View the Middle School Competition Rulebook for league details.
Introduction and Purpose
These official rules (rules) of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2025-2026 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, starters, substitutes (collectively team members), and other members.
1. Game Rules
1.1 Game Account Connections
Players are encouraged to create and connect the in-game name of their Chesskid.com account to their PlayVS profile before competing to help match setup run more smoothly.
Missing game account connections is not grounds for a match loss.
1.2 Roster Requirements
Team Members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.
Each league page will list the number of players necessary to fill a team’s roster and bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches are expected to be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches. The roster and bench must be finalized before the roster lock date, as listed in section 3.4 Roster Submission of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.3 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made before the start of each game by using the Match Assistant to change the roster and re-confirm rosters during the roster confirmation step.
Once a game of record is established, the starting player cannot be changed. Once the game is complete with results reported, a player substitution can be made using the PlayVS Match Assistant, if necessary, for the following game.
Chesskid is a solo esports title, meaning there may only be one active player in a match at any given time. However, teams needing to adjust their roster due to their unique competitive situation can utilize the one (1) bench spot should any roster changes need to be made.
Roster updates may only occur during the first 4 weeks of the regular season.
1.4 Game of Record
A game of record (GOR) in Chesskid is established in the following conditions:
When the first player in a round makes their first move.
Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.5 Stoppage of Play
During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches must communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby chat.
Directed Pause
At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results before pausing, if necessary.
Player Pauses
By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game. In the event of an equipment failure, or if an in-progress game is stopped, then the affected player will forfeit the individual round.
Player Disconnection
In the event of a player disconnection, the game will automatically begin a 30-second countdown to auto-resign the game. The disconnected player must promptly reconnect, or indicate a reason for the disconnection in the match lobby chat or risk loss of the game. Individual games unaffected by the disconnection may continue competition.
If the disconnected player, or their coach for the team, has not shared any updates in the match lobby chat within a 10-minute window, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.
1.6 Match Format
Format | Best-of-Three (Bo3) Games |
Mode | Fast Chess |
Settings | 10-minute (5-min for tiebreakers) |
Team Size | 1 Player |
Players will compete in a Bo3 to determine the overall winner of a match. Using chesskid.com, each game is a 10-minute round. If the game remains tied, players will compete in a single 5-minute round to determine the winner of the overall game. Only overall game results will be reported using the PlayVS Match Assistant. The winner of the match is determined by the player that wins two overall games.
All matches within the season will share the same match format as listed above, regardless of phase. For a detailed breakdown of each phase available for the league, see section 5.2 Phase Details of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.7 Specific Rules
Tiebreaker Round Protocol
When a game is tied, a single 5-minute tiebreaker round will take place to determine the winning player for the overall game. If the tiebreaker round results in a tie, then the round is replayed again.
2. Player Equipment
2.1 Equipment
Each player on the starting roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:
A device compatible with chesskid.com
Stable internet connection
An active chesskid.com account (Account signup is free)
3. Match Process
3.1 Pre-Match Setup
Teams must adhere to section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.
3.2 Match Setup
Teams will follow ChessKid Solos Match Instructions for lobby creation setup and joining the game lobby.
Side Selection
Players will have side selections in the following order:
Game 1: The home team will be white
Game 2: The away team will be white
Game 3: The home team will be white
Tiebreaker rounds: Teams will alternate sides
Tiebreaker 1: The home team will be white
Tiebreaker 2: The away team will be white
Tiebreaker 3: The home team will be white
Set and Game Setup
The white team will have one (1) minute to make their first move after the game is created on http://chesskid.com.
If an individual game is abandoned due to inactivity before a game of record is established, the game must be recreated for the match to continue.
Once both players have made their first move, the player’s 10-minute clock will begin to countdown during their respective turn. Players will take turns making moves until any of the following occurs:
Either player is checkmated.
Either player resigns.
Either player’s timer expires.
The game ends in a draw.
3.3 Match F.A.Q.
Spectating
Coaches are eligible to spectate a match by searching for the player’s username and clicking Watch.
As there is no advantage granted through this process, coaches may spectate a game without following the protocols referenced in section 7.7 Match Spectating from the league’s Competition Rulebook.
4. Post-Match Process
4.1 Results
If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, in-game statistics and results will be recorded at each game's conclusion.
In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant cannot be used, statistics will not be tracked, and the match results must be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.
In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.