2009 WSCF All Girls Tournament

Just in - news that the 2009 Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation All Girls Tournament will be held on February 28, 2009. Details will be provided within the next few weeks. Here is some background information about this special event, from the January, 2009 WSCF newsletter received by email earlier today: The Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation, a 5 year old 501(c) (3) non-profit is hosting its third annual All Girls Chess tournament on February 28th. We expect over 100 girls from throughout Wisconsin to participate. The first year we had 21 girls participate and last year close to 60 students. We have funds and are committed to award scholarships in the amounts of $300, $250 and $50 to the champion of each of the 3 divisions. The WSCF is looking to increase the level of scholarship support for this worthwhile tournament. Here are excerpts from the WSCF newsletter: I am writing on behalf of all girls in Wisconsin who play scholastic chess in clubs, leagues and tournaments. You may already be aware of the rapid growth of scholastic chess across the nation and that the typical ratio of male to female participation is 9 to 1. This ratio has been true for centuries and many studies have done on this subject. There is a national movement to have tournaments just for girls and we believe we are a leader in this effort and expect the size of this tournament to grow each year. You may also know the power of long term participation in the learning of chess can increase students intelligence, critical thinking, logical, self-esteem and spatial awareness. Again, many studies have proven this and the result most often cited is the immediate raising of math and reading test scores. You can read more about this on our website www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org . You may especially want to look at the article "Chess Empowers Young Minds" and the video by National Geographic "My Brilliant Brain - Make me a Genius," which features the first woman to earn the Grandmaster title, Susan Polgar. The gifts of chess empowers young people of both sexes. The WSCF is proud to have as its mission the teaching of chess to students all across Wisconsin. The All Girls Tournament is just one of our many activities to promote chess as a powerful educational tool. One goal of the WSCF is to provide motivation for more girls to play chess and one way to do this is via the All Girls Tournament and the awarding of scholarships. We have committed what our resources allow at this time but would like to increase these amounts with grants and gifts from interested individuals, professional groups, foundations and corporations. One goal would be the awards given in each division to be $1000, $500 and $250 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The second part of this goal would be to grow the fund to be able to do this each year. One hundred percent of donations that WSCF receives marked scholarships are deposited into our scholarship trust account. Scholarships awarded are paid directly and only to the school of attendance of the recipient. Your support and others you know may help in being a catalyst for some young girl to commit to studying chess with the goal of winning scholarships to help make college affordable. If you would like more information, a visit to your office, or a presentation to a group of your colleagues please contact me at bob@wisconsinscholasticchess.org , at our P.O. Box or at 262-573-5624. If you would like to donate directly you can mail a check to our P.O. Box marked "all girls scholarship"; or donate via a credit card on our website. On behalf of present and future female chess students in Wisconsin I extend my appreciation. Sincerely, Bob Patterson-Sumwalt President/Founder Wish I'd hit a big jackpot in Las Vegas so I could spread around some largesse): As it is, my desire to help far outstrips my ability to provide financial wherewithal, but I will be making a contribution, and I hope you will, too. I'm going to take advantage of the online contribution to get one in before midnight tonight so I can get one more charitable deduction for tax year 2008. It's for a good cause and if you itemize your deductions on Form 1040 it will help to reduce your net income tax. This is one event I will be following closely - will pass along the tournament information as it becomes available!