Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

March 27, 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.


Upcoming Tournaments

Registration is now open for 4 upcoming tournaments: Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING before each event. Information about each event is provided below. Please visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org for more tournament information and to register online.


April 13 | Spratley Gifted Center Scholastic and Quads | Grades K-12 and Adults

Spratley Gifted Center, Hampton.
U. S. Chess Federation (USCF) membership is NOT required for the Not-rated sections. USCF members with ratings below 400 (K-5) or 800 (K-12) may play in these sections if they wish. The Open sections and Quads are USCF-rated. USCF membership is REQUIRED to play in these sections.

The entry fee for the scholastic sections is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $15 for onsite registrations. The entry fee for the Open Quads is $20 for all players.

This event is organized by the Virginia Chess Federation.


April 20 | Fork Union Scholastic | Grades K-12

Fork Union Military Academy, Fork Union (Fluvanna County).
U. S. Chess Federation (USCF) membership is REQUIRED for all sections.

The entry fee is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations.


April 27 | Westside Spring Chess Festival | Grades K-12 and Adults

Westside Elementary School, Smithfield (Isle of Wight County).
U. S. Chess Federation (USCF) membership is NOT required for the Not-rated sections. USCF members with ratings below 400 (K-5) or 800 (K-12) may play in these sections if they wish. The Open sections and Quads are USCF-rated. USCF membership is REQUIRED to play in these sections.

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.


May 4 | Mary Munford Scholastic | Grades K-12

Mary Munford Elementary School, Richmond.
U. S. Chess Federation (USCF) membership is NOT required for the Not-rated sections. USCF members with ratings below 400 (K-5) or 800 (K-12) may play in these sections if they wish. The Open sections are USCF-rated. USCF membership is REQUIRED to play in these sections.

The entry fee is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations.


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, and he has visited many other Virginia schools - most recently Norview High School in Norfolk. 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.


State Championships Results

369 scholastic and college players participated in the March 9-10 Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Championships, held at Longwood University in Farmville. 103 scholastic players also participated in the March 8 Blitz Championships. 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 (not available for some events) 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.