Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

January 7, 2013

This newsletter is sent to families who participate in Virginia Scholastic Chess Association tournaments. The VSCA is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting scholastic chess in central and southeastern Virginia. Please email news@vschess.org to subscribe, unsubscribe or change your address.



Grafton Winter Chess Festival (Grades K-12 and Adult)

Registration is now open for the Grafton Winter Chess Festival, to be held Saturday, January 19 at Grafton Middle School in York County. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, January 17.

This tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and also adult players.

Scholastic players are divided into 4 sections based on their grade in school and their U. S. Chess Federation (USCF) rating: All sections are USCF-rated and all players must be current USCF members.

The Open Quads sections are USCF-rated sections open to advanced scholastic players (USCF rating 1000+) and adult players. Quad entries will be divided into groups of 4 by rating. Each group of 4 (quad) will play a 3-round round robin with a time control of G/60.

The entry fee for the scholastic sections is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations. The entry fee for the Open Quads is $20 for all players, whether registered online or onsite.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 5 individuals and to the top 3 school teams in each scholastic section, plus medals or participation ribbons for players who don't win trophies. There are cash prizes for the Open Quads, with no trophies or team competition.

Please visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org for more tournament information and to register online.



Old Donation Center Groundhog Scholastic Tournament (Grades K-12 and Adult)

Registration is now open for the Old Donation Center Groundhog Scholastic tournament, to be held Saturday, February 2 at the Old Donation Center, an elementary school in Virginia Beach. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, January 31.

This tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and also adult players, and includes both rated and non-rated sections.

The K-5 Not-rated and K-12 Not-rated (grades 6-12) sections are strictly for fun, and are designed primarily for beginning tournament players. Games in these sections are NOT RATED by the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) and players do NOT need to be USCF members. USCF members with a rating below 400 (K-5) or 800 (K-12) may play in the Not-rated sections if they wish.

The K-5 Open and K-12 Open (grades 6-12) sections are USCF-rated sections. All players in these sections must be current USCF members.

The Open Quads sections are USCF-rated sections open to advanced scholastic players (USCF rating 1000+) and adult players. Quad entries will be divided into groups of 4 by rating. Each group of 4 (quad) will play a 3-round round robin with a time control of G/60.

The entry fee for the scholastic sections is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations. The entry fee for the Open Quads is $20 for all players, whether registered online or onsite.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 5 individuals and to the top 3 school teams in each scholastic section, plus medals or participation ribbons for players who don't win trophies. There are cash prizes for the Open Quads, with no trophies or team competition.

Food and drinks, including options for lunch (pizza or sandwiches), will be sold at the tournament.

Please visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org for more tournament information and to register online.



Upcoming VSCA Events

The Longwood State Championships Warmup tournament will be held Saturday, February 16 at Longwood University in Farmville. The Longwood tournament will have K-5 and K-12 USCF-rated sections.



Other Upcoming Events

Registration is now open for the Hampton Sports Festival Scholastic, organized by the Virginia Chess Federation (VCF), to be held on Saturday, February 16 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia. The scholastic tournament will feature K-5 and K-12 Not-rated sections for beginning players (USCF membership not required) as well as K-5 and K-12 Open (USCF-rated) sections.For more information and to register online, please visit the event web page, chesshouse.zxq.net//Tournaments/13_HRSF/HRSF_schol.html.

The Hampton Sports Festival offers two other chess events in addition to the scholastic tournament: A Simultaneous Chess Exhibition by four-time Virginia State Champion Dan Miller on Friday evening, February 15, and the Hampton Sports Festival Chess Championship (USCF-rated, USCF membership required) on Saturday-Sunday, February 16-17. For details on both of these events, visit the Hampton Sports Festival Chess Activities web page at chesshouse.zxq.net/Tournaments/13_HRSF/HRSF_main.html.

Registration is now open for the Virginia Scholastic and Collegiate Championships, organized by the Virginia Chess Federation (VCF), to be held Friday March 8-Sunday March 10 at Longwood University in Farmville. The Blitz Championships will be held Friday evening March 8, with the main tournament on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, and to register online, please visit the event web page, vachess.org/scholastics/12-13%20State%20Ch/Home12-13.html.

A scholastic chess calendar of Virginia and national events is available at www.vschess.org/chess-calendar.



What If It Snows?

Snow and other winter weather is always a possibility at this time of year. We make every effort to hold our tournaments as scheduled, but occasionally we do have to cancel an event due to safety concerns and school regulations. If we have to cancel a tournament, we will post a notice on the VSCA website www.vschess.org as soon as a decision is made, and we will also email a notice to everyone who has registered. If you have mailed a check in advance we will refund your payment. Please be sure your email address is correct when you register in case we need to contact you.



It's Your Move!

VSCA secretary and Class A player Mike Callaham has generously offered to analyze and comment on VSCA tournament games which players send him. If you have a game that you're proud of, or a game where you feel you could have played better, and would like Mr. Callaham to take a look at it, all you need to do is send him a copy of your complete and legible scoresheet (game notation). He will respond by email, and games which are especially interesting or instructive will be published on the VSCA website at www.vschess.org/chess-resources/games. Mr. Callaham has posted three games which he played against scholastic players (with surprising results) at the Charlottesville Open in July 2012: Scholastic Means Young – Not Weak!

Mr. Callaham currently coaches chess clubs at J. B. Fisher Elementary School and J. E. B. Stuart Elementary School in Richmond. He would like to visit as many other school chess clubs as possible on behalf of the VSCA. Parents and coaches, if you would like to have Mr. Callaham visit your school club for a free simul, chess clinic or lecture, please contact him at waterman2010kir@aol.com. Be sure to provide contact information for the school chess sponsor/coach. This is a wonderful opportunity for your school to benefit from the help of an experienced chess player and teacher.



New VSCA Board of Directors Elected

New VSCA board members were elected at a meeting of the VSCA membership on December 8, 2012. Newly elected Board members are Srini Aiyer (Henrico County), Gopal Bhagavatula (Chesterfield County), Venkat Guruvelli (Henrico County), David Mueller (Chesterfield County), and Christina Schweiss (Virginia Beach). In addition, Ram Dasari (Chesterfield County), Mike Hoffpauir (York County), Bart Mebane (Middlesex County) and Christine Morales (Hampton) were re-elected to their positions on the Board.



Hopkins Scholastic at Hopewell Tournament Results

56 scholastic players participated in the December 8 Hopkins Scholastic at Hopewell tournament, held at Hopewell High School in Hopewell. The tournament is named in memory of VSCA founder and longtime president Peter Hopkins.

In the K-3 section, Nitin Kanuri won the first-place trophy with a score of 4.0 points. Rivers Edge Elementary School from Henrico County won the K-3 first-place team trophy. Teja Guruvelli won the first-place trophy in the K-5 section with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Springfield Park Elementary School from Henrico County won the K-5 first-place team trophy. Ryan Balser won the K-8 first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Moody Middle School from Henrico County won the K-8 first-place team trophy. Justin Woodall won the K-12 first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Fork Union Military Academy from Fluvanna County won the first-place team trophy for K-12.

Congratulations to all of these players and to all of our tournament participants. Complete tournament results are available at www.vschess.org/results.



Tournament Registration and Entry Fees

Advance registration for VSCA tournaments is ONLINE ONLY at www.vschess.org, and closes at 7:00 AM on the Thursday before the tournament. In order to accurately process entries, we cannot accept mail, phone or e-mail registrations. The scholastic advance registration entry fee of $7 may be paid by mail (preferred) or at the tournament. Players who do not register before the 7:00 AM Thursday deadline can register at the tournament between 8:00 and 8:45 am on Saturday, but they will need to pay the late entry fee of $14. Players who register later than 8:30 am on Saturday may or may not be paired for the first round, depending on the number of late registrations.

The entry fee for Open Quads sections is $20 for both advance registrations and on-site registrations.

Please note that the above information applies only to Virginia Scholastic Chess Association tournaments, and does NOT apply to the Virginia Scholastic and Collegiate Championships or other Virginia Chess Federation events.



Tournament Check-in

In order to help us complete registration and start our tournaments on time, please check in at the registration desk by 8:45 am, even if you have mailed in your payment. This will minimize the number of names that we have to call in order to check attendance, and will also allow our volunteers to close registration and balance the books earlier. Players arriving after 8:45 am (8:30 am if you have not registered in advance) will risk not being paired for the first round.

If you have registered online, but later find that you will not be able to attend, please email results@vschess.org as soon as possible so that we can withdraw your name. If you have to change your plans at the last minute and will be absent or late, please email or let someone else know so they can tell us at registration.



USCF Membership

Current membership in the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) is REQUIRED in order to play in VSCA tournaments, except for sections specifically designated as non-rated. In order to avoid delays on Saturday, please join or renew directly with USCF at www.uschess.org/webstore. Please do not mail a paper application form or check to USCF, since this may cause delays in processing your membership. If you are unable to join or renew online, please plan to fill out a membership application at the tournament. You can check membership status at www.uschess.org/msa. The U.S. Chess Federation maintains a national database of ratings (relative playing strengths) for adult and scholastic players. In order to update the ratings following each tournament, all players in the tournament must be current USCF members.



Please visit our website at www.vschess.org for the latest news and information.