Guide to Tournament Announcements

ASAP	As Soon As Possible, in reference to start time of round (usually final round of the day)
b/	Based on (number of entries), usually in reference to prize funds
Blitz	Very fast chess, usually G/5 time control
Booster	Tournament section open to players below a certain rating, usually lower than for the Reserve section
Bughouse	A chess variant where captured pieces may be put back on the same board or on a teammate's board; very popular with kids!
Byes	Players may request one-half point for one or more rounds where the player doesn't wish to compete
CC	Chess Club
Chess 960	A chess variant where the starting position of the pieces is randomly selected from one of 960 different possibilites
Class	Rating Class (usually in 200 point intervals, e.g., 1800-1999 is Class A, 1600-1799 is Class B, etc.)
Closed	Also "invitational," a tournament only open to invited players, for example the annual state championship and "premier" events
Delay	Digital chess clocks may be set to allow a certain delay (usually 5 seconds per move) before a player's time elapses
Dual	Rated by USCF in both the Quick and Regular rating systems (for time controls between G/30 and G/60)
Economy	Option to enter a tournament for low entry fee if not playing for cash prizes
EF	Entry Fee(s)
Ent	Contact for tournament entries
FIDE	International Chess Federation (usually in reference to ratings)
Format	Combination of number of sections, number of rounds, tournament pairing system (e.g., Swiss), etc.
G	Game (usually used in time control, e.g., G/60)
GM	Grandmasters
Grand Prix	See Northwest Chess Grand Prix
Grp	Group (usually for prize purposes)
Gtd	Guaranteed (prizes)
IM	International Masters
Info	Contact for additional information
Jr	Juniors (usually below age 21)
Mem'b Req'd	Membership Required
Misc.	Miscellaneous information/requirements, etc.
NC	No Computers (should be assumed unless otherwise stated)
Novice	Tournament section open to unrated and/or low rated players
NS	No Smoking (should always be assumed nowadays!)
NW	Not wheelchair accessible
NWSRS	Northwest Scholastic Rating System
OCF	Oregon Chess Federation
Open	Tournament section open to all players unless otherwise stated, e.g., Junior Open/Senior Open)
OSA	Other States Allowed (in regard to memberships required)
Plus Score	Better than even score in a tournament (e.g., 3 out of 5), may qualify for special prizes
Quads	Round Robin tournament with four players per section
Quick	Time control of G/29 or faster (also see Dual)
Rating	A statistical measure of a chessplayer's playing strength; likelihood of winning (or losing) is directly related to the rating point difference between two players; also see Class
Rd., Rds.	Round(s)
Reg.	Registration
Reserve	Tournament section open to players below a certain rating
RR	Round Robin (tournament where each player in a section plays every other player in that section)
SD	Sudden Death (final time control for a game, in which all remaining moves must be completed)
Simul	Simultaneous Exhibition; a strong player plays against multiple opponents (on different boards) at the same time
SS	Swiss System; a tournament pairing system where players are paired with other players having an equal or similar score in previous rounds
TC	Time Control (the amount of time each player has to complete the game, or a certain number of moves, e.g., 40/90 -- 40 moves in 90 minutes, G/2 -- game in two hours)
TD	Tournament Director
Tornado	A Swiss System tournament conducted in one day with relatively fast time controls
U1800, etc.	Under 1800 rating, etc.
Unr	Unrated (not yet rated by USCF, NWSRS, etc.)
Upset	Prize(s) for players who defeat (or draw) a higher rated player
USCF	United States Chess Federation
W	Wheelchair accessible
WCF	Washington Chess Federation
WGM	Women Grandmasters

Northwest Chess Guide to Tournament Announcements

Northwest Chess
Guide to Tournament Announcements