Aug. 2-5 Tournament of College Champions – Texas
6SS, 40/2, SD/1, Westin Park Central, 12720 Merit Drive, Dallas, TX 75251. In 3 sections; each college in the US may enter up to 3 players with no more than one in any section. No EF; letter from the college designating their official representative(s) required. Minimum prize fund $3000: Open: $600-300-180-120, top U2300 $240. Under 2100/Unr: $300-180-120-60, top U1900 $150. Under 1700/Unr: $240-120-90-60, top U1500 $150, top U1300 $90. HR: $99, 1-888-627-7032. Rounds Sat. 7 pm, Sun/Mon 11 am & 7 pm, Tue 11 am (not pm). Ent: USCF (Tournament of College Champions), PO Box 3967, Crossville TN 38557. WCL JGP.
Here is the link for registration.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
This is a horrible time for a college tournament. Students are at their summer breaks and their schools cannot process their expense money. Who came up with this idiotic timing? This is the same stupidity as the U.S. Junior and Cadet Championship. Can the USCF get someone competent to handle this?
I agree. This is a bad time for me too. They could do it in September of October.
The timing is so that serious chess players can first play in the college tournament and then flow right into the US Open, which is being held at the same hotel. Plus college team coaches and sponsors who accompany their teams, can participate in the USCF college chess committee meeting, and network with their peers attending the various other USCF meetings that are held concurrent with the US Open.
I’m a college student and I’m not interested in uscf meetings. I wanna play chess and I’m not going to kill my vacation for this. I prefer to play in the pan-am in December. College and scholastic tournaments don’t take place in the summer for a reason. Who’s the genius behind this?
Many college students play serious chess events in the summer .. no classes, more time to focus on prep for the events. With the US Open in Dallas, the TCC should draw from the TX hotbed of collegiate chess, UTD, TX Tech, UTB, etc. And the players will stick around to play in the US Open, where even some class players will get the “pleasure” of playing on a top board against a GM or IM, – at least during round 1! And while you as a player might not be interested in the organizational stuff, the US Open brings together those who are working to build more participation in college chess. You’re young, you’ll understand this one day.
The Pan Am will also be a good event. But it also has timing drawbacks … some collegians don’t want to miss the holiday time with their families. Unfortunately, there is no perfect time slot.
As far as who is responsible ..its the college chess community .. the same people who organize the Pan Am, the Collegiate Chess League, and now the TCC. None of these things happen by magic.
(BTW- my reply is really not aimed at the “disinterested college student” who made the previous posts. Its for the 100’s of followers of Susan’s blog, who are genuinely interested in information about what’s going on in the world of chess)