Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

February 10, 2015

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.


Maggie L. Walker Valentine Scholastic Tournament (Grades K-12)

Wednesday is the last full day to register for the Maggie L. Walker Valentine Scholastic tournament, to be held Saturday, February 14, 2015 at the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, February 12.

Players are divided into four sections based on their grade in school: Trophies will be awarded to the the top 5 individuals and to the top 3 school teams in each section. Current membership in the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) is required for all players. All sections are USCF-rated.

In order to help players prepare for the State Championships in March, the final round of each section will be G/60 (60 minutes for each player) rather than the usual G/40. If any players are tied with perfect scores, first place will be determined by a one-game "Armageddon" playoff, the same procedure as the State Championships.

The entry fee is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations. Please read our Tournament Check-in Policy.

Food and drinks will be sold at the tournament.

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


Grafton State Warmup Scholastic and Quads (Grades K-12 and Adults)

Registration is now open for the Grafton State Warmup Scholastic and Quads tournament, to be held Saturday, February 28, 2015 at Grafton Middle School in York County. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, February 26.

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. Please read our Tournament Check-in Policy.

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.

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


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

Online registration is open for the Virginia Scholastic and Collegiate Championships, to be held Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, 2015, at Monticello High School in Charlottesville. This event includes three separate tournaments: The Blitz Tournament will be held Friday evening at 6:00 pm. The Main Tournament will be held Saturday (rounds 1-4) and Sunday (rounds 5-6). New this year is an adult Parents and Friends Tournament on Saturday (rounds 1-3) and Sunday (round 4). Complete event information and online registration is available at the Event Website.


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. Please be sure your email address is correct when you register in case we need to contact you. If you have already paid your entry fee online, we will refund your payment if the event is canceled, or if you are unable to travel to the event.


Spratley Tournament Results

102 scholastic and adult players participated in the Spratley Gifted Center Scholastic and Quads tournament, held in Hampton on January 31, 2015.

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, Anusree Marikkannan won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place winner in grades 4-5 was Elizabeth Reilly, with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Arrowhead Elementary School from Virginia Beach won the K-5 Not-rated first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, Daniel Boachie won first place for grades K-8 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Noah Penrod won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-12 Not-rated was Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach.

In the K-5 Open section, Andrew Rousseau won first place for grades K-3 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Jeffrey Forbes won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 by tiebreaks over Josh Havens. Jeffrey and Josh each finished with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach won the K-5 Open first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 Open section, Sriharsha Sambangi, a third grader playing up, won the first-place trophy for grades K-8 by tiebreaks over Nathan Ortiz. Sriharsha and Nathan each finished with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Loyal Soles won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Lake Braddock Secondary School from Fairfax County won the first-place team trophy in K-12 Open.

The winners in the 5 Open Quads sections were Mr. Thomas Burgess and Mr. Ilya Kremenchugskiy (tie); Charles Yang; Jeffrey Song; Jenny Baranker; Varun Natarajan and Mr. Joe Zhou (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.


Scholastic Championship Training Camp

Coach Mike Callaham, CEO of the Richmond Chess Initiative, is conducting intensive Saturday classes to help players prepare for the Virginia Scholastic Championships in March. The two remaining sessions are February 21 and February 28. For more information, please refer to Mr. Callaham's Camp Flyer.


Maggie L. Walker Free Chess Clinics

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. For further information and the date of the next clinic, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MLWGSChess.


Hampton Roads Scholastic Chess Club

The Hampton Roads Scholastic Chess Club, organized by VSCA Board Member Christina Schweiss, has merged with the Hampton Roads Chess Club and the Virginia Beach Chess Club, and meets on Tuesday evenings at Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad Station #8. Scholastic players meet from 5:00 to 7:30 pm, and adults and advanced scholastic players meet from 7:00 to 10:30 pm. Meetings feature rated tournament play and/or instruction. The next meeting is Tuesday evening, February 10. For more information, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HRScholasticChessClub.


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 has recently posted an analysis of his own games in the June 2014 Virginia Senior Open.

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 9:00 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

To help start our tournaments on time, we recently implemented a new check-in policy. Players who pay online do not need to check in at the tournament. Please read the following brief instructions:

All Players: If you are registering and/or paying at the tournament: If you are paying online:

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.