USCF Affairs July
USCF Affairs July
ACROSS THE BOARD : PRESIDENT ’ S REPORT
By Ruth Haring
THE U . S . CHAMPIONSHIP HAS NOW concluded and I would like to extend hearty congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura , 2012 U . S . champion . Hikaru has been having exceptional results lately , and at the time of writing , he ranks number five in the world in the live rating list !
Irina Krush is our new U . S . Women ’ s champion and showed her strength with excellent opening preparation and consistent strong play . Congratulations to the 2012 U . S . women ’ s champion , Irina Krush !
Once again , the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis exceeded all expectations in providing a truly exceptional experience for our champions with their outstanding organization of the U . S . Championships and commitment to excellence . Be sure to stop by the club in St . Louis if you are in the area this summer for your vacation . You can have a friendly game of chess and also visit the World Chess Hall of Fame across the street . See the club website for a list of upcoming events .
Last weekend USCF launched our beta for online play . I urge all of you to register and try out USCF online play at http :// chessserver . rmrdevelopment . com /. Be sure to send in your comments and suggestions to our development team .
The remarks below were made to open the USCF executive board meeting on May 19-20 in St . Louis .
Today , I am going to speak first about our scholastic and national events . Then , I will discuss our “ chess community ” and my thoughts on new challenges facing the organization . Finally , I will discuss our promising future .
The 2012 scholastic chess nationals have brought chess in the United States fantastic publicity this spring . These scholastic events include the National Elementary Championships , this year held in Nashville ; the National Junior High School Championships held in San Diego ; the National High School Championship held in Minneapolis ; and the KCF All-Girls Nationals held in Chicago . Kudos and thanks from all of us to Pat Knight- Smith , National Events Director and Assistant Executive Director for doing all needed to make these events successful .
The 2012 headline is not the attendance numbers but rather the fantastic rock and roll performance of Brooklyn Intermediate School I . S . 318 who wowed us all with their fairy tale win by a junior high team of the National High School Championships .
This exceptional result was featured in two New York Times stories , with coverage in Forbes magazine and on MSNBC and the Minneapolis CBS News affiliate . This public relations storm followed on the footsteps of the release of the film “ Brooklyn Castle ,” which is a documentary about I . S . 318 , “ the inner city public school that ’ s home to the most winning junior high school chess team in the country .” If you get a chance , go see this film !
The KCF All-Girls National was held in Chicago in April and broke last year ’ s attendance records . 238 girls played in this event ! But best of all , the 18 and younger section was won by 11-year-old Anupama Rajendra ! The All-Girls National is a qualifier for the World Youth . Qualifiers include all perfect 6-0 scores and all players who take first place in a section .
Here in St . Louis , on the 19th of May , 2012 , the USCF executive board is proud to be a witness to the final rounds of the U . S . Championships . Our top players are truly world class competitors . As expected we have tough battles for top honors between Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky as well as between Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih . Since we have such strong U . S . chess champions , their accomplishments sometimes overshadow the accomplishments of the other players . We should note with extreme pride the results and commitment of all of our championship contenders who are battling long and hard to victory . Team USA will be very competitive at the Olympiad in Istanbul .
St . Louis hosts some of the best fighting championship games in the world , featuring the no-draw before move 30 rule , and organizational excellence of exceptional quality . We are also very pleased to have a superstar team of chess commentators for the U . S . Championships , Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade and Grandmaster Ben Finegold . These two “ talking-heads ” have a world-wide following and are blazing a trail for the future of chess newscasting with their insightful analysis , stories , and interviews .
National events in the second half of 2012 include the Game / 10 Championship in Las Vegas , the National Open in Las Vegas , the
U . S . Open in Vancouver , Washington , the Game / 30 and Game / 60 Championships in Pleasanton , California , and the K-12 Grade in December in Orlando . These are all great events and you should come out and participate if you can .
As you may have concluded from my remarks about our national events so far this year , USCF continues to have stable and healthy revenues which I have commented on at length in previous messages .
Since we have successfully defeated the dragon of impending financial doom , and we now have a more fiscally healthy organization , I will note that we still have work to do on governance and are awaiting our 501 ( c )( 3 ) approval . With this as a backdrop , we now need to change focus and work to raise funds to support our national teams . This year is an Olympiad year and we are seeing substantially higher fees from the organizer . We need to increase our fund raising efforts to ensure our team has first class accommodation and support in Istanbul .
In chess terms , USCF was under attack . We defended our position and have consolidated . We are now putting our pieces in the best possible strategic positions , looking for opportunities to make our position even better .
Today the situation which we must examine is not on the chessboard , but with the people who move the pieces . The chess community includes players , coaches , teachers , tournament directors , organizers , parents , family members and other volunteers supporting our chess endeavors and events . We all are working together to develop chess , to develop our players to their full potential , and support the organized activities of schools , teams , clubs , and affiliates .
Many of our members who are involved in organizing tournaments , coaching , training and tournament directing came up through the ranks as a chess enthusiast and tournament player . As such , we have developed a taste for winning at chess and enjoy the fruits of victory .
When your goal is to promote chess , “ victory ” should be defined as the promotion and growth of the game for the betterment of the entire community . This means introducing more people to chess , showing them it can be fun and chal-
12 Chess Life — July 2012 uschess . org