2017 WCA President's Report

2017 WCA President’s Report

April 2, 2017

The Wisconsin Chess Association had a good year in 2016. Attendance at our tournaments was up again. The Association’s finances remain strong as well. We hope to continue building on this success in 2017 and hope that you’ll continue supporting WCA events and all Wisconsin tournaments.

Since only three nominations were received for the WCA Board, all were automatically elected to fill the three open seats. Congratulations to Ben Corcoran, Sandy Hoffman and Dennis Kosterman who have each gained three year terms. My thanks to the other Board members for their hard work this past year.

Mid-fiscal year, US Chess is ahead of its budget once again. The plan is to spend some of the money that has been coming in to upgrade the rest of the website in one big bang.

Due to a change in US Chess Bylaws, I am able to run for a final three year term on the US Chess Executive Board. The previous Bylaws language had a nine year term limit for Board service. I had won a one year term in 2010 and two three year terms in 2011 and 2014 for seven total years. Another three would have been ten total. The Delegates at the US Open last summer decided to not include partial terms of less than half a full term in the computation. So, I’m able to run again. Please register to vote on your MSA page at https://new.uschess.org/players/search/ then you’ll receive a ballot in early June that will need to be returned by July 20.

It was announced in 2015 that the US Open will return to Middleton in 2018! Be sure to place it on your calendar: July 28 – August 5. We hope to have at least as many as 2013 and hopefully more. 2013 was a huge success. Let’s make it even better in 2018! Let us know if you have any ideas to make it better.

The WCA sponsors the Marshall Rohland Memorial/Wisconsin Closed Championship, the Arpad Elo Open, the William Martz Memorial/North Central Open, the Wisconsin Memorial, the Game/60 State Championship and the Wisconsin Junior Open and Veterans Tournaments. All are open for bids from state organizers and/or tournament directors. If you are interested in more details on how to bid for these events, please contact any board member.

When deciding on when to hold an event, tournament organizers need to contact the state tournament clearinghouse director Guy Hoffman to find open dates on the tournament calendar. Guy can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Congratulations to Madison West High School for taking their thirteenth State Scholastic Championship. Congratulations to Brookfield’s Pilgrim Park Middle School for winning their first K-8 State Team Championship and to University School of Milwaukee for winning their fourth K-5 State Team Championship. Earlier this month 411 Wisconsin students participated in the State Scholastic Championships at UW-Oshkosh.

Since the State Scholastic is a team Swiss event at the high school level, Wisconsin uses the Wisconsin Junior Open as its qualifier for national junior individual invitational events. Please plan to participate in the event November 4-5 at UW-Oshkosh to qualify for the 2018 GM Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions, the Dewain Barber Tournament of K-8 and the National Girl’s Tournament of Champions. These events are held in conjunction with the US Open which in 2017 will be in Norfolk, VA at the end of July. Our representatives will be William Schweitzer, Rithwik Mathur and Anupama Rajendra. Good luck team!

Congratulations to Joziah Rudolph for capturing the 2016 Wisconsin Chess Tour title. Organizers desiring to have their event considered for Tour status need to contact Tour Committee Chair Guy Hoffman by November of the year before the tour. Tour standings are listed on our website www.wischess.org.

Tournament organizers are able to add calendar entries to our website calendar and we encourage them to do so. It is free advertising for their events. After submission, you need to e-mail me so that I can approve the event. We have received only a couple of news stories this year and depend on the state players, organizers and TD’s to supply content. If you have an interesting game to share or wish to write up a chess tournament or event, please do so and send it to Arlen Walker or me. Arlen may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

I want to thank all of the Board members for their hard work and dedication this past year.

Respectfully submitted by WCA President, Mike Nietman