New: Purchase/Renew Your ACF Membership Online
December 31, 2011 - ACF membeships can now be purchased on this website. Just click Join ACF in the menu on the left. Payments can be made using your credit/debit card or Paypal account. Avoid the hassle (for you and the tournament director) of buying memberships the day of the tournament.
Featured Events
Start the new year off right by attending a chess tournament near you.
- February 18-19, 2012 - Montgomery - The two-day Queen of Hearts tournament has been one of the major Alabama tournaments over the years at a great venue. Plan to attend the ACF business meeting as well when we will discuss the potential for a Seniors tournament and other happenings in Alabama chess. Flyer
- April 28 & 29, 2012 (tentative; firm dates expected by Jan. 31) - Birmingham - Alabama State Scholastic Chess Championship: Team & Individual
Chess Coaches: Scholastic Team Rules Change
December 3, 2011 - The Alabama Chess Federation has adopted rules changes governing scholastic team competition for all future Alabama Scholastic Team Championship tournaments.
The new rules are as follows
- There will be two divisions in the Alabama Scholastic Team Championship, one for the Scholastic Championship and one for the Club Championship.
- Since the number of participating teams will not permit separate sections, the teams of these divisions will play together in the same sections, while still maintaining different title and trophy eligibility
- The definitions of school team, club team and player eligibility are as follows:
- A school team must be composed of children who have a pre-existing relationship of meeting, studying and/or being organized together in academic areas beyond chess. A player shall be considered qualified to play for the school whose name appears on the player???s current academic transcript.
- A club team must be composed of children who meet regularly in one physical location under the direction of one chess coach or non-school organization. A player must have attended at least three sessions of a club's meetings to be eligible to play for the club team.
- A player is required to register as a member of either a school team OR a club team, but not both.
Chess for the Rest of Us
January 2, 2012 - The January Game of the Month is now available. Click Game of the Month in the left-hand menu.
Alabama Tournament Attendence Up 21% in 2011
December 20, 2011 - More chess players turned out for rated tournaments in 2011 in Alabama. An analysis of attendence at the 28 USCF-rated tournaments played in 2011 showed a gain of 20.8% over 2010. Only tournaments that were held in both years were counted. Attendence at both regular and scholastic tournaments was up, with regular attendance showing the greatest gain after a drop in 2010. Percentage gains and losses for individual tournaments may be seen on the Tournament Results page.