Dr. Wayne Bell Memorial - Murray State K-12 Tournament

Dr. Wayne Bell Memorial - MSU K-12 Tournament

Saturday November 11, 2023
Murray State University - Curris Center (3rd Floor)

Format and Registration Info:

4 Rounds SS, G30 d5
Sections: K-3, K-5, K-8, K-12. Sections may be combined at tournament director discretion. Accelerated pairings may be implemented at tournament director discretion.

US Chess Membership is Required. All US Chess Rules will be Followed. Notation requirements will be enforced for the K-5, K-8, and K-12 sections.

Entry Fee: $15 per player

Entries: Pay cash or check. Checks should be made out to “Murray State Chess Club.” 
Pre-registration - Individuals: https://forms.gle/tdsfFa57BY1YGpH19
Pre-registration - Groups (download group sheet): Send group registrations to syechessclub@gmail.com.

Boards and Pieces will be provided. Please bring clocks.

Prizes: 

The scores of the top 4 players representing the same school will be combined to determine the Top Team in each section.

K-12

Trophy for 1st Place Team 
Trophies for 1st-3rd individual
Medals for: 

• Outstanding 12th Grader (top 12th grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 11th Grader (top 11th grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 10th Grader (top 10th grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 9th Grader (top 9th grader outside of Top 3)

K-8

Trophy for 1st Place Team 
Trophies for 1st-3rd individual
Medals for:

• Outstanding 8th Grader (top 8th grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 7th Grader (top 7th grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 6th Grader (top 6th grader outside of Top 3)

K-5

Trophy for 1st Place Team 
Trophies for 1st-3rd individual
Medals for:

• Outstanding 5th Grader (top 5th grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 4th Grader (top 4th grader outside of Top 3)

K-3

Trophy for 1st Place Team 
Trophies for 1st-3rd individual
Medals for:

• Outstanding 3rd Grader (top 3rd grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 2nd Grader (top 2nd grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding 1st Grader (top 1st grader outside of Top 3)
• Outstanding Kindergartener (top K outside of Top 3)

Schedule

Check-In: 8:00am-8:45am
Coaches Meeting: 8:45am
Round 1: 9:30am

All subsequent rounds will start ASAP after the last game ends of the previous round (different sections may end and start quicker than others). Sections will have a 45 minute lunch break after Round 2. The awards ceremony will occur ASAP after the completion of the last round. 

Players arriving after registration will receive one half-point bye and will be paired in subsequent rounds. Half-point byes may be requested for any round during registration only (limit 1). 

Side Event: All-comers chess with the Murray State Chess Club!

Members of the Murray State Chess Club will be available to play casual games against any players, families, or friends in attendance.

Who was Dr. Bell?

“Dr. Bell taught mathematics at Murray State University from 1976 until 2008. He was a founder of the MSU Chess Club and used the University’s outreach program to promote chess in West Kentucky. In 1986 he was one of the founders of the KCA’s scholastic chess program advocating the regionals-finals system and more formality in KCA’s structures. He was the KCA’s first Scholastic Coordinator and later served as President and then Treasurer. He worked in tournaments at all levels – from where a national championship was at stake to those where you get called to a table where White is waving a knight above the board and nobody knows what square it came from! In 1990 he became Kentucky’s first National Tournament Director.

He was the Kentucky Open Champion in 1988 and the Kentucky State Champion in 1994.

His favorite chess role was that of Teacher-Coach in Murray, Kentucky. For Bell the appreciative awe on parents’ faces when they first see a large room full of quiet children thinking about their next chess move is exceeded only by the exhilaration on a child’s face when they find the right one." - Excerpt from the Kentucky Chess Hall of Fame

Dr. Wayne Bell passed away in 2014, and we hope this tournament can help continue his legacy of both the Murray State Chess Club and Quad A Scholastic Chess.

 

Questions?

Contact officialmsuchess@gmail.com or syechessclub@gmail.com