tournament director live, alongside the camera view of every player.
3. An alert is never proof on its own and never penalizes anyone automatically. It opens a review by the tournament director, who looks at the games, the timings and the recording.
4. Due process: a player is told the reason for any action, can see the evidence, and can respond before a decision is made. Decisions (clear, keep watching, or disqualify with a written reason) are recorded, and can be reversed if new information comes to light.
5. Certification: once every game has been checked and every review item is closed, the tournament director certifies the results. Only then are the standings final, and only then are winners notified to claim their prizes. A player disqualified for a fair-play breach forfeits any prize, and the prize passes to the next eligible finisher.
6. Photo ID is checked before any prize is paid.

🔔 BEFORE YOU ENTER THE CRYPT
Test your camera and Zoom ahead of time, play from a quiet room on a reliable connection, and keep the game page open: each game starts as soon as both players are there, and a player who hasn't appeared within the no-show time forfeits that game. A disconnected player's clock keeps running.

Questions? Write to hello@strategem.us. Chief Tournament Director: Jay Bhatt.

May your gambits be sound, and your king never haunted. 🦇

Theme: Queen's Gambit Declined (D53). Every game starts after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7.

Format: Double Swiss (two-game mini-matches), 4 rounds. Every pairing plays two games, one with each color.

Prizes: 1st $200 · 2nd $120 · 3rd $80 · Top Under-1600 $60 · Top Under-1200 (upset prize) $40. 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.

Online tournament on Strategem Play. Time control: 10+5. Who can play: Paid members + ticket holders.

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.