Without a doubt, the best scholastic chess tournament in Northern California for the past six years has been the Calchess Scholastic State Championship. Every Spring, nearly one thousand school aged chess players compete in a single weekend of matches to determine who the best chess players and school chess teams are in Northern California. In its 2014 incarnation, Salman Azhar (www.BayAreaChess.com) returns to organize the event for a record setting seventh straight year. For 2014, he has even added a club section for children who participate regular chess groups but do not have a school team to call their own. With the addition of the club section, Salman Azhar believes that this year’s event may be the biggest yet and definitely deserves to be known as the “Calchess Scholastic Super State Championship.”
This year’s tournament has some changes in schedule and structure that I would be remiss if I did not mention. The most apparent change is that the Calchess Junior High State Championships will take place two weeks before the main event in order to allow for Middle School Aged Students to attend the National Junior High School Chess Championships. Another development to be aware of is that all championship sections, excluding kindergarten, will play a two day event in order to allow the higher rated chess players more time to play better chess. However, players of all ages who have lower ratings will only be required to show up for one day of competition. This makes sense because less experienced players tend to play faster and have less time to devote to chess.
The Torres Chess and Music Academy will once again be encouraging all of it’s students to participate in this event. For decades, Mission San Jose Elementary School (a Torres Chess and Music Academy program) has been the most dominant school at the State Championship and this year’s k-6 section will be named the “Lonsdale Championship” after the MSJE head coach, Joe Lonsdale. For more on Joe Lonsdale and Mission San Jose Elementary School’s successes please visit www.ChessAndMusic.com or search past articles on this blog.
Below is the official schedule for the 2014 Calchess Scholastic State Championships. If your child is lucky enough to be a student at a Torres Chess and Music Academy program you can just download the correct application from this page and submit it to your child’s chess coach. I will personally make sure that your child is placed into the correct sections. If you are not affiliated with TCAMA you should visit www.Calchess.org and apply online.
The 2014 Calchess Super State Championship Schedule is as follows:
For players in grades 6-8 with ratings under 1200:
Sunday April 13 at Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
For players in grades 6-8 with ratings at or above 1200:
Saturday April 12 and Sunday April 13 at Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
For players with rating under 800 and Kindergarten:
Sat April 26 for grades 1-3 at the Santa Clara Convention Center
Sun April 27 for Kindergarten at the Santa Clara Convention Center
Sun April 27 Grades 4-6 at the Santa Clara Convention Center
Sun April 27 Grades 9-12 at the Santa Clara Convention Center
For players with ratings at or above 800 excluding Kindergarten and Middle School:
April 26-27 at the Santa Clara Convention Center
For more information on this tournament, please visit www.Calchess.org.
To find out more about the Torres Chess and Music Academy, please visit www.ChessAndMusic.com
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