2024 Virginia Scholastic & College Chess Championships

2024 Virginia Scholastic & College Chess Championships

Saturday-Sunday, March 9-10, 2024

This is a pre-event announcement. See www.vachess.org for details, registration, rules, and hotel options.

WHAT: The Virginia Chess Federation is organizing the 2024 Virginia Scholastic & College Chess Championships in collaboration with William Fleming High School (Roanoke, VA). Event entry fees have not yet been determined; they are pending final logistical arrangements with the host facility.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10, 2024, with a Blitz Tournament on Friday night, March 8th.

PRE-EVENT ZOOM INFO MEETINGS: The Virginia Chess Federation will organize several options for players and parents to attend a pre-event Zoom Meeting in February 2024.

EVENT FORMAT: The tournament has multiple Scholastic Sections and a College Section as listed here:

• College: One section, with all games on Saturday.
• K-12 Championship and K-12 Under 1400
• K-8 Championship and K-8 Under 1200
• K-5 Championship and K-5 Under 1000
• K-3 Championship and K-3 Under 600

TEAMS: Teams may only be comprised of players who attend the same school. A school IS NOT REQUIRED to have a “chess club” to form a team for this tournament; two or more players who go to the same school and play in the same section of the tournament are automatically considered a team. For the full rules on teams, go to www.vachess.org and view the Home Page for the 2024 Virginia Scholastic & College Championships.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY: All players in the K-12 event must be Virginia residents. In the College section, players must be attending college in VA or be a VA resident attending college out of state. All college players must be high school graduates. All players in all sections must be members of the U.S. Chess Federation. You can join US Chess or renew your membership through the Virginia Chess Federation at www.vachess.org. If you prefer to join/renew directly with US Chess, go to www.uschess.org. 

The Virginia Chess Federation uses the results of this tournament to identify and nominate representatives to attend the Denker Tournament of High School Champions (Grades 9-12), the Barber Tournament of Middle School Champions (Grades 6-8), the Rockefeller Tournament of Elementary Champions (Grades K-5), and the Haring Tournament of Girls Champions. These events will be held in conjunction with the U.S. Open, which will be in Norfolk, VA in late July 2024. As the ‘Host State’ for the 2024 U.S. Open, Virginia can send TWO REPRESENTATIVES to these tournaments.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

• Saturday, March 9th: Rounds 1-3 at 9 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:30 pm.  College Section games are at 9, noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm.
• Sunday, March 10th: Rounds 4-5 at 9:30 am and 1:30 pm.

FUN SIDE EVENTS: In addition to BLITZ on Friday evening March 8th (6:30 pm), there will be a 4-round “Parents & Friends” tournament that is open to any adults. High School or College players are NOT eligible to play in this event. We also plan to organize a “Challenge the Master” Simultaneous Exhibition.