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. 

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!

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.

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

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!

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