April 22, 2014

USCF Results | Team Results | Individual Results w/Tiebreak (Excel) | Team Results with w/Tiebreak (Excel)

High School (K-12) Results

Kevin Bu wins the first place individual title in the High School (K-12) Championship Section, winning in the playoff event. Kevin will be the Denker Tournament of Champions representative for Minnesota. The tournament will be held in Orlando, Florida, in August.
Samarth Chakrasali 2nd Place, Maor Leker Locker 3rd Place

Minnesota High School (K-12) Playoff

Double Round Robin, g/15 | Playoff USCF Results
High School (K-12) Team Results: 1st Place - Eastview High School, 2nd Place - Eden Prairie High School, 3rd Place - Blake School

Junior High (K-9) Results

Andrew Tang wins the first place individual title in the Junior High (K-9) Championship Section. Andrew will be the Barber Tournament of Champions representative for Minnesota. The tournament will be held in Orlando, Florida in August.
Matthew Qu, 2nd Place, Shrinivas Venkatasubramani, 3rd Place
Junior High (K-9) Team Results: 1st Place - Wayazata Central Middle School, 2nd Place - Metcalf Junior High, 3rd Place - Northfield Middle School

Elementary School (K-6) Results

Samrug Narayanan wins the first place individual title in the Elementary School (K-6) Championship Section.
Joel Nathe 2nd Place, Gloria Friedman 3rd Place
Elementary (K-6) Team Results: 1st Place - Seward Elementary, 2nd Place - Capitol Hill, 3rd Place - Seven Hills Classical Academy

Primary School (K-3) Results

Samarth Ram and Case Pedersen are Co-Champions in the Primary School (K-3) Championship Section.
Jordan Timm 3rd Place
Primary (K-3) Team Results: 1st Place - Seven Hills Classical Academy, 2nd Place - Seward Elementary, 3rd Place - Kimberly Lane Elementary

March 29, 2014 - March 30, 2014
Sections: Grades K-12 (High School); K-9 (Junior High); K-6 (Elementary School) and K-3 (Primary School)

Online Registration | Registration Form | Printable Flyer | St. Kate's Map

I want to restate what our Tournament Director has mentioned on the Chess Castle website. This a college campus, and it is a wonderful site. Be very respectful of the area, be mindful of messes and trash, pick up after yourselves and leave a good impression. Pent up energy can be displaced outside, the weather will be quite nice this weekend so take full advantage of it.

This may apply only to the K-3 Primary division, but if all matches for the round finish much earlier than expected, we may have the award ceremony also happen much earlier than the stated time of 6:30.

Jiten Patel
MSCA Scholastic Coordinator

Update 3/28/2014

Online registration should be closed but you can sign up onsite from 8-9 for a round that should start at 9:30 and a shortened time control. Those that sign up later will receive a ½ point bye for Round 1. Remember, if you need to request a half point bye for Round 6, this needs to be submitted by 9:45am on Saturday. Again, this bye is cannot be undone after the request is made.

Pairings for those that preregistered online should be posted today around noon. Please double check to make sure people of the same school are not playing each other. Pairings should be posted on the MSCA site or the Chess Castle site. The address for both sites are www.chesscastle.com and www.minnesotachess.org.

On the St. Paul Campus, there will be parking available at the Parking: O’Shaughnessy/Event Parking on Fairview. The Playing Hall is on the 3rd floor in the Coeur de Catherine area. (Location 8 by the Dew Drop Pond) A map of the campus has been posted on the MSCA website. Click the News Header, and that should take you there.

The dining hall will be open on Saturday from 10:30-2pm with limited options. On Sunday, same timeframe with a possible 4:30-7:30 service as well. I have reached out to a few nearby restaurants and have some promotions available.

On Saturday only, Chipotle will offer a BOGO (Buy One Get One) promotion on their entrees. Noodles and Company will also offer a BOGO coupon for the weekend. Both restaurants are in walking distance from St. Kates. I have access to these coupons, so you may need to hunt me down to find them. Or instead of 250+ kids swarming at me, perhaps elect an “coach/adult representative” to find me. The BOGO promotion can be used pretty effectively, child gets an entrée and the parent can get something for themselves.

Volunteers are always welcome, let us know if you would like to help in some capacity. Let me know if there are any other questions with anything else. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten…I will reprise John Denver’s “Leaving for a Chess Thing”, but that will come in the future email. Good luck to all those competing this weekend!

Jiten Patel
MSCA Scholastic Coordinator

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Trophies 3/27/14

Alright, so let’s talk about trophies. As a reminder, there are four divisions: K-3 (Primary), K-6 (Elementary), K-9 (Jr. High), and K-12 (High School). In each section there will be trophies for the Top 10 finishers in each section. Yes, judging by the number of entrants in each section, I did go with the flat tax method as opposed to the progressive tax method. (I’m filing mine on April 6th, when are you getting yours done?) Top 10 is just a nice clean number to work with, much easier than dealing with proportions, and I wanted to keep it consistent. Who knows…in future years, the numbers in the lower sections will increase, and that’s the ultimate driving force behind it all.

Don’t believe the propaganda out there…Rated Chess is not that scary, do not feel intimidated, and give it the ol’ college try…well, University of St. Kates try…but close enough. The top three teams in each division will receive trophies. The top team in each section will be deemed State Champion. There will be a small exception in the K-6 and K-9 sections. The top K-5 and K-6 team in the K-6 division will also be deemed State Champions. The top K-8 and K-9 team in the K-9 section will also be deemed State Champions. A team comprises of at least 2 members and the top four scorers count. Yes, the K-3 section only has three 2-member teams based on online entries, so as it looks like all three may take home something for their school, so hopefully there may be some motivation to talk a few more into playing!! Not too late to sign up online or at the door this weekend.

There will be a handful of other trophies/medals to be awarded, and those will be based on other factors based on how the other sections look. I don’t have much else to say about the trophies…do you want to discuss color?? With reference to our first year at St Kates, the color chosen was purple. After all, purple is the color of royalty and chess is the “royal game”. Purple is the new black…actually pastels are for this Spring, but that’s only because I just Googled it. I just pretend I know what I’m talking about. I even bought a purple shirt which is a daring choice for me personally. That said, I wake up every morning thinking, “Is today the day I will wear a pink shirt”…immediately followed by “Is today the day I will even buy a pink shirt”.

Thank you.

Jiten Patel
MSCA Scholastic Coordinator

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Update 3/25/14

Picking Ohio State to win its first round match, dreams of winning a billion dollars were shattered within hours...and who really could have thought Duke would lose two years in a row?? Well, may as well get back to chess!

This past weekend over 400 youths 6th grade and under competed at the SCA Statewide tournament. They have done a wonderful job in getting kids interested in playing chess, and while the official State tournament is this weekend, it may be a while before our K-3 and K-6 sections approach 100 participants each. The K-3 and K-6 sections are still a relatively new addition the the MSCA State Scholastic.

We will award a State Champion trophy to the top K-5 school in the K-6 section
We will award a State Champion trophy to the top K-8 school in the K-9 section

There is plenty of time to register for the State Scholastic, online registration will close at Thursday, March 27 at 11:59pm. First round pairings for all sections will go up around noon Friday, March 28. Those that register on site after the online deadline will be paired into the 9:30 round.

Those that need a half point bye in Round 6--The online form does not allow it, so a request must at made at the registration table by 9:45am (Saturday). This bye is non-refundable.

The pre-registration list only shows those who have registered online, but we are working on getting a list up for those who have mailed in their forms.

The tournament is held at a college campus, so there is plenty of open space to find a place to carve out a little niche for yourself. The playing area is located on the Third Floor. There is parking available on the Fairview side of campus in the O'Shaughnessy Parking lot.

Jiten Patel
MSCA Scholastic Coordinator

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Team Eligibility Rules

The only rules currently on the books are:

High Schools: Grades 10-12 or 9-12
Junior High Schools: Grades 7-9
Elementary Schools: Grades K-6
Primary Teams: Primary Schools or (portions of) Elementary Schools Grades K-3

9th graders in a 9-12 high school may participate as a member of their high school team.

A school is defined as the students registered in the school, or a home school student within the geographical boundaries of the public school in which they reside. The "school" usually has a building or group of adjacent buildings in the same geographic location or campus, and in the case of a public school system has specific geographic boundaries.

Note that with open enrollment or magnet schools, the person is a student of the school in which they attend (are registered) regardless of the district they reside. (with the exception of home school students)

By the vote of the board (recent, the "Blake-Harriet rule"): A school with the same administration and name may be considered as the same school regardless of the location of the campuses that entail that school. (e.g. Lake Harriet Community School, and The Blake School).

By the way the event is publicized: K-12, K-9; K-6; and K-3, any student below the maximum may participate as an individual (or team, if qualified as above) in any section.

MSCA names the winner of the high school section (i.e. k-12) as the Denker representative. By the Denker rules, that person must be registered as a high school student (grades 9-12). In case of a tie, there will be a playoff.

MSCA names the highest scoring 8th grade (or below) in the junior high school section as the Barber representative.

MSCA names the highest scoring girl student in the High School section as the as the all girl's representative. If that person should also qualify as the Denker representative, then the named person reverts to the next highest girl.

With any specific questions about your school, please contact the MSCA Board.

David Kuhns
MSCA President

St. Kate's and Hotel Info

Rented space at St Kate's is limited (three classrooms and a conference room). I'm afraid that if any of that space is rented, then we will not have any private skittles space left. There is a lot of public space, and the campus dining hall (in the same building) which will be open for food service. | Map of St. Kate's Campus The MSCA does not have a block of hotel rooms nearby. Here is a list of nearby hotels | Hotels Near St. Kate's

Restaurants Near St. Kate's