Chess pentathlon rules

Description

The chess pentathlon is an over-the-board chess contest featuring five events. Its name is inspired by the Olympic sport of the same name, that combines the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition).

It consists of 5 tournaments, each of them of one different chess variant:

• Classical chess
• Rapid chess
• Blitz chess
• Fischer Random (Chess 960)
• Bullet chess

None of these variants are played online in a chess pentathlon.

Rounds and time controls

Time control and number of rounds for each tournament is:

• For the classical chess tournament: 10 rounds, 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes increment for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move.
• For the rapid tournament: 9 rounds, 15 minutes with an increment of 10 seconds per move.
• For the two blitz tournaments: 9 rounds, 3 minutes with an increment of 2 seconds per move.
• For the bullet tournament: 12 rounds, 1 minute with an increment of 1 second per move.

Points and standings

There is only one classification in the chess pentathlon (with chess professionals and amateurs mixed in it), being official FIDE ratings completely unimportant for the final standings. In order to determine the standings after each round of each tournament, points are awarded to players that won or drew their games, as follows:

Tournament	Win	Win (bye/forfeit)	Draw	Loss	Loss (forfeit)
Classic	10	5	4	0	-10
Rapid	6	3	2	0	-6
Blitz	3	1.5	1	0	-3
Fischer random	5	2.5	1.5	0	-5
Bullet	2	1	0.5	0	-2

The maximum score a player can get in a chess pentathlon is 250 points.

Tiebreakers

If two or more players are tied on points at the end of the chess pentathlon, the following tiebreaker system will apply:

1. Points in direct confrontations
2. Number of wins in all tournaments
3. Total number of games played
4. Points earned in the Fischer random tournament
5. Drawing of lots

Prizes

First, second and third-place finishers in the chess pentathlon are awarded medals on a podium. The top eight players are handed a chess pentathlon diploma.

The first-placed player, on the highest step in the centre, receives a gold medal and the title of chess pentathlon champion. The second-place player stands to the winner’s right, and receives a silver medal. The third-placed player stands to the left and receives a bronze medal.

There are also cash prizes for the winners of the chess pentathlon. Check the prizes' page of our website in order to check the amount of each one of them.