Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter
January 4, 2012
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.
Old Donation Center Winter Scholastic Tournament (Grades K-12 and Adult)
Registration is now open for the Old Donation Center Winter Scholastic tournament, to be held
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at the Old Donation Center, an elementary school in Virginia Beach.
Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, January 19.
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 strictly for fun, and are designed primarily
for beginning tournament players. Games in these sections are NOT RATED by the
U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) and players do NOT need to be USCF members. USCF members with a rating below 400 (K-5) or 800 (K-12) may play in the Not-rated sections if they wish.
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 by rating. Each group of 4 (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 5 individuals and to the top 3 school teams in each scholastic section. Additional trophies will be awarded in each of the K-5 sections to the top 3 individuals in grades K-3 who do not receive section trophies. There are cash prizes for the Open Quads, with no trophies or team competition.
Food and drinks, including options for lunch (pizza or sandwiches), will be sold at the tournament.
Please visit the VSCA website at
www.vschess.org for more tournament information and to register online.
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.
If you have mailed a check in advance we will refund your payment.
Please be sure your email address is correct when you register in case we need to contact you.
Other Upcoming Events
A scholastic chess calendar of Virginia and national events for the 2011-2012 school year is available at
www.vschess.org/chess-calendar.
Have Your Tournament Game Analyzed!
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 scoresheet (game notation). He will respond by email, and games which are especially interesting or instructive will be published on the VSCA website. For more information, and to see Mr. Callaham's commentary on one of his own more memorable games, visit the VSCA website at
www.vschess.org/chess-resources/games.
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 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 the tournament must be current USCF members.
Please visit our website at
www.vschess.org for the latest news and information.