March 7, 2023
Dear
New York State Scholastic Championship Players, Parents, Coaches and Guests,
Thank
You All for attending the 55th edition of the New York State Scholastic
Championships— one of the USCF’s
longest-running scholastic chess tournaments!
It is such a pleasure to welcome
everyone back to Saratoga Springs!
This year we have the most players that
this event has ever had in its history— and
we may very well end up with a record-breaking turnout of over 1,500 players!
For
the first time in our history, we also have had to cap the entries in some of
the sections due to space limitations.
The three K-12 High Schools sections at the
Excelsior Springs
Ballroom, next to the
Courtyard by Marriott Hotel currently have space available and players can enter those sections only online at www.chessaction.com (however we may
close the entries to the High School sections Friday afternoon March 10th— if not earlier). On-site entries
may not be available for any sections this year.
For
the other eleven sections at the Hilton and the City Center, we have set up a
waiting list for those who wish to request to register for those sections.
Please click here for information on the wait list procedure.
To accommodate our large
group of chess players, the tournament is once again being run in three
separate locations.
The
High School Championship, K-12 Under 1800 and K-12 Under 1200 Sections
will be played in the Excelsior Springs
Ballroom, next to the
Courtyard by Marriott Hotel. The
Courtyard and the Excelsior Springs
Ballroom are about
a ten minute walk north of the Hilton
along Excelsior Avenue. The Courtyard
by Marriott Hotel’s address is 11
Excelsior Avenue, and the address of the Excelsior
Springs Ballroom, next to the hotel, is 47 Excelsior Avenue, in Saratoga
Springs. You should be able to walk to
the end of the Hilton Hotel’s parking lot and then continue north on Excelsior Avenue, past the Olde Bryan Inn and onto
the Courtyard Hotel and the Excelsior Ballroom on the left.
The Excelsior Springs
Ballroom has excellent lighting and playing
conditions to accommodate the High School sections. The Canfield and Carousel Rooms in the Courtyard
by Marriott Hotel (next door to the
Excelsior Springs Ballroom) are available for additional tournament games, and
the Schuyler Room upstairs is available for Skittles. The Courtyard will also offer some sandwiches
and premade food items, along with a breakfast buffet running through Noon in
their restaurant. The Saratoga City
Center will also operate a separate food concession geared to our group as
well.
We understand the
inconvenience in having the High School sections separated from the rest of the
sections in the Hilton Hotel by
a 10-minute walk outdoors in the winter. However, we are very fortunate to have such a first-rate tournament facility
and hotel
so close to the Hilton
available and able to accommodate our large number of players, and we will try
our best to give our High School participants an outstanding tournament
experience. We will try to text the
pairings to the individual players or parents, and make them available on the
tournament website as well. If you
registered online and provided your cell phone number with the texting pairings
option, you should be all set. If not,
you can provide that information to the Tournament Staff for future texting of
pairings.
Eight sections of the tournament will be played in the Saratoga Springs City Center, adjacent to the Hilton Hotel via an indoor walkway. The Middle School Championship Section will be played in Room B on the first floor, and the K-8 Under 1600 Section will probably be in this room also. The K-8 Under 900, Elementary Championship, K-5 Under 1400, K-5 Under 1000, K-5 Under 600 Sections and the Primary Championship will all be playing in the Main Hall on the first floor of the Saratoga Springs City Center, known also as Hall D.
The K-3 Under 800, K-1 Championship
and K-1 Under 400 Sections will all
be held in the Saratoga Ballroom of the Saratoga
Hilton Hotel.
The Skittles Room for these sections will be in Room M1, on the first floor of the Saratoga Springs City Center.
If you're interested in trying out some rated chess yourself while you're
waiting, we are hoping to have a special side tournament on Sunday morning: the
Parents
And Friends Tournament! Registration
is from 9:30 - 10:15 am Eastern
Daylight Time on Sunday March 12th
at Chess Control in the Hilton Hotel, and the four USCF-rated games (30
minutes per game, plus 5-second delay per move, per player) might be played in
the Saratoga Springs City Center!
The Parents And Friends tournament may be limited to 10 players, and
USCF membership is required of all players (no equipment is supplied for this
event).
At 9:30 am Eastern Daylight Time
on Sunday March 12th, we will also have a New York
State Chess Association Open House and Tournament Feedback Forum. Here you can learn about NYSCA, a 501 (c) (3) organization and America’s oldest
state chess association, and its efforts to promote and support Chess
in New York State.
Here are some links to
other useful information.
The Continental
Chess website,
which has much chess information and historical data.
The New York State
Scholastic Championships website,
which has standings and pairings, and links to the information for this year as
well as results from prior years.
Some Answers
To Frequently Asked Questions
Awards
Details And Information About Awards Ceremonies
The Tournament Rules
The
Kindergarten/First Grade Rules
The Continental
Chess Code Of Conduct
A Parents’ And Coaches’ Guide To
Scholastic Chess
Thank
You Very Much for your participation and we truly appreciate your support
as we strive to provide all of you with an excellent tournament!
Thank you all again for coming and welcome to historic Saratoga
Springs, New York!
Steve
Immitt
Chief Tournament Director
New
York State Scholastic Championships