2010 Texas Team Championship

The 2010 Texas Team Championship is just two months away, so now is the time to start forming your team! Last year's event was a big success with 14-teams competing, and we're expecting another strong turnout in 2010. Complete TLA below:

Jan 9-10, 2010: Texas Team Championship
Hosted by Austin Chess Club

Bridge Center of Austin (next to Taj Palace)
6700 Middle Fiskville Rd
Austin, Texas 78752

4-SS, G/90 + 30 sec. increment
Open to 4-player teams with average rating under 2200 based on
Dec 2009 rating list. One alternate allowed, must be lowest rated.
Entry Fee: $100 per team if received by Jan 7th, $125 at site.
TCA membership required. NS. NC. W.

$1325 b/16 teams: 1st: $500 + trophy, 2nd: $250,
1st U1900: $250 + trophy 2nd U1900 - $125.
Board 1-4 prizes $50 + plaque each.

Registration: Saturday 10:30-11:45am.
Rounds: Saturday 12:30, 6:00, Sunday 9:30, 3:00

Enter online or mail entry to:

AustinChessTournaments.com
P.O. Box 1386
Round Rock, TX, 78680
512-417-9008
registrar@AustinChessTournaments.com

"Kings of Brownsville"

Higher Ground Entertainment is working on a documentary film about scholastic chess in Brownsvile, TX. The film will tell the story of Russell Elementary School, winner of a record-setting 7 consecutive State Championships from 1993-1999. You can learn more and view a trailer(*) at the film's website. If you'd like to support this project, donations are being accepted.

* The trailer is in Apple's Quicktime format, so if you're on a Windows PC, you may need to install a Quicktime plugin for your web browser.

Texas Grade & Collegiate Championships

13th Annual Texas K-8 Grade Championships 6SS, Rds 1-3 G/45, Rds 4-6 G/60. George R Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston, TX HR: $103-$103-$103-$103, Hilton Americas, 1600 Lamar, Houston TX 77010 mention Texas Grade and Collegiate Championships to get rate. Reserve By 10/29 or rate may increase. The K-8 is Open to TX residents or players attending Texas schools. 9 separate tournaments, one per grade (K-8). Trophies to top 10 ind. & top 5 teams (top three players added for team scores, no more than 2 teams per school in each grade.) EF: $37 if postmarked by 11/13. $58 at site. Do not mail after 11/13 as your entry may not be received. Entries to Dallas Chess Club, c/o Barbara Swafford, 2709 Longhorn Trail, Crowley TX 76036. Entry must include Name, USCF ID (or new/pending), grade & school and school location. Incomplete entries will be charged at site entry fee. No refunds after 11/18. Email: info@dallaschess.com 214-632-9000. Do not call after 11/18 as we are traveling. Reg. Fri 11/20 from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm. Reg. Sat.11/21 at 7:30 am-8:30 am. Sat. registration may require a ½ pt. 1st rd. bye. Sat. rds 9:30-12:00-2:05-4:10. Sun. rds 10-1:15. One ½ pt bye available, any round, if requested before end of rd. 2 and if player has not received a full point bye. Online registration (active.com charges a fee.) : http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1796640 Limited number of Team rooms available., www.swchess.com Side events: 4 rd G/30 open tournament on 11/20 at 7:30 pm. This G/30 tournament has three sections: Open, U1400 and U750. EF: $15, $$$60% of entry fees. Bughouse Open Tournament Sat. 8:35 pm. EF: $20/team. Trophy prizes. Parent/Child team tourney Sat. 6:35 pm. EF: $10/team. Trophy prizes. Registration for side event online or onsite only. NS, NC, W.

13th Annual Texas 9-12 Grade Championships 5SS, Grade 9-10 G/120. Grade 11-12 G/90 30 sec inc. Hilton Americas, 1600 Lamar, Houston TX 77010. HR: $103-$103-$103-$103, mention Texas Grade and Collegiate Championships to get rate. Reserve By 10/29 or rate may increase. The 9-12 is Open to TX residents or players attending Texas schools. 3 separate tournaments, one per grade 9, one per grade 10 and one for grades 11-12 (combined). Trophies to top 10 ind. & top 5 teams (top three players added for team scores, no more than 2 teams per school in each grade.) Winner of 11-12th Grade Section wins a 4 year scholarship to The University of Texas at Dallas, worth up to $43,000. Scholarship winner must meet UTD entrance requirements and follow team rules. EF: $37 if postmarked by 11/13. $58 at site. Do not mail after 11/13 as your entry may not be received. Entries to Dallas Chess Club, c/o Barbara Swafford, 2709 Longhorn Trail, Crowley TX 76036. Entry must include Name, USCF ID (or new/pending), grade & school and school location. Incomplete entries will be charged at site entry fee. No refunds after 11/18. Email: info@dallaschess.com 214-632-9000. Do not call after 11/18 as we are traveling. Reg. Fri 11/20 from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm. Reg. Sat.11/21 at 7:30 am-8:30 am. Sat. registration may require a ½ pt. 1st rd. bye. Sat. rds 9,1:30-6:00. Sun. rds 9-1:30. One ½ pt bye available, any round, if requested before end of rd. 2 and if player has not received a full point bye. Online registration (active.com charges a fee.) : http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1796640 Limited number of Team rooms available., www.swchess.com Side events: 4 rd G/30 open tournament on 11/20 at 7:30 pm. This G/30 tournament has three sections: Open, U1400 and U750. EF: $15, $$$60% of entry fees. Bughouse Open Tournament Sat. 8:35 pm. EF: $20/team. Trophy prizes. Parent/Child team tourney Sat. 6:35 pm. EF: $10/team. Trophy prizes. Registration for side event online or onsite only. NS, NC, W.

13th Annual Texas Collegiate Championships 5SS, G/90, 30 sec inc. Hilton Americas, 1600 Lamar, Houston TX 77010. HR: $103-$103-$103-$103, mention Texas Grade and Collegiate Championships to get rate. Reserve By 10/29 or rate may increase. College section open to any college player. Only Texas Colleges can be Texas Collegiate Champs. Plaques to top 10 ind. & top 5 teams (top three players added for team scores, no more than 2 teams per school.) EF: $42 if postmarked by 11/13. $62 at site. Do not mail after 11/13 as your entry may not be received. Entries to Dallas Chess Club, c/o Barbara Swafford, 2709 Longhorn Trail, Crowley TX 76036. Entry must include Name, USCF ID (or new/pending), grade & school and school location. Incomplete entries will be charged at site entry fee. No refunds after 11/18. Email: info@dallaschess.com 214-632-9000. Do not call after 11/18 as we are traveling. Reg. Fri 11/20 from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm. Reg. Sat.11/21 at 7:30 am-8:30 am. Sat. registration may require a ½ pt. 1st rd. bye. Sat. rds 9,1:30-6:00. Sun. rds 9-1:30. One ½ pt bye available, any round, if requested before end of rd. 2 and if player has not received a full point bye. Fide rated but uses USCF rules. Online registration (active.com charges a fee.) : http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1796645 Limited number of Team rooms available, www.swchess.com Side events: 4 rd G/30 open tournament on 11/20 at 7:30 pm. This G/30 tournament has three sections: Open, U1400 and U750. EF: $15, $$$60% of entry fees. Bughouse Open Tournament Sat. 8:35 pm. EF: $20/team. Trophy prizes. Registration for side event online or onsite only. NS, NC, W. FIDE

IM Gergely Antal wins Southwest Open

Congratulations to IM Gergely Antal, winner of the 2009 Southwest Open. Antal scored 6/7, a half-point ahead of IM Davorin Kuljasevic. The $10,000 guaranteed prize fund attracted 160 players, and the Open section was the strongest ever seen at a Southwest Open, with 17 players rated over 2200, including 2 GMs and 6 IMs.

In the Reserve section, Phung Nguyen scored a perfect 7/7, a point and a half ahead of his nearest rivals - a performance worthy of the $1,000 first prize.

I'll post games from the event soon.

Watch Southwest Open games live!

For those of you who didn't make it to Fort Worth this weekend for the 75th Southwest Open, you can still watch the games live at monroi.com (free registration required).

TCA Business Meeting

TCA's annual business meeting will be held Sunday, Sept 6 at 10am in the Centreport Ballroom at the Southwest Open tournament site. The meeting is open to the public. If you're planning to attend, please read the motions that have been filed for consideration. You can also read the minutes from last year's meeting.

Time to register for the Southwest Open!

Just 4 weeks until the start of the Southwest Open! In recent years this tournament has established itself as the strongest event held in Texas. Last year's field included 2 GMs, 5 IMs, 1 FM, and 11 NMs. And this year's lineup could be even stronger, thanks to a $10,000 guaranteed prize fund.

Come help us celebrate the 75th anniversary of the longest-running tournament in Texas.

IM Daniel Fernandez wins State Championship

Congratulations to IM Daniel Fernandez, winner of the 2009 Texas State Championship, held Memorial Day weekend in San Antonio. Daniel scored 6-1, a half-point ahead of NM Kalin Nonchev. In the Amateur section Paul Haney scored 6.5-0.5, winning first place by a full point.

The Dallas Chess Club organizers did a great job running the event, but the 113-player turnout was disappointing. In fact, a search of the USCF tournament database reveals that this was a record low turnout for a Texas State Championship. (The database only goes back to 1992.) Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend, as we've now seen below-average turnouts for 5 consecutive years. (An average of 129 for 2005-2009 versus 153 for 1992-2004, or almost a 20% difference.)

Part of the problem is that many Texas players now prefer to play in the Chicago Open, which is held the same weekend and offers a much larger ($100,000 guaranteed) prize fund. This year, 14 Texas players opted to play in Chicago, including 12-time Texas State champion IM Joe Bradford, FM Michael Langer, and FM Darwin Yang.

Another problem is that many schools hold their graduation ceremonies over Memorial Day weekend. And many of our top players are UTD students who return home (out of state) when the Spring semester ends. One possible solution, proposed by Luis Salinas, would be to swap the dates of the Southwest Open and State Championship.

What do you think? If you have ideas for how to attract more players to the State Championship, please send them to texaschess@gmail.com

State Championship this weekend

The 64th Texas State Championship takes place this weekend in San Antonio. Good luck to all the participants!

TCA Scholastic Meeting

A recent issue of Texas Knights magazine published the wrong time and location for the upcoming TCA Scholastic meeting.

The meeting is Saturday March 21, 7:30pm at the McAllen Convention Center.