OCBCF Newsletter May 2007
From the editor:
Hello everyone. April has turned out to be quite a month in chess. The STCC has really been rolling in the tournaments. At least one per week on the off weeks the tournament are hosted on Saturdays and on days when tournaments are happening elsewhere, the tournaments are hosted on Fridays. This is done to avoid conflicts in schedules. Two scholastic tournaments took place in the Coastal Bend area, that are originated by the Optimist Coastal Bend Chess Federation, and a third one is in the making.
The primary/elementary coastal bend championships were held at Flour Bluff Elementary and were the result of a combined effort of Corpus Christi Chess Club, OCBCF, and Kingsville Chess Academy. The equipment and tutoring were provided by OCBCF, the tournament directors on the floor were mostly provided by Kingsville Chess Academy, and the chief Director was from Corpus Christi Chess Club. That was wonderful. Mr. James did the equipment sales and the rest was done by the Flour Bluff PTA. I personally ran the computer. Everything went great. Unfortunately, there were quite a few other activities going on in the same day, and attendance was a bit low. But the tournament was extra productive and challenging in my opinion. The players were surprisingly attentive and taking their full time. They came to play some serious chess. Mr. Muir ran an excellent tournament.
The secondary championships were just as challenging. I wish to thank the players in the open section. The ratings were high, and the challenges were issued. The amount of expertise in both education and chess was overwhelming. In the high school section, The Collegiate High School showed up in force with 7 players. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Riggs daughter took on all the experts in the open section. She was rated in the 700 area and put up a valiant effort for each and every round. She never wavered or gave up, her enthusiasm was outstanding. In the middle school section, we had a team from as far south as Laredo. Thank you Trautmam Middle School. Wynn Seal came to compete and they did. In the open non-rated section Judy Winston swept with a perfect score. She says she still wants to settle the Winston – Tintera grudge match. Whenever this happens, it should be like two trains colliding. The mate that is heard round the world! We had approximately 30 players in all. Thank you everyone that attended, even Mr. Muir couldn’t stay away. Mr. Velasquez played very sharply in the open rated, and Dr. Thurston from Texas A&M in Kingsville finished undefeated. This was like a Corpus—Kingsville match. It was exciting. Thank you Mr. Shaw for all your support and enthusiasm at the tournament. Your presence contributed to the flavor of the tournament.
Upcoming, we have the Coastal Bend Grades Championships. This tournament is a competition by grade level. This tournament will be hosted by the Mc Gee Chess Club and is a fund raiser for the Calallen schools. Your support will be greatly appreciated. I realize that most individuals are busy with other activities, but if you get a chance, swing by on May 5th and support the cause by buying raffle tickets or food from the concessions stand. I am sure they also take donations. If you are a player, you have the opportunity to be a champion in your grade, and spend a great day playing a wonderful game. For the flyer, consult www.ocbcf.org and find the information you need to enroll in the tournament. Your contribution will be very useful in helping the club grow and go to other tournaments in support of their fund-raisers. Hope to see you there, guaranteed that you will not be bored, and you will not be out in the hot south Texas heat.
Editorial:
Something just as important as practicing and learning chess. I find that statement kind of hard to digest. How can something else be just as important as learning and playing chess. After all, promoting chess is the reason that we are members of chess clubs and work so hard to educate our children in the art of playing chess. The success of our players depends greatly on our involvement as parents, coaches, and sponsors. How active we are, determines how successful our programs are, and benefits the end product (our children). Sponsoring a club without being active does not benefit the club and its players. Involvement is at three levels for this position. 1. As a sponsor, you can provide a place for players to congregate and practice their skills. This requires little or no knowledge about chess. 2. Disseminate information to the players as to tournament dates and some of the latest developments in the chess world. This also does not require chess playing knowledge. 3. Become active in fund-raising and help the players by attending tournaments and encouraging them to attend. This also includes doing the paper processing to utilize the funds to get them there. This also requires no chess skills, just someone who is interesting in promoting the game. None of those three different levels require that you know how to play chess, they just need someone willing to spend a little of their time so that some kids can have a little fun and in some cases, improve their self esteem. One more activity to help keep the students involved and not wandering around looking for something to do.
The skills will come in time, if you are involved. You might even decide to become an organizer. This is an even better benefit for the scholastic players. These organizers are known as tournament directors. This is a challenging step for anyone to take. However, the process is taken in steps. The first step is to volunteer your service as a club tournament director. We have in place a program where you shadow more seasoned tournament directors to know the procedures used in running a tournament from the floor up. Once the individual knows the basics, they are assigned a position or section. The advantage that a tournament director is never alone, there is a support circle designed to help anyone at any level. Then once you learn the basics, you begin to get involved in the running of a tournament as far as planning is concerned. Eventually, you wind up running your own and controlling every aspect of the tournament. Remember, being a tournament director, does not mean we are perfect, it simply means that we are trying our best to run a chess tournament according to our interpretation of USCF rules in the best way possible.
Tournaments don’t happen officially by themselves, they require certified trained personnel. These tournament directors are dedicated individuals who volunteer their time and effort to promote chess through tournaments. It does require some studying, and knowledge of chess, but by no means does it require that you be an expert at playing chess. After all, chess is an on-going learning opportunity. Tournament directors are always in demand. The need for them is just as important as the scholastic players competing. Without the tournament directors, rated tournaments can not take place. The less tournament directors on hand, the more the ones that are there will work and the higher chance they will not last long. I have always said that if you want to be in the tournament hall, get involved, and what better way than to donate your time than as a tournament director or tournament staff.
Speaking of which, I would like to congratulate the latest tournament director promotees. I am sorry, I think I just created a new word. Anyway, Mr. Kenneth Muir has just moved up to the rank of Senior Tournament Director. Mr. Joel Saucedo has joined the ranks of tournament directors as a club TD. All this takes is US Chess Membership and an Pledge signed and returned to US Chess. The local requires a few more things, including a written open book test. The senior level requires more tournament experience as a director and a written test of higher difficulty. If anything else, if you buy a copy of us chess rules of chess, you will understand more about everything. Again congrats to all and thank you. Hope to see you promoting. Volunteer, the children can always use your help and expertise. Thank you for all you do.