2025 Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships

2025 Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships

Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9, 2025

Monticello High School, 1400 Independence Way, Charlottesville, VA

What: 2025 Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships. This tournament is open only to players in grades Pre-K through 12 who reside in Virginia or who attend a K-12 school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. See separate announcements for the College Championships, the Friday Night Blitz Tournament, and the side events for Parents & Friends.

When: Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9, 2025, with Round 1 on Saturday at 9 am and Round 5 on Sunday at 1:30 pm.

SPECIAL NOTE: There is a Time Change on Sunday; so plan your sleep schedule accordingly!!

Where: Monticello High School, 1400 Independence Way, Charlottesville, VA, 22902. Please DO NOT call the school for information about the chess tournament.

Hotels: The Virginia Chess Federation has lodging options with several hotels near the school. The properties represent a range of selections 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 2024!

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 February 28th; increases to $80 on March 1st through Wednesday March 5th; increases to $100 starting Thursday March 6th and onsite. Entry onsite 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.

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). 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. The top-finishing player in the Championship Section for Grades 9 through 12 is eligible to represent Virginia at the 2025 Denker Tournament of High School (Grades 9-12) State Champions. The top female player in this section is eligible to represent Virginia at the 2025 Haring Tournament of Girls State Champions. Both tournaments are being held in Madison, WI, in late July at the same location as the 2025 U.S. Open.
• K-8 Championship or K-8 Under 1200: Usually these are the Middle School / Junior High players, but players of Grades K through 8 are eligible. The top player in the Championship Section from Grades 6, 7 or 8 is eligible to represent Virginia at the Barber Tournament of Middle School State Champions being held in Madison, WI, in late July at the same location as the 2025 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-finishing player in the Championship Section is eligible to represent Virginia at the Rockefeller Tournament of Elementary (K-5) State Champions being held in Madison, WI, in late July at the same location as the 2025 U.S. Open.
• K-3 Championship or K-3 Under 600: Only for players in pre-school through 3rd grade.

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).
• Players who skipped a grade in school must compete in a section corresponding to their actual grade in school. For example, a player who skipped 3rd grade and now attends 4th grade is considered a 4th grader and must play in one of the K-5 Sections or a higher section, not in a K-3 Section.
• Players also can “play up”—for example an 8th grader can play in the K-12 Section; however, players cannot “play down” into a section with grades lower than their actual grade in school. The player’s age is not the determining factor for section eligibility, it is their actual grade in school for this school year. If you have questions about player eligibility, please contact the Event Organizer as listed in Note 2.

Event Schedule for the Scholastic Sections:

• Friday, March 7th: Onsite Registration from 4-9 pm. The Scholastic Blitz Tournament starts at 6:30. The cut-off time to play in Round 1 of Blitz is 6 pm.
• Saturday, March 8th: Rounds 1, 2 and 3 at 9:00 am, 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm.
• SATURDAY EVENING TIME CHANGE … sets your clocks, phones, and watches AHEAD one hour.
• Sunday, March 9th: 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 on Sunday afternoon. If you are not staying for the Awards presentation, please have someone pick up your players awards. We do not ship trophies.

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 2025 (to be published by the US Chess Federation on or after Feb 21, 2025). These same ratings determine eligibility for prizes. Established ratings have priority over provisional ratings. We consider ratings in other systems such as FIDE or from another country, especially when a player has no US Chess rating. We do not consider ratings from platforms such as Chess.com, Chesskid.com, Lichess.com, and ICC. 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, 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 rounds on Friday evening March 7th, with Round 1 at 6:30 pm.
• Parents and Friends Tournament: 4-rounds on Saturday and Sunday, plus a new Parents & Friends BLITZ Tournament on Friday night at the same time as the Scholastic Blitz event.

Notes:

1. A current US Chess Federation membership is required for all participants. Renew your US Chess membership or become a new US Chess member through the VA Chess Federation at www.vachess.org and select the “Join US Chess” tab on the left side of the screen. Joining US Chess through the VA Chess Federation saves you a little money.
2. Event Organizer: Virginia Chess Federation, Mike Hoffpauir, Click here to show mail address, 757-846-4805 (text).