Scholastic Tournament at Meadowdale Public Library

Scholastic Tournament at Meadowdale Public Library

When: Saturday, April 15, 2023. Round 1 at 10am.

Where: Meadowdale Public Library, 4301 Meadowdale Blvd, North Chesterfield, VA. See the picture of the playing room on the right … it’s a really nice place to play chess!!

Registration: www.vachess.org or onsite at the library starting at 8:30 am on Saturday. Round 1 in the Scholastic Tournament is at 10 am. There is an “Orientation to Tournament Chess” at 9 am for new players.

Round 1 at 10 am. Registration closes at 9:30am if you want to play in Round 1. We recommend any NEW players show up for our “Orientation to Tournament Chess” to be given onsite at 9 am.

Sections: Play is in 4 Sections as follows …

• K-12 and K-5 Rated: For players in grades K-12 and K-5 who have or want to receive an official US Chess Federation rating. US Chess membership is required to play in this section. Players who already have official US Chess ratings will be paired using the higher of their US Chess Regular and over-the-board and online ratings.
• K-12 and K-5 Not Rated: This section also is for players in grades K-12 and K-5, but it is for those who are NEW to Chess and want to “test the waters” of tournament-style chess. K-12 players with US Chess ratings over 600 and K-5 players with US Chess ratings over 400 cannot play in this section. U.S. Chess Federation membership is NOT required in this section and players do not receive an official US Chess rating after their games.

Format: 4 Rounds, Swiss System. This is NOT an elimination event; each player plays 4 games. Click here to read about a Swiss System chess tournament.

Time Control: Rounds 1-3 played at Game-40 with 5-seconds of Time Delay per move. Round 4 played at Game-60 with 5-seconds of Time Delay per move.

Schedule: Round 1 is at 10 am. Later rounds will be played “as soon as possible” in each section. This means a player’s next game begins about 10 minutes after the last game finishes in the previous round for that section. The only round with a pre-scheduled start time is Round 1. Parents should expect K-5 games to last until about 2 pm. The K-12 games could easily go until 4 pm.

Eligibility: Players in grades Pre-K through 12th Grade. US Chess Federation membership is required to compete in the K-12 and K-5 Rated Sections.

Entry Fee: $20 in advance, $25 starting Thursday, April 12th and at the tournament site.

Prizes: Trophies. 1st-4th place Player and 1st-3rd place Team in all 4 Sections. Medals to players who score at least 2 points. A "team" is 2 or more players who attend the same school. That school does not need to have a chess club or chess team. Contact Mike Hoffpauir (mhoffpauir@aol.com) if you are unsure whether your players can form a team. Awards distributed by section when that section is finished.

Chess Sets and Chess Clocks: We will provide sets and clocks for all games, but players are welcome to use their own clocks as long as their clock can be set to the proper time control.

Chess Notation: Required in the K-12 Rated Section, Optional but very highly encouraged in all other sections. We will provide "score sheets" for players to take chess notation, but players need to bring their favorite pens or pencils.

FREE CHESS COACHING: VA Chess Federation Vice President Mike Callaham will be on hand to provide post-game analysis for players.  BUT you need to have recorded your game using chess notation!!

PRE-TOURNAMENT ZOOM MEETING. We will schedule a pre-tournament information meeting on Zoom. We usually conduct this meeting on Tuesday and/or Wednesday evening before the tournament at 7pm or 7:30pm. Watch the VA Chess Federation website (www.vachess.org) for information.

Organized by the Virginia Chess Federation:  Mike Hoffpauir, National Tournament Director; Click here to show mail address, 757-846-4805

Many Thanks to: Meadowdale Public Library Branch Manager, James Hudson.