Time Running Out for 2014 Muskego Chess Apparel!

HELP SPREAD THE WORD about Muskego Chess this Spring & Summer by proudly wearing your new Muskego Chess merchandise. The new flyer includes shorts & baseball caps. If you're still interested in the fall/winter form (w/the pj & sweat pants & bag, we still have that available too).
These aren't just for the chess players, but are also for their families & friends too. Would make great presents for people w/mother’s day, father’s day, grandparents day, etc coming up. $2 from every item goes to support Muskego Chess, to pay for Matt/Danny's instruction, wrist bands, boards, pieces, clocks, etc.
NOTE: One typo on the order form. Youth track jackets are $32, like adults.
Contact Leah Przedwiecki (leahmike@ymail.com) for further info- she'll have the forms at next class, or she could email you one.
Act quickly! Only one more batch of orders this season, then we're done with merchandise until next year!

Southwest Chess Club - Thursday Nights (USCF)

MUSKEGO CHESS FAMILIES - Your child really into chess?  Try the Southwest Chess Club.

On Thursday nights, there is a great club called the Southwest Chess Club.  They meet weekly in Hales Corners, in the basement of the police station/town hall (click here for map). Kids from 4 to 84 years old meet to play USCF-rated chess games.  Cost is usually $5 to play in a USCF rated tournament.  Great group of guys run this.  Robin Grochowski and Tom Fogec are the two main guys.

Players are welcome of all ages and skill levels (blue wrist bands or above here, and probably best to have some tournament experience, but not much besides that).  The SWCC is a great way to start your kid's lifelong journey (not just scholastic) to chess.  Our high school players have all done tournaments there.  Their full schedule of events is on their site: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.southwestchessclub.com%2FCalendar.pdf

If your child is really into chess, this is the next step.  A few of us will be there tonight for this ONE NIGHT tournament with three short games.  Note- you'll get to sleep a bit late tonight.  Details are below in the email from Tom.

- Mark

Mill Valley Chess During the Day!

Congratulations to MV Principal, Robin Schrot, and teacher Justin Geiger, who have started a chess program at Mill Valley during the day, once a week.  I met with both of them this morning and was so happy to hear of their support for the game of chess.
This would be a great thing to start at all MNSD schools!  Maybe something for parents to suggest to teachers.  I'm sure we have more teachers who know how to play chess that could get this started like Justin has done at Mill Valley!

SMCA (High School) Conference Results

It's been a fun year for the High School conference (SMCA)!  Our team of Sophomores, Freshmen, and younger players joining the mix from time to time has done well, and had a great time with some very interesting games and matches.  We ended the year Tuesday with a win over Kewaskum, winning 6 of 7 boards and drawing the other 1.

For our Varsity team, composed of regulars Evan, Reid, Jason, Rachel, Chris and Kolt, with Jorin playing 3 matches and Will and Jacob each stepping in for one Varsity game, we finished 6-2 and in THIRD place (and will sadly be passing our 1st place traveling cup to Brookfield Academy):

	SCHOOL	POINTS	POINTS	Wins	Losses
1	Brookfield	7.0	255.5	7	0
2	Eisenhower	7.0	252.0	7	1
3	Muskego	6.0	226.0	6	2
4	New Berlin	5.0	178.5	5	3
5	Kewaskum	2.0	117.5	2	3
6	Hartford	2.0	78.5	2	4
8	Hartland	2.0	111.0	2	5
7	St. Mary's	1.0	48.0	1	5
9	St. John's	0.0	13.0	0	7

Our Jayvee team, consisting of regulars Jacob, Sam, John with strong assistance from Will, Kyle, Jack, Elliot, and Brian, also did very well, finishing in 4th place.  We started very strong in JV, winning our first 4 matches before conflicts kicked in and we had to do some very quick substitutions.  

	SCHOOL	POINTS	POINTS	Wins	Losses	Draws
1	New Berlin	7.5	165.0	7	0	1
2	Eisenhower	6.0	127.5	6	2	0
3	Brookfield	5.5	127.5	4	1	1
4	Muskego	5.0	132.5	5	3	0
5	Hartland	3.0	97.5	3	4	0
6	St. John's	3.0	65.0	3	4	0
7	St. Mary's	1.0	45.0	1	5	0
8	Hartford	1.0	30.0	1	5	0
9	Kewaskum	0.0	5.0	0	5	0

All conference matches are now complete, with the Conference Tournament finishing the year at Arrowhead on March 8th.  See you there!   - Mr. Seghers

New Tournament - April 26

We have added another "official" tournament to the schedule - 
ASA Clark Middle School in Pewaukee - Saturday April 26
k3-Unrated, k6-Unrated, k3, k6, k12
This is an IAC Grand Prix event for all skill levels Blue and up.

Golda Meir Results

Lots of fun was had by all at a great tournament near downtown Milwaukee at the famous Golda Meir School.  The MSCC had 22 kids attend!  This was a large tournament and was well-run with lots of space.

Teams:
K-12: Our K-12 team for MHS of Evan, Jason, Reid, Kolton and Sam took home the 1st place Team Trophy with 18.5 points, beating 2nd place Bradly Tech who had 14.
K-6: Our K-6 team for LDMS of Kyle, Will, Willow, Nick and Kenny also took home the 1st place Team Trophy with 17.5 points, beating 2nd place Clara Mohammed who had 15.  Close behind, in 4th place, we had Bay Lane Middle School (Noah, Alyssa, Anoushka and David) with 13.5, outperforming other full teams at Bayside and Goodrich.
K-3: Our K-3 team for Mill Valley of Nelson, Gavin, Joel, Evan and Makayla finished a close 2nd behind hosts Golda Meir.

Individual:
Congratulations to:

• Kyle Jain for going a perfect 6-0 to win the K-6 division!  Kyle's performance has been impressive this year - and it's no wonder why - Kyle plays a lot of online games, and studies openings, does chess tactics, watches videos, etc.  Hard work pays off!  Way to go, Kyle!
• Will Schantz for going 5-1 to take 4th on tie-breakers.  After 4 rounds, Kyle and Will were the only 2 kids out of the 51 in K-6 division who were 5-0, and they had the option to play each other or to play different kids.  They chose to play different kids, which gave them both a shot to win.  Great tournament for you both!
• Noah Gover for winning 4 out of 6 and earning his RED wrist band!
• Tournament FIRST TIMERS Kenny Mies, Colin Mies, Mikayla Steuer, and Nolan Schuster!  You have taken an important step forward.
• First grader Nolan Schuster, who was there just to watch his brother Nick (part of our first place K6 team for LDMS), but who decided at the last minute to jump into the tournament at the last minute. This took a lot of courage for such a young kid with no experience.  Nolan played some good games, and I could tell between rounds that he is learning quickly!
• Mill Valley 3rd graders Nelson Klein and Gavin Joers for going 4-2 to lead the K-3 team!  good job also to Joel and Evan for each earning 2.5 points for the team, and Makaya 2 more!
• ALL of the MSCC participants who generally played SMART chess, making sure to think before they touched those pieces.  Bob Patterson-Sumwaldt, the tournament leader, congratulated Muskego on our results, and several other parents and leaders had good things to say about our well-behaved kids.  

BIG THANKS also to Leah Przedwiecki for bringing all the awesome MSCC apparel!  We looked like a real club thanks to her.  Leah will bring the rest of the orders to class on Monday.  I love my MUSKEGO CHESS jacket especially.

Golda Results will be posted later today

A great time was had by all at Golda Meir - we will post results here as soon as they are made available to us....!   Thanks!

Big Day Saturday at Golda Meir!

We're expecting a ton of fun at Golda Meir on Saturday!   22 players so far from our club will be in attendance.  Here are some notes:

• If you have ordered MSCC apparel (t-shirts etc), Leah is bringing this stuff to the Golda Meir tournament on Saturday for pickup!  You can change there if you'd like to wear your new MSCC shirt!  If you aren't attending the tournament, she is also bringing stuff next Wednesday at class.
• Here is the link to the flyer again for information about the tournament.  Here is the link to a map to the school.
• Dan S and I will be there early to help set up.  Please be there before 8:15 for registration, which closes early this time at 8:30!   Everybody should be pre-registered (if you have already emailed me)- click this link if you're not sure- if you are pre-registered, just pay $10 at the door.
• The tournament should be over by about 4pm or earlier.
• They will have food and beverages there for purchase throughout the day.  There will be 6 rounds of chess.  We will be playing chess and going over games between rounds.
• Please email me with any questions you may have- or if you'd still like to attend.  Seghers@gmail.com - thanks!

Green and White - watch our videos!

A note for Green and White level players -
Watch our Videos!   They contain all you need to know to earn your Blue wrist band and be ready for tournaments!
Click here to watch them, OR see "CHESS RESOURCES" on the right of this screen, and Click on Videos (Watch now).

Muskego Varsity Beats Hartford; Depleted JV takes loss

We had 5 regulars unavailable for this match due to driver's ed, stage crew and other reasons, and 2 subs had to pull out last minute unavoidably.
This left us with a skeleton crew of 5 regulars and 2 subs.  Despite this, our Varsity Team of Evan, Jason, Reid, Jacob and Will won 30-10 against Hartford.  The only loss was Evan losing to their top board, a very tough player.  Our only two JV boards, Sam and Kyle, both won.
Pretty good season so far with only one more game to go!  Next year, we just have to find a way to field a regular team every week.  Next year we will probably have more players to draw from.

Notes for the Week

• High School match Tue at Hartford
• Regular class this week 6:30- 8pm at High School cafeteria
• Chess apparel MAY be ready this week- might be setting something up on Friday for kids to pick stuff up (so they have it for the Golda Meir tournament Saturday)
• Golda Meir signups are strong except for Tess Corners- would be fun to have a team from TC for GM!  Still time to sign up.
• Next tournament is Elmwood - see the chess calendar for details - no flyer available yet but great tournament for all ages and skill levels.
• March is a CRAZY month for chess.  First high school conference year-end tournament, then Elmwood, then State, then Grade Level. 
• April 5th is the All Girls Tournament!  Email Mark or Leah to register for this.  Leah will be sending information to all girls about this tournament.  Here is the link to the flyer.
• March 26th is probably our final class of the year.  After All Girls, we may also attend additional tournaments (including in Summer) as a group.
• The SouthWest Chess Club is also a great place to go for USCF tournaments year-round. See "Resources" for more information on the right side of this blog.

Muskego at Hartford Tue 2/18

4 regulars missing for our match visiting Hartford tomorrow, bringing 4 from Lake Denoon!
Back to full strength next week for our final match at HOME at Muskego High School.

Golda Registration Feb 22

Below is who we have signed up for Golda Meir tournament on Feb 22 - let me know if I missed anyone!
Anyone from Tess Corners interested??  Still time to register for the $10 entry fee.

First Name	Last Name	School	Grade	Section
David	Bundy	Bay Lane Middle School	5	K6
Noah	Gover	Bay Lane Middle School	5	K6
Anoushka	Prasad	Bay Lane Middle School	5	K6
Alyssa	Przedwiecki	Bay Lane Middle School	5	K6
Colin	Mies	Country Meadows Elementary	3	K3
Elliot	Bognar	Lake Denoon Middle School	7	K12
Jack	Bognar	Lake Denoon Middle School	7	K12
Kyle	Jain	Lake Denoon Middle School	6	K6
Kenny	Mies	Lake Denoon Middle School	5	K6
Willow	Otterbacher	Lake Denoon Middle School	6	K6
Will	Schantz	Lake Denoon Middle School	6	K6
Gavin	Joers	Mill Valley Elementary	3	K3
Nelson	Klein	Mill Valley Elementary	2	K3
Joel	Otterbacher	Mill Valley Elementary	3	K3
Evan	Stachowiak	Mill Valley Elementary	3	K3
Mikayla	Steuer	Mill Valley Elementary	3	K3
Jason	Markowski	Muskego High School	10	K12
Kolton	Otterbacher	Muskego High School	10	K12
Evan	Seghers	Muskego High School	10	K12
Reid	Seghers	Muskego High School	10	K12

Note 2/20:  added Brian Mark (LDMS k12) and Nick Schuster (LDMS k6) to the roster.

match underway vs St Marys

State Tournament - March 22-23 at UWO

Wow- hard to believe this is only a month away!

I have emailed parents the flyers - This is the annual STATE chess tournament, and a hugely fun tournament for kids interested in competing in chess at the state level.  

There are several divisions, and kids who compete together must be in the same School.  Kids can also compete on their own, individually, for fun.  In the past, Mill Valley has have won K-5 twice (and our name is on the trophy twice), and Lake Denoon came very close to winning K-8. Evan Seghers won 1st place in K-8 a couple years back. The Bay Lane team has also finished close to first in K-8 when Mr. Reese ran that program.  Last year, our team of Freshmen finished 5th out of 18 high schools in division 1- it is our goal to improve that this year.

This year, we will be fielding at least one team - D1 Varsity for Muskego High School - and probably a JV team as well.   We could also field a K-8 team or a K-5 if there is interest. 

This is a two-day event, held at UW-Oshkosh on campus (during their spring break).  Some people get a hotel room (there are a couple with big pools), and some may choose the dorm, which is fun in its own way, and very inexpensive!   Please see below and attached, and let me know if you are interested- or any questions you may have.  This is a REALLY FUN event!

Please let me know if you do not have the email about this event with all the details, and I will email it to you.

Thanks!

Mark / Mr. Seghers

Muskego Chess Article in the Muskego NOW

http://www.mymuskegonow.com/userstoriessubmitted/243309081.html

Muskego Varsity Beats New Berlin West

Congrats to MHS Varsity for winning a close one at New Berlin West last night!  Congrats also to Jake Gomoll (whose new rating places him at board 4 of varsity for tonight's match) for winning a nice game on board 6, and a big THANKS to our Lake Denoon boys for joining us to give us a shot in JV!  

final two games

evan on 1, jason on 2... need em both to win varsity...  (update - Evan won and Jason drew, which was enough for our varsity to win!)

battle underway vs new berlin west

games underway against the very tough new berlin west team.  due to conflicts, we have three joining us from lake denoon!

St.Mary's comes on Wed 2/12 for makeup

The Muskego High School team will play against St. Mary's AT HOME after school on Wednesday, Feb 12.  This is a makeup match from a couple weeks ago.
I thought we could order Jimmy John's after, for whoever wants to, and kids could possibly study or play chess between this high school match and our normal chess program.

Apparel Order Sheets Due Wednesday 2/5!!!

Please note- all Muskego Chess apparel orders are due Wednesday!  There will be forms to fill out there at class.
Remember, $2 for every item except sport jacket ($0) go to support the Muskego Scholastic Chess Club. Also, wearing the items draws attention to the club, and to chess!

Thank you.

Discovery World Results

Our K-6 participants at Discovery World

More pictures on our Muskego Scholastic Chess Club (Facebook) page

Lots of fun at Discovery World!  Thanks to the parents (especially Dan S) who got us our own area and for Will for making the little signs.  Lots of focus on chess, even with all the distractions, and it showed in our results.  Some kids had to "Play Up" because their rating was higher than what was allowed for this tournament for their grade level.

In K3, Nate May and Alex Swieszynski both won 3.5 out of 5 to earn their RED wrist bands!  Joel went 3 out of 5, Great work, guys!  Joshua Kierzek and Noah Church also added 2 wins to the Muskego Club Team who won the 3rd place trophy, missing 2nd by only half a point!
In K6, David Bundy took 4.5 wins out of 5 and earned the 2nd place individual trophy (and his red wrist band).  Anoushka Prasad, Gavin Joers (playing up from K3) and Alyssa Przedwiecki took 3 out of 5. Nelson Klein (playing up), Dylan Cleveland, Willow Otterbacher and Mitchell Salentine added 2 points each to the team, and Steven Wauer also helped out with a win, as our K6 team took 2nd place, losing only to the strong Golda Meir team.  We were in first for much of the day!
In K12, Evan Seghers was inconsolable after losing his first game, and took a walk in the snow.  He returned to win his next 4 games and take first place overall (and win a family membership to Discovery World which he is giving to his triplet cousins for their birthday).  Reid Seghers added 3.5 out of 5, Will Schantz 3 out of 5 (playing up from K6), Kolton Otterbacher 2, Kyle Jain 2 (playing up from K6) and Brian Mark added a win to the team effort.  Our K12 team including three LDMS players and three MHS players finished in 1st place overall.  Great job!

FULL RESULTS HERE