IESA Headlines

2011 IESA Chess State Tournament

Students from Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) member schools will compete in the first ever Chess State Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington on February 18 & 19. There will be approximately 395 students who will make the trip to compete in the event this weekend. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the IESA Web site at http://www.iesa.org/activities/chs/entries.asp?Year=2011.

The tournament will consist of a 7th and 8th grade division. It will be Board Swiss format with five boards during tournament play. Experienced players will be competing on board 1 and novice players will compete on board 5. The awards ceremony will take place after the last round has completed on Saturday. Individual and team awards will be given during the ceremony.

The first round on Friday is scheduled to begin at 12 noon. Round two will begin at 3:00 p.m. and the third round will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, round four will begin at 9:00 a.m.; round five at 11:00 a.m.; round six at 1:30 p.m.; and round seven at 3:30 p.m. Students will compete in all seven rounds at the tournament. The complete tournament schedule can be found at http://www.iesa.org/documents/activities/IESA-CHS_Schedule.pdf.

Complete tournament information, plus the FanZone can be found at www.iesa.org. Click on the Chess line at the top of the IESA Web site home page

Should weather become a factor, the IESA Web site will contain up-to-date information regarding the tournament playing schedule. Go to www.iesa.org.

The price of admission Friday is $5.00 for adults and $5.00 for seniors (62 and over) and students (K-8) and is good for all day Friday. Children younger than kindergarten are admitted free. The price of admission for the session Saturday will be $5.00 for adults and $5.00 for seniors and students (K-8). Children younger than kindergarten again are admitted free.