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Check the tournaments results page for the Tulsa Fall Open Check out the What's New page for all the latest, updated 21 Dec 08.
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Oklahoma’s USCF Clearinghouse Harold Ball has become an Oklahoma Chess Icon over the years for faithfully tending to his Official USCF Clearinghouse responsibilities. He has deftly stayed clear of the politics to fulfill this obligation with unquestionable integrity. The result is the most complete list of non-conflicting chess tournaments available for Oklahoma. The OCA always keeps this page linked from all pages of this website, with a link to Harold’s Latest Clearinghouse Schedule exactly as received. The USCF states the following about Clearinghouses on its website, and similarly in all tournament organizer instructions they publish: The USCF recommends that tournament organizers cooperate with each other to anticipate conflicting tournaments with the help of area clearinghouses. The submission of a “Tournament Life” announcement (TLA) should be the last step in the process of scheduling a tournament — after the date has been coordinated with the dates of other organizers through the clearinghouses. The USCF National Office arranges for recognized clearinghouses to assist organizers in avoiding conflicting tournaments. The clearinghouses undertake to notify organizers of possible conflicting tournaments and to help organizers schedule non-conflicting tournaments. Though the clearinghouses are in no way agents of the USCF nor have binding authority to establish dates or settle conflicting events, we urge the voluntary cooperation of organizers with the clearinghouses to avoid conflicting tournaments. The OCA as the USCF State Chapter Affiliate is the sanctioning body for all official Oklahoma Championships, including: Oklahoma Open State Championship, Class Championships, Quick Chess Championship, Blitz Championship, Team Championship, and possibly a couple of others. OSCO organizes the Oklahoma State Scholastic Championship and Oklahoma Grade Championships for the OCA. The OCA also tentatively reserves other dates so all Oklahoma players will have a variety of fun events to participate in. OCA tournaments spaced well apart in a sincere effort to try and avoid scheduling conflicts and make room for all others who want to do the same. The OCA actively encourages more people to organize tournaments, and stands ready to help. You don’t need to be a USCF Tournament Director to organize a tournament. There are several in Oklahoma and the OCA can help you recruit one for your event if needed. Considering the current number of active Oklahoma players, providing at least 2 and preferably 3 weeks between sizable money tournaments is suggested, so that all can have reasonable turnouts. If all tournament organizers are respectful of the USCF Clearinghouse system and each other, the coordinated efforts of more organizers should result in a schedule full of good quality events for all Oklahoma chess players. Of course, the OCA encourages organizers to conduct OCA tournaments requiring OCA membership. This is how your USCF State Affiliate funds itself to better serve Oklahoma chess players and publish Oklahoma’s Official Chess Publication, the OCB. In exchange for this simple support of the OCA, organizers receive help promoting their tournaments through the OCA's periodic Oklahoma Chess Update email broadcasts, and OCA tournament listings on this website and in the OCB. You can find information about all properly organized tournaments on the OCA website. Events requiring OCA membership are listed on the OCA tournaments page , with occasional exceptions added. Everything is always on Harold Ball's Latest Clearinghouse Schedule . If it’s not listed on the Clearinghouse, please consider that participation in a conflicting event can be harmful to the quality of Oklahoma Chess overall. If you would like to schedule a tournament, first contact Harold Ball in Ponca City at 580-762-3860, and be sure to thank him for a job well done. Then we hope you’ll contact the OCA so we can work together to take Oklahoma Chess to new heights. |
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