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Chess season in the New York’s Capital Region, which began in October, is just heating up. We are always looking for a way to challenge LaPharaoh and encourage him out of his comfort zone. On October 5th Our Trippy Tribe registered LaPharaoh for the United States Chess Federation (USCF). In short, this means all LaPharaoh’s “official”chess matches moving forward will be cataloged and subsequently result in a change in his USCF rating. From what I’ve gathered it works like this, If LaPharaoh wins against a fellow USCF opponent rated higher, his rating goes up. Now if he happens to lose against a USCF opponent rated lower, his rating goes down. The USCF rating also allows you to qualify for different sections based on said rating (i.e U2200, U1800, U1450 etc). You become eligible for different cash prize tournaments both domestic and internationally based on your rating.
After we officially registered LaPharaoh his rating was 400. With the success of his first 2 local tournaments (Oct 5 @ Bethlehem Central MS, Nov 2 Albany Charter) he now has a rating of 576 and will carry that into his next local tournament on Dec 7.
Our Trippy Tribe recently got wind of the first cash prize tournament of the year in New York State, The Schenectady Open. The Schenectady Open will take place Nov 23 and Nov 24 at the prestigious Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady, New York. LaPharaoh’s section U1450 has an entry fee of $45 and offers three cash prize rewards for the top 3 finishes 120-80-40 dollars respectively.
This upcoming weekend happens to mark LaPharaoh’s 8th Solar Return (aka birthday). Oh how grand it would be if he could ring in the new year with a good showing in his first official USCF cash prize tournament. We couldn’t be more proud of LaPharaoh and the progress he’s made. I don’t know how many 7 year olds compete in official tournaments but we are extremely proud and excited for LaPharaoh and we look forward to documenting his journey. We hope you join us for the ride. 😉
What do you think?