Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

May 3, 2017

Thursday is Star Wars Day... May the 4th be with you!

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.


Meadowdale Spring Scholastic & Quads (Grades K-12 and Adults)

Registration is now open for the Meadowdale Spring Scholastic & Quads Tournament, to be held Saturday, May 20, 2017 at Meadowdale Library in Chesterfield County. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, May 18.

This tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and also adult players, and includes both rated and non-rated scholastic sections as well as quads for adults and advanced scholastic players.

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 (US Chess) and players do NOT need to be US Chess members.

The K-5 Open and K-12 Open (grades 6-12) sections are US Chess-rated sections. All players in these sections must be current US Chess members.

The Open Quads sections are US Chess-rated sections open to advanced scholastic players (US Chess rating 1200+) 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;d5.

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. Please read our Tournament Check-in Policy.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 5 individuals and 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 drinks will not be sold at this tournament. Please bring your own lunch and snacks, or plan to visit one of the fast food restaurants in the area. We will have a lunch break during the tournament.

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


Fork Union Tournament Results

26 scholastic players participated in the Fork Union Spring Scholastic Tournament, held at Fork Union Military Academy in Fluvanna County on April 8, 2017.

The K-3 and K-5 sections were combined with separate awards. The K-8 and K-12 sections were also combined with separate awards.

The K-3 section had a four-way tie for first place. Seth Recher won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over Tejus Golakoti, Tony Zhang and Elina Plaskey. Each of these four players finished with 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-3 was the Recher Home School.

In the K-5 section, John Thomas Mason won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over Sam Sears. John Thomas and Sam each finished with a score of 2.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no teams in the K-5 section.

In the K-8 section, Manas Niranjan, a fourth grader playing up, won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over John Paul Sommer. Manas and John Paul each finished with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no teams in the K-8 section.

In the K-12 section, Joshua Nichols, a sixth grader playing up, won the first place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. The host team from Fork Union Military Academy won the K-12 first-place team trophy.

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


Spratley Tournament Results

68 scholastic and adult players participated in the Spratley Spring Scholastic and Quads Tournament, held at Spratley Gifted Center in Hampton on April 22, 2017.

The K-5 Not-rated and K-12 Not-rated sections were combined with separate awards.

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Prasannaa Chokkalingam won the first place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-5 Not-rated was the host school, Spratley Gifted Center.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, Daniel Medina won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over Christian Phillips and Mitchell Hudnall. Daniel, Christian and Mitchell each finished with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The host team from Spratley Gifted Center won the first-place team trophy in K-12 Not-rated.

In the K-5 Open section, Cayden Jackson won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over Luke Haselbush. Cayden and Luke played to a draw in the final round. and each finished with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach was the first-place team in K-5 Open.

In the K-12 Open section, Josh Havens won the first place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach won the K-12 Open first-place team trophy.

In the Open Quads sections for adults and advanced scholastic players, the first-place winners were Jeffrey Song (12th grade); Bruce Flores (11th grade), Mr. David Kea and Mr. David Ulissi (tie); Nic Balser (9th grade) and Ms. Jessica Crouch (tie); and Mr. Clark Boyd.

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


Championship Chess RVA Cross-round Tournament

Championship Chess RVA, headed by VSCA Board Member Brian Garbera, is hosting a non-rated "cross-round" tournament at the Battlegrounds game store in Midlothian on Saturday, May 6, 1:00-4:00 pm. US Chess membership is not required. For more information, visit the Championship Chess RVA website at championshipchessrva.net/tournaments.


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 Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach. 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 include training as well as rated tournaments. For more information, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HRScholasticChessClub, and also check out the Summer Camp flyer.


Richmond Chess Initiative Summer Chess Camps

Mr. Mike Callaham, VSCA Secretary and CEO of the Richmond Chess Initiative (RCI) is hosting three one-week summer chess camps in Richmond: For more information, visit the RCI website at richmondchessinitiative.wordpress.com/chess-camps-for-he-tournament-player/.


Maggie L. Walker Summer Chess Camp

Dragon Chess Camp, organized by the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Chess Club, will be held at Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond the week of July 10-14, followed by a VSCA tournament at the school on July 15. The camp is open to rising 3rd-9th graders. For further information, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MLWGSChess and the camp website at teachmechess.com/.


Championship Chess RVA Summer Chess Camps

Championship Chess RVA, headed by VSCA Board Member Brian Garbera, is hosting camps throughout the summer months at many locations across the Richmond metro area. For complete information, visit the Championship Chess RVA website at championshipchessrva.net/camps.


Hampton Roads Summer Chess Camp

The Hampton Roads Chess Association, organized by VSCA Board Member Christina Schweiss, is hosting a summer chess camp the week of July 24-28 at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach. Featured instructors are FIDE Master James Schuyler (2400) and National Master Justin Lohr (2200). The camp is open to students in grades K-12 (ages 5-17). Read the camp flyer at www.vschess.org/chess-calendar/event-flyers/other/2017-07-24-hrca-chess-camp.pdf. For further information and registration, email Tina at cschweiss2@cox.net.


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 is the CEO and founder of the Richmond Chess Initiative, the coordinator and head coach of the Richmond Middle School Chess League, and currently coaches chess clubs at Boushall, Lucille Brown, Thomas Henderson and Thompson Middle Schools in Richmond; Armstrong High School in Richmond; J. B. Fisher Elementary School in Richmond; and Tuckahoe Elementary School in Henrico County. Coach Callaham has also met with chess clubs at many other Virginia schools, and 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.


Read About Isaac's European Chess Trip

Isaac Steincamp is a longtime VSCA player, volunteer, tournament organizer and recent board member. As president of the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Chess Club, he revitalized the chess team, organized free monthly chess clinics for the community, and coordinated the summer Dragon Chess Camp. His current US Chess rating is 2104. Now a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, Isaac has recently completed a spring chess tour of Europe. You can read about his experiences in his blog at Chess^Summit (chesssummit.com).


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. Entry fees 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; entry fees may be higher for late entries. 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.

Please note that the above information applies to most Virginia Scholastic Chess Association tournaments. Some tournaments may have different registration schedules and/or entry fees.


Tournament Check-in

To help start our tournaments on time, we have implemented a new check-in policy. Players who pay online do not need to check in at the tournament, but they must let us know if they are not coming. Please read the following brief instructions:

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

US Chess Membership

Current membership in the U.S. Chess Federation (US Chess) is REQUIRED in order to play in VSCA tournaments, except for sections specifically designated as not-rated. In order to avoid delays on Saturday, please join or renew directly with US Chess at www.uschess.org/webstore. Please do not mail a paper application form or check to US Chess, 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 US Chess members.


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