Lincoln, in politically charged wordplay, asked how a House is expected to stand when it is divided. I ask, how a Board is expected to bear weight when there is no electorate. This weekend is the MSCA Winter Open, and ballots for the MSCA Board will be made available. You need to be an MSCA member to play in the 2-day section, and you need be an MSCA member to cast a vote. There are other ways to be able to cast a ballot, but this weekend is possibly the most convenient.
There are about 300 eligible MSCA voters, and there are about 3 million eligible voters in Minnesota. Roughly, your MSCA vote is about 10,000 times more powerful than a Minnesota electoral vote for 2016. If you think that is shocking, consider the last few years the number of average votes is about 10! Your vote matters!
The MN Open will be held Feb 12-14 at the Crowne Plaza Northstar in downtown Mpls. There are some time control changes for all sections, so please be aware of that.
The State Scholastic Championships will also undergo some changes in the Jr. High and Sr. High sections. The date and location has not changed, March 19-20 at St. Kate’s University in Saint Paul.
More on the MN Open and State Scholastic in the “A Look into February 2016 email. Please go to the MSCA website for more details about this weekend’s Winter Open, the MN Open, and the official State Scholastic Tournament. As always, you may reply to me as well. This has been your Blind Chess Copy for January, 2016. Thank you for your time.
A Board without an electorate cannot bear weight!
MSCA Scholastic Coordinator [and proud voter]
Jiten Patel
mnchess.org 