Friday, December 20, 2019

REGISTER NOW FOR MCKINLEY TOURNAMENT!


McKinley parents and kids - reminder - we have our own tournament on Jan 11 - !!!!   Please register online ASAP - it shows the world that this will be a big tournament, and will inspire more registrations from outside the school.  To register, please go to www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org and click on Tournaments / Register and go from there.  K3 for kids in K thru 3, K6 for kids in 4th and 5th grade.  K12 of course is for kids in Middle School or High School then.

Everyone in the class should be ready to play in a tournament by that time - to make sure your child is ready, please earn the QUEEN level on ChessKid, or please send me an email and I can review your child's readiness if they've played some games online, or during class on the 9th (our first class wherein we return after holiday break).

Thank you !!  - Mark / Mr S.

P.S. Don't forget the week AFTER we have a tournament at Whitman Middle School!  That's Jan 18.  You register for that tournament the same way as stated above.  - M

McKinley - Online Tournaments thru WSCF!

We have had online tournaments, and they went great!  With these online tournaments, hosted on ChessKid by WSCF, you can play in your own home - on ChessKid.com using your Chesskid account!  See information below about the next tournament - TOMORROW!!  Watch for more soon!

Next tournaments will be Sunday Dec 22nd.  A u600 tournament at 5:00 pm and an "Open" tournament at 6:15.   Please pass on to your students.  Tell them to look for posted tournament through out holiday break. 

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

McKinley - Super Saturday Results!

We had a great event on Sat Dec 7 when Bob Patterson-Sumwaldt from the WSCF came and provided instruction and a 5-round tournament for 9 McKinley players.  Focus was primarily on end-game and checkmates.  Everyone did great!  Graham Hewitt and Sam Schwade tied with 4 wins out of 5, with Priscilla Skyberg Greer following close behind with 3.5.  Graham edged Sam in the tie-breaker and took the 1st place trophy.  Thanks to those who participated!

Thursday, December 5, 2019

SUPER SATURDAY at McKinley


SUPER SATURDAY SIGN-UP:  We will be in the Multipurpose Room from 9 until about 3.   So far we have about 10 kids coming - I hope we can get at least 4 more!  Please reply to email and return attached form if you can make it!  This is a great event for beginners!

STATE FAIR RESULTS:
Great job at state fair!  While we lost a lot of kids last year to Whitman, it was fun to see them again - and compete against them at State Fair Park on Nov 23!  We showed we can still hold our own with our 5th graders (who now anchor our state team).  Our K-6 team of Lukas, Marissa, Charlie and Ben finished ONE POINT out of first!  McKinley's own Lukas Marik took 2nd place overall in the K-6 - great job Lukas!!!   Former McKinley player Zach Brunow from Whitman took first place overall. 
In the K-3 division, we had some kids playing in their first tournament - Owen, Priscilla and Stella.  Our full team of Carl, Owen, Priscilla, Stella, Anthony and Zachary took 2nd place.  Carl Borden led the team with 3 points, and Owen Ludwig also had 3 in his first tournament!  Great job!

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:
Dec 14 - Nicolet Tournament, and also IAC's Muskego Melee on the same day (Uggghh) - this is a very tough decision, but I see Kyle is taking Whitman to Muskego, so let's head to Nicolet again this year.  We'll see them again at McKinley tournament.   Please sign up for Nicolet tournament at wisconsinscholasticchess.org!  Hope you can make it!
- Jan 11 - McKinley - our own tournament!  We are sending out a notice this week looking for helpers!  This should be a great tournament - our third annual!!   Please register ASAP on wisconsinscholasticchess.org - the earlier we sign up the more buzz we create.  Thanks!

DONT FORGET - the Big State Championship is at UW-Oshkosh March 21-22 - please keep this in mind - we will be fielding a K-5 team of course, and will again be defending our state championship!

Also - the Wisconsin GRADE LEVEL tournament is a huge one - right here in Milwaukee at UW-M on March 14th - you compete for a state championship against only the kids in your grade.  This is a great warm-up for state also.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Next Whitman Tournament at Lake Denoon Middle School

Hello all,
The next tournament the Whitman chess club will attend is at Lake Denoon Middle School known as the Muskego Melee. This tournament is USCF rated, and people can sign up for USCF on the spot. Please pre-register for the tournament if you intend to go. I have attached a link to the tournament's flier to this post. I will also link to the IAC website where people can preregister. The tournament is on December 14th.

IAC website with the preregistration link.

Lake Denoon Middle School Flier

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Chess Videos For this Week

Hello!
Since we are approaching tournament season, I would like everyone to put in that extra effort that creates state champions and tournament winners. What we do at class is important, but what is done outside of class makes all the difference. These videos are completely optional, but if students want to get the most out of chess club to enrich their chess knowledge, it is a good idea to practice on lichess and supplement their knowledge with these videos. I picked these videos myself and have watched them all. There are three videos in total and students should not watch all three videos. I have given a quick description of all of them below. Players in the advanced group should only watch the advanced video, while players in the beginner group can feel free to watch either the first or the second video or both depending on what they feel to be most helpful. 

1 (Beginner-Level): This is a video on how to play chess. It covers all of the rules from how the pieces move to castling. It is a good review for anyone who is shaky on their recollection of the rules of chess. It does mention that a bishop is worth "3.5" points, but as I will discuss next week in class, bishops are actually only worth 3 points. 


2 (Beginner-Level): IM Danny Rensch is an excellent teacher in this video where he explains the ten opening principles. I picked this video because his explanations make sense. This video is part of a series of videos on opening fundamentals. Please enjoy!





3 (Advanced-Level): I picked a tactics training session video with John Bartholomew. When watching this video, please attempt each tactic yourself before viewing the solution! Once you think you have the answer, play the video and check to see if you were correct. If you were not correct, watch the video closely and listen to John's method of finding the correct move. I chose this video because John is very good at conveying ideas. Please enjoy and good luck solving!





Monday, October 28, 2019

Whitman Middle School Lichess Team

Hello!
As we approach tournament season of chess, I would like to get a formal team together on lichess. I have created the team on lichess, and I would like everybody to join it once they have created their account. Below are the instructions for joining.

1) Go to lichess.org and sign in. Then go to the community tab, and find "teams"

2) Go to search and type in "Whitman Middle School Chess Team"

3) Prove you are not a robot and request to join

4) I will confirm your request and the student will be part of the lichess Whitman team.

It is very important that students join because I will be able to see their progress and whether they have been working outside of class. This will allow me to praise those extra dedicated students who consistently put in hard work outside of class. Furthermore, I can create tournaments among the players which will be helpful to mantain chess acumen during the off season.

Please email me if you have any questions at kylejain1@gmail.com

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Whitman Chess

Hello, Parents of Whitman Chess Students,
     The chess year has been progressing very well so far, and next week Tuesday will be our fifth practice! I would like to get students signed up on lichess, a chess website. Lichess is a nice website for a couple of reasons. First, Lichess has all the features of chesskid and chess.com, from videos to tactics. Secondly, Lichess is free, and therefore the club will not have to pay anything to use it (as opposed to chess.com and chesskid, which can be very expensive). Lastly, it has a free analysis board and computer. I  am putting instructions on how to sign up for lichess below.

1) Go to Lichess.org

2) Click Sign-in (Upper Right Corner)

3) On the sign-in page, click register

4) Enter Username, Password, and email (lichess rarely emails its account holders, so it's fine to put your real email) and agree to all the terms of lichess

5) They will send an email to you with a link to your account. Click that link and your account will be activated

Please email me at kylejain1@gmail.com if you have any further questions about how to use lichess, or how to sign up for lichess.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

McKinley Elementary - Targeted Tournaments 2019-20

Hello Parents!
While in-class instruction and ChessKid are great resources to learn chess, kids really love tournaments.  We present them as "win or learn" and they are great ways to help kids show what they have learned, and build confidence.  They're a blast!  Usually there are 5 games in a tournament - usually on a Saturday - and every one of our kids so far has won at least 1 game in their first tournament - we set this as their goal!
This year, McKinley Elementary will be looking at the following "official" tournaments.  We are focusing this year on WSCF tournaments, but if our stronger players wish to look at USCF ratings and tournaments there, please also look at IA-Chess.com for some USCF-rated tournaments which offer tougher competition.  To register, just go to http://www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org and click on Tournaments/Register.  If you haven't set up an account yet, go ahead!  Just fill out the information and choose the division that fits for your kid.  Please email me (s e g h e r s @ g m a i l . c o m) with ANY questions you may have.

TOURNAMENTS to TARGET as a TEAM

Nov 16 - Siloah Lutheran - Flyer
Nov 23 - Holiday Folk Fair - State Fair Park - Flyer

Dec 7 - Super Saturday at McKinley!  A great place to start for kids who never played in tournaments.  We have instruction with four tournament games spread throughout the day!

Jan 11 - McKinley Elementary 3rd Annual Tournament! - Flyer - Our own tournament!  This has been a blast!  This is a great place for beginners as well - and the Super Saturday is a great warm-up!
We will be looking for parent volunteers to make this happen again.  Should see well over 100 players at this third year of our tournament.

Feb 1 - Evangel Lutheran
Feb 8 - ALL GIRLS Tournament! 15th Annual!  at USM - for the Girls - a great annual tournament and a Wisconsin tradition.
Feb 23 - Discovery World

March 7 - Golda Meir Annual tournament
March 14th - WSCF Annual Grade Level tournament - this is a blast - kids play against only kids in THEIR OWN GRADE.  An annual event not to be missed- held at UWM Union.

March 21-22 - the BIG STATE TOURNAMENT - this is the official state tournament, held annually at UW-Oshkosh.  McKinley has won the K-5 State Championship the last 2 years!  This year will be tough - can we do it again?  Please mark the date for this Sat-Sun tournament!  I will get a block of rooms at a discounted rate.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Chess Kids!


Every kid who signs up for Chess class (and who has paid of course) gets a GOLD subscription to Chesskid.com - this is a $49 value!
To sign up- just register and sign up for Chess Class, and I will be sending an email with everybody's userID and password.  Change your password after you sign in.
Chesskid is a SAFE online environment for chess - not only does it have great online lessons and "workouts" (practicing certain positions) but it also has online games so your child will always be able to play a game of chess!
The lessons on Chesskid start at PAWN level and go thru KING.  We recommend that each kid gets to the QUEEN level before attempting a chess tournament.  Every week I read the names of the kids who had significant Chesskids achievements during the week.
Please let me know if you have any questions on this important tool, which I believe has been a valuable contribution to our success as a club.

Monday, September 9, 2019

3rd Annual McKinley Chess Tournament!

Mark Your Calendars!!

Sat Jan 11 will be the 3rd Annual McKinley Elementary Chess Tournament!
Kids from K-12 are welcome!  This will be held at McKinley of course - details to come!

CHESS PROGRAM DATES for MCKINLEY

The paper flyer went out today - there was a problem with the dates.  This is MY FAULT.  Sorry for the confusion.  Below is the corrected dates and information:

MCKINLEY CHESS CLUB 2019-2020

The fee for the class will stay at $50, which will cover materials, advanced instruction and subscriptions to ChessKids.com, a safe online learning environment (a $49 value itself!).

Classes will be held on Thursdays this year, beginning Oct 10th, after school in the library from 3:30- 4:45 and will accommodate children of all levels. 
  • Session 1: October 10, 17, 24, 31 and November 7, 14, and 21 (no class 11/28).
  • NO CLASSES IN DECEMBER – but we will play online Chesskids.com and will have an optional SUPER SATURDAY day of chess on Dec 7.
  • Session 2: January 10, 17, 24 and February 7, 14, 21, and 28.  Most likely, we will continue into March as we did last year (no extra fees would be required if so) – probably we will continue to end of March especially if we have good participation for State:
  • State Tournament (experienced players): March 21-22 – UW Oshkosh

Times: 3:30 to 4:45 pm in McKinley Library.
Cost: $50.  Fee for all sessions is $50 total per child. 

Saturday Tournaments will start later in the season and are optional 

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

McKinley Chess Class - Helper Signup

The McKinley Chess club is a success because of the parents who volunteer their time to help out!  Without parents pitching in their help, there would be no club.

I just published the form for parents to fill out to help during class - If you can help with signup, or to help maintain order (keeping kids on task) and sign-out, please fill out the form by clicking below and signing up for the days/times you can make it.

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER HERE!

If you know chess, and can help with instruction, please email Mark at seghers (at) gmail.com

Thanks

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Registration link for McKinley Chess

Want to register your kid for McKinley Chess?

CLICK HERE

Click above and you will be directed to a form to Register your Child for McKinley Chess for the 2019-2020 school year.  This also provides important information to Mark Seghers and the school so we can keep you up to date.  You are also asked to give a check for $50 which covers the whole year of instruction AND gets your child a full year's account to ChessKids.com (a $49 value!) - a safe and amazing way to learn chess when they have earned the screen time!

Whitman Chess Tuesdays

Whitman Middle School Chess will be held on Tuesdays after school this year, head coach will be volunteer Kyle Jain. Kyle will be looking for help from parents - this will be an entirely volunteer-run program.  We're especially looking for any parent who knows chess- and who ideally has a kid in the chess program.
More information will be posted ASAP - please email kylejain1 (at) gmail.com for details.

If you're ready to register - CLICK HERE to register for Whitman Middle School.  

Sunday, August 18, 2019

A New Season Begins Oct 10!

Chess class begins again at McKinley Elementary on October 10th.  Classes will be held Thursdays every week except for the month of December, going through March. 
3:30-4:45 in the library every Thursday.
Forms and Fees day was fun!  So many of you there!  See you on the 10th! 
Mark/Mr. S.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

McKinley Elementary REPEATS as state champs!




McKinley Elementary once again took the Elementary School State Championship in 2019, keeping the cup for the 2nd year.  The cup will be on display in the McKinley Library.  Great job team!