Queens Park Chess Club’s first organised activity on chess.com will be a transatlantic ‘vote chess’ challenge match against the Central Savannah Riversite Area (CSRA). CSRA is a US club with players from the city of Augusta, Georgia and the neighbouring towns of Aiken and Edgefield in South Carolina.
What is vote chess?
Vote chess is a format in which two teams play a single game of correspondence (aka ‘daily’) chess against each other. In this game, Queens Park is playing with the Black pieces, and each team has three days to discuss and vote on every move. Both teams have access to a private message board for discussion on suggested moves.
The normal rules of correspondence chess apply – the chess.com opening explorer and books on opening theory can be used for reference, and the pieces can be moved around on the board, but chess engines and endgame tablebases must never be used.
How do I join?
On chess.com, click / tap on vote chess in the Queens Park Chess Club menu, or click here.
Then select the QPCC-CSRA game and choose ‘join game’.
Those who do not already have a chess.com profile can register and play for free.
How do I play?
To start with, introduce yourself on the message board under the vote chess game. Then let us know what you would like Queens Park’s first move with Black to be.
When it’s our move, we have three days to decide what to play. In the first two days, club members of all abilities are encouraged to suggest and discuss potential moves in the position. When we have around 24 hours to go, a vote will be called for the consensus move (or a choice between two or more moves if no consensus has been reached). ‘Voting’ is a case of playing a move on the board, and clicking a tick box to confirm.
It is possible for players to vote at any time on any move they wish, but participating in discussion on candidate moves first, and voting on an agreed move, helps to make this more of a team game, in which we can learn from each other, and play higher quality moves.
Lower-rated players are encouraged to suggest their preferred moves, and higher rated players are asked to respond courteously to any potential mistakes or inaccuracies. Lower-rated players are welcome to ask higher-rated players questions about their proposed moves, to improve their understanding of the ideas behind them.
What happens after we vote on our move?
The opposing team, CSRA, will have three days to pick their move, then it’s back to our turn. The game will continue to a conclusion. At any point, it is possible for teams to vote in favour of offering or accepting a draw, or to resign the game. The outcome of the game will be rated on the chess.com vote chess leaderboard. If there is appetite for more, Queens Park can set up a new game, or even several at once.
Any questions?
Drop Derek a message on chess.com or ask away in the vote chess chat. Thanks to all for taking part and let’s see how our first match goes!
Top image created with artificial intelligence using DALL-E
