Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

November 15, 2017

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.


We wish all of our players and families a happy holiday season!


Hopkins Scholastic at Hopewell (Grades K-12)

Registration is now open for the Hopkins Scholastic at Hopewell tournament, to be held Saturday, December 9, 2017 at Hopewell High School in Hopewell. The tournament is named in memory of VSCA founder and longtime president Peter Hopkins. This will be the 25th consecutive year of scholastic chess tournaments at Hopewell High School, beginning in 1993. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, December 7.

Players are divided into four sections based on their grade in school: Current membership in the U.S. Chess Federation (US Chess) is required for all players. All sections are US Chess-rated. There will be no Open Quads at this event.

Coach Mike Callaham will be on hand to offer free game analysis and notation training, as well as moderately-priced chess books for all skill levels.

Food and drinks will not be sold at this event. 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.

The entry fee is $10 for advance (online) registrations, or $15 for onsite registrations. Please read our Tournament Check-in Policy.

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

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


VSCA Board of Directors Election

The yearly election for the nine VSCA Board of Directors positions will be conducted online from Saturday, January 13 through Saturday, January 27. Eligible voters are: We are now accepting volunteers and nominations for all nine Board of Directors positions. VSCA voting members age 18 or older are eligible to serve on the Board of Directors. Current Board members are welcome to run for re-election. The VSCA is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, and we depend on parent involvement. If you are able to help, and would like to have more input on how the organization is run, please consider serving on the Board. To place your name on the ballot, please email news@vschess.org by Saturday, January 6, and provide your name and a brief statement (150 words or less, plus an optional picture) for our website. Your statement should tell voters a little about yourself and why you are interested in serving as a Director. The candidate statements, along with instructions for voting, will be posted on our website before the election.


VSCA General Membership Meeting

The annual VSCA membership meeting will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2018 during the Grafton tournament in York County. VSCA members are parents or guardians of VSCA scholastic players, and other interested individuals age 16 and older who have done significant volunteer work for the VSCA. During the meeting, VSCA president Mike Hoffpauir will outline future plans and answer questions, and members will be able to bring up any concerns that they wish to discuss. Voting for VSCA Board of Directors positions will be held online in January 2018. (See the separate article above.)


Upcoming VSCA Events

The first VSCA event of 2018 will be the Grafton Winter Chess Fest, to be held on Saturday, January 20 at Grafton Middle School in York County. The Grafton tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade as well as adult players, and includes rated and non-rated scholastic sections, and quads for adults and advanced (1200+) scholastic players. The annual VSCA membership meeting will be held at this event. (See the separate article above.) Online registration for the Grafton tournament will open January 3.


Championship Chess RVA Cross-round Tournament

Championship Chess RVA, headed by VSCA Board Member Brian Garbera, is hosting a "cross-round" tournament for grades K-6 on Saturday, November 18, 3:00 pm-6:00 pm at Mathnasium Learning Center in Short Pump, 11628 West Broad Street, Richmond 23233. The tournament features Quick-rated play for U.S. Chess Federation members and Non-rated games for non-members. For more information, visit the Championship Chess RVA website at richmond.championshipchess.net/tournaments/tournamentregister/?id=-1.


National Chess Day at Meadowdale Tournament Results

49 scholastic and 6 adult players participated in the National Chess Day at Meadowdale tournament, held at Meadowdale Library in Chesterfield County on October 14, 2017.

There were four scholastic sections: K-5 Not-rated, K-12 Not-rated, K-5 Open and K-12 Open. The K-5 Not-rated and K-12 Not-rated sections were combined with separate awards. There were also one Quad section and one six-player Small Swiss section for adults and advanced scholastic players.

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Nolan Arriens Dwarshuis won the first place trophy with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-5 Not-rated was South Stafford Christian School from Fredericksburg.

Victoria Dempsey won first place in the K-12 Not-rated section with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-12 Not-rated was South Stafford Christian School from Fredericksburg.

In the K-5 Open section, Deepak Kuncha won the first place trophy 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, John Corson won the first place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Maggie L. Walker Governor's School from Richmond won the K-12 Open first-place team trophy.

In the Quad and Small Swiss sections for adults and advanced scholastic players, the first-place winners were Nic Balser, 9th grade, and Meghana Kancharla, 6th grade (tie); Mr. Jackson Sismour and Mr. Allen Fraley (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.


Virginia Beach Fall Scholastic & Quads Tournament Results

48 scholastic and 5 adult players participated in the Virginia Beach Fall Scholastic & Quads tournament, held at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach on October 28, 2017.

There were four scholastic sections: K-5 Not-rated, K-12 Not-rated, K-5 Open and K-12 Open. The K-5 Not-rated and K-12 Not-rated sections were combined with separate awards. There was also one six-player Small Swiss section for adults and advanced scholastic players.

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Nolan Arriens Dwarshuis 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 Cape Henry Collegiate School from Virginia Beach.

Emmanuel Williams won first place in the K-12 Not-rated section with a score of 2.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no teams in the K-12 Not-rated section.

In the K-5 Open section, Deepak Kuncha won the first place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Old Donation School from Virginia Beach was the first-place team in K-5 Open.

In the K-12 Open section, Christian Carrasco, a fifth grader playing up, won the first place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Old Donation School from Virginia Beach won the K-12 Open first-place team trophy.

In the Small Swiss section for adults and advanced scholastic players, the first-place winner was Mr. David Kea.

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


Veritas Fall Scholastic Tournament Results

66 scholastic players participated in the Veritas Fall Scholastic tournament, held at Veritas School in Richmond on November 4, 2017.

There were four sections: K-5 Not-rated, K-12 Not-rated, K-5 Open and K-12 Open. The K-5 Not-rated and K-12 Not-rated sections were combined with separate awards.

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Arjun Venkatesh 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 team from Veritas School.

Akshara Mahankali won first place in the K-12 Not-rated section with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no teams in the K-12 Not-rated section.

In the K-5 Open section, Soham Pattnaik won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over Deepak Kuncha. Soham and Deepak each finished with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. The host team from Veritas School was the first-place team in K-5 Open.

In the K-12 Open section, Bao-Quan Pham won the first place trophy by tiebreaks over her twin sister Kiwi Pham. Bao-Quan and Kiwi, fifth graders playing up, each finished with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Providence Elementary School from Virginia Beach won the K-12 Open 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.


Hampton Roads Chess Association

The Hampton Roads Chess Association, organized by VSCA Board Member Christina Schweiss, 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.


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.


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 the following check-in policies:

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.