• Five-round Swiss; three-day and two-day schedules (Premier Section must play three-day schedule); up to two half-point byes allowed

  • Three-day schedule: Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 12:00 noon, Saturday at 6:30 pm, Sunday at 10 am, Sunday at 4 pm

  • Two-day schedule: Round 1 on Saturday at 9:30 am, merge with 3-day schedule for round 2

• On-site registration closes 30 minutes before the start of round one (after that players may register with a half-point bye)

• Three sections: Premier (FIDE-rated), Under 1900, and Under 1400

  • Click here to view details about The Newcomb Memorial Scholastic: https://caissachess.net/online-registration/index/5700

  • Players may not play up more than 200 points. (If you want to play up, add 200 points to your rating to see which section you qualify for). A player may use either their live (unpublished) rating or published rating to qualify for a higher section. If a player uses their live rating to qualify, the tournament director may also use their live rating for pairing purposes.

  • Unrated players policy: Unrated players may play in the Under 1400 section. To play in a higher section, unrated players must obtain special permission from the tournament director. Players with foreign ratings, FIDE ratings, and provisional USCF ratings are not considered unrated. The tournament director may use USCF ratings (published or unpublished) from other categories (quick, blitz, online, online quick, online blitz, or correspondence). The tournament director has the option of assigning a player a rating.

• $5,000 guaranteed prize fund:

  • Premier: $1300 for 1st, $550 for 2nd, $250 for 3rd

  • U1900: $1000 for 1st, $400 for 2nd, $100 for 3rd, $200 top Under 1650

  • U1400: $750 for 1st, $250 for 2nd, $100 for 3rd, $100 top Under 1100

• Time control: 40/90,SD/30;+30 (40 moves in 90 minutes, sudden death in 30 minutes; with a 30-second increment throughout the entire game)

  • (Game/45;+10 for round one of the two-day schedule)

  • Forfeit policy: 30-minute forfeit time. If you do not arrive at the board within 30 minutes of the scheduled round time you will lose the game by forfeit unless the tournament director decides otherwise. The tournament director may choose to pair the opponents of absent players against each other rather than award a forfeit win.

• Entry fee: $107 by 2/7, $119 by 3/1, $129 by 3/13, and $140 on/after 3/14 (on-site registration closes 30 minutes before round 1)

  • Free entry to GMs ($107 deducted from prizes--email to signup)

  • Re-entries are permitted in all sections besides Premier--the price to re-enter is $50.

• Boards and pieces will be provided for all players, but please bring a clock if you have one.

• All sections are USCF-rated. The premier section is also FIDE-rated.

• PARKING INFORMATION: There is plenty of parking at the venue.

• Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at josh@dmvchess.com or 703-609-0499 with any questions.

About Murray and Philip

On May 5, 2021, Murray Newcomb, a pillar of the DC-area chess scene, died of esophageal cancer at his home in Reston, VA. Murray was a family man, veteran, and one-of-a-kind conversationalist. He was fearlessly outspoken--he was never afraid to express his opinion on any topic, which made him so much fun to be around. Murray was one of the most interesting people that we knew, but he was also generous, caring, and deeply devoted to his friends and family. Murray was passionate about many subjects--especially the game of chess. When it became evident that he was going to die, Murray asked DMV Chess to organize a tournament to commemorate his life.

On June 16, 2024, Philip Newcomb died from the same form of esophageal cancer as his brother Murray. Philip was an avid chess player just like Murray. Murray, Philip, and their third sibling Twilight regularly competed in tournaments together and bonded over their mutual love of chess. In the business world, Philip was known for his success in software and technology. Philip founded The Software Revolution Inc. and won the Stevens Award in 2012 for his contributions to the field of software development. Within the chess community, Philip was well known for being generous, kind, gregarious, brilliant, and creative. Philip developed his own form of chess notation and introduced it by giving a lecture at the old DMV Chess Tysons WeWork site. Philip was extremely fond of his siblings and was instrumental in promoting/financing the Murray Newcomb Memorial to honor his brother. Philip was truly a wonderful person who everyone in the chess community loved. You can read more about Philip on his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Newcomb

In consultation with the Newcomb family, we have decided to change the tournament name from The Murray Newcomb Memorial Tournament to simply The Newcomb Memorial Tournament to honor both Murray and Philip.