Front Page

Special:
Tournament Life Announcements

National News:
TLA Mail is Now Operational

Frank P. Samford, Jr. Chess Fellowship

World News:
Vladimir Kramnik wins World Championship in Rapid Playoff

Chess In the Media: Chess Stories Across the USA and Around the World

Index to Newsletters

National News

TLA Mail is Now Operational

TLA Mail enables USCF members to sign up for emailed announcements of upcoming events that meet their selection criteria. Players can request to be notified when a TLA is first published online and/or two weeks before the event begins.

For recurring online TLAs, the player can request TLA Mail two weeks before each scheduled occurrence of that event.

The signup form for TLA Mail is in the Members Only area of the website.

TLA Mail only sends out announcements about events that are listed in the Online TLA Service. Currently there are about 68 events in the Online TLA Service databank. However, all print TLAs should be included in the Online TLA Service by early December, since the interface that organizers use to create Online TLAs will also be used to create all print TLAS, starting some time in October.

The office staff will shortly begin using that same interface to enter TLAs that are mailed or emailed to the USCF. However, organizers who use the Online TLA Service form to create their own TLAs and submit them for both online publication and in the magazine will have a later magazine TLA submission deadline, since using the Online TLA Service interface will save time sending proofs and payments back and forth.

Frank P. Samford, Jr. Chess Fellowship

The FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications for the 2007 Fellowship, its twenty-first annual award. Frank P. Samford, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama, an avid chess fan, realized that promising American chessmasters do not have the government or corporate support available to their peers in many other countries. He created the Samford Fellowship to identify and assist the best young American chessmasters in reaching their full potential.

The 2007 Samford Chess Fellow will receive the following support: a monthly stipend for living expenses, training by leading chess coaches, chess books and other study materials as well as opportunities to travel and compete in tournaments and/or matches at the highest levels. The value of each Fellowship (stipend, training, materials and tournament travel) is approximately $32,000 per year. The Fellowship is given for one year and can be extended for a second year by mutual consent.

The new Fellow will be selected by the Samford Chess Fellowship Committee (“Committee”), consisting of Frank P. Samford III, Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier and International Master John Donaldson. Each applicant must have been a permanent resident of the U.S. for at least one year prior to July 1, 2007 and must not have reached his or her 25th birthday by that date.

The applicants, who can be male or female, must be able to demonstrate talent, achievement and commitment to chess. The winner must spend full time studying and playing chess beginning July 1, 2007. He or she must be willing to make the effort required to become a leading grandmaster and possible challenger for the World Championship. The program is administered by Barbara De Maro for the U.S. Chess Trust, under the guidance of Mr. Samford’s son, Frank P. Samford III of Atlanta, Georgia.

Applicants must have a chess rating (either USCF, FIDE or both). For further details and an application form write to:

Completed applications for the 2007 Fellowship must be received no later than January 15, 2007. We expect to announce the winner during April, 2007. All decisions by the Committee will be final.

The Samford Fellowship has been a key factor in the chess careers of many young American masters and has produced a number of grandmasters and U.S. Chess Champions. Previous winners of the Fellowship are Joel Benjamin, Maxim Dlugy, Patrick Wolff, Alex Fishbein, Ilya Gurevich, Alex Sherzer, Ben Finegold, Gata Kamsky, Josh Waitzkin, Tal Shaked, Boris Kreiman, Dean Ippolito, Gregory Shahade, Michael Mulyar, Eugene Perelshteyn, Varuzhan Akobian, Dmitry Schneider, Rusudan Goletiani, Hikaru Nakamura and David Preuss.

The late Mr. Frank P. Samford, Jr. created this program as a way of making a significant contribution in America to the game he loved. If qualified applicants can be found a new Fellow will be selected every year. It is expected that the Samford Fellowship will continue to produce very strong players, some of whom will join the elite group of world supergrandmasters.

This program is made possible by the generosity of Mrs. Virginia Donovan, widow of the late Frank P. Samford, Jr., and by Torchmark Corporation.

Contact: Allen Kaufman
Phone: (718) 544-5036
Email: AllenKauf@aol.com