From Friday, April 12th until Sunday, April 14th, join us for the first annual Big 10 Invitational! If you are a student, alumni, faculty member, or affiliate of a Big 10 University, you are invited to compete against other like-minded and scholarly individuals from around the country who proudly call themselves members of the Big 10. On this page, you’ll find important information, the rules/regulations, the interest form (for both sections), and the schedule (which will be posted on or around April 1st, when it is confirmed which teams are coming).
About The Big 10 Invitational
The initial idea for this event came in January 2023, within the executive board of the Chess Club at the Ohio State. During a State of the Chess Club Meeting, the idea for a large scale tournament that included one team from each of the Big 10 Universities was born. Up until late April, our team worked tirelessly to contact each chess club, come up with the rules & format, and organize the event.
Now, over a year later, the event is finally underway. Big 10 Universities are sending teams of players and individuals to compete against representatives of chess clubs from their biggest rivals. One team will be crowned the Big 10 Champion, and will have to defend their title in next year’s event.
At the start of the tournament, prior to the playing of any games, the location of next years Big 10 Invitational will be announced. Be on the lookout for where next years event will be held, and which school will take home the title!
Rules & Regulations
By clicking the link below, you’ll be directed to the Rules & Regulations document, which lists out everything you’ll need to know about this tournament from a technical standpoint. This does not include basic chess rules (we will be following the basic rules set forth by the United States Chess Federation, which is clarified in the document). Please note that there are specified rules that separate the Team and Open Sections, so please keep that in mind when reading.
Big 10 Invitational – Rules & Regulations
Interest Form & Contact Information
By clicking the link below, you’ll be directed to a Google Form that acts as the interest form for this event. It consists of 4 pages: (1) Basic Information, (2) Team Section Sign-Up, (3) Open Section Sign-Up, and (4) Payment. If you are signing a team up for this event, please make sure that you DO NOT fill out the Open Section page (the third page). On the other hand, if you are signing up for yourself, please make sure that you leave the Team Section page (the second page) blank. Filling out unnecessary sections will be confusing for the tournament directors and may cause some registrations to be lost/discarded.
If you are looking for a place to stay in Columbus for the duration of this tournament, you will find a list of hotels within the interest form that would be a good place to start. Should those hotels already be occupied to capacity, there are multiple other hotels nearby, so don’t panic! The venue is the Ohio Union (address below), so you can use that as a starting point to look for other lodging options.
Big 10 Invitational – Interest Form
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this event or the information provided on this page, please do not hesitate to reach out to the organizer of this event, Sean Fitzsimmons, at Fitzsimmons.86@osu.edu. More contact information can be found in the “Contact” page on this website.
Schedule & Round Times
The entirety of this event will be held in the Ohio Union, which is located at 1739 North High Street, Columbus, OH, 43210. The room will change depending on the day, which will be detailed below for each day.
FRIDAY, APRIL 12TH – Senate Chamber, 2nd Floor Ohio Union
7:00 – Check-In
7:15 – Introductions & Presentation/Speaker
8:00 – Social Time & Possible Blitz Tournament
SATURDAY, APRIL 13TH – Cartoon Room, 3rd Floor Ohio Union
AT THIS TIME, THE GAME SCHEDULE HAS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED. PLEASE CHECK BACK ON OR AROUND APRIL 1ST, 2024.
SUNDAY, APRIL 14TH – Cartoon Room, 3rd Floor Ohio Union
AT THIS TIME, THE GAME SCHEDULE HAS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED. PLEASE CHECK BACK ON OR AROUND APRIL 1ST, 2024.