Next month, T. H. Rogers will host the Houston Scholastic Chess Association's (HSCA) October tournament.  This will be a terrific opportunity for lots of our students to participate in a tournament and see what it is like.  HSCA runs the major scholastic tournaments in the city, sponsoring one a month during the school year.  This is our club's major fundraiser and we will need a lot of help.  Please read the following information carefully.

Playing in the Tournament

Like most scholastic events, this will be a 5 round swiss-style tournament.  That means everyone plays all 5 rounds.   No one is eliminated.  The tournament will take most of the day.  Check-in will be from 8:00 - 8:30 am.  Rounds will begin around 9:00 am.  Awards will be handed out around 4:30 pm.   Parents, please note: this is not school and this is not baby-sitting.  Not every parent needs to be there all day, but if you will not be there, you must make specific arrangements with another parent who accepts responsibility for watching your child.  You may not just drop your child off and leave.  If this is your child's first tournament, I would highly recommend that you be there for the entire day.  

We expect most of you who signed up for chess team to participate in this event.  Unless you have a direct conflict, this will be the easiest tournament to get to for the entire semester.  That said, if you have a kindergartner or first grader who is new to chess (whether you signed them up for team or not), and they are interested in playing in the tournament, please let the coaches know so they can evaluate whether your child is ready to participate.  They must be able to play the game all of the way through to checkmate.  If they can not, we would recommend that they wait a few more months until they are better prepared.  Having passed this year's Pawn test would also indicate that your child is knows enough to try playing in a tournament.  Please email me with your child's name and grade if you are requesting an evaluation.

For all of the rest of you who plan on participating:

1. You have a choice of sections.  

If this is your very first tournament and you are wondering if you will like it, you can opt to play in one of the unrated HSCA sections.  The unrated sections give students the opportunity to try playing in a tournament without investing the $13 to become a United States Chess Federation (USCF) member.  Also, the rules are a little less strict regarding the use of clocks, etc.  If you are not on the T. H. Rogers chess team, you may choose which ever section you want to play in, HSCA or USCF.

If you are on the chess team, we expect you to play in a USCF rated section.  To do this, you must be a USCF member.  While you can can join on the day of the tournament, it really slows down the registration process.  Therefore, we are asking (actually requiring) that you take care of this now.  You can join online by following the "join" link at   http://www.uschess.org   or by calling 1-800-388-KING (388-5464).  We will also have paper applications available starting next week at the chess club.  Checks should be made out to the USCF.  A Scholastic membership for children 14 and under costs $13/year.  A Youth membership for kids aged 15-19 is $20/year.  Discounts are available for multi-year memberships.  See the web site for details.  Take care of this right away, and there is a good chance you will have your membership card by October 18th.  If it is not back by the time you are ready to sign up for the tournament, write "pending" in the blank on the entry form where it asks for your id number.  Do this only if you have actually paid your money to the USCF.  If you have not taken care of your USCF membership when you fill out the entry form write "new" and enclose the additional fees.

2. If you need a bye.

In the past, we have had a number of parents ask if their children could participate in just part of the chess tournament.  The point of hosting a tournament is to encourage participation, to allow kids the opportunity to play who might not try a tournament otherwise.  Therefore, we are again allowing "byes" for a maximum of 2 of the 5 rounds.  In other words, if a child needs to miss the entire morning, but can get there by the start of the 12:30 round, they can play the 3 afternoon rounds.  Of course, they would have to understand they won't be in the running for a top finish.  

So, how does this work?  If the student asks for a one round "bye" in advance, they would be given a 1/2 point for that round.  If they need to miss 2 rounds, they would get no points for the 2nd missed round.  In other words they would come into round 3 with a 1/2 point.  
 

The restrictions would be:
 

1. We have to know by 4 pm October 17th how many and which rounds.
2. Byes will be given for 2 rounds at most.
3. Only one half point will be awarded whether the student misses one or two rounds.

Dealing with exceptions is always a lot of work.  Please do not ask for a bye frivolously.  Legitimate direct conflicts are the only reason to request one.
 

3. Get your entry form and payment in in a timely manner.

Entry forms will be available by our next week's chess club, if not sooner.  I will email a copy and put copies on our web as soon as it is available.  The sooner you let us know you are coming, the better.  We will still process the lower $8 registration fee if you hand it to us at Chess Club on Tuesday, October 14th.  After that the fees go up.  No exceptions.

 

Parent Volunteers

We will need significant parental support to make this a fun and successful event.  As you know from our parent orientation meetings in August, every family is required to provide at least 3 hours of help to the chess club per semester.  Assisting at the tournament can fulfill your obligation.  You don't need to know how to play chess yourself, as we have many non-chess related needs.  For example, we will be selling gallons of coffee to the parents and coaches in attendance.  In addition, we will be selling lunch..... pizza by the slice, snacks, drinks, etc.

 

Martha Jenkinson