2021 IA Scholastic Championships

Iowa Individual & Team Scholastic Online Chess Championships

February 20, 2021

Dear Iowa Scholastic Chess Families,

The Iowa State Chess Association is pleased to announce our first Virtual Scholastic Tournament hosted on ChessKid.com. The coronavirus pandemic has halted our ability to safely hold scholastic tournaments over the board (i.e. in person). So, IASCA and Chess in Iowa have partnered with our friends at ChessKid.com, the #1 place for kids to learn & play chess, to host the 2021 Iowa Scholastic Individual and Team Championship online!

This tournament will be played online at www.chesskid.com in two concurrent sections. One section is for grades PK through 6 only and a second section for grades 7-12 only. Registered scholastic chess players will be issued a one-time tournament username to log into the tournament. Players will be seeded by the historical over-the-board US Chess rating and the tournament will be rated under the new US Chess Standard Online Rating. US Chess Membership is required and can be purchased with your registration for a discounted price of $11.

IASCA will issue individual awards and team awards for schools. Individual trophies will be issued to the top 3 players overall in each section, the top player by individual grade, and the top score by individual grade for players participating in their first chess tournament. Much like a cross country race, players will all play individually in their section. Then after completion of the tournament, the top four scores from each school will be added together for the team score where team trophies will also be awarded. Because of the online format, participants representing the same school may have to play each other.

ChessKid.com will staff a live helpdesk during the day of the tournament and provide industry-leading Live Fair Play monitoring. Additionally, Tournament Director Jim Hodina will also have a live stream of the tournament providing round by round updates of the tournament including standings.

Participants ay register online at https://onlineregistration.cc/CII/2021IASCHOOL. The registration fee is $25. If a player does not have a current US Chess membership, then a discounted $11 annual membership may be purchased with the registration. Chess in Iowa has an equity policy for participants that need financial assistance. Contact James Hodina for additional information.

For additional information visit, www.chessiniowa.org. For questions, email James Hodina at james.hodina@chessiniowa.org.

2021 Iowa K-12 Individual-Play Team Championship Flyer.pdf