Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

October 15, 2014

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.



Kemps Landing/Old Donation School Scholastic and Quads (Grades K-12 and Adults)

Registration is now open for the Kemps Landing/Old Donation School Scholastic and Quads tournament, to be held Saturday, November 1, 2014 at Kemps Landing/Old Donation School in Virginia Beach. Please note that this is a different location from the past Old Donation Center tournaments. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, October 30.

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 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 (USCF) and players do NOT need to be USCF members.

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 (quads) by rating. Each 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. Please read our Tournament Check-in Policy.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 individuals in grades K-3 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 4-5 in the K-5 Not-rated section and the K-5 Open section. Trophies will be awarded to the top 3 individuals in grades K-8 and to the top 3 individuals in grades 9-12 in the K-12 Not-rated section and the K-12 Open section. Trophies will also be awarded to 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 be sold at the tournament, including pizza for lunch.

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



Maggie L. Walker Fall Scholastic Tournament (Grades K-12)

Registration is also open for the Maggie L. Walker Fall Scholastic tournament, to be held Saturday, November 15, 2014 at the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond. Advance registration is online only, and closes at 7:00 AM Thursday MORNING, November 13.

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.

The entry fee is $7 for advance (online) registrations, or $14 for onsite registrations. Please read our Tournament Check-in Policy.

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

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



VSCA Membership Meeting

The annual Virginia Scholastic Chess Association membership meeting will be held during the Maggie L. Walker Fall Scholastic tournament in Richmond on Saturday, November 15, 2014. The primary purpose of the meeting is to elect new board members and to discuss the spring and summer tournament schedule. The parents of all players who have participated in one or more VSCA events during the past 12-month period, including the November 15 Maggie L. Walker event, are VSCA members and are eligible to vote in the election. For more information, visit www.vschess.org/chess-news/meeting.php.



Other Upcoming VSCA Tournaments

The last VSCA tournament of 2014 will be the Hopkins Scholastic at Hopewell tournament, scheduled for Saturday, December 13 at Hopewell High School. The tournament is named in memory of VSCA founder and longtime president Peter Hopkins. This will be the 22nd consecutive year of scholastic chess tournaments at Hopewell High School, beginning in 1993. A calendar of VSCA events as well as other scholastic events in Virginia is available at www.vschess.org/chess-calendar.



Meadowdale Tournament Results

55 scholastic and adult players participated in the Meadowdale Scholastic and Quads tournament, held at Meadowdale Library in Chesterfield County on September 20, 2014.

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

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Ethan Wu won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place winner in grades 4-5 was Rithika Bhagavatula with a score of 2.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no K-5 Not-rated teams.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, Kevin Ren won first place for grades K-8 with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Gabby Pahle won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-12 Not-rated was Maggie L. Walker Governor's School from Richmond.

In the K-5 Open section, Rishabh Kumaran won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. Franklin He won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Twin Hickory Elementary School from Henrico County won the K-5 Open first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 Open section, Alexander He won the first-place trophy for grades K-8 by tiebreaks over Aaron Osborne. Alexander and Aaron drew in the final round and finished with scores of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Jack Weisel won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 by tiebreaks over Avery Gagne and Zach Wojcik. All three players finished with a score of 2.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-12 Open was Fork Union Military Academy from Fluvanna County.

The winners in the four Open Quads were Mr. Brian Garbera and Isaac Steincamp, a 12th grader (tie); Ryan Balser, a 9th grader, and Charles Yang, a 10th grader (tie); Ritvik Kumaran, an 8th grader, and Jeffrey Song, a 10th grader (tie); and Mr. Jonathan Cameron.

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



Grafton Tournament Results

48 scholastic and adult players participated in the Grafton Fall Scholastic and Quads tournament, held at Grafton Middle School in York County on October 4, 2014.

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

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Ethan Wu won first place for grades K-3 with a score of 2.5 points in 4 rounds. The first-place winner in grades 4-5 was Ethan's sister Alison Wu, also with a score of 2.5 points in 4 rounds. There were no K-5 Not-rated teams.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, David Gillespie won first place for grades K-8 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. There were no Not-rated players in grades 9-12. The first-place team in K-12 Not-rated was the host team from Grafton Middle School.

In the K-5 Open section, Ritvika Palani won first place for grades K-3 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Sanjana Dasari won the first-place trophy for grades 4-5 with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. Colonial Trail Elementary School from Henrico County won the K-5 Open first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 Open section, Rahul Palani won the first-place trophy for grades K-8 with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Jonathan Lee won the first-place trophy for grades 9-12 by tiebreaks over Yaoquan Song. Jonathan and Yaoquan each finished with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. The first-place team in K-12 Open was Maggie L. Walker Governor's School from Richmond.

The winners in the two Open Quads and the Small Swiss section were Mr. Thomas Burgess and Mr. Louis Stevens (tie); Daniel Zhou, a 5th grader; and Mr. Matt Thomas.

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



Maggie L. Walker Free Chess Clinics

The Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Chess Club in Richmond holds chess clinics at the school on one Monday evening each month from 5 to 7 pm. The clinics are free to scholastic players of all experience levels, from beginner to advanced. The next clinic is Monday evening, November 10. For more information, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MLWGSChess.



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 Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad Station #8. 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 feature rated tournament play and/or instruction. The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday evening, October 21. For more information, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HRScholasticChessClub.



Greater Richmond High School Chess League

The Greater Richmond High School Chess League (GRHSCL) is registering teams for the 2014-2015 season. Participating schools play home-and-away four-player team matches on weekday afternoons January through March. For more information, visit the GRHSCL website at grhscl.org.



Going the Distance for Scholastic Chess

Dan Lucas, the editor of the U.S. Chess Federation's Chess Life magazine, is running in this year's New York City Marathon on November 2 and is hoping to raise $3,750 for scholastic chess. You can support Dan's marathon participation by making a charitable tax deductible donation to the USCF, a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information and to donate, visit www.crowdrise.com/uschessfederation/fundraiser/uscf.



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 has recently posted an analysis of his own games in the June 2014 Virginia Senior Open.

Mr. Callaham currently coaches chess clubs at Thompson Middle School in Richmond and Tuckahoe Elementary School in Henrico County, 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

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. 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 9:00 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

To help start our tournaments on time, we recently implemented a new check-in policy. Players who pay online do not need to check in at the tournament. Please read the following brief instructions:

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


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.