The UCA is carefully monitoring developments with respect to Covid-19 or coronavirus. As of today, March 11, we are not cancelling tournaments scheduled for March, including the state scholastic championships. These events are very difficult to postpone and will likely have to be cancelled if we cannot play them on the scheduled dates. The sole exception is that we are cancelling the blitz portion of the HS/JHS championship out of an abundance of caution.
Playing in events is always voluntary and if you have concerns and choose not to play, we understand. If you are already registered for an event and wish to withdraw, please send an email to utchess@gmail.com and we will withdraw you and refund your entry fee. If you are sick or having symptoms, please do not attend. Please do notify us that you want to withdraw as soon as possible so that we can remove you and change the pairings so that another player is not forced to sit and wait when you are not coming. We will refund entry fees when we receive timely notice that you are not attending. If you are sick and come anyway, you should expect to be asked to leave.
Until the outbreak is contained, we are asking all players to practice good hygiene and minimize contact. Handshakes are not appropriate either before or after the game. For the state scholastic events, the players will clean the pieces with disinfectant wipes prior to the first game. Regular handwashing before and during the tournament is strongly encouraged.
The UCA posts events organized by others on our website, but we do not control those events. The March 28 scholastic event and the weekly quick tournaments at SLCC are not UCA events. Questions about those events should be directed to the organizers of these events.
We will continue to monitor the situation will closely.