Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

November 9, 2013

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 Fall Scholastic Tournament (Grades K-12)

Registration is now open for the Maggie L. Walker Fall Scholastic tournament, to be held Saturday, November 23, 2013 at the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, November 21.

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.

A VSCA membership meeting will be held at this event (see the notice below).

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


Other Upcoming Events

The Hopkins Scholastic at Hopewell tournament is tentatively scheduled for December 7 at Hopewell High School in Hopewell. The event is named in memory of VSCA founder and longtime president Peter Hopkins. The tournament is open to students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, with K-3, K-5, K-8 and K-12 sections. All players must be U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) members. The tournament will be listed on the VSCA home page, www.vschess.org, as soon as the date is confirmed.

A scholastic chess calendar of Virginia and national events for the 2013-2014 school year is available at www.vschess.org/chess-calendar.


VSCA Membership Meeting

A Virginia Scholastic Chess Association membership meeting will be held during the Maggie L. Walker Fall Scholastic tournament on Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 10:00 am. The primary purpose of the meeting is to elect new board members and to discuss the tournament schedule for the 2013-2014 school year. The parents of all players who have participated in one or more VSCA events during the past 12-month period, including the November 23 Maggie L. Walker event, are VSCA members and are eligible to vote in the election. For more information, visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org/chess-news/meeting.php


Thompson Tournament Results

69 scholastic and adult players participated in the Thompson National Chess Day Tournament, held at Thompson Middle School in Richmond on October 12, 2013.

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, Cade Petrus won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Purvi Sehgal won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Shady Grove Elementary School from Henrico County won the first-place team award in the K-5 Not-rated section.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, E. J. McKay won first place for grades K-8 with a score of 4.0 points in 5 rounds. Maciek Kowalski won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 with a score of 4.5 points in 5 rounds. Maggie L. Walker Governor's School from Richmond won the first-place team award in the K-12 Not-rated section.

In the K-5 Open section, Kyle Phillips won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. Nitin Kanuri won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Shady Grove Elementary School from Henrico County won the first-place team award in the K-5 Open section.

In the K-12 Open section, Sathya V won the first-place trophy for grades K-8. Coleman Hoyt won first place for grades 9-12 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Maggie L. Walker Governor's School from Richmond won the first-place team award in the K-12 Open section by tiebreaks over Fork Union Military Academy from Fluvanna County.

The winners in the three Open Quads sections were Mr. Joseph McDougall, Mr. Brian Williams and Jenny Gu.

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


Old Donation Center Tournament Results

108 scholastic and adult players participated in the Old Donation Center Fall Scholastic Tournament, held at Old Donation Center in Virginia Beach on October 26, 2013.

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, Simon Bustillos won first place for grades K-3 with a perfect score of 5.0 points in 5 rounds. Eli Price won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 by tiebreaks over Alex Talreja. Eli and Alex each finished with a score of 4.0 points in 5 rounds. The host team from Old Donation Center in Virginia Beach won the first-place team award in the K-5 Not-rated section by tiebreaks over the Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, Isabeau Drewer won first place for grades K-8 by tiebreaks over Heidi Bentrup and Alex Buck. All three players finished with a score of 3.0 points in 5 rounds. Zameese Peters won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 by tiebreaks over Toeray McClain. Zameese and Toeray each finished with a score of 4.5 points in 5 rounds. Norview High School from Norfolk won the first-place team award in the K-12 Not-rated section.

In the K-5 Open section, Kyle Phillips won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 3.5 points in 5 rounds. Nitin Kanuri won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 by tiebreaks over Dennis Kukharev and Alexander Clunan. All three players finished with a score of 4.0 points in 5 rounds. The host team from Old Donation Center in Virginia Beach won the first-place team award in the K-5 Open section.

In the K-12 Open section, Ritvik Kumaran won the first-place trophy for grades K-8 by tiebreaks over Varun Natarajan. Ritvik and Varun each finished with a score of 4.0 points in 5 rounds. Duncan Guthrie won first place for grades 9-12 with a score of 4.5 points in 5 rounds. Maggie L. Walker Governor's School from Richmond won the first-place team award in the K-12 Open section.

Isaac Steincamp won the Open Swiss section with a perfect score of 3.0 points.

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


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. Mr. Callaham has recently issued a Checkmate Challenge to all scholastic players, based on one of his own games. Win a chess book if you can find all the checkmates! For complete details, visit the VSCA website at www.vschess.org/chess-resources/games

Mr. Callaham currently coaches chess clubs at J. B. Fisher Elementary School, J. E. B. Stuart Elementary School, Thomas H. Henderson Middle School and Thompson Middle School in Richmond, 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

VSCA has a new Facebook page, thanks to parent and board member Christina Schweiss. Check it out at www.facebook.com/vascholasticchess.


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 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.

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

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 payed online. 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 rated sections of a tournament must be current USCF members.


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