McKinley Dominates both Divisions at State Fair Park

The Folk Fair was a great place for chess!

McKinley kids had a blast!

McKinley Elementary did very well at State Fair park this Saturday the 18th!

McKinley won the K-3 division with 4 players - two of them in their first tournament!   The team of Charlie, Marissa, Nolan and Lukas took first place by 3 points over Tosa Catholic.  Charlie led the way with 4 out of 5 wins and a 2nd place individual trophy.  Marissa and Lukas both had 3 wins out of 5 in their first tournament!  Logan also had 3.

In the K-6 division, McKinley took 1st place also, with 16 points, winning by 4 points over St. Monica, Monroe Public Schools, and Siloah Lutheran who all tied for second with 12 points.  Louis took home the first place individual trophy with a perfect 5/5 wins.  Max JUST missed a trophy, going 4/5 and taking 6th place individual, and Zach added 4 wins too.  Kate and Henry Ri added 3 apiece.  Darius added 2.5 wins to the effort, and several others contributed - nobody with less than 1 win.

Lots of new kids in the program are stepping up!  We see over and over again that the kids who spend time on ChessKids are showing progress.  Some of the kids who did so well last year better step up their game and work on getting the rust off!  Remember, you never ARRIVE with chess - you must always keep up your practice and maintain your focus.  When you relax and think "I am awesome, I can stop practicing," you will see that your game will always suffer.

Great job McKinley kids!!   - Mr. S

Next up: Lake Denoon Middle School 12/2

After Folk Fair, our next tournament is at Lake Denoon Middle School on December 12th, in Muskego!  It's out in the sticks a little bit, but I think you'll enjoy the ride.  94S to 43W to Racine Ave, to Kelsey, Right on Kelsey, left on Crowbar.  I know it like the back of my hand because this is where my kids went!
Lake Denoon has a long history of chess success, and this is a great annual tournament.
Email Mr. Seghers if you'd like to attend, and I will register you.  You then pay at the door on the day of the tournament.  Thanks!

Holiday Folk Fair - November 18th - Details

McKinley kids are trying out our first tournament of the year at the Holiday Folk Fair!  We will have two teams - K3 and K6.  This tournament is WSCF rated, meaning a USCF membership is not required to play.  The WSCF rating is Wisconsin-only and is free - established when a kid plays in their first WSCF tournament.
Payment is made AT TIME OF REGISTRATION, which means parents can either pay by PayPal online, or they can email me and I can register them (and they can pay me back on the day of the tournament).
We will have THREE coaches there at the tournament- Mr Mark, Mr Robin and Mr Kyle!  So this will be a very valuable experience for all.  We will be working with the kids between games to help them learn from their mistakes.
We recommend that each kid NOTATE their game using sheets provided at the tournament.  Here is a great link which explains how to do this.  We talk about it in school.  If notation makes your child nervous, as that they at least notate the first 10 or 20 moves, so we can go through the game later.
This tournament starts a little later than most - please be at the State Fair Park at around 10 am... the first game is at 11am.  There are 5 games and we should be out of there about 4pm.

MORE DETAILS:
All participants registering for the tournament in advance by Tuesday Nov 15th at 11:00 pm will receive free passes into the exposition center. There is no discount for the $6 parking or for chaperones. Coaches and parents must pay to enter the Folk Fair. Please enter the exposition center on the west side (84th street) and proceed to the volunteer desk. Players who preregistered will find their names on a list at the volunteer station to the right once you enter. If you are not pre-registered, you will need to pay for entry into the folk fair. After receiving your entry tickets proceed to the chess tournament area and register for the tournament. You may be able to get your entry tickets slightly before 10:00 but cannot enter until 10:00. A limited number of volunteers will also receive a pass for free entry. We need help with registration (4) and floor TDs (6, 2 to 3 around each) and scorekeepers (2, 2 to 3 rounds each).
To sign up as a volunteer please email bob@wisconsinscholasticchess.org. You must volunteer in advance to get free entry into the Folk Fair. Questions: Contact WSCF at td@wisconsinscholasticchess.org or 262-573-5624.

Is my Kid ready for Chess Tournaments?

There is nothing more fun - and more valuable - to a young player than playing in a chess tournament.  It's exciting and exhilarating, and can be a really valuable experience - IF the child is ready for tournaments.
Tournaments are optional for McKinley players but this is an important step in a kid's journey, and it really "brings home" the lessons and helps them see just how fun the game is.
I get the question quite a bit "is my child ready to play in a tournament??"
For an EXCELLENT ANSWER to this question - see ChessKid!  Here is a link to the article:
https://www.chesskid.com/article/view/in-progress
This awesome article talks about how kids can use ChessKid.com to prepare for their first chess tournament!

First class was a blast!

The first class was a blast!  Thanks to Mr. Robin and Mr. Kyle for joining us. 
I'm setting up ChessKids.com accounts now for everyone.  Each week, I will have SUGGESTED VIDEOS and WORKOUTS for everyone.  For players in Mr. Seghers' group (me/ Mr. S), please focus on pieces - how they move, their values, etc.  I'll have more details soon, once the ChessKids accounts are all ready.
If you haven't yet paid for class, please do so ASAP.  The fee is $50 one-time which covers Chesskids (49.99 value) and all paid instruction, boards, pieces and more.  Thanks!

Mr. Robin Available for Home Lessons!

We are happy to announce that Mr. Robin Grochowski is available for private in-home lessons.  This is an amazing way to jump-start your child's progress with chess.  Robin's rates are incredibly reasonable, and he has coached many scholastic champions.

Robin says: 
"I am glad to be back with the McKinley Chess again for another exciting year.  I am also available for private lessons.  See me at the school to discuss private lessons or e-mail me at rgrochowski@wi.rr.com.  Thanks.  Robin J. Grochowski"

Looking for Parent Helpers!

Hi,
Two out of our three instructors (myself and Kyle Jain) are volunteers, because we believe in the power of chess to help young minds.
Due to the size of the class, we also rely upon parent volunteers to help maintain order, and keep kids on task.  You don't need to know chess to be able to help!
If you can help out here or there, please CLICK THE LINK BELOW to sign up for a certain class date or dates.  We need help for the check-in for each class (basically filing the kids into class and checking them off a list), then for staying with the class and helping to maintain order and keep kids on task.
HERE IS THE LINK, BELOW.  Thanks!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E4BAEAF2BABFB6-class