Dear Parents, Coaches and Students,
We are excited to welcome you to the 2025-2026 season! Registration is now open for all students (Pre K-12) residing in Polk County, Florida. Every player must register with their designated zone school, whether they currently attend that school or choose to register as an independent player.
To ensure a smooth process and avoid late fees, we encourage everyone to register as early as possible. Tournament dates are already posted on this page, allowing you to plan ahead for the upcoming months.
Additionally, our tournament manual will be updated with some important changes and will be available on the website before schools reopen after summer break.
Wishing you all a fantastic summer, and we look forward to an exciting season ahead!
Best regards,
Board Members
Polk Scholastic Chess
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1.
QUALIFIERS: The list of Qualifiers for the Championship Tournament of this season was sent in a previous email and is also available on our website (
click here).
2. CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER SEATING ARRANGEMENT: The player seating will be different than our regular tournaments. Note that this championship tournament is structured for individual players (not teams), so a player may be playing against his/her team-mate.
CLARIFICATION ABOUT DIVISIONS and SECTIONS:
Apart from the five main "Divisions" (Guppy, Primary, etc.), the qualifying players in a division are grouped in batches of say 16, called "Section". For example, top 16 players in Guppy Division (based on their scores from the past 4 tournaments) are grouped in a section called "Championship". So, the player seats (board positions) for them would be labelled as "G-CH-bd 1" to "G-CH-bd 16". The next 16 players in Guppy Division would be grouped in a section called "Section A". So, the player seats (board positions) for them would be labelled as "G-Sec A-bd 1" to "G-Sec A-bd 16". Number of players in a section may change based on grouping criteria set by the Technology Director.
3. SCHOLARSHIPS: PSC has been committed since over 30+ years to “encouraging academic growth through the game of chess”. We have received the SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS for this season, and the judging is now complete. Winners will be announced in the afternoon award ceremony. Applicants must have played all four games on this day and be present to receive the award.
The tournament venue for the tournaments will be the Bartow Civic Center (2250 S. Floral Ave, Bartow, FL 33830).
Questions / Concerns on Tournament Day: For game, rules and game outcome related questions or concerns, coaches can contact our Tournament Director Mr. Steve Morgan. For administration related aspects, contact our Front Desk.
Our tournament setting allows the students to be as competitive as they want to be and challenged, yet not penalized due to their ability level. Polk County students are encouraged to register online at www.polkscholasticchess.com. Additionally, we recognize graduating seniors who have had an extended length of participation with Polk Scholastic Chess and who have made active contributions to their school and community. As part of this encouragement for academic growth we award two scholarships to graduating seniors (more info check the "Scholarship" page).
NOTE FOR FOOD VENDORS and FOOD TRUCKS: We invite insured food vendors to apply for participation at our tournaments. We ask that you provide us a money order of $100 per tournament day, a proof of your insurance, hold harmless, additional riders, as well as the background checks for all of your staff who will be present on site. We reserve the right to review the application and/or menu and approve or deny the same. This may especially be the case if there is a conflict with a previously approved vendor (we have first come first come policy as well as we try to minimize competition for same food menu). We expect all vendors and their staff to be respectful to our kids, coaches and parents.
NOTES FOR COACHES TO PLAN & PREPARE :
1. EMAILS: Our email, (including auto emails) and newsletters may be stopped by your spam mail filter. We recommend that you whitelist our email account: president@polkscholasticchess.com to receive the emails.
2. Registered Coaches: Login to the COACHES CORNER to see the students registered under your name as coach and for your school. Feel free to reset your password if you have forgotten.
3. New Coaches: If you have not yet registered (i.e. if you are a new coach), you must complete your paperwork on the Coaches Corner (on our website) so we can submit it to the school board. Please register online. Lot of new coaches may not have their profiles correctly set up - or not assigned with the appropriate school.
4. REGISTRATION ERRORS AND CORRECTIONS: Last day to notify us (at president@polkscholasticchess.com) for such issues and get them corrected is October 8, 2024.
5. CHECK-IN: On the tournament day, pick-up your team's check-in sheet from the FRONT DESK (at around 7:30 am). This sheet must be marked appropriately and submitted latest by 8:30 am, so that our computer team can start the player pairings for the first game.
6. GAME RULES: We encourage you to study our chess manual and explain the rules to the kids.
7. CHESS BOARDS: Make sure your players bring their chess boards (or the coaches can bring from school). Kids lose their boards all the time, so we advise you to write the player's name on their personal boards. We recommend BLACK and WHITE chess pieces to avoid issues.
8. SCORING FOR GUPPY and PRIMARY Divisions will be done by scorekeepers inside the hall. Please inform your players to raise their hands once the game is over, so that the scorekeepers can notate their scores. They should not leave the hall till the score is duly notated.
9. SCORING FOR ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE and SENIOR Divisions will be done at the front desk. Both players should report together.
10. Notations and Chess Clocks (Middle and Senior divisions): Please teach your players to notate and use clocks. This helps in resolving most issues.
11. Coordination: To avoid logistics issue with your team, decide and plan how/where you will have them seated together as a team, and how you all will communicate for game timings and score reporting.
12. Announcements: We will start our general announcements at 8:30 am in the tournament hall playing area. Please have your team members attend the same with you.
13. Seating: Feel free to bring your own chairs, tables and canopies. We have limited seating available for parents and coaches. There are NO ASSIGNED ROOMS OR CHAIRS for coaches and parents - seating should be treated as First-come First-serve basis.
NOTES FOR PARENTS / PLAYERS TO PLAN & PREPARE:
1. Full House! We have a full house this season, so please prepare accordingly. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE for indoor / outdoor sitting areas.
2. Volunteers: We will have parent and student volunteers at various positions, and sometimes they have to take hard decisions based on the best of their abilities. I urge you to be respectful to them. As many of you know, ours is a non-profit corporation running since over three decades, and none of the volunteers and board members get salaries. Contact me if you would like to volunteer and give back to the community.
3. Pets: Allery season is here - please respect the fact that many children and adults are allergic to pets. We cannot allow pets on the venue due such allergy reasons as well as safety reasons. Help us help our community.
4. Parking: Anticipate parking challenges - we highly recommend car-pooling. Additional parking spots are available near the school board office on Floral Ave, the library, and the sports grounds, if needed. Please drive slowly as you approach the Civic Center area.
5. Vendors: We may have a few vendors at our tournament including food vendors. The vendors pay a fee so they can advertise at our tournaments and help us by keeping our registration fees low. We also have non-compete arrangement with them so no two vendors would compete for exactly same service or food on site. Please refrain from your business promotion activities unless you are registered with Polk Scholastic Chess.
6. Food: There will be some snacks and drinks available on site. Feel free to bring food from home or get it delivered or check out the downtown Bartow area restaurants within 10 minutes' drive from the venue.
7. Chairs: Feel free to bring your chairs, tables and canopies.
8. Weather: Please check the weather reports and have your kids dressed appropriately. Anticipate and plan for Florida weather.
9. Twitter ("X"): Sign up if you haven't already for our Twitter feeds @PolkChess for Tournament Day announcements, rounds and updates.
10. Courtesy & Sportsmanship: Teach the children that whether they win or drop a game, they should exhibit professionalism and respect to the opponent. Teach your child that games like chess not only help them in improving their logical, analytical and strategic skills on the academic side, but more importantly, experiences of wins and losses at such tournaments make them a better person overall. Teach them to shake hands gracefully after the game is over.
11. Questions / Concerns on Tournament Day: For game, rules and game outcome related questions or concerns, coaches can contact our Tournament Director Mr. Steve Morgan.
For general questions, concerns and feedback, please contact the parent volunteers at the front desk. We need your support and participation to keep this tournament spirit alive.
12. Safety: Please help us to keep our kids safe, by supervising them and also help keep the Civic Center property safe. Students that are not properly supervised by you (all day) will not be allowed to compete in PSC tournaments or rounds. No grills please - we do not want any accidents with any of the kids.
13. Security: There will be police protection on site. For security and medical emergencies please call 911.
14. NO SMOKING POLICY: Please help us maintain our tournament premises smoke free, alcohol free and drug free. We strongly need parent involvement to make this happen for our kids.
OUR PASSION
The board members at Polk Scholastic Chess believe that the game of Chess is an exciting way to teach critical thinking skills, sequencing, sportsmanship, self-control, and many other skills important for academic growth and development. We have seen the progress of students who play chess and their improvement academically. Even if your student is not a high achiever, or has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, Chess is for everyone!
The board members are volunteers drawn from a diverse constituency of technocrats, professionals, medical practitioners, school board specialists, parents and entrepreneurs committed to student academics. The board members have contributed their time, energy and funds for maintaining Florida's largest scholastic chess tournament framework for over 30 years with their experience, commitment, diverse opinions and connections, while keeping one common mission.
