MCKINLEY - No Class this Thursday - see you in January!!

For McKinley Chess- there will be NO CLASSES DEC 17-24-31 – but we will play online Chesskids.com and will resume classes in Jan.

Let's see how far you can get in your lessons between now and then we will resume classes again on JANUARY 7.

Thanks!!  - Mark/ Mr Seghers

Chess Lessons offered thru WSCF!

 Hey Chess Parents!

The WSCF (Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation) is offering 1x1 lessons online this year!

The fee is $25 for one 40-minute lesson.  These classes are taught by WSCF-vetted instructors who are strong players and strong teachers of children.

If you'd like to register your child to try some lessons, go to the link below to register!

https://form.jotform.com/62295113366152

Whitman Chess meeting recurring link

 Hello Everyone!

I am making a new meeting, which Whitman players should join at 4 PM. This meeting is recurring and therefore this link will be the link used from now on. Thank you all for participating!

Topic: Chess club

Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/95938389563

Meeting ID: 959 3838 9563

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Meeting ID: 959 3838 9563

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/ae2RMLnyP

Whitman Chess Times

 Hello all!

Whitman Chess will be starting up this Monday 10/19. The timing was originally set for 3:30 - 4:45 PM, but this will be changed to 4 PM - 5:15 PM because students need time to get home from school. To clarify, the club will start at 4 PM. 

The first meeting will be a short introductory meeting to get to know people. Anyone is free to join regardless of prior experience!

Time: Oct 19, 2020 04:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/94280221785?pwd=eVZJdTBJeGpBSnFhTm9IWU8xYWZuUT09

Meeting ID: 942 8022 1785
Passcode: GCp93h

First class 10/15 - McKinley - Details!

Here are login details for weekly McKinley classes - 4:30 to 5:30PM Thursdays thru March.

See you online!

Time: Oct 15, 2020 04:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Zoom Meeting Link:

https://zoom.us/j/91683584205?pwd=U3M2V2U1TnlwU1JOOXB1RHdxWENrdz09

Meeting ID: 916 8358 4205

Passcode: You need to register to get this - DO NOT SHARE WITH OTHERS!!

Whitman Chess begins soon!

Please click on the link to the right to register for Whitman Chess program for the coming school year.  Classes will be on MONDAYS this year, starting 10/19.  

McKinley Chess starts Oct 15

It's been a challenging year for all of us - I am happy to say that we will be continuing our Chess program this year.  This year it will be FULLY ONLINE.

Mark Seghers returns as volunteer instructor/coach this year, and Robin Grochowski will also be helping as needed.  Mark’s son Evan Seghers will assist as needed, and will also help Kyle Jain who returns at Whitman Middle School.  Evan and Kyle are former state champs.  The McKinley kids are reigning state champs for the last 2 years it was held (in 2020 there was no tournament).  Whitman is waiting for its chance to win its first K-8 title!

The fee for the class is a one-time $50, which will cover 2 Zoom accounts, advanced instruction (Robin, Evan) and subscriptions to ChessKids.com, a safe online learning environment (a $49 value itself!).

Classes will be held on Thursdays this year, beginning Oct 15, from 4:30-5:30pm after school, ONLINE via ZOOM and Chesskids.com.  Access to a computer is required during this time- desktop or laptop required – a smartphone/tablet may be used for some aspects of class, but it doesn’t work for Chesskids tournaments.

• Session 1: 5 classes: Oct 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19, Dec 3, 10.
• NO CLASSES DEC 17-24-31 – but we will play online Chesskids.com and will resume classes in Jan.
• Session 2: January 7, weekly through March.  We don’t know yet about the state tournament or if it will happen this year.  If it does, we’ll try to hold onto our title!
• State Tournament (experienced players): March 20-21 – UW Oshkosh IF IT OCCURS

Times: Thursdays 4:30-5:30pm online starting Oct 15.

Cost: $50.  One-time fee for all sessions is $50 total per child. 

Watch for the registration information coming soon from McKinley!  You'll be able to register online here on this site, OR you can return the slip to the Office along with a check.  Kids will be required to pay attention during Zoom, and there will be a small amount of homework.

ONLINE Tournaments will start later in the season – watch TosaChess.com

Chesskids available on Launchpad!

Note to all Chess Families:

"Chess Kids is now available on the launchpad for McKinley students through their classlink login. "

Jean Hoffman, Principal

Marissa Top Place on Chess Ladder for 2019-2020 Season!

Congratulations to Marissa Brunow who took the TOP PLACE on McKinley's 2019-20 Chess Ladder.  Great job Marissa!
In class, we had a ladder tournament.  The final two were Marissa, and Ben Ludwig.  Due to school cancellation, we never got to finish the tournament! 
Last night, Marissa and Ben faced off in the weekly McKinley Chesskids tournament (online).  Marissa won the game.

Great to see so many kids enjoying the Chesskids tournaments held several times every day - and ours every Tue evening at 630 - let me know if you're having difficulty finding the tournaments.  You must use a real browser- the app version (or mobile version) does not have tournaments available.

Thanks!  Mark/Mr S.

Chesskids Tournaments - use a BROWSER

Everyone please note that Chesskids tournaments are only available from a BROWSER.  This means you cannot use the app or mobile version of Chesskids to participate in a Chesskids tournament.

Thanks!  - Mark/Mr S

FREE Online Tournament Details - WSCF

WSCF currently has 1150 members in its statewide WSCF club. This is the parent club to 30 “Group” clubs.
Each group has a director which manages that local group. Each group can also have multiple assistant coaches, and many do. A couple of the groups are 2 or 3 and some are 50 to 70 but most are about 20 – 30 students in size. The average is 38 students per group.

Online Tournaments
WSCF has today started daily tournaments on Chesskids.com. These will be held at 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm.
Each tournament can happen with a minimum of 4 players and a maximum of 64. The time controls will G5 or G10 in the early tournaments and then G15 in the afternoon tournaments.
Each Saturday we will have a 5 round G30 Swiss. There will be multiple divisions based on the size of response from the previous week. Will try to keep divisions between 4 and 64 players. Will award trophies to division winners and have them shipped. (not every Saturday),
Members should see the listed tournaments on the right side of their login screen and/or by going to the fast chess page. Members can “join” a tournament beginning 15 minutes before a tournament.

Top 200
Each week WSCF will post the top 200 players based on a composite score of Lesson level, Fast chess rating and Puzzle rating.
The new rankings will be posted each Monday.
This will be done through August 31. At that time 30”, 26”, 22”, 18” and 14” trophies will be shipped to the top 5 members. The top 50 members will earn free entry into the first WSCF locally hosted tournament in the fall.

Club Competition
There will be competition between club, and we have to work out the details and this will be reposted soon.
Want to be a WSCF Statewide Club Member?
If you are not one of the 1150 current members then you can become a member by contact Bob at
bob@wisconsinscholasticchess.org .
There will be 3 price breaks for singles, groups 2 to 10 and over 10.

Online Tournament Details

The WSCF is offering several tournaments for Wisconsin kids EVERY DAY on Chesskids!  Congrats to Marisa Brunow for winning the 11am Tournament this morning!

I'm also holding a WEEKLY McKinley ONLY TOURNAMENT, every Wednesday at 7:00pm.  The top finishers will be announced HERE on this website!

Thanks!!  Mark/MrS.

More Cancellations - have a Great Summer!

More cancellations -

• State Elementary (which was scheduled for next weekend 3/21-22) is cancelled
• Tomorrow's Medical College Tournament here in Tosa was also just cancelled.
• Next week's final chess class at McKinley is cancelled

Chesskids is still safe from the Virus!  We are hoping to hold some online tournaments for the kids.  Ideally we can even have a State Grade Level tournament online!  Bob is working on that.  We will also be holding a few other online tournaments - I'll post the schedule. 

For the chess class, with state being cancelled, we will end our season with yesterday's class.  Please congratulate your kids for a great chess season!  We have a young team with some VERY promising young talent, and a bright future.  I'll be sending out something in the coming weeks to recognize some kids who really put in the work this year.

For the kids in 5th grade who are going onto Whitman, we will be continuing that program next year.  Under Kyle Jain's instruction, that club has been extremely successful!  Our goal in a few years is to start a Tosa West Team and a run at some state High School Varsity championships.  

Wishing all the McKinley Chess families a SAFE, virus-free, Summer.   

-Mark / Mr S

LAST CHESS CLASS 3/19 - and final "official" tournaments

NOTE: BELOW POST IS OBSOLETE.  3/12 was our last class of the year, and Grade Level and State have been cancelled - thanks - M

3 more classes:
3/5, 3/12, and 3/19 and then we are done for the year.

STATE is our last "official" chess tournament of the year - 3/21-22 at UW Oshkosh.  Until then, we have 2 others:

• 3/7 - Golda Meir this Saturday - register at http://www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org
• 3/7 - Chess Camp at IAC - for State Participants - register at http://www.ia-chess.com

• 3/14 - State GRADE LEVEL - Register Now - the price keeps going up!  At UW-Milwaukee, this is an amazing event.  Hundreds of kids.  Register at http://www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org

• 3/21-22 - State Elementary - We have 9 kids signed up - 4 still need to register - please register online ASAP!  All info can be found at: http://wischolasticchesschampionship.blogspot.com/

McKinley Wins K-3 at Discovery World

McKinley and Whitman take K3, K12 at Discovery World!

The McKinley K-3 team took 1st place at Discovery World yesterday, beating several teams including German Immersion school who had 15 kids on their team.  We are playing at their school this Saturday!

Playing for the winning K-3 team was:

• Owen Ludwig
• Will Dee
• Priscilla Skyberg-Greer
• Ed Woznick
• Pete Deutsch
• Sam Riordan
• Anthony Boettcher
• Stella Albert

Owen, Will and Priscilla each won 4 out of their 5 games (with Will and Owen getting trophies).  Ed Woznick contributed 3 wins to the winning score, and Pete, Sam and Anthony each added wins to help the team.  The future is bright for the McKinley Chess Club!

In the K-5 division, McKinley took 3rd place in a crowded field.  Marissa Brunow took the 3rd place individual trophy with her 4/5 wins.  Sawyer Hanson, Ben Ludwig, Owen Schroeder, and Katelyn Mast rounded out the team. 

Ex McKinley kids won the K-12 section, with Max Kuhn taking 5th place individual.

Great practice for State!

ONLINE TOURNAMENTS Every Week!

Online Tournaments are held every week - on Chesskids.com!   Join them on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.   They appear on each kids screen when they log in. 

Times are 5:00, or 6:00  and on Sunday there are two tournaments.  Bob says he thinks there is one at 4:00 (a lower division) and a higher division. 

Thor Templin, the Chess leader at German Immersion School, puts them up each week.

Great tournament!

A fun tournament despite the weather cutting into our attendance a bit...  Kids from many schools around Milwaukee - and even some from Madison! - attended McKinley for our 3rd annual tournament.

It was a well-run tournament thanks to the WSCF and many parent volunteers.  The food was great, the space was perfect, and things ran smoothly and efficiently.  Thanks to Bob Patterson-Sumwaldt who cooked omelettes and pancakes!

In the k-3 Division, McKinley took 1st place with the team of Anthony Boettcher, Priscilla Skyberg-Greer, Matthew Rommelfanger, Edward Woznik, Isaac Wurzburg, Sam Riordan, Carl Borden, Will Dee, and Caleb Anderson.  Nobody won less than 2 out of 5 games - great job kids!  Anthony Boettcher took home the 5th place individual trophy by winning 3.5 of his games.  The future of the program looks bright!

In the k-6 Division, it was a crowded field with some tough competition including ex-McKinley kids from Whitman!  McKinley finished 3 games out of fourth, but was 4th place.  Whitman took 1st, Muskego took 2nd and Golda Meir took 3rd.    McKinley's Zach Brunow took 2nd, Max Kuhn took 5th.  For McKinley, Marissa Brunow and Sawyer Hanson took 3 out of 5 and finished in the top 10.  Xavier Holzen, Charlie DesPlaines, Owen Schroeder and Graham Hewitt added 2 victories each for the team.  Some kids had to miss 1 or 2 rounds due to conflicts.

The K-12 Divisions were won by Muskego Scholastic Chess Club (WSCF) and Whitman (USCF).

Tournament is a GO

We are a GO for the tournament!

No snow, but there are ICY conditions - especially on side roads but possibly even on highway.  Please drive carefully.
Snow is expected to start around 2pm but not accumulate much until evening.   Awards should be around 3pm.

Enter on SW corner of building on 90th st please - please arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 - registration ends at 8:45.  Round 1 scheduled to begin around 9:15-9:30.

WEATHER UPDATE and HOW TO ENTER - McKinley Tournament

We will be using the 90th street Gym entrance (on SW corner of building) only for this event. We feel that because it has no stairs it will be safer for everyone.  

Please check back here at 9:15pm Friday night and again at 7:15 am tomorrow for weather and cancellation updates - most likely, the tournament is ON!   

CHECK THIS WEBSITE BEFORE YOU LEAVE TO THE TOURNAMENT!!

Thank you.