Blindfold Chess wins Best Chess Book of 2009

The USCF, Chess Journalists of America, and US Chess Trust have awarded Blindfold Chess, by Eliot Hearst and John Knott as the Best Chess Book 2009.

"We are pleased that the award committee thought our book qualified despite its rather unusual subject matter." Hearst said.

Arizona Scorpions are moving!

The banner on their former blog says is all, "Our blog has moved."

The new season of the United States Chess League (USCL) begins next week. The Scorpions, in their second season, are sporting a new look. Not only in their new blog, but also in roster. Currently the top story is an interview with manager/player Leo Martinez about who's on this year's team.

The first match is Wednesday, September 2 against the Chicago Blaze. Come out and support Arizona's team taking on the some of the country's top players!

The Arizona Scorpions are a SACA special project for the promotion of high-level, adult chess in our community. Tax-deductible donations to SACA in support of the Scorpions are accepted on the Scorpions website.

Arizona Senior Open

The Arizona Senior Open will be November 7 and 8 at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. The Arizona Senior Open is open to all USCF members born on or before November 7, 1959. The highest finishing AZ Residient will win the title of Arizona Senior Champion.

The tournament will be 5 rounds. Rounds 1 and 2 will be GAME/90. Rounds 3, 4, and 5 will be 30/90, SD/1. Round times will be Sat: 10-1:30-5, Sun: 9-3. Half-point byes are available for each round, but must be requested prior to the start of Round 2. The entry fee is $40 if received by Nov. 4, $50 after Nov. 4.

A flyer and online registration is available on the SACA Webpage.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Tucson Scholastic Warm-up

The 2009 Scholastic Warm-up will be September 19 at St. Joseph's Catholic School. This is the unofficial kick-off to the SACA Scholastic League. Time to kick off the dust from the summer and get back into chess-playing form!

Players can choose to either play in the USCF section or in the non-USCF section. Within a section, players will be separated into smaller (12-16 player) groups based on rating. The tournament will be 4 rounds and, because of the smaller groups, players can expect good competition from the start. Trophies are awarded to the Top 4 players in each group.

A flyer and online registration is available on the SACA website.

Additionally, there will be a coaches' meeting from 10:00am - 1:00pm to discuss the upcoming league season. This meeting is especially helpful to new programs that may have questions about participation in the league or are looking for a coach to help them out.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

2009 - 2010 SACA Board Elections

At the Ye Olde Pueblo this weekend, SACA elected their board members for the 2009-10 term. Your current SACA board members are:

President:									Karen Pennock
Vice President:									Enrique Huerta
Secretary:									Fritz Laos Sr.
Treasurer:									Cristy Ferrari
Directors-at-Large:									Robby Adamson, Satheesh Aradhyula, Jon Shacter, and John Wright

Anyone who wishes to get involved with chess in Southern Arizona we encouraged to contact us. If you have any questions or comments about chess in our community we look forward to hearing from you.

Ye Olde Pueblo wrap-up

The 2009 Ye Olde Pueblo has completed. Congratulations to IM Dionisio Aldama and GM Alejandro Ramirez on their victory. IM Aldama defeated Kevin Zhang in the final round to score 4.5 / 5.0 points. GM Ramirez had the only perfect score going into Round 5 and drew GM Alex Yermolinsky to secure a share of 1st Place.

In the Reserve section, Matthew Noble took sole 1st place, also with a score of 4.5 / 5.0. He was followed by the pack of players: Richard Birberick, Carlos Boteo, Hector Martinez and Hunter Brogna.

Donald Belche, a Phoenix regular to SACA tournament, was the top finisher in the Booster section (4.5 / 5.0). Michael Wang and Brenton Begay followed with scores of 4.0 / 5.0. In the scholastic sections, Henry Learner finished the weekend with a perfect 4.0 / 4.0 both Saturday and Sunday to take 1st place in both events!

Complete standings will be available on the SACA website soon, but until then you can see the Open, Reserve, Booster, Saturday and Sunday final standings here, along with the final prize list.

UPDATE!
The tournament has been rated by USCF. Check out your new ratings!

Ye Olde Pueblo update

The 2009 Ye Olde Pueblo is under way at the Holiday Inn - Palo Verde. This year's attendance is 158 players in the various sections. Currently there are 5 perfect scores* (2 GMs, 2 IMs and 1 FM) in the Open section.

Round 4 top pairings are:

1. GM Alejandro Ramirez (2585)	vs.	IM Levon Altounian (2538)	1 - 0
2. IM Dionisio Aldama (2507)	vs.	GM Alex Yermolinsky (2584)	1/2 - 1/2

* FM Danny Rensch has taken two half-point byes in the final rounds.

UPDATE for Round 5
Top Pairings

1. GM Alex Yermolinsky (2584)	vs.	GM Alejandro Ramirez (2585)		1/2 - 1/2
2. Kevin Zhang (2135)	vs.	IM Dionisio Aldama (2507)		0 - 1
3. IM Levon Altounian (2538)	vs.	Alexander Balkum (2111)		1 - 0

2009 Landon Brownell Memorial Scholarship winners

Yesterday evening before the start of round 3 at the Ye Olde Pueblo, SACA announced this year's scholarship winners. SACA had recently renamed their merit scholarship in memory of Landon Brownell.

Scholarship Winners

Ethan Li (3rd Grade)
Bryan Hu (6th Grade)

Honorable Mention*

Kingsleigh Wong (6th Grade)
Andy Lin (9th Grade)
Kevin Zhang (10th Grade)
Ashu Thakur (11th Grade)

* The scholarship rules specify that a player may only be awarded the scholarship once every 2 years. These players would have otherwise received the scholarship this year as well.

Rules and previous years' winners are available on the SACA website.

Norman Gray Memorial & July Blitz G/5

The Prizes and Standings are posted on the 'Events' page for the Norman Gray Memorial and the July Blitz G/5.

Ye Olde Pueblo

UPDATED!

The Ye Olde Pueblo tournament is this weekend!

A pre-registration list (Friday, July 17 @ 7:00 am) is available online to see who's already in the tournament. It's not too late to still register. If you have already registered, please look at the list to confirm that your entry was processed correctly. If there are any questions or problems, please contact us as soon as possible.