... with 24 kids tomorrow at 5 am for the National Grade School Championships. 318 has teams in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade sections. I guess we have some reasonable chance to win the top two grades, but there's an incredible team from Texas with 4 1800s in 8th grade, so the kids have their work cut out for them.
Greg Shahade is coming to help look at games, plus I'm looking forward to seeing my old friend Andrei Zaremba, who will be coaching the UTD team.
Expect some photos of kids playing chess in a week or so.
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Lizzy:
Good luck in Houston with your kids. I was at this event back in 2005 and thought it was one of the best run USCF events I had ever been to. I will not be there this time around as my son has opted to play in an open tourney in Madison Wisconsin.
Below are a couple of excerpts from a blog entry of 2 years ago about the event.
** Organization and Logistics – Although there may have been a few glitches along the way, this was one of the best organized scholastic tournaments I have ever attended. The venue and setting were ideal.
** USCF Staff – In my dealings with USCF staff, absent was some of the condescension and arrogance that I have experienced at past events. Newer players on the scene like Executive Director Bill Hall, Scholastic Director Jerry Nash and Event Director Diane Reese are heading in the right direction. They and many others should be applauded for their efforts and results in Houston.
Here is a link to my complete entry:
http://chessdad64.journalspace.com/?entryid=151
Also note, Chicago based NTD Glenn Panner will be TD'ing at this year'r event. See
http://pannerchess.blogspot.com/2007/12/tis-season-for-sportsmanship.html
Just a couple of questions to ponder:
1) In 2005, there were 1575 participants for this event. Right now advanced entries are only at 1306. I find this surprising. Why do you think this is.
2) Increasingly, young Texans are domininating the Top 100 lists across the age groups. Why do you think this is? Is there ratings inflation going on here? Is it real or is it memorex?
Have fun in H-town and I look forward to your reports.
brad
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