By Dewain Barber

On August 4, 2012 in Vancouver, Washington the Denker Tournament of High School Champions and the Dewain Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions will get underway. Each state is permitted to have one representative for each event with the host state eligible to have an additional player who will act as an alternate if there are an uneven number of state affiliates that are present.

At the present time the 28th Annual Denker has 43 confirmed state representatives with four states having nominees who have not yet confirmed participation. The official list and rules are located at denkerchess.com.

The Barber event which is in its second year has 42 confirmed participants with 5 nominees still to be confirmed. The official list and rules are located at barberchess.com.

It is with great appreciation that we thank the Chess Trust for their continuing support. The United States Chess Federation has voted to make both the Denker and Barber events World Youth Qualifiers. The first place finishers on tie-break for each event will receive the invitation to play at the World Youth.