Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter
April 24, 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.
Monticello Scholastic and Quads (Grades K-12 and Adult)
There is one week left to register for the Monticello Scholastic and Quads tournament, to be held
Saturday, May 3, 2014 at Monticello High School in Albemarle County (Charlottesville).
Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, May 1.
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 designed
for beginning tournament players (first, second or third chess tournament, with exceptions on a case-by-case basis). Games in these sections are NOT RATED by the
U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) and players do NOT need to be USCF members.
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 (quads) by rating. Each 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 3 individuals in grades K-3 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 4-5 in the K-5 Not-rated section and the K-5 Open section. Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 individuals in grades K-8 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 9-12 in the K-12 Not-rated section and the K-12 Open section. Trophies will also be awarded to the top 3 school teams in each of the scholastic sections. There are cash prizes for the Open Quads, with no trophies or team competition.
Food and drink concessions, including lunch options, will be sold at the tournament.
Please visit the VSCA website at
www.vschess.org for more tournament information and to register online.
Old Donation Center Spring Scholastic and Quads (Grades K-12 and Adult)
Registration is now open for the Old Donation Center Spring Scholastic and Quads tournament, to be held
Saturday, May 17, 2014 at Old Donation Center in Virginia Beach.
Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, May 15.
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 designed
for beginning tournament players (first, second or third chess tournament, with exceptions on a case-by-case basis). Games in these sections are NOT RATED by the
U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) and players do NOT need to be USCF members.
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 (quads) by rating. Each 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 3 individuals in grades K-3 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 4-5 in the K-5 Not-rated section and the K-5 Open section. Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 individuals in grades K-8 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 9-12 in the K-12 Not-rated section and the K-12 Open section. Trophies will also be awarded to the top 3 school teams in each of the scholastic sections. There are cash prizes for the Open Quads, with no trophies or team competition.
Food and drink concessions, including lunch options, will be sold at the tournament.
Please visit the VSCA website at
www.vschess.org for more tournament information and to register online.
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, April 28. For more information, visit the club's facebook page at
www.facebook.com/MLWGSChess.
Dragon Chess Camp
The Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Chess Club in Richmond will host a summer chess camp the week of July 7-11 for rising third through ninth graders, followed by a K-12 VSCA tournament on July 12. For more information, visit the camp website at
teachmechess.com.
Fork Union Tournament Results
55 scholastic players participated in the 19th annual Fork Union Scholastic tournament, held at Fork Union Military Academy in Fluvanna County on April 12, 2014.
In the K-3 section, Franklin He won the first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Tuckahoe Elementary School from Henrico County won the first-place team trophy in K-3.
In the K-5 section, Matthew Bustillos won the first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points. Twin Hickory Elementary School from Henrico County won the first-place team trophy in K-5.
The K-8 and K-12 sections were combined with separate awards. Harry Saunders won the K-8 first-place trophy by tiebreaks over Elijah McKay. Harry and Elijah each finished with 3.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no K-8 teams. Bryan Kaperick won the K-12 first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points. The host team from Fork Union Military Academy won the first-place team trophy in K-12.
Congratulations to all of these players and to all of our other tournament participants.
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 9:00 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 9:00 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.