Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

March 26, 2014

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.



Fork Union Scholastic (Grades K-12)

Registration is now open for the Fork Union Scholastic tournament, to be held Saturday, April 12, 2014 at Fork Union Military Academy in Fluvanna. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, April 10.

This tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. All sections are USCF-rated, and all players in the tournament must be current USCF members.

Players are divided into four sections based on their grade in school: The entry fee is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 5 individuals and to the top 3 school teams in each of the four sections.

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



Other Upcoming Tournaments

Two VSCA tournaments are scheduled in May. The Monticello Scholastic tournament will be held on May 3 at Monticello High School in Charlottesville. The Old Donation Center Spring Scholastic and Quads tournament will be held on May 17 at Old Donation Center in Virginia Beach. Advance registration for these tournaments will open in mid-April. For more information, please visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org.



Hampton Roads Scholastic Chess Club

The Hampton Roads Scholastic Chess Club, organized by VSCA board member Christina Schweiss, meets each Tuesday evening from 5 to 7 pm at Old Donation Center in Virginia Beach. Meetings feature rated tournament play and/or instruction. For more information, visit the club's facebook page at www.facebook.com/HRScholasticChessClub.



Maggie L. Walker Chess Clinic

The Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Chess Club in Richmond holds chess clinics at the school on one Monday evening each month from 5 to 7 pm. The clinics are free to scholastic players of all experience levels, from beginner to advanced. The next clinic is scheduled for Monday, March 31. For more information, visit the club's facebook page at www.facebook.com/MLWGSChess.



Spratley Tournament Results

100 scholastic and adult players participated in the Spratley Gifted Center Scholastic and Quads Tournament, held at Spratley Gifted Center in Hampton on March 1, 2014.

The K-5 Not-rated section and the K-5 Open section had awards for the top players in grades K-3 and grades 4-5. The K-12 Not-rated section and the K-12 Open section had awards for the top players in grades K-8 and grades 9-12.

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Nathan McCartney won first place for grades K-3 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Christopher Herath won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5, also with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach won the first-place team award in the K-5 Not-rated section.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, Colin Hawthorne won first place for grades K-8 with a score of 2.5 points in 4 rounds. Will Humes won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12, with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. The host team from Spratley Gifted Center won the first-place team award in the K-12 Not-rated section.

In the K-5 Open section, Kyle Phillips won first place for grades K-3 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Alexander Clunan won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5, also with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Shady Grove Elementary School from Henrico County won the first-place team award in the K-5 Open section.

In the K-12 Open section, Jillian Brodie won the first-place trophy for grades K-8 by tiebreaks over Heidi Bentrup. Jillian and Heidi each finished with 2.5 points in 4 rounds. Stephen Seong won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Lake Braddock Secondary School from Fairfax County won the first-place team award in the K-12 Open section.

The winners in the three Open Quads were Mr. Thomas Burgess; Ryan Balser and Jeffrey Song (two-way tie); and Jenny Baranker, Nitin Kanuri and Brian Kaperick (three-way tie).

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



State Scholastic Tournament Results

Many VSCA players and schools participated in the Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Championships in Roanoke on March 14-16, 2014, organized by the Virginia Chess Federation. Congratulations to the following award winners: Complete tournament results are available at www.vschess.org/results.



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. For complete details, visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org/chess-resources/games

Mr. Callaham currently coaches chess clubs at Thompson Middle School in Richmond and Tuckahoe Elementary School in Henrico County, and he has visited many other Virginia schools. 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.



Visit Us on Facebook

Check out the VSCA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/vascholasticchess, managed by parent and board member Christina Schweiss.



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 online through PayPal (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 payed online. 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 rated sections of a tournament must be current USCF members.



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