Chess Carnival

Evan and Jason run a "Simul" during MSCC's "chess carnival"

Thanks to everyone who attended MSCC's "Chess Carnival" last night.  We had a lot of fun, including two simuls by Evan and Jason, and several "stations" including checkmate with 1 rook, 2 rooks and walking a pawn with a King, opening principles, finishing a game with a strong advantage, and Tournament Readiness.

Each "station" was run by either a student or a parent/leader, and notes were taken during the carnival.  We also took some signups for USM on 11/23.

I will be emailing parents with some notes we took during the chess carnival.  We hope everybody had a great time!

NEXT WEEK: wrist bands will be handed out during class!  Focus will be on preparing for tournament play, and demos will be given for all levels.

Are you Ready for Tournaments?

Yes, chess fans, our first tournament is just around the corner!  Many kids from the MSCC will be attending the great annual tournament at University School of Milwaukee!  This tournament is for any kid K-12, but we strongly recommend only kids who are tournament ready (Blue, Red, Black divisions) attend.  I will be sending out an email and posting here with instructions for signing up.

In general, you are ready for a tournament when you understand:

• Board setup, rules, piece movement, checkmate
• 4-move mate and avoiding
• Castling
• Piece development
• Simple checkmates
• Stalemate
• Basic Opening principles
• How to Play SLOWLY and think about other person's move
• Battle Squares - counting attackers and defenders
• Pawn Structure
• What is a pin, fork and a skewer?
• Tournament Basics- sportsmanship, manners, etc.

Demonstration of the above concepts also means you are ready for the BLUE division!

Game 2 of World Championship - Anand v Carlsen

It's fun to watch a master class game explained- Blue/Red/Black players can learn a great deal!

MSCC Wristbands on the way!

MSCC wrist bands are on the way!  These silicon wrist bands will help us divide our students by color:

• White - Ready to Play!
• Blue- Ready for Tournaments!
• Red- Proven Tournament Player
• Black- Top Tournament Player

We believe these wristbands will help motivate kids to move forward and to study outside of class.  The wristbands should be worn during class and at tournaments - the "MSCC" letters on them will help bind our kids together as a club during tournaments, which are divided by schools usually.

Puzzle: Level = Red

Find the best move for Black.

Puzzle: Level = Blue

Find the best move for Black.

Source: ChessTempo.com - try it!

Muskego High School Team

Last year, the Muskego High School team won the Conference (SMCC), and took 5th place in Division 1 at state with all Freshmen.  This year, with the help of Mr. Matt, our goal is first place.

During the season, kids in 7th and 8th grade may play as "subs" but for the state tournament, the team must consist of kids who actually attend the High School, and we're obviously looking for Red and Black division players of that age.  In grades 9-12 this year, we have Jake Gomoll, Rachel Gomoll, John Lamb, Jason Markowski, Jorin McGuire, Brady Megal, Sam Miller, Kolt Otterbacher, Reid Seghers, Evan Seghers, Chris Tillson.  The top 10 players will play every week in order of SMCC rating. The SMCC rating is determined by 1) last year's SMCC rating; or 2) the pre-season tournament on 12/7; 3) USCF rating divided by 10.