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Back-to-School
With Chess
By
Michael Rohde, Grandmaster
Back-to-school
is always an exciting time for chess players, as afterschool and
in-curriculum, or school elective chess activities get rolling.
Also key, for many chess-starved children, is the return of the
scholastic chess tournaments. One of the most sought-after of
documents at this time of year is the P.S. 9 Chess Tournament
Schedule, compiled by Rob Young of P.S. 9 Chess. The Schedule
is a scholastic tournament calendar listing the tournaments of
many schools (e.g., P.S. 9, Hunter, Browning School, the City,
State and National Championships, and many others), which is a
handy reference throughout the year. Currently, the P.S. 9 Chess
Tournament Schedule is in production, and will be available in
mid-September. To get your copy, or to list your event, write
Rob at ryoung0129@aol.com or fax (212) 724-4328 with your request.
Additionally, when this year’s schedule is ready, it will be posted
at www.ps9chess.org/tournaments.
Another
traditional annual event is the selection of the All-America Chess
Team, sponsored for the ninth consecutive year by Pressman Toy
Corporation. To view this year’s All-America team, which includes
players age 8 through 17, many of whom are from the New York area,
go to www.uschess.org/scholastic/pressman.html.
A
major uptick for scholastic chess is the qualification by two
teenagers into the 2002 U.S. Championship, a 56-player event to
be held in Seattle in January for which Grandmasters are battling
for qualification spots! Congratulations to Cindy Tsai, 16, of
Gainesville, Florida, and Hana Itkis, 12(!!), of Fairlawn, NJ
for earning spots in the championship by virtue of their performances
in the U.S. Open, which was held in Framingham, Massachusetts
in August. The final qualifiers for the 2002 U.S. Championship
will be held (simultaneously) in Philadelphia and Los Angeles
over Thanksgiving weekend. I have yet to qualify, and I hereby
declare my intention to play in Philadelphia (hoping to scare
the competition into going to LA).
Michael
Rhodes is an international grandmaster of chess, and a frequent
contributor to chess publications.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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