Call for Nominations and SACA Elections

SACA board elections will be held at the Ye Olde Pueblo Chess Tournament during the weekend of July 18-19, 2015.

The SACA board consists of the following positions:

President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
(4) Directors at Large

Terms are one year commencing immediately after election results are announced at the Annual Member Meeting to be conducted on Sunday, July 19, 2015, 3pm at the Ye Olde Pueblo Chess Tournament. If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please send an email to: nominations@sazchess.org, and indicate the position you are interested in running for. Nominations will close June 30, 2015. You must be a registered SACA member of 13 years of age and reside in Southern Arizona in order to run for office. SACA membership registration is done free via the SACA website.

Seeking reelection are Martha Underwood (President), John Wright (Vice-President), Michelle Martinez (Treasurer), Sumhith Aradhyula (Secretary), Robby Adamson, Levon Altounian, Lee LaFrese, and Matt Noble (Directors at Large).

Chess for Charity - Three Tournaments! (Beginning June 6, 2015)

Chess tournaments to raise money for the Tucson Community Food Bank. 100% of profits benefit the charity.

Three separate tournaments:

June 6 - August 8 - September 5.

See the Events section for more details - http://www.sazchess.org/events/events.php

League Match #2 - November 22, 2014

Hey Chess Players! Are you ready for the next League Match? Join SACA on November 22 at Alice Vail Middle School for League Match #2! This is a non-rated, team tournament and registration is done through your coach! Email scholastic@sazchess.org if you have any questions about the tournament or need help finding out who your school's chess coach is. Hope to see you on the 22nd!

League Match #2 Flyer

2014 Arizona Senior Open - November 1-2, 2014

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2014 Arizona Senior Open on November 1-2! There was a 5-way tie for first place, with John Irwin winning the title of State Champion on tie breaks! Congratulations to the other players who also scored 4 points:
Laurence Wutt - CO
Jan Romanski - AZ
Steve Farmer - AZ
Ralph Dudy - AZ

Congratulations to Jan Jones for winning the Top Senior 60+ prize and to Tony Ebarb for winning the Top Senior 70+ prize!

Photos from SACA League Match #1, October 25, 2014

Thanks to Levon Altounian for the photos!

SACA League Match #1 Winners

Congratulations to the following teams that placed in the top 3 of their division at SACA League Match #1!

JUNIOR HIGH

Gold

1st - Doolen
2nd - BASIS North-A
3rd - Esperero

ELEMENTARY

Gold

1st - BASIS North-A
2nd - Manzanita-A
3rd - BASIS Oro Valley

Silver

1st - Harelson
2nd - DeGrazia-B
3rd - BASIS Tucson-B

Bronze

1st - Canyon View
2nd - BASIS North-B
3rd - Sunrise Drive

PRIMARY

Gold

1st - BASIS Oro Valley-A
2nd - BASIS Tucson-B
3rd - Wilson

Silver

1st - DeGrazia-A
2nd - Sonoran Science Academy-B
3rd - BASiS Oro Valley-C

Bronze

1st - Manzanita-B
2nd - St. Michael-A
3rd - Harelson-B

SACA Voting Process

Registered members may vote in person at the Ye Old Pueblo chess tournament during the weekend of July 19-20, 2014. Voting shall be closed one hour prior to commencement of the annual meeting to be conducted on Sunday 7/20. You must be 13 years old or older to vote and a registered SACA member to participate in the voting.  SACA members who have already registered for membership need not register again.

Call for Nominations for SACA Board

The SACA board consists of the following positions:

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

(4) Directors at Large

Terms are one year commencing immediately after election results are announced. If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please send an email to the current SACA president at: president@sazchess.org, and indicate the position you are interested in running for. Nominations will close June 30, 2014. You must be a SACA member in order to run for office or to vote in the election.

2012-2013 Landon Brownell Memorial Chess Scholarship Recipients

The SACA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the recipients of the Landon Brownell Memorial Chess Scholarship for the 2012-2013 chess year. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide support to Southern Arizona scholastic chess players who have demonstrated excellence in chess and a desire to further their chess development.

The recipients were confirmed at the SACA Board meeting held on 9/30/13, and should be receiving their official letter this week.

The SACA Board congratulates these players on their rating achievement and looks forward to their continued chess success in southern Arizona.

2012-2013 scholarship recipients:

3rd Grade: Jonathan Martinez. Eli Cindrich, Brian Belakovsky

6th Grade: Ryan Thompson (Honorable Mention), Daniel Shevelev (Honorable Mention)

7th Grade: Ethan Li, Sreekar Bommireddy (Honorable Mention)

8th Grade: Xiexan Wang (Honorable Mention)

9th Grade: Rohan Mittal, Bohan Li (Honorable Mention)

10th Grade: Bryan Hu, Kinsleigh Wong (Honorable Mention), Derek Chen (Honorable Mention)

12th Grade: Steven Pennock, Justin Arnold (Honorable Mention)

For more information about the Landon Brownell Memorial Chess Scholarship and for eligibility requirements, please visit:http://www.sazchess.org/scholastic/merit_scholarships.php

Tucson Scholastic Warm-Up Results

Thanks to all who attended the Tucson Scholastic Warm-Up on Saturday and thank you to Warren Elementary School, Principal Robin Dunbar, and Coach Mitch Shacter for hosting! 

The tournament has been rated, and results can be found here:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201309281492-14347301
Tournament results are as follows:

Section A
1st: Quinn Hudson 
2nd: Brian Belakovsky
3rd: Michael Simon 
4th: Yulia Savine
5th: Robert Leenhouts

Section B
1st: Derek Liang
2nd: Ryan Zou
3rd: Kennedy Warrilow
4th: Trey Allen
5th: Drew Smith

Section C
1st: Kesav Chandran
2nd: Hunter Holt
3rd: Annelise Allen
4th: Damien Hardin
5th: Nghishawn Nguyen

Section D
1st: Isabelle Simon
2nd: Reece Cain
3rd: Gregory Allen
4th: Austin Rigg
5th: Alexander Hoover

Section E
1st: Francesca Pieroni
2nd: Anthony Somohano
3rd: Ray Xiang
4th: Nitish Bhamidipati
5th: Ulysse Worrall

Section F
1st: Aaron Steele
2nd: Connor Belakovsky
3rd: Eleonore Worrall
4th: Alexander Yee
5th: Lucas Dent

Non-Rated Section
1st: Natay Buss
2nd: Allan Chavarin
3rd: Cipriano Herrera
4th: Armen Moomjian
5th: Mical Clark