Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

January 29, 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.



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

Wednesday is the last full day to register 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.



Longwood State Championship Warmup Tournament (Grades K-12 and Adult)

Registration is now open for the Longwood State Championship Warmup tournament, to be held Saturday, February 16 at Longwood University in Farmville. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, February 14.

This tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and also adult players. Longwood University is the site of the Virginia Scholastic and Collegiate Championships on March 8-10, and this warmup tournament is a good chance to visit and get to know the area.

Scholastic players are divided into two sections based on their grade in school: The K-5 section for kindergarten through fifth grade, and the K-12 section for sixth through twelfth grade and advanced younger players. Both sections are USCF-rated and all players must be current members of the U. S. Chess Federation. Each scholastic section will play 4 rounds, with time controls of G/40 for rounds 1 and 2 and G/60 for rounds 3 and 4.

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.

For this event only, the entry fee for the scholastic sections is $10 for advance (online) registrations and $15 for onsite registrations. The entry fee for the Open Quads is $20 for all players, whether registered online or onsite.

In the K-5 section, trophies will be awarded to the top 3 individuals in grades K-3 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 4-5. In the K-12 section, trophies will be awarded to the top 3 individuals in grades K-8 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 9-12. Trophies will also be awarded to the top 3 school teams in each section. Cash prizes for the Open Quads are $45 for first place and $30 for second place in each quad, with no trophies or team competition.

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



Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Championships (Grades K-12 and College)

Registration is now open for the Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Chess Championships, to be held Friday-Sunday, March 8-10 at Longwood University in Farmville. The blitz tournament (K-5, K-12, College sections) is at 6:00 pm Friday evening, and the main tournament (K-3, K-5, K-8, K-12, College sections) is Saturday (4 rounds) and Sunday (2 rounds). Advance registration closes at 7:00 AM Friday morning, March 8. Onsite registration and payment is 3:00-9:00 pm Friday evening (3:00-5:30 for blitz). You can pay online with a credit card through PayPal, or onsite by cash or check.

Please visit the event website at vachess.org/scholastics/12-13%20State%20Ch/Home12-13.html for complete tournament information and to register online.



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 VSCA home page, www.vschess.org or the VCF home page, www.vachess.org and follow the links for the Hampton Sports Festival.

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.

The Eastern Shore Scholastic and Adult Quads tournament, organized by the Virginia Chess Federation (VCF), will be held at Nandua High School in Onley, Virginia on February 23. Detailed information and online registration will be available soon.

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



A Word from the VSCA President

At one of our recent tournaments a family brought along their dog. While the animal didn't cause any problems, several families expressed concern about bringing pets into schools. We checked with a couple of school districts about this issue and learned that their policies only allow "Service Dogs" (e.g. seeing-eye dogs) in their buildings. Other pets are not permitted. Looking forward, if someone feels they need to bring their pet to a tournament, please contact us in advance so that we can provide instructions to make necessary coordination.



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. Mr. Callaham has recently issued a Checkmate Challenge to all scholastic players, based on one of his own games. Win a chess book if you can find all the checkmates! For complete details, visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org/chess-resources/games

Mr. Callaham currently coaches chess clubs at J. B. Fisher Elementary School, J. E. B. Stuart Elementary School, Thomas H. Henderson Middle School and Thompson Middle 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.



Grafton Winter Chess Festival Results

101 scholastic and adult players participated in the January 19 Grafton Winter Chess Festival, held at Grafton Middle School in Yorktown.

In the K-5 Under 400 section, Michael Johnson won the first-place trophy with a perfect score of 5.0 points. Dutrow Elementary School from Newport News won the K-5 Under 400 first-place team trophy. Kyle Phillips won the first-place trophy in the K-5 Open section with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Shady Grove Elementary School from Henrico County won the K-5 Open first-place team trophy by tiebreaks over Old Donation Center from Virginia Beach. Christina Scheible won the K-12 Under 800 first-place trophy by tiebreaks over Yang Zhang. Christina and Yang drew in the final round to finish with 3.5 points in 4 rounds. The host team from Grafton Middle School won the K-12 Under 800 first-place team trophy. Daniel Zhou, a third grader playing up, won the K-12 Open first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Collegiate School from Henrico County won the first-place team trophy for K-12 Open. First-place winners in the Open Quads sections were Mr. Ilya Kremenchugskiy; Nicholas Gu, a fifth grader; Mr. Brian Failon; and Mr. Lee Pitts.

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 (unless otherwise stated in the tournament announcement) 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.