Call for Bids for the 2012 Illinois K-8 Chess Championships

The ICA Bid Committee is seeking bids for the 2012 Illinois State K-8 Chess Championship. This annual Illinois championship crowns individual and team champions in Lower Primary (K-1), Upper Primary (2-3), Elementary (4-5) and Junior High (6-8).

Traditionally the championship rotates between upstate and downstate and 2012 is an upstate year. The tournament is generally put on the calendar the first or second weekend of March. It has been played as early as the last weekend of February and an early 4th weekend of March. The first two weekends of March are strongly preferred. Bid specifications and procedures are available on this web site. Refer to the main menu at left and click on “Bids”.

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Register to Vote in USCF Elections

The United States Chess Federation will hold an executive board election in July. In order to vote in this election, you must be a USCF member in good standing, and you must register to vote. The deadline to register is March 31. To check your status as a registered voting member, go to http://msa.uschess.org. To register as a voting member, go to: https://secure2.uschess.org/voter-registration.php. For more information on voter registration, click here. Ballots will go to registered voters with the June edition of Chess Life.

Executive Board re-elected for two more years

Joe Splinter, Larry Cohen and I [Pattie Zinski] counted ballots today [Dec 5th] at the Glen Ellyn Library. Here are the results:

President: Tom Sprandel 16 votes, no write-in candidates
Metro V.P.: Michael Cardinale 15 votes, no write-in candidates
Treasurer: Carl Dolson 16 votes, no write-in candidates
Secretary: Maret Thorpe 16 votes, no write-in candidates
Downstate Vice President: David Long 10 votes, Mark Nibbelin 1 vote

We did not count two ballots that we received. The first one had no name or return address, so we could not verify that whoever sent it was eligible to vote. The second ballot had checks next to the printed list of candidates, as well as checks and names written for write-in candidates.

Revisions in Tournament Guidelines Under Way

ICA issued comprehensive bidding and tournament guidelines in January of 2010. An update of those guidelines is presently under way, with the goal of providing more detailed guidance to organizers on nuts and bolts designed to make tournaments run smoothly. The project has been on our drawing boards and is being expedited partly to address problems which arose at November’s All Grade state championship. The project is being spearheaded by Pattie Zinski of our Youth Committee and Garrett Scott, chair of our Bid Committee.

ICA Announces 2011 Illinois K-8 State Chess Championship

The Illinois Chess Association is pleased to announce that the 2011 Illinois K-8 State Chess Championship will be held in Normal, Illinois at the Illinois State University Bone Center on March 5-6, with State Blitz and Bughouse Championships on the evening of March 4.

The ICA Board of Directors unanimously approved the ICA Bid Committee's recommendation of the bid from Bloomington-Normal Area Scholastic Chess (BNASC). BNASC has successfully run this tournament as well as  the State All Grade Championships several times in the past.