July 2004
Jul 31 First Official Pre-Release ChessHeads Tournament.
Crossroads Shopping Center in the main chess area, hosted by WizerGames, in
cooperation with Crossroads Bellevue. Begins at 12:00 noon. The last
games will finish up no later than 6:00 pm, with prizes to be awarded soon
after. This event is open to all, both kids and adults (both chess players
and gamers, as well as members of the general public). Prizes will be
awarded in two groups, the Kids Group and the Adults Group. For the purposes
of this event, Adults will be defined as anyone 13 years of age or older.
The format and prize structure of the tournament will be announced shortly
(i.e., the number of rounds and pairing methods, etc.). Suffice it to say
however, that entry into this inaugural event is free to all, and that, in
addition to the prizes being awarded for great performances in the event by
the top finishers, ChessHeads products and coupons will be given out to all
who participate and finish all rounds of the tournament. We will be sending
out an e-mail before the event with a link on our web site to the Rules of
ChessHeads, as well as a download link to a PDF file showing the text and
information on all of the ChessHeads cards for those who would like to study
the cards and their effects. People will be on hand to explain and clarify
the ChessHeads rules, as well as to render final rulings during the games.
Please note that that a certain level of reading ability and cognitive
thinking ability is necessary to use the abilities of the text on the
trading cards along with the chessboard and pieces, but only the most basic
understanding of the chess rules is needed. Because of this the minimum age
to play in the event is 8 years of age. There may be special exceptions to
the above in certain instances, to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Please try to let me know as soon as possible if you want to participate in
the tournament, and please remember to tell all of your friends. Everyone is
Welcome! Watch for more announcements with complete details, to follow soon.
Thank you for your attention and interest in ChessHeads over the past
several months, and I look forward to seeing you all at the first official
ChessHeads tournament!
Attention all ChessHeads! –
This file download announcement is for the ChessHeads Tournament at
Crossroads Bellevue, Saturday, July 31, at 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm, with
prizes to be awarded after 6:15 pm or so. The format of the event will be a
5-round swiss. By the way, please call Crossroads Bellevue for directions if
you need them, or better yet, check out the Crossroads Bellevue website:
www.crossroadsbellevue.com.
Their telephone number is: 425-644-1111.
FTP download link to the most current ChessHeads rules, as
well as a full set of demo cards in black and white, PDF file format. Just
click on the link, then save the ZIP file to your computer: {No longer
available.} PLEASE NOTE:
This is a 9 meg download, so it will take awhile if you are on dial-up.
However, it is definitely worth it, because it will give you great
deck-building options for the event! Extract the file to a directory on your
computer and then print the three files out separately. The files contained
are in PDF format (you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader -- a free program --
to read them). The files are as follows: Rules_1.pdf -- (Page 1 of the
rules); Rules_2.pdf -- (Page 2 of the rules); Rules_and_Cards.pdf --
(Really just the cards, no rules). Please review the rules and the cards
before you come to the tournament; this will help your performance in the
event considerably. Remember, there will be free entry and 1 pack of new
ChessHeads cards given to all participants. There will also be great prizes
awarded for the top 4 finishers in each of the sections (Kids Section and
Adult Section). Anyone age 13 and older is considered an Adult for this
event. If you wish to build your own decks, these rules and cards will be
legal for the Pre-Release ChessHeads Tournament at Crossroads on July 31,
Saturday, at 12:00 noon, through 6:00pm. After that, these specific
Pre-release cards will not be legal in any ChessHeads events. We are merely
providing them as a courtesy so that entrants may prepare for and use them
in this tournament if they like, before the actual cards are released in a
couple of weeks. For this event, no larger decks than 30 cards each will be
allowed, and if you do build a deck or decks, you must submit a deck list
before the tournament starts. You may build up to 5, 30 card decks if you
like, using the black and white PDF cards. Please remember that your PDF
printed cards must be inserted into opaque, unmarked card sleeves in order
for you to use them in this event. Building a deck might give you an
advantage in the tournament, but if you do not wish to build a deck, you may
still play in the event by using the random 30 card decks that we will
provide at the event. Please RSVP regarding your participation in the event
as soon as possible, because the spaces are filling up fast. If you have any
questions about the rules, or the cards, or if you just need deck advice,
please feel free contact me using the information above. And oh yes, please
tell all your friends! See you all on Saturday, July 31st, at 12:00 noon.
Happy Deck Building!
To all ChessHeads,
This is the tournament format announcement for the
PRE-RELEASE ChessHeads tournament being held at Crossroads Bellevue on
Saturday, July 31st; in the Chess Area, at 12:00 noon.
Go to this web page for directions to Crossroads
Bellevue:
http://www.crossroadsbellevue.com/directionshours/index.htm
Each entrant will receive 1 complimentary Deck-Builder Box
of 30 randomly assorted ChessHeads cards to either use during the event or
to save unopened.
Deck size for this tournament will be restricted to 30
cards only, whether the deck is pre-built or from a randomly chosen
Deck-Builder box at the event.
Players may use the Pre-Release Cards and Rules from the
download link below if they wish to build 30 card decks prior to the event.
However, players building decks must provide a deck list of the cards in any
pre built deck.
Here is the download link for the ChessHeads cards and
rules (9 MEGS):
{No longer available.}
1) The format for this event
will be a 3-round Swiss.
2) The first time-control for
each game will be a total of one hour, shared between both players (players
are instructed to play "briskly").
3) If a game is not completed
at the end of 1 hour, then a chess clock will be started on the game, with
each player having 15 minutes to complete the rest of the game (so, a total
additional time for the remainder of the game of 30 minutes). In this way,
no game will last more than a total of 90 minutes from start to finish.
4) My staff and I will be at
the site early to answer questions about ChessHeads before the event starts.
Players may show up as early as 11:00 am on Saturday in the Chess Area to
ask questions and to prepare for their games.
5) Players who do not come
early, should arrive at Crossroads Bellevue (in the chess area) no later
than 12:00 noon, at which time each player will be given a Deck-Builder Box
of 30 cards to open, to study the rules, and to ask questions.
6) The event will be held as
one Open section, but prizes will be awarded separately to Kids (under 13
years of age), and Adults (over 13 years of age).
7) The first round will start
at 12:15 pm. The second round will start at 2:00 pm. The third round will
start at 4:15 pm.
8) Prize awards will start at
about 6:00 pm.
9) The first place prizes for
the top Kid finisher and the top Adult finisher will be a ChessHeads Deluxe
Magnetic Gamebox and 2 Deck-Builder Boxes of cards.
10) There will be additional,
assorted product prizes for each of the next 4 finishers in each of the Kids
and Adults categories.
11) The winner in each of the
two categories will automatically be seeded with a free entry into the
ChessHeads Championship Tournament in the Fall, with chances at a
winner-take-all cash prize in that event.
Now, I would like to issue a direct challenge to all
Game players and to all Chess players alike:
At this point in time -- and perhaps for quite a while to
come -- there does not seem to be any way to tell who is going to prove out
to be the best ChessHeads players in the world:
-- Will it be the chess players -- with their
understanding of the chessboard and pieces, of mating
patterns, and of spatial control?
-- Or, will it be the Trading Card Game players --
with their abilities related to deck-building,
memory of card effects and penchant for thinking out of the box?
-- Or perhaps it will be some new hybrid-gamer --
with intuition and skills honed from playing many
different types of games.
I do know that most of the card players I have spoken with
and played ChessHeads with, seem to think
that it would be a non-match, that chessplayers do not understand deck
building and are too restricted
in thinking patterns to be very successful against them in a game like
ChessHeads.
Conversely, the vast majority of the chess players who
have played ChessHeads have told me that in a
series of games between good chessplayers and good card game players, the
card players don't stand a chance because they don't really understand
enough about the chessboard to survive against them.
What do you think... think yur game?
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or
concerns.
