2024 Virginia Scholastic Championships

2024 Virginia Scholastic Championships

Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10, 2024

William Fleming High School, 3649 Ferncliff Ave. NW., Roanoke, VA 24017

What: 2024 Virginia Scholastic Championships. This tournament is open only to players in grades K-12 who reside in Virginia or attend a K-12 school in Virginia. See separate announcements for the College Championships, the Friday Night Blitz Tournament, and the Parents & Friends Side Event.

When: Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10, 2024, with Round 1 on Saturday at 9 am through Round 5 on Sunday at 1:30 pm.

Where: William Fleming High School, 3649 Ferncliff Ave. NW, Roanoke, VA 24017. Please DO NOT call the school for information about the chess tournament.

Hotels: The Virginia Chess Federation has made arrangements with several hotels near the school. The properties represent a range of options and costs. See www.vachess.org for the options available. Some hotel options offer a lower price if you reserve your room(s) before the end of 2023!

Event Format: 5 rounds of play. Players are paired using the Swiss System. Everyone plays 5 rounds; this is NOT an elimination tournament! See below for Sections of Play. (Click here to read more about the Swiss System, which is the most common format for chess tournaments.)

Entry Fees and Registration:

• Entry Fees: $60 through Friday, March 1st; increases to $80 on Saturday, March 2nd; then increase to $100 starting Wednesday March 6th and on-site. Entry on-site permitted only on Friday March 8th. The VA Chess Federation will retain $5 from any entrant who withdraws from the tournament before the start of Round 1.
• Registration: On-line at www.vachess.org. Schools wanting to register and pay for their players as a group should contact Mike Hoffpauir, VA Chess Federation (see Note 2 below).
• One optional “Half-point Bye” is available for any round of the tournament, including Round 5. Click here to read more about ‘Byes’ in chess tournaments.

Player Eligibility: All players must be residents of Virginia in grades K-12 or be attending a K-12 school in Virginia. For eligibility questions contact Mike Hoffpauir, VA Chess Federation (see Note 2 below).

Sections of Play: Players may select from the following sections to compete. A section named “Under” means that player’s rating cannot exceed the section’s rating limit (e.g., players in the K-8 Under 1200 section must have a US Chess rating under 1200 as of the March US Chess Rating Supplement). (See Note 3.) Unrated players may compete in either the Championship or Under sections.

• K-12 Championship or K-12 Under 1400 (usually these are the High School players, but players in grades K through 12 are eligible to play in this section). The top player is eligible to represent Virginia at the 2024 Denker Tournament of High School (Grades 9-12) State Champions. The top female player is eligible to represent Virginia at the 2024 Haring Tournament of Girls State Champions. Both tournaments are being held in Norfolk, VA, in late July at the same location as the U.S. Open.
• K-8 Championship or K-8 Under 1200 (usually these are the Middle School / Junior High players, but players in grades K through 8 are eligible to play in this section). The top player is eligible to represent Virginia at the Barber Tournament of Middle School (Grades 6-8) State Champions being held in Norfolk, VA, in late July at the same location as the U.S. Open.
• K-5 Championship or K-5 Under 1000 (usually these are players in 4th and 5th grades, but players in grades K through 5 are eligible to play in this section). The top player is eligible to represent Virginia at the Rockefeller Tournament of Elementary (K-5) State Champions being held in Norfolk, VA, in late July at the same location as the U.S. Open.
• K-3 Championship or K-3 Under 600 (only for players in pre-school through 3rd grade).

Event Schedule for the Scholastic Sections:

• Friday, March 8th: On-site Registration at the hotel from 4-9pm. Blitz Tournament starts at 6:30. Cut-off time Blitz entries is 6pm.
• Saturday, March 9th: Rounds 1, 2 and 3 at 9:00 am, 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm
• Sunday, March 10th: Rounds 4 and 5 at 9:30 am and 1:30 pm. Awards Ceremony will be held for each section as soon as possible after a section is completed.

Time Controls: All players’ clocks will be set each round using the time controls listed here.

• Rounds 1 and 2: Game 60, with 5-seconds of increment (G/60 + 5)
• Rounds 3, 4 and 5: Game 90, with 10-seconds of increment (G/90 + 10)

Ratings Used: Players will be paired and their section eligibility determined using the higher of their US Chess over-the-board and online regular ratings found in the US Chess Rating Supplement for March 2024 (to be published by the US Chess Federation on or after Feb 16, 2024). These same ratings determine eligibility for prizes. Established ratings have priority over provisional ratings. Ratings in other systems such as FIDE or from another country will be considered, especially when a player has no US Chess rating. Ratings from platforms such as Chess.com, Chesskid.com, Lichess.com, and ICC are not used. The Chief TD makes the final decisions about all players’ ratings used in the tournament.

Awards: Individual and Team awards in all sections. A detailed list of all awards is available online at www.vachess.org. A “team” is 2 or more players who attend the same school and are playing in the same section of the tournament. A school does not need to have a ‘chess club’ to score points toward team awards. Awards are distributed at the end of the tournament. If you are not attending the Awards Ceremony on Sunday at the end of the tournament, please leave instructions with a friend or relative to pick-up your award at the tournament -- we do not ship awards to players or teams. If you have questions about player or team eligibility, contact Mike Hoffpauir (see Note 2 below).

Side Events:  See information and registration procedures at www.vachess.org

• Blitz Tournament: 4 or 5 rounds on Friday evening March 8th, with Round 1 at 6:30pm.
• Parents and Friends Tournament: 4-rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

Notes:

1. A current US Chess Federation membership is required for all participants. Renew your membership or become a new member at www.uschess.org and select the “Join” tab at the top of the screen. If you are a current member, please have your US Chess ID number handy.
2. Event Organizer: Virginia Chess Federation, Mike Hoffpauir, Click here to show mail address, 757-846-4805 (text)
3. Players must play in a section corresponding to their actual grade in school. For example, a player who skipped 3rd grade and now attends 4th grade must play in one of the K-5 Sections or a higher section, not in a K-3 Section. The player’s age is not the determining factor for section eligibility, it is their current grade in school. If you have questions about player eligibility, please contact the Event Organizer as listed in Note 2 above.