Welcome back to another great chess season at Space Coast Scholastic Chess! 

Happy New Year- January 2012 News


113 players registered for the Kings and Queens Tournament as of Jan. 20th at 7:30 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form. 


Our next tournament is the Space Coast Scholastic Chess Kings and Queens Tournament

    Date                Saturday January 21, 2012
    Time               First round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    Place              Gemini Elementary
    Address         2100 Oak Street Melbourne Beach, Fl 32951
                            
click here to pre-register

New- check out the photos from our last tournament the Turkey Bash Nov. 12th, 2011 at Indialantic Elementary
Photos from the Turkey Bash! 


November News

110 players registered for the Turkey Bash Tournament as of Nov. 11th at 7 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form. 


Our next tournament is the Space Coast Scholastic Chess Turkey Bash Tournament

    Date                Saturday November 12th 2011
    Time               First round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    Place              Indialantic Elementary
    Address         1050 North Palm Ave. Indialantic, Fl 32903
                            
click here to pre-register

New- check out these photos and more from our last tournament- see the link below.


Check out the photos from the Oct. Brouhaha here- link to photos  a great way to view them is to use the slide show link in the upper right hand corner- enjoy and a big thanks to parent volunteer Shawn Harrs for taking these great photos for our website! 


Can you guess where the Traveling Pawn Trophy is this month?
    


Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament.  The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team). Congratulations to Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy for winning the giant pawn trophy for the second time in a row at the October Brouhaha! Can they continue their winning streak- come find out at the Turkey Bash on Nov. 12th at Indialantic Elementary!


September News

Check out the photos from the Fall Fracas here- link to photos  a great way to view them is to use the slide show link in the upper right hand corner- enjoy and a big thanks to parent volunteer Shawn Harrs for taking these great photos for our website! 

105 players registered for the October Brouhaha Chess Tournament as of Oct. 7th at 9 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form. 


Our next tournament is the Space Coast Scholastic Chess October Brouhaha Tournament

    Date                Saturday October 8th 2011
    Time               First round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    Place              Holy Trinity Lower Campus 
    Address         50 West Strawbridge Ave. Melbourne, Fl 32901
                            
click here to pre-register

Where is the giant traveling pawn this month?

Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament.  The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team). Congratulations to Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy for winning the giant pawn trophy at the Fall Fracas Tournament!

"First Tournament is Free" Again, if this is your very first USCF rated tournament you will not have to pay the $15 entry fee. However, you will still need to buy a USCF membership which is $13 if purchased at the tournament or $16 if you buy it from the USCF website. The USCF membership is good for one year.

NEW- Check out www.chesskid.com and get a Gold membership for only $15/year through Brevard Chess Center. This is a great deal (normally $50/yr)! Email Chris Bortzner at cbortzner@yahoo.com for more info.   

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Tournament dates for 2011-2012

Please go to our tournaments dates page to see the schedule for the 2011-2012 year. We are working with the schools to finalize the dates and the tournaments dates page will be updated asap. So far these dates have been confirmed by the schools-

    Sept 24th      Southwest Middle School
    Oct 8th          Holy Trinity Lower Campus
    Nov. 12th       Indialantic Elementary
    Jan 21st        Gemini Elementary
    May 12th       Freedom 7 Elementary


The New Giant Pawn Traveling Trophy is Here!

Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament. The giant pawn trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team).

Summer Chess Camp
Hope everyone is having a great summer. Milos and Chris our local chess coaches are having a joint chess camp, see the flier for more info.   

Best of Both Worlds Summer Chess Camp -July 11th-15th

• 8 am to noon 
• location Brevard Chess Center 599 Sherwood Ave. Suite 103 Satellite Beach, Fl 32927
• taught by both local chess coaches Chris and Milos
• cost is $195 per student and siblings are half price!
• price includes T-shirt, commemorative photo, snacks, drinks and some great lessons!

This will be a great workshop and a great way to get the kids started on chess again before the scholastic season starts up again in September.  Contact Chris Bortzner to register, or for more information email chris@brevardchess.com

Summer Updates

The 2010-2011 season ended with our last tournament of the season on May 14th, 2011. We had a great year. We had an average of 99 players per tournament compared to 81 from last year. The "first tournament is free" program was a huge hit and we had an amazing 29 first time players at our January Kings and Queens tournament- a record for sure! 

Space Coast Scholastic Chess takes the summer off and we start again with our first tournament in September.
 

"FAST" information:
New dates for the Florida All Stars Tournament "FAST"- May 20-22. See the tournaments page for more info. For questions please contact eric@spacecoastchess.org .  Mr. Cooper from Indialantic Elementary is the representative from our area for the Florida Scholastic Chess League and can answer questions about the "FAST" tournament.  Updated "FAST" info here.  Link to "FAST" info. on Florida Scholastic Chess League Website here.


Where is the giant traveling pawn now?

This year we saw West Shore Jr./Sr. High, Central Middle School , and St. Edwards  in a close race for the Giant Traveling Pawn. West Shore won it for a second time at the Season Finale in May but in the end it was St. Edwards that took the Giant Pawn home for good. The St. Edwards team beat out the West shore team by 1.5 points- way to go St. Edwards! 
 
So congratulations again to St. Edwards School in Vero- these “chess masters,” earned the Giant Pawn – a great honor indeed!

New Pictures!

Check out the photos from the Season Finale/Grand Prix Chess Tournament on May 14th, 2011 - Click here to view photos (click on the slide show link in the upper right hand corner for a quick and easy way to view)

May News

102 players registered for the Season Finale/Grand Prix as of May 13th at 7 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form. 

Our next tournament is the Season Finale/Grand Prix Chess Tournament

    date Saturday May 14th, 2011
    time- first round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    place- Indialantic Elementary 
    1050 North Palm Ave. Indialantic, Fl 32903 

click here to pre-register.

"FAST" information- New dates for the Florida All Stars Tournament "FAST"- May 20-22. See the tournaments page for more info. For questions please contact eric@spacecoastchess.org .  Mr. Cooper from Indialantic Elementary is the representative from our area for the Florida Scholastic Chess League and can answer questions about the "FAST" tournament.  Updated "FAST" info here.  Link to "FAST" info. on Florida Scholastic Chess League Website here.


New- Check out the photos from the Brevard County Scholastic Chess Championship on April 16th, 2011 - Click here to view photos (click on the slide show link in the upper right hand corner for a quick and easy way to view)

Grand Prix Standings updated! The Grand Prix standings for each section are listed under the Links/Grand Prix tab. Go to the Links/Grand Prix page and scroll down to see the Grand Prix standings tables for each section. Please check these carefully and email me using the contact form with any corrections/questions.

"First Tournament is Free" Again, if this is your very first USCF rated tournament you will not have to pay the $15 entry fee at the March Mayhem tournament. If you played in the Novice section in November it doesn't count as your first tournament because it was not USCF rated. But you will still need to buy a USCF membership which is $13 if purchased at the tournament or $16 if you buy it from the USCF website. The USCF membership is good for one year.



Where is the giant traveling pawn this month?



Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament.  The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team). Congratulations to St. Edwards School in Vero Beach for winning the giant pawn trophy at the Brevard County Scholastic Chess Championship!

April News

97 players registered for the Brevard County Scholastic Chess Championship as of April 15th at 10 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form. 


Our next tournament is the Brevard County Scholastic Chess Championship

    date Saturday April 16th, 2011
    time- first round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    place- Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (lower campus) 
    50 West Strawbridge Ave. Melbourne, Fl 32901 

click here to pre-register.

New- Space Coast Open Tournament reduced entry fee for Brevard County Students ($20 online or $25 at site).  Tournament dates April 29- May 1st or April 30th- May 1st. Click here for a tournament announcement.

New dates for the Florida All Stars Tournament "FAST"- May 20-22.  See the tournaments page for more info.  Updated "FAST" info here.  Link to "FAST" info. on Florida Scholastic Chess League Website here.

New- Grand Prix Standings updated and includes March! The Grand Prix standings for each section are listed under the Links/Grand Prix tab. Go to the Links/Grand Prix page and scroll down to see the Grand Prix standings tables for each section.

"First Tournament is Free" Again, if this is your very first USCF rated tournament you will not have to pay the $15 entry fee at the March Mayhem tournament. If you played in the Novice section in November it doesn't count as your first tournament because it was not USCF rated. But you will still need to buy a USCF membership which is $13 if purchased at the tournament or $16 if you buy it from the USCF website. The USCF membership is good for one year.


New Photos- Check out these photos and more from our last tournament (see link below)




New- Check out the photos from the March Mayhem tournament at Central Middle School on March 19th, 2011 - Click here to view photos (click on the slide show link in the upper right hand corner for a quick and easy way to view)


Where is the giant traveling pawn this month?



Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament.  The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team). Congratulations to Central Middle School for winning the giant pawn trophy at the March Mayhem Chess Tournament!

March News!  

New- Grand Prix Standings! The current Grand Prix standings for each section are listed under the Links/Grand Prix tab.  Go to the Links/Grand Prix page and scroll down to see the Grand Prix standings tables for each section.  

95 players registered as of March 18th at 9 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form.


Our next tournament is the March Mayhem Tournament

    date Saturday March 19th, 2011
    time- first round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    place- Central Middle School 2600 Wingate Blvd. West Melbourne, Fl

click here to pre-register.

"First Tournament is Free" Again, if this is your very first USCF rated tournament you will not have to pay the $10 entry fee at the March Mayhem tournament. If you played in the Novice section in November it doesn't count as your first tournament because it was not USCF rated. But you will still need to buy a USCF membership which is $13 if purchased at the tournament or $16 if you buy it from the USCF website. The USCF membership is good for one year.

New- Check out the photos from the Regionals tournament at Central Middle School on Feb. 19th, 2011 - Click here to view photos (click on the slide show link in the upper right hand for a quick and easy way to view)

Where is the giant traveling pawn this month?

                                      

Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament.  The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team). Congratulations to Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy for winning the giant pawn trophy at the East Florida Regionals Chess Championship!


FEBRUARY 2011 NEWS

112 players registered as of February 18th at 9:00 pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any changes/corrections using our contact form.

Our next tournament is the 

2011 East Florida Regional Scholastic Chess Championship
    date-     Saturday February 19th, 2011
    time-     first round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    place-   Central Middle School 2600 Wingate Blvd. West Melbourne, Fl 32904 

click here to pre-register.

DON'T FORGET THE SIMULTANEOUS!

The Regional tournament is our biggest tournament of the year. The sections for the Regional tournament are K-1, K-3, K-5, K-8 and K-12, which are different from our "regular" tournament sections. First place players in each section (K-1, K-3, K-5, K-8 and K-12) and players from each first place team are invited to the invitational Florida All Stars Tournament on May 27th-29th in West Palm Beach, Florida (see the Tournaments page for more info.).  Trophies will be awarded to the top 10 in each section and to the top 3 teams in K-3, K-5 and K-8 and to the top team in K-1 and K-12.   

New- Check out the photos from the Kings and Queens Tournament- Click here to view photos (click on the slide show link in the upper right hand for a quick and easy way to view)


Where is the giant traveling pawn this month?

                    

Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school and show it off until the next tournament.  The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top 4 scores count as a team). The giant pawn is enjoying itself at the fabulous INDIALANTIC ELEMENTARY (pictured above)!  Congratulations to Indialantic Elementary for winning the giant pawn trophy at the January Kings and Queens tournament!

                   JANUARY 2011 NEWS

104 players registered for the Kings and Queens tournament as of Jan. 28th at 9pm. Click here for a list of pre-registered players and email any corrections/changes using our contact form.   

 Our next tournament is the Kings and Queens Tournament

    date Saturday January 29th, 2011
    time- first round starts promptly at 9:00 am
    place- Gemini Elementary 2100 Oak Street Melbourne Beach, Fl 32951

click here to pre-register.

"First Tournament is Free" Again, if this is your very first USCF rated tournament you will not have to pay the $15 entry fee at the Kings and Queens tournament. If you played in the Novice section last month it doesn't count as your first tournament because it was not USCF rated. But you will still need to buy a USCF membership which is $13 if purchased at the tournament or $16 if you buy it from the USCF website. The USCF membership is good for one year.


Where is the Giant Pawn?
                                           

Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school to show it off until the next tournament. The trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring team (top four scores count as a team). Congratulations to St. Edward's School in Vero Beach for winning the giant pawn trophy at the Turkey Bash tournament! 

Central Middle School will host the Florida East Regional Tournament on Feb. 19th, 2011.  This is our biggest tournament of the year and we expect a record number of players this year. Click here for the tournament announcement for the Regionals.  Pre-registration for this tournament will open on Feb. 1st, 2011.   

NEW- Check out the photos from the Turkey Bash Tournament- click here to view the photos (click on the slide show link on the upper right hand corner for a quick and easy way to view)  



NOVEMBER 2010 NEWS

Date set for the January Tournament- January 29th, 2011 at Gemini Elementary details coming soon!

Check out the photos from the October Brouhaha Tournament-  Click here to view photos (click on the slide show link in the upper right hand corner for a quick and easy way to view!)


Novice Section-  For the November tournament we will have a special section called the "Novice" section for new players that want to try out scholastic chess.  Players for this section will not need a USCF membership but still need to pre-register by Friday November 19th.  On the pre-registration form for the player's section select "NOVICE".  The entry fee for this section will be only $5 and can be paid at the tournament.  The players in this section will play 5 unrated games.  Trophies will be awarded.  This section is geared toward beginning chess players in the lower grades (third grade and under).      


"First Tournament is Free"- In an effort to encourage "new" players to participate in tournaments, all first time unrated players will not have to pay their first tournament fee (typically $15).  All players must pre-register by the Friday before the tournament to play in the first round.

New Traveling Trophy The Giant Pawn-
Compete to win the giant pawn trophy and bring it to your school to show it off until the next tournament.  The traveling pawn trophy will be awarded to the top scoring team at the Turkey Bash tournament.  Congratulations to Central Middle School for winning the giant pawn trophy at the October Brouhaha tournament.  Top 4 scores count as a team. 

USCF memberships will be available for purchase or to renew at the tournament site.  Contact Chris Bortzner at Brevard Chess Center for more information.  You can purchase or renew an economy scholastic membership (for players 18 years and younger but does not include the magazine) for $13 from Brevard Chess Center.  Or if you prefer, you can still purchase or renew your membership through USCF. 


NEW FOR THE 2010-2011 SEASON

"On-Time Start"-  In an effort to start on time and end on time, first round pairings will be made Friday night to allow a 9:00 am start time.  The first round will start at 9:00 am not 9:30 am like last year!  Please arrive in plenty of time to allow a 9:00 am start time!  In order to play in the first round, all players must be pre-registered by Friday at 7:00 pm.  Parents still need to check in their players at the check in table and pay the tournament fee upon arrival.  Walk-Ins and players that are not pre-registered will receive a 1/2 point bye for the first round.  If a pre-registered player is late, they can still play in the round and they have up to 30 minutes before their opponent can claim a forfeit on time.  Of course, if the player is more than a few minutes late, the late player may have to play the entire game using very little time.


"USCF Memberships now available for purchase at the tournament"-  USCF membership is required to play in the tournament.  New this season, you may purchase a new USCF membership or renew your existing membership at the tournament through Brevard Chess Center (Chris Bortzner) which is a registered affiliate of USCF and receive a $3 discount on an economy scholastic membership (which is the scholastic membership without the magazine subscription).  You still must pre-register for the tournament.  On the tournament pre-registration form enter "will purchase USCF" in the USCF member number box.  To purchase a USCF membership directly from USCF click here.   

"First Tournament is Free"- In an effort to encourage "new" players to participate in tournaments, all first time unrated players will not have to pay their first tournament fee (typically $15).  All players must pre-register by the Friday before the tournament to play in the first round. 


"New Section K-6"- K-5 section has been changed to K-6.  Players and teams in Kindergarten through 6th grade are eligible for this section. 

"No Confirmation Emails"-  Unfortunately our old web site form mailer tool was taken out of use by our hosting provider.  Due to the changes our new pre-registration form will not automatically send out a confirmation email when you submit the form.  Instead, we direct you to a "Thank You" page that you can print as your pre-registration confirmation if you like.  We hope to have an email confirmation back in service soon.  

"New Time Control for the Open Section"-  The time control for the Open section (players rated over 1000) will be increased from game in 30 to game in 40 with the last round game in 50.  This change was made based on several requests from players in the Open section. 

"New Prizes for the Open Section"-  Like last year, we will award trophies for 1st through 3rd places in the open section.  This year, open players will have an option to choose between the trophy or a gift card.  The gift card will be $30 for first place, $20 for second and $15 for third.   

The above changes were made based on input that we received at our end of the year meeting and input from the players.

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