Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

December 7, 2010

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.


Help!

The VSCA needs your help. All of our staff are unpaid volunteers, and we desperately need more parents to help with organizing and running our tournaments. You don't need any previous experience. Some of the jobs require a basic knowledge of chess, but many do not. You can volunteer with a friend if you like, and divide the work.

In no particular order, these are some of the things we need help with: If you would like to help, or want more information, please reply to this email. Thank you!


Hopewell Scholastic Tournament (grades K-12)

Wednesday is the last day to register for the Hopewell Scholastic tournament, to be held Saturday, December 11, 2010 at Hopewell High School in Hopewell, Virginia. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday morning, December 9. This tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Players are divided into four sections: Each section will play 4 or 5 rounds, depending on the number of entries. The time control for all games is 40 minutes for each player. 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. Please visit www.vschess.org for information and to register online.


Echo Lake Tournament Results

64 scholastic players in grades K-5 participated in the fourth annual Echo Lake Scholastic Tournament, held at Echo Lake Elementary School in Henrico County on December 4, 2010.

In the K-3 section, Miles Anderson won the first-place trophy with a perfect score of 5.0 points. Collegiate School (Henrico County) won the first-place team trophy in K-3. In the K-5 section, Caleb Currier won the first-place trophy with a perfect score of 5.0 points. The host team from Echo Lake Elementary School (Henrico County) won the K-5 first-place team trophy.

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


2011 State Championships

The Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Chess Championships, hosted by the Virginia Chess Federation, will be held on Friday March 18 through Sunday March 20, 2011 at Grafton Middle & High Schools in York County, Virginia. The state tournament will feature two separate events: the blitz championships on Friday evening, and the main tournament on Saturday and Sunday. The blitz tournament will have five double-blitz rounds and three sections: K-5, K-12 and Collegiate. The main event will have six rounds and five sections: K-3, K-5, K-8, K-12 and Collegiate. Details and online registration will be available beginning in January on the Virginia Chess Federation website, www.vachess.org.

A complete scholastic chess calendar of Virginia and national events is available at www.vschess.org/chess-calendar.


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 advance registration entry fee of $7 may be paid by mail (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.


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 mailed in your payment. 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 by Friday night 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 try to 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 the tournament must be current USCF members.


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