January 3, 2017

Post date: Jan 4, 2017 1:58:52 AM

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Dear Scholastic Families,

My name is Jim Hodina and I am the Scholastic Chair for the Iowa State Chess Association. I sent you an email just after Thanksgiving with our Scholastic Chess Calendar. January is when things really take off and I wanted to send out a reminder of what is happening Scholastic Chess this month. A calendar and links to online registration are available online at www.chessiniowa.org. You will find the official announcements for all tournaments online at the Iowa State Chess Association Website (IASCA) at www.iowa-chess.org.

In this Newsletter

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10th Annual Prairie Chess Series, January 7, February 18, and March 11 1

2017 Iowa Individual Play Team Championships, January 14th 2

Iowa High School and K-8 Championships, January 21st 2

How to Register for a Scholastic Chess Tournament 2

10th Annual Prairie Chess Series, January 7, February 18, and March 11

The event will be held all three dates at the Prairie Pointe Middle School Cafeteria (home of the Prairie Chess Camp) at 8015 Kirkwood Blvd SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404. This Saturday kicks off the Prairie Chess Series. In our 10th year, we are changing up the format. You can register online for all three dates for the discounted price of $30 ($10 each) at https://onlineregistration.cc/CII/PCS10BUNDLE.

We will still have some sections based on grade level but there is some extra divisions based on experience as well. There are 5 sections plus a parents’ section.

    • K-3 Unrated: (Unrated) 5 Rds
    • K-3 Open (Rated): 5 Rds
    • K-6 U1000: 5 Rds
    • K-12 U1400: 4 Rds
    • K-12 Open: 3 Rds

We have our usual awesome trophies. Additional trophies for the top pair of scores for parent/child and siblings will also be awarded.

2017 Iowa Individual Play Team Championships, January 14th

The event will be held at the Olmsted Center at Drake University, 2875 University Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311.

This tournament has fours Sections: Elementary K-3 & Elementary K-6 (Combined with separate awards) and Junior High and High School (Combined with separate awards). Individuals play a regular Swiss style tournament. We then add up the scores of the top four players from each school to determine team awards. I often describe this type of team scoring to a cross-country meet. Team and individual trophies (top four players) will be awarded as follows: Top 3 K-12 Teams, Top 3 K-9 Teams, Top 5 K-6 Teams and Top 3 K-3 Teams.

Iowa High School and K-8 Championships, January 21st

This event will be held at the DMACC Ames Campus, 1420 S Bell Ave, Ames, IA 50010.

This event brings out our strongest scholastic players in Iowa, the winner of which will be the Iowa representative to the US Denker Tournament of High School Champions and the US Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions along with a $400 stipend. There are several awards:

    • High School: Top 3 Individuals; Top Score U1400, U1000
    • Grades K- 8: Top 3 Individuals; Top Score U1200, U1000, U800, U600 & U400

This events is longer as it is played with slower time controls

How to Register for a Scholastic Chess Tournament

Individuals may register in advance online, advance by mail to the Tournament Director, or on-site up to 30 minutes prior to the tournament. Advanced registration is most helpful for the running of a tournament and is encouraged with a $5 discount to the entry fee. Details for registering for each event are included in the IASCA Scholastic Tournament web posting.

Chess in Iowa (CII) maintains a provider agreement with OnlineRegistration.CC to register and pay for scholastic chess tournaments that we host. This online service allows for advanced registration and payment. By registering in advance, you do not need to arrive early to pay or check in. Payment is processed through PayPal and directly deposited to Chess in Iowa’s non-for-profit PayPal account. The fees cover the cost of the tournament playing site rental, trophies, and tournament supplies. All IASCA tournaments are $15 but some CII promotional tournaments may be less ($10) or even free. At the end of the school year, CII provides a $1,200 to the IASCA for our state scholastic champions to compete at the national US Chess Scholastic Championship events for High School (Grade 9-12), Grade K-8, and Girls held concurrent with the US Open.

USCF ID: All tournaments sponsored by IASCA (and most by CII) are sanctioned by the United States Chess Federation. This has historically been abbreviated as USCF but currently goes by US Chess. When registering, you are usually prompted for your USCF ID. USCF IDs are issued to all US Chess Members. Whether your memberships is current or expired, your USCF ID will always be the same. Current US Chess memberships are required for all sanctioned events, often noted as RATED. Non-sanctioned events are noted as Unrated or UNR, and current US Chess Memberships are not required. If you are new to US Chess and do not have a USCF, type NEW in the requested field.

How to Obtain a USCF ID: Chess in Iowa has purchased a batch of discounted USCF memberships for scholastic members. You may purchase these annual memberships from CII in advance or at the tournament for $11. These are not available with your online registration but must be purchased separately. US Chess memberships purchased online range from $17 to $24 based on age.

Take care,

Jim

Jim Hodina

Scholastic Chair, IASCA

President, Chess in Iowa