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Welcome Chess Players PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 10:00

Attention Chess Players, Families and Coaches:

 

 
     Thanks for a great 2009-2010 Scholastic Chess Season!  
 
     We will be spending our summmer improving how we run
our tournaments, our website, and working on a new teaching 
program for schools to use in starting their own chess programs.  
Suggestions should be sent to me at:

 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
 
Gregory Reese, Sr.
President
Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Association


WATCH FOR FUTURE TOURNAMENT LISTINGS!

     The WSCA will be hosting a Special Event, this Summer!

What is the WSCA?

     WSCA stands for the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Association.  We are a new organization founded in the Spring of 2008 by a group of avid chess players who want to see more young chess players take the Next Step in their development as serious chess players.   We want to help put Wisconsin Scholastic Chess at the forefront of States with players at the Class "B" and above level.
     We are an official affiliate of both the United States Chess Federation (the USCF), and the USCF State affiliate, the Wisconsin Chess Association (WCA).  Our main mission is the development of Scholastic Chess in four Sections (K-3, K-6, K-9, and K-12).  It is our intent to provide guidance for those who want to start Chess Clubs, School Chess Programs (at both the individual school and district-wide levels), and to help bring USCF rated tournaments to public and private schools as a way to improve the players skills and raise the funds so that each chess program can become a fully equipped, self-funded entity.

Holding a WSCA Tournament

     The WSCA has a graduated system that schools can use to build their Chess Programs, Tournaments and USCF Affiliation.  If you presently aren't a USCF affiliated school, you can hold a first tournament which will be an Unrated Open Tournament.  What this means is that players will be playing for fun, trophies and medals, but that the results will NOT impact their USCF ratings.  Out of the proceeds of such events, the schools or clubs will be expected to pay the $40 USCF affiliate fee and become an official USCF club.
     The second year Tournament is a Combined Tournament.  This means, as a transition to a full USCF rated event, the tournament will offer both Rated and Unrated Sections in as many, or few, sections as the organizers deem necessary.  This allows more beginning players to experience the thrill of a chess tournament, and develop into a full USCF player, while those who are USCF rated can continue to build their ratings and skills against the more experienced USCF players.  Remember though, the more sections, the more prizes required.  Ideally, each section will draw enough players to support the prize package for that section.  Guidance on buying prize packages is provided by the WSCA.
     In the third year, a school is expected, but not required, to become a USCF event, offering only USCF Sections.
     For more details on hosting a WSCA tournament, email:  "Gregory Reese, Sr." This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 May 2010 18:02 )
 
Is the WSCA Replacing the WSCF? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gregory Reese, Sr.   
Thursday, 09 October 2008 09:54

     This is question that is asked of WSCA Board Members constantly.  Are we trying to put the WSCF out of business?  Absolutely not.

     Let me repeat that in another way: The WSCA is not trying to replace or squash the WSCF.  Both organizations have similar names, but for an obvious reason.  We both have our focus in WISCONSIN.  We both focus our efforts on SCHOLASTIC.  We both are CHESS organizations.  But they are the FEDERATION and we are an ASSOCIATION.  WSCF and WSCA.

     We are also the official Scholastic affiliate of the WCA - the Wisconsin Chess Association, which is the Wisconsin affilitate of the United States Chess Federation (USCF).  Thus, when you inject the word Scholastic into the WCA acronym, you get w-S-c-a.  Some of our Board Members are also WCA officers and Board Members.  There is a relationship between the two associations.  When players outgrow the WSCA, they are welcomed into the WCA as adult players.  Many scholastic players already play against WCA adult players at WCA Wisconsin Tour Events.

     While our goals and names are very similar, our approach is very different.  The WSCF has its own rating system, and a player can spend their entire scholastic chess career growing within that system.

     The WSCA doesn't have its own rating system.  We use the United States Chess Federation's standard system for Quick Rating and Standard Rating.  When you play in a WSCA USCF Rated Tournament, you will be impacting your USCF ratings, up or down, good or bad.  It counts.  And that is a good thing. 

     When we hold an UnRated Event, only the win-loss record carries over for players at other UnRated Events.  So, players will be matched up by Grade Level, then by win-loss records.  The results from UnRated tournaments do not impact the USCF ratings and for the most part should be considered Open Invitationals that offer a chance to play chess for practice or fun.  A chance to practice new openings, or tactics, without the usual consequences of seeing mistakes knock your USCF ratings down.

     WSCA UnRated Tournaments are truly for sport.  Kind of like the Jousting Tournaments of Knights during Medieval Times.  You can get knocked off your horse, but it won't kill you (or your USCF ratings).  They also serve as a means for schools, and even smaller school districts, to raise funds for a Scholastic Chess Club or full program within their school or district, and their USCF affiliate fees which makes future local events USCF rated.

     Our main focus is to bring USCF rated events to more Wisconsin Schools and Cities within the Wisconsin.  Why?  The USCF rating system follows you anywhere you play in North America.  You are building a Quick Rating and Regular Rating that stays with you for life, growing and shrinking with your skill level.  You can walk from chess with a Quick Rating of 1439 and a Regular Rating of 1510, and enter a USCF tournament a year later, or ten years later, and that is the rating level you will be paired at.  It doesn't go away.  And you don't start over.

     Wisconsin is a big State.  There are over 500 schools in Southeastern Wisconsin alone.  There is plenty of room for two Scholastic Chess organizations to do their best to bring chess to as many Wisconsin Students and Schools as possible.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 11 October 2008 08:15 )
 
Why Is Chess Important in Schools? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 07 October 2008 12:00

     Chess programs in schools can be one of the most important extracurricular programs administrators can bring into a school.  It gives them important tools for developing many positive benefits for both the students and the schools.  Chess Clubs and competitive teams help bring students together for social interaction with a very diverse group of people.  Chess players come from all walks of life.  They come from every background, and country on the face of this planet.  You don't even have to speak the same language to enjoy playing a game of chess against an opponent!

     A player doesn't have to be the biggest, or the strongest, or the smartest, or the fastest, to enjoy the game and reap the many benefits playing chess gives to students with almost no effort.  It is played by both young and old alike on a field that is as level as any known to man.  It helps to foster good sportsmanship, team work, teaches about problem solving and abstract thinking.  There are many other intangibles that will make a student better at math, reading, increase attention span and patience.

     Chess programs can bring together students who might otherwise feel "left out."  Giving them a chance to find themselves, their inner confidence, and a field in which every single player can excel on an upward path.  The good work habits will help them for the rest of their lives. 
Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 October 2008 08:44 )
 
University School Chess Tournament PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Tuesday, 07 October 2008 09:54

      WSCA’s first scholastic chess tournament will be held at University School of Milwaukee on Saturday, November 22nd.  The tournament will offer four sections (K-3, K-6, K-9, and K12), and all of the sections will be USCF-rated.

       USCF membership will be required to play at this tournament.  Recognizing that USCF membership is an additional expense for chess players, University School’s chess program is underwriting a $7 discount on new annual USCF memberships purchased at the tournament.  With the discount, the cost of a USCF annual membership will range from $9-$18 (depending on the student’s age) and will include either an online or mailed one-year  subscription to the Chess Life or Chess Life for Kids magazine.

       University School has been a  strong supporter of scholastic chess in Southeastern Wisconsin for many years.  For anyone who has attended one of the many fall chess tournaments at University School, or one of the spring All-Girls Chess Championship Tournaments hosted by University School, you already know that University School’s facilities are ideal for a Chess Tournament.  Last year, more than 170 students from Wisconsin and Illinois competed at University School’s chess tournament.   With four USCF-rated sections (K-3, K-6, K-9 and K-12), University School’s tournament will again offer a great day of chess for players of all skill levels.

      WSCA is proud to be the tournament directors for University School’s tournament this year.  What a perfect way for the WSCA to launch our new USCF-rated Scholastic program.  We would like to thank University School for this opportunity, and applaud them for being the first to help blaze this new trail on the path of Wisconsin becoming one of the dominant chess states involved with the United States Chess Federation.  We look forward to a long and healthy relationship with University School.

       For additional information about University School’s tournament, read the Tournament Flyer (click here) and the USM event FAQ’s (click here).  Click the "Tournaments" button on the bar at the top of the home page to register for the tournament.  The entry fee for players who register online by November 20 is $10.  The on-site entry fee is $15.
Last Updated ( Friday, 24 October 2008 03:29 )
 
The Importance of Parents and Chess PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gregory Reese, Sr.   
Tuesday, 07 October 2008 09:54

     Many people who know me have heard me lecture how important it is for parents to take an active part in their child's development as a chess player.

     The basic rules of chess are quite easy to learn.  In fact, they can fit on a single piece of 8 1/2 by 11 paper!  After maybe 20 minutes of study, any two people can sit down and start banging pieces around the board.

     It is the more subtle nuances of the game that are hard to learn.  Advanced tactics and strategies.  Combinations of pieces working together, many pieces advancing together in an "opening," or acting in unison in the endgame play.

     It is said, and with good reason, that there are more books written on the subject of chess than any other topic - except religion.  It is also said, you can spend a lifetime studying chess and still not but scratch the surface of total understanding of the game.

     Maybe so.  But that doesn't mean you can't learn the basics, and read just a few books, or even study what is written in Chess Life or Chess Life for Kids magazines, and have a much better appreciation for the game of chess.  I have heard people watching a chess game in progress say things like, "that is the most boring game I have ever seen!"

     And I forgive their error in thinking, for they know not what they are looking at.  In chess, it is not always what is happening on the board where all the action is, the real action is going on inside each player's head at the speed of light.  Each player looking at "What ifs," as in "What if I move there with my knight?  And she takes with the bishop?  And I take back with my rook? etc., etc., et cetera."

     Practice in chess is a huge part of development.  And nothing is better than a child playing, learning where blunder points are, growing in experience and confidence, with their own parents or guardians.  It is not about beating each other.  It is about growing together.  Sharing an experience, instead of sitting in front of a television screen playing a video game and learning how fast your fingers and thumbs can move.

     Many parents have come up to me and thanked me for giving them the gift of chess.  The gift of giving them something they can do face-to-face with their children.  Even when that means the delight they see in their kids faces when they get a four move checkmate, or capture Mom's queen out of nowhere, or slip out of Dad's mating net, only to turn the tables and put him on the ropes!

     Most parents are surprised at how many thrills and smiles a single game of chess brings, as their family comes together over the chess board!
Last Updated ( Friday, 06 February 2009 07:51 )