Greetings chess players,
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about our mission and what is available to the military player. I would also like to invite local players to our tournaments for reasons stated below.
Mission: To provide recreational and competitive opportunities for our active duty Marine chess players while finding active duty Marine chess players to form the All-Marine Chess Team which competes against the other services before fielding a player to make the US team to play in the international NATO tournament.
Military Chess Tournaments: There are two national tournaments in the US for the military. The first is the Inter-service Tournament that each service takes a turn at hosting during June. The second is the Armed Forces Open held over Columbus Day weekend in the Washington, DC area.
Inter-Service Tournament: Each service, either through tournaments or a resume, selects 6 active-duty service members to participate on the team against the other service teams. The tournament is a 7 round swiss played over 4 days. Six players then form the US team that will play against other NATO countries. Upcoming hosts include France, UK, Poland, Canada, and Italy.
Armed Forces Open: This tournament is held over Columbus Day weekend in October, usually in the Washington, DC area. It is open to Active Duty, Reservists, Retirees, and Cadets. Entry is free and is a fun tournament with prizes for longest game, announced mates, and more. Each service takes a turn at hosting.
Base tournaments: Base tournaments serve several purposes. They serve as a way for military players to play in a tournament even when there are no clubs nearby. They also serve as a way to disseminate information about the service teams and find potential team members.
Camp Lejeune tournaments: Since Camp Lejeune is so large, we host a tournament at each of the recreation centers to serve the local populations. While the tournament focus is on the local Marine, we would also like to invite the other bases and the local populations to participate in the tournaments. This gives our Marines a chance to face more opponents as well as to get in practice before participating in some of the other service events. If you would like to support a Camp Lejeune tournament with your presence, whether to just visit or play, please contact Sara Walsh at walshsr@usmc-mccs.org or 910-451-0084.
To come aboard Camp Lejeune, you will need to be “sponsored” to get on base. That just means that that someone with base access will have to tell the visitor’s center that you are coming, what your purpose is, etc. so you can be granted access. Just call me at least 24-48 hours in advance and you’ll be good to go!
Good chess to you!
Sara Walsh Activities Programmer Single Marine Program MCCS Camp Lejeune Phone: 910-451-0084 Fax: 910-451-9164 Email: walshsr@usmc-mccs.org Website: mccslejeune.com/smp/