Rules for La Palma Chess Club Scrounger Events

1. Definition of a Scrounger

A La Palma Chess Club "scrounger" is a USCF rated chess tournament that combines the best features of the Swiss (flexibility in pairings) with the best features of a quad (pairing with opponents close in rating).  The scrounger pairing method is similar to that of a quad and is described in the Section 2, below.  The winner of a scrounger event is the player that exceeds his Norm—or expected score based on his rating—for this event.  A scrounger is designed to give lower rated players a real chance to win the tournament. A plus "scrounger score" means your results have exceeded expectations and a negative "scrounger score" means you have played below expectations.

2. Pairings:

For a 3 round scrounger all the players in the event are first placed into four-person groups.  Initial pairings would follow that of a quad, i.e.,

Round 1: 1-4 2-3
Round 2: 3-1 4-2
Round 3: 1-2 3-4

If players are absent, pairings are altered so players are paired with someone closest in rating but with someone they have not played in the last two weeks. The TD may pair players from different 4-person groups.  Colors follow USCF priorities.  Pairings are not based on a player's score or standing in the event.

3. LPCC's Norm point scoring rules and schedule is here.