OCB Editor’s Message

As you can see from the cover, 2006 was a great year for Oklahoma chess. Check out the OCA President’s message for the good news about open tournament chess in our state. And that’s not all of the good news…

Scholastic chess is also doing great! The OSCO Grand Prix has 1/3 more events scheduled this school year, with 15% higher average turnout so far and Oklahoma’s USCF youth membership up 9% over last year. OSCO also placed 6^th among all USCF Club Affiliates in the USCF’s Membership Appreciation Program for the largest increase in scholastic/youth/young adult memberships. For the total number of memberships processed, OSCO was 3rd on the club affiliates list, right after New York City’s well known Chess in the Schools program.

Rated tournament records also continue to fall. The historic 7th Annual Oklahoma State Grade Championship at Ida Freeman Elementary in Edmond attracted 247 players from 60 schools, smashing the Grade Championship record of 212 set in 2005 and even eclipsing the all-time record 237 players at the 2005 State Scholastic Championship.

More and more schools and volunteers are getting involved in scholastic chess, indicating continued strong growth in 2007. The OCA’s future looks bright indeed! Thanks to the Team OSCO volunteers for making it all happen.

We hope you’ll enjoy this issue of the Oklahoma Chess Bulletin. Our sincere thanks go out to many of your fellow OCA and OSCO volunteers for OCB content provided. Working together as a team Oklahoma chess will continue to achieve new heights for you to report on and read about, both here and on the websites of OCA and OSCO. If there’s anything missing that you would like to see in the next OCB, please submit it by the end of April for publication.

Cheers,

Mike Swatek