The 16th annual Bradley County Chess Championships are scheduled Saturday in the Cleveland Middle School dining hall. The tournament is open to all age groups.

Tim Sams, tournament director, said the competition is for unranked Bradley County players and is expected to draw 30 or more chess enthusiasts to the competition.

Registration will get under way at 8 a.m., with the first round of competition to begin promptly at 9 a.m. Sams said the day’s event should conclude between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

There will be three divisions in this year’s tournament. The Overall Division will be for any age players ... including all adults. There will also be a Secondary Division for students between the seventh grade and senior year in high school. The Elementary Division will be for students from kindergarten through the sixth grade.

Sams said preschoolers and even special education students (with some knowledge of chess) can compete in the tournament.

Sams will be assisted in running the tournament by Michael Ake, Tennessee Chess Association coordinator for Region 2.

Sams, who sponsors the Chess Club at Cleveland Middle School, expressed his appreciation to the Bank of Cleveland for sponsoring the trophies ... this year and in years past.

The tournament organizers are expecting students to enter from a majority of Cleveland and Bradley County schools.

Trophies will be award to first through the fifth place in the Overall Division, and first through fourth in the Secondary and Elementary divisions. Entry fee is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Additional awards will be presented in a random drawing. These awards include chess sets, chess books and other items connected to the sport.

A number of winners from a year ago are expected to enter this year’s competition.

The 2010 winners included:

Overall Division: 1. Michael Gee. 2. Robert Presswood. 3. Dutch Ehrsam. 4. Craig Thompson. 5. Jason Ward.

Secondary Division: 1. Kendall Mehling. 2. Jay Newman. 3. Doug Ledford. 4. Alec Shriver.

Elementary Division: 1. Michael Bentley. 2. Rosham Soni. 3. Aarsh Patel. 4. Matthew Newman.

For more information about Saturday’s tournament you can contact Sams at 503-2944 or tsams@clevelandschools.org.