Congratulations to the Oregon elementary chess players who participated at the USCF Elementary (K-6) Championships in Nashville, TN, last weekend. In the K-3 Championship section, Praveer Sharan (a Primary Elite co-Champion at Seaside) had 6 points after seven rounds, tying for third place overall, while Colin Liu (third in Elementary Elite at Seaside) tied for top honors in his class (USCF rating 700-799), with 4.5 points during the tournament. In the K-1 section, Kyle Liu (the other Primary Elite co-Champion at Seaside) won 5 points and his own National Championship trophy.  Congratulations to all three of our Oregon participants!

For those of you looking to become involved in the national chess scene, the US Chess Federation web site lists numerous national tournaments.  Of particular note are two significant events are coming in the next year:  First, one of the premiere events of the US Chess Federation’s year, the 2012 U.S. Open chess tournament, is being held this coming August in Vancouver, WA.  More experienced players can play in the main tournament (nine games, with schedules ranging from one a day to a three-day schedule), while scholastic players might want to try out the scholastic tournament to be held Aug. 4-5.  Second, and of particular relevance to our scholastic players, next April 5-7 brings Supernationals V to Nashville, TN.  Supernationals is a multi-day event combining all three major national scholastic championships (elementary, middle school, and high school) in one place — the Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville.  It’s the weekend before the 8th Annual OSCF State Championship in Seaside, so you’ll be able to attend both events!

The Spring 2012 All-Stars list, which identifies the players active between January 1 and April 30 who achieved the top ten established (NWSRS or USCF) ratings, has been posted here. Those on this list, on the Winter 2012 list, or on the Summer 2012 or Lifetime Achievement lists (to be published in early September), are invited to the OSCF All-Stars Invitational Tournament, which we anticipate being held on October 12 this year. If you’d like to learn more about how to qualify, read about it here.

The 2012 State Championship was the largest ever…thank you to everyone who helped make it happen!

• 493 Students qualified for the tournament (around 400 last year)
• 275 Students attended the tournament (268 last year)
• 92 Players competed in Blitz on Friday Night (87 last year)
• 164 Players (82 teams) competed in Bughouse on Friday Night (136 players / 68 teams last year)
• 75 Place Trophies, 30 Honorable Mention Trophies, and 74 Plus and Equal Score Medals were awarded on Saturday.

The 2012 State Championship in Seaside came to a close last Saturday evening, and students from throughout the state headed for home with awards of all sorts, as well as the satisfaction of games well played. Over the next several days we’ll be posting more details about the tournament, but let us begin with a big “thank you” to all of you who came, participated, and volunteered throughout the weekend to make this yet another fun event for all the players.

Thanks to the hard work of Lisa Still, our registrar and treasurer over the last several years, the rating report for the tournament has been posted.

A few hundred photos from the tournament are posted at Picasa. To view, click the “Photos” link on the left sidebar or go here.

When you registered for Seaside, you should have received a confirmation message from the registration program. If you did not, please check the “Who’s Coming” list to be sure you have been properly registered. If your name is not there but should be, please contact us.

If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time! Deadline (with late fee) is Tuesday at midnight.

Yes, the strongest players in the state at each grade level will be there competing for “Grand Champion” titles, BUT there are FIFTEEN separate playing sections defined by grade and rating. Read more »

The deadline to register for the OSCF State Championships without a late fee is Sunday, April 22. Late registration is available Monday and Tuesday (4/23, 4/24) with $10 late fee. Registration closes Tuesday midnight. Register online now by clicking “Online Registration” on the left sidebar or sending email to the OSCF Registrar via the “Contact Us” menu at the top of the page at oscf.org.

The fabulous Chess Store in Portland will be holding at drawing at the OSCF Championships in Seaside, April 28. Details here.

Bughouse is a form of team chess. Two-player teams face off against each other on a pair of chessboards. One partner plays black; the other, white. Play proceeds like in standard chess, BUT with some absolutely critical differences—especially regarding the fate of captured pieces, as described below. Read more »