State Scholastic RESULTS - link here

Here is the link to the results for the state Scholastic - great job kids, and lots of fun had by all!

Playing SMART - not "slow"

When we tell kids to PLAY SLOW, we don't mean they should stare at the wall for 10 minutes before making a move.   What we really mean is to play SMART.  Playing smart takes time, of course.
Every move, a player should consider:

• Why did my opponent move there?
• How does he/she THREATEN ME now?  Look at all their pieces including pawns.
• What pieces of mine are unprotected?  How safe is my King?

Next, after the player has considered the effects of the opponent's move, they should either respond (i.e. to prevent an attack), or launch an attack (IF and ONLY IF everything is safe).

Putting one's self into the mind of the other player, and understanding the motivation behind their move - ALL the motivations behind their move, not just one - is critical, is often overlooked by beginning players, and..... it takes TIME.

When we see players "playing too fast" this TELLS US that they are not playing smart.  It's not that we want them to "play slower" ... it means we want them to start thinking about ALL the right things.

Who are we up against (chapter 2)?

Now for the Individuals we are up against in the two divisions we are competing in, this weekend - HERE IS THE LINK which is a bit hard to find.

Should be a fun weekend!!   I will post updates on this website as the tournament progresses!

Next wk (3/25) - last class & Pizza Party

Hi All,
 Next wk Wednesday (March 25) will be our last class. To celebrate the fun yr we had, at 6 pm we'll be having a pizza party (which is open to the chess players & their families). We ask for a donation of $5/person which includes pizza, snacks & beverages. If you'd like to help out & bring anything, please let me know at leahmike@ymail.com. Otherwise I'll be at class tonight, State this wknd & class next wed.
  Leah

Who are we competing against?

Our Muskego High School Varsity team, together with K-8 teams from Lake Denoon and Bay Lane, goes to Oshkosh this weekend for the State Scholastic tournament!  Muskego's Varsity 5 - Evan Seghers, Jason Markowski, Fernando Collahuazo, Reid Seghers and Rachel Gomoll - are seeded 4th overall with an average rating of 1603.

Here are the High Schools which MHS is competing against this weekend:

1 Brookfield Central HS D1 1722
2 Madison West A High School D1 1658
3 Univ School of Milw A D1 1606 Milw
4 Muskego High School D1 1603 SMCA
5 Madison J Madison Mem HS D1 1556
6 Hartland Arrowhead HS 1535 SMCA
7 Glendale Nicolet High School D1 1463 Milw
8 New Berlin Eisenhower Middle D2 1107 SMCA
9 Franklin A High School D1 1072 Milw
10 Waupaca High School 1044 NEWCA
11 Neenah High School D2 1043 NEWCA
12 New Berlin West High School 1008 SMCA
13 Univ School of Milw B D2 996 Milw
14 Brookfield Academy D2 977 SMCA
15 Nekoosa A High School D2 943 NEWCA
16 Milw Rufus King A High School D1 925 Milw
17 New Berlin Eisenhower High Sc D1 925 SMCA
18 Univ School of Milw C D2 848 Milw
19 Madison West B High School D2 769
20 Amery High School 761
21 Milw Rufus King B High School D2 724 Milw
22 Franklin B High School 716 Milw
23 Milw Reagan IB A High School D2 694 Milw
24 Milw South Division HS D2 657 Milw
25 Univ School of Milw D 410 Milw
26 Milw Rufus King C High School 381 Milw
27 Milw Reagan IB B High School 372 Milw
28 Westfield High School 251
29 FdL St. Mary Springs HS SMCA
30 Nekoosa Alexander Middle Scho NEWCA
31 Nekoosa B High School NEWCA

Also playing - rosters not yet turned in:

• Milw School of Languages (2 varsity teams)
• Wauwatosa East
• Milw Bradley Tech
• Milw Bay View

Grade Level Results

Congrats to Kyle Jain for placing 1st in 7th grade division - this makes Kyle the 7th Grade State Champion!

Congrats also to Nelson for placing 6th for 3rd gr & Mill Valley placed 3rd for 3rd gr (team was Nelson & Jarret).

Bay Lane 6th graders had a total of 7 points (Adam being the leader w/3 points, David & Alyssa both winning 2 games).

Logan won 2 rounds.  Seth worked hard & won a round.  Shivum also won 2 games.

NO CLASS THIS WEEK - Teacher conferences

CLASS resumes 3/18.  We will give out our in-class tournament awards on that night!  Don't miss it!
The final class of the year is then 3/25.
Several tournaments coming up - don't forget!  Grade level 3/14 - State 3/21 - Elmwood and ASA Clark during April!

SMCA Conference Tournament Results

At the end of the high school conference season, there is a tournament for all the players in the conference.  The tournament does not count against tournament standings.  Usually we have 5-7 players attend.  This time around, due to other conflicts, we just had a few.  Evan Seghers, Fernando Collahuazo and Alyssa Przedwiecki.  While the conference is only for grades 7-12, the tournament is open to younger kids who might want to check out the conference - thanks for coming Alyssa!  She did very well in the tournament, winning 2 and drawing 1 against much older competition.
Fernando and Evan each went 4-0 against some of the top players in the conference to take 1st and 2nd.
Evan was voted MVP of the conference by the coaches this year, which was a nice honor.  Fernando made 2nd team and Jason was honorable mention.
Thanks to all players who played this year!  Next year, the SMCA will have 3 meets on 3 separate Saturdays, doing away with the pre-season and post-season tournaments AND no more Tuesday matches after school.  This was our proposal which was voted in by the coaches.  We may or may not be USCF rated- this was also our suggestion, but there is some opposition to this.

MHS takes 1st in JV, 2nd in Varsity

Well, it was a solid year for MHS chess, in the SMCA conference.  Muskego finished 2nd place in Varsity to Brookfield Academy.  They played a great match against us at home, and surprised our top 3 board with upsets.... that match proved to be the difference in the conference!
For our JV, we scrambled every week to put together 3-5 players.  It was just enough to tie for 1st place!
This Saturday, all Muskego Scholastic players from grades 6-12 are invited to the postseason tournament at Arrowhead at 8:30pm.  If you're coming, please RSVP to Mr. Seghers.

>>> CLICK HERE FOR FINAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS <<<

NOTE: the big STATE TOURNAMENT is coming up in a couple weeks in Oshkosh - this is the big show... hopefully we can improve upon our 5th place finish the past couple years!

Final Round for MSCC Tournament!

>> FULL STANDINGS HERE <<

This week is the final week for K-4 and K-8, and the second to last week for the K-12 tournament!
In K-4, board 1, we have Logan O'Leary (4-0) vs. Joel Otterbacher (3.5-.5).  The winner of that game wins the division!  If there is a draw, Logan wins the division.  A few other players have 3 wins and could take 3rd place.
In the K-8 division, David Bundy (4-0) plays Anoushka Prasad (3.5-.5)to see who is our champion. The winner takes the division.  A few other players also have 2 or more wins.
In the K-12 division, there are two games left, so it's still pretty wide open.

See you Wednesday!

BUSY DAY AT USM !!

Saturday's tournament at USM, the Tournament of Champions, was the culmination of the season's IAC tournaments, run by Mr. Matt.  While the attendance was not enormous, the competition was intense and many trophies were not decided until the final game!

So here are the highlights for the day:

K3
Nelson Klein (MV) led the way with 2 wins & 2 draws for a 10th place finish.  Logan O'Leary (MV) had a 3 win day and Alabhya Prasad (TC) played some good games as well.  Nelson & Logan took a 4th place team finish.

K6
Alyssa Przedwiecki led the BL team with 3 wins and a 9th place finish.    Gavin Joers (MV) also earned 3 wins.  Anoushka Prasad (BL) and Evan Stachowiak (MV) were close behind.  Alyssa & Anoushka took a 5th place team finish for BL.

K12
Kyle Jain (LD) let the team with 3 wins & 1 draw for a 6th place finish,  Will Schantz (LD) also finished with 3.5 points and an 8th place finish and Aaron Gibbs (LD) was close behind.  Together the LD team took a 1st place team trophy!

And now for the Grand Prix results - the season long accumulation of points earned at each IAC tournament:

K3
Congratulation to Nelson Klein for taking 10 place!

K6
Congratulations to Alyssa Przedwiecki for taking 4th place and for Gavin Joers taking 8th place!

And congratulations to the Bay Lane TEAM for taking the 1st place trophy!!  In addition to Alyssa and Anoushka, the team contributors throughout the tournaments were David Bundy, Noah Gover, and Adam Putz.

K12
Congratualtions to Kyle Jain for taking the first place trophy (!!), in a hard fought day that came down to the last game!  Also congratulations to Aaron Gibbs for taking 8th place and to Will Schantz for taking 7th place.

And last but not least, congratulations to the LDMS TEAM for taking the 1st place trophy!!  In addition to Kyle, Aaron and Will, contributors during the year included Brian Mark, Cole Zettel, Nick Schuster and Matthew Redlinger.

Whew!  Way to go players and way to represent the MSCC !!