PRIZES

Very fine TROPHIES ARE AWARDED AT EACH RJ SHIELD EVENT. We generally divide each tournament into Under 10 and Over 10 divisions.  Trophies are usually awarded to the top 3 place-getters, plus in other appropriate age-divisions such as Under 8 etc, and potentially for other achievements.
In addition, at the year-end RJ Shield Finals, a Major Shield Prize is given not only to the overall Over 10 and U10 Champions, but also to the best performer in every year level U6 to U15 
​​
Age groups are calculated from January 1 of each year. So a player born on January 1, 2008 is in the same age-group (Under 10) as someone born on December 31, 2008. A player remains in the same age group for the entire calendar year regardless of when their birthday falls.

In 2018 age groups are as follows.  For example:
  • Under 8 - born in 2010 or later
  • Under 10 - born in 2008 or later
  • Under 12 - born in 2006 or later
  • Under 14 - born in 2004 or later
At the Melbourne venues we usually run separate tournaments for Over 10s and Under 10s.  A player who has won a previous Under 10 tournament is generally required to play in Over 10s thereafter.

RJ Shield events are open to players of any age. We have some very young players beginning their tournament journey.  And while we usually award prizes only up to U15s, if you are older than this but feel that the RJ Shield is the right standard tournament for you at your current stage of chess development, please contact us  [email protected]

If you score 18 Rj shield tournament points during the course of the year, you will qualify for Finals.  Indeed why stop at 18? If you can achieve 25 points, you will be eligible to compete for "Superfinal" cash and trophy prizes within the finals tournament!

All your scores from RJ Shield events through the year will help you qualify for Finals. All you need to do is score 18 points or more in any RJ Shield event through the year and you're into the finals!

​Any player (in any age-group) who can accumulate a score 15 points or more in the RJ Shield events through the year will be playing in the Finals on November 25.  

Scoring your 18 points might be done by playing 5 events and scoring 3 points in each - or maybe you play 2 events and win 7 and 7, then you just need 1 more point to qualify.
The accumulating points totals are shown for all players throughout the year at www.rjshield.com  When a player reaches 15 points, they are highlighted in the Yellow Zone and have qualified for our RJ Shield Finals!!  Check the list and see if you have qualified for the Finals.

The Shield Finals will be held at Queen's College, Melbourne University on Sunday 25 November, the day before the National Interschool Championships start at the same venue.  The first round commences at 1pm, so please aim to arrive at 12.30-12.45.  Only qualified players are eligible to play and there will be no wild card places this year.

For those that haven't qualified for the Finals, we have two additional tournaments running at the same time at Queen's College that are open to all.  Choose from:
  • "Warm-up" Tournament - A strong event that will attract experienced players who are ineligible for RJ Shield, such as the Interstate players arriving for the Nationals
  • "Novice" Tournament - A slightly easier event, but expected to include players of a range of experience levels, and definitely a stronger tournament than the monthly Novice division at the Bentleigh RJ Shield.