Common Ground

Several people have stated that finding OCA/OCF common ground would be a solution, or at least a good place to start toward one. The OCA leadership couldn’t agree more. Our proposal still stands to cooperate at some level on tournament scheduling, for the benefit of players and organizers alike.

The OCA encourages anyone with an interest, including the OCF leaders, to organize tournaments on non-conflicting dates, preferably with some reasonable spacing between events. This can be easily accomplished by organizers utilizing the USCF Oklahoma Tournament Clearinghouse, Harold Ball, as a first step in tournament scheduling.

Alex Relyea has been good about using the Clearinghouse as strongly encouraged by the USCF to avoid scheduling conflicts. At least two or three weeks between significant events to help all be more successful would be appreciated. If all OCF tournament organizers would properly schedule tournaments using the Clearinghouse and maintain reasonable spacing between events, it would be a huge step toward some normalization of chess in Oklahoma.

The OCA has already scheduled all five of our major 2006 events with the USCF Oklahoma Clearinghouse and listed them at www.ochess.com/events for visibility. A sincere effort has been made to leave plenty of room for significant recurring events that are expected again next year. Here is a big opportunity for those willing to find common ground and a positive way forward.

You can be assured that the OCA will pay all chess prizes earned at our tournaments, regardless of where a player has chosen to play previously. OCF organizers adopting this positive attitude regarding all chess prize funds, including the Grand Prix, is another very reasonable piece of common ground that would represent a big step forward.

Yes, there are some very basic areas of common ground that don’t seem like they should be difficult to agree on as a first step. The OCA hopes the day will soon come when the OCF can decide to make some simple and very reasonable positive actions to address the concerns of so many Oklahoma chess players.

Most sincerely,

Mike Swatek