To all Manitoba schools, grade 7 and above

Dear Sir or Madam:

The Manitoba Chess Association is pleased to extend an invitation to your school to participate in the Manitoba High School Chess Championship to be held on Thursday, February 19, 2009 from 9:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m. at the University of Winnipeg.

This will be a team competition. Each school is invited to send a team of four students (plus an alternate if they wish). The tournament will consist of five rounds of games. In each round, four players from each school will play individual matches against four players from another school. Players will be allowed a maximum of 25 minutes per game.

The Manitoba High School trophy and individual trophies will be awarded to the team that scores the most points (1 point for each win, half point for each draw).

Students must be in grade 7 to 12 to be eligible to play, and any school encompassing any of these grades is eligible to submit a team. (For example, a K-8 school can submit a team, providing the players are in grade 7 and/or 8).

The tournament is to be held at the University of Winnipeg (room to be determined). Teams are asked to arrive at the University by 9:30 a.m., with the first round starting at 10:00.

Schools are asked to pre-register their teams by contacting Blair Rutter at 256-2353, or by sending an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Entry fee of $20 per team, payable at the door. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday, February 17.

If your school would like assistance in starting a chess club or obtaining chess sets, please contact me at 256-2353.

The Manitoba Chess Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting chess in Manitoba. The origins of the Association date back over 110 years. For more information on the Association, please visit our website at www.chessmanitoba.com.

We look forward to your school’s participation in this tournament.

Sincerely,
Blair Rutter
President Manitoba Chess Association