Virginia Scholastic Chess Association Newsletter

November 19, 2015

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 12, 2015 at Hopewell High School in Hopewell. The tournament is named in memory of VSCA founder and longtime president Peter Hopkins. This will be the 23rd 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 10.

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.

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.


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 postpone an event due to safety concerns and/or school regulations. If we have to postpone 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. Please register with an email address that you check regularly in case we need to contact you. If you have already paid your entry fee online, we will refund your payment if the event is postponed, or if you are unable to travel to the event.


Kemps Landing/Old Donation School Tournament Results

89 scholastic and adult players participated in the Kemps Landing/Old Donation School Fall Scholastic and Quads tournament, held in Virginia Beach on October 31, 2015.

In the K-5 Not-rated section, Logan Pausch won first place with a perfect score of 5.0 points in 5 rounds. The host team from Kemps Landing/Old Donation School won the K-5 Not-rated first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 Not-rated section, Dylan Pausch won first place with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach won the K-12 Not-rated first-place team trophy by tiebreaks over the host team from Kemps Landing/Old Donation School.

In the K-5 Open section, Logan Schaefer won first place with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. The host school, Kemps Landing/Old Donation School from Virginia Beach, won the K-5 Open first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 Open section, Martin Gryder won the first-place trophy with a perfect score of 4.0 points in 4 rounds. Grace Academy Homeschool Co-op from Virginia Beach won the first-place team trophy in K-12 Open.

The winners in the two Open Quads sections were Daniel Zhou, a sixth-grader, and Jeffrey Song, an eleventh-grader (tie); and Mr. David Kea Jr. and Mr. Travis Seppala (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.


Richmond Fall Classic Tournament Results

32 scholastic players participated in the Richmond Fall Classic tournament, held at the Richmond Main Library on November 7, 2015. This event was co-sponsored by the VSCA, the Richmond Chess Initiative (RCI) and the Richmond Public Library.

In the K-5 section, Arjun Azhagappan won the first-place trophy by tiebreaks over Shreyan Sunkari. Arjun and Shreyan each finished with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Shady Grove Elementary School from Henrico County won the K-5 first-place team trophy.

The K-8 and K-12 sections were combined, with separate awards. In the K-8 section, Aidan Davis, playing in his first tournament, won first place with a score of 3.0 points in 4 rounds. Henderson Middle School from Richmond won the K-8 first-place team trophy.

In the K-12 section, Jack Weisel won the first-place trophy by tiebreaks over Luming Zhao and Breon Lucas, playing in his first tournament. Jack, Luming and Breon each finished with a score of 3.5 points in 4 rounds. Fork Union Military Academy from Fluvanna County won the K-12 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.


Richmond Metropolitan Grand Prix Tournaments

The Richmond Chess Initiative (RCI) and the Richmond Public Library are hosting a series of Saturday tournaments for scholastic and adult players. The next tournaments are November 21 at the Westover Hills Library branch, November 28 at the North Avenue Library branch, December 5 at the Main Library and December 12 at the Belmont Library branch. Weekly training sessions, free and open to the public, are also scheduled every Monday evening 6:00-7:30 pm at the North Avenue branch and the Westover Hills branch, and every Wednesday evening 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main branch and the Belmont branch. The CEO and founder of RCI is VSCA secretary Mike Callaham. For more information, visit the RCI website at richmondchessinitiative.wordpress.com/busline-grand-prix-schedule/.


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 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.


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. For further information, and the date of the next clinic, visit the chess club's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MLWGSChess.


Thanksgiving Break Chess Camp (Grades 2-8)

Championship Chess RVA is hosting a chess camp on Friday November 27 and Saturday November 28 at Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church in Midlothian (Chesterfield County). You can register for either one or two days. For more information, visit the Championship Chess RVA website at championshipchessrva.net/camps/.


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 his analysis of three outstanding games from the Virginia Scholastic Championships in Charlottesville, and a very interesting game from the April 18 Fork Union Spring Scholastic.

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 Binford, Boushall, Lucille Brown, Thomas Henderson, Albert Hill, and Thompson Middle Schools 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.


Support Isaac Steincamp on the Road to New Orleans

Isaac Steincamp is a longtime VSCA player, volunteer, tournament organizer and recent board member. As president of the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Chess Club, he revitalized the chess team, organized free monthly chess clinics for the community, and coordinated the Dragon Chess Camp the past 3 summers. His current US Chess rating is 2118. Now a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, his goal is to win the 2016 U.S. Junior Open in New Orleans.

Isaac needs your support for his training and travel. For more information, and to find out how you can support Isaac's quest, visit https://www.gofundme.com/chesssummit.

Also check out Isaac's blog at chesssummit.com, which features a free game analysis section. If you would like Isaac to analyze one of your tournament games, email him at chess.summit@gmail.com.


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 $10 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 $15. 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 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 a new check-in policy. Players who pay online do not need to check in at the tournament, but 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.