Sunday, August 28, 2011

Incentives for New Scholastic Players

I would like to pass along the following message from Craig Timmons, which may be of interest to scholastic players interests in tournament chess:
We have a local chess enthusiast that has made and funded the following offers.

New, unrated players who participate in WVSCA tournaments will receive a complimentary copy of Chess Tactics Workbook, by Al Woolum, the most popular scholastic chess book in the United States. It retails for $16.95. In order to receive the book, you must be a new unrated player, join the USCF, pay the tournament entry fees, and play in ALL rounds of the tournament(for the League that means 9 rounds). You will receive your book when the tournament is over. This offer is good until we run out of books.

Funding for these books is provided by a local chess enthusiast.

Also this year, the winner of the K-12 section of the West Virginia Scholastic Championship will receive free tournament registration fees in the West Virginia State Championship or the West Virginia Junior Championship, whichever he/she prefers to play in. Both of those championships are held annually on Labor Day weekend. The goal of this sponsorship is to encourage and enable the state scholastic champion to continue his/her chess experience at the next level in West Virginia.

Funding for this is also provided by a local chess enthusiast.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Parkersburg Homecoming Tournament Results

The 19th Annual Parkersburg Homecoming Chess Tournament was held on Sunday, August 21, 2011 at the Parkersburg Municipal Building at 2nd & Market Streets in Parkersburg, WV. Eighteen players competed for the title.

The position of Parkersurg Homecoming Champion went to Lewis Sanders of Charleston, WV. This was his first tournament championship. The position of second place in the rated section was tied between Benjamin Good of Stonewood, WV and Ted Belanoff of Woodside, CA.

The following players won class prizes in the rated section:

David Hines of Ridgeley, WV (U1900)
James C. Fields of Elkview, WV (U1700)

The first place award in the non-rated section went to Martin J. Sams of Parkersburg, WV, who competed in the Homecoming tournament for the first time.

A crosstable for the event can be found here.

If you've never been to a chess tournament before, the annual Parkersburg Homecoming Tournament is an excellent opportunity to learn what it's all about. There are two sections. The first, the Non-Rated section, is open to the general public and is geared towards casual chess players who do not have an official rating. The second, the Rated section, is geared towards experienced tournament players. To enter the Rated section, you must be a member of the United States Chess Federation. Memberships are available onsite for those who wish to purchase them.

Congratulations to the prize winners, and thanks to everyone who turned out to make this a great tournament! We hope to see you all next year! For pictures from the events, check out the Mid-Ohio Valley Chess Club's photo gallery.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Parkersburg Homecoming Tournament

The 19th Annual Parkersburg Homecoming Tournament is only a few days away! We've received pre-registrations from the following players. but expect many more at the door:

David Saville (2063)
Grant Perks (1991)
David Hines (1871)
Markle Butcher (1840)
Dave Rutherford (1826)
Christopher Shen (1486)
Advait Patel (1345)

So far it is shaping up to be a strong tournament. If you've been sitting on the fence, I'd encourage you to stop by and take in the tournament and the Homecoming festival.