The last tournament of the year for the Burroughs Chess Club will be Saturday March 6th, starting at 8:00 (non-registered) or 9:00 (pre-registered) and ending about 3:30. It will be at Metcalf Jr. High in Burnsville.
I expect this tournament to be more competitive than the Check It Out tournament, but not quite at the level of the Capitol Hill tournament. It has two grade classes, K-3 and 4-6. It is conducted at the same time and place as a Jr. High Championship tournament, though we obviously won't be competing against that group.
I don't see any mention of this being a tournament where they give out awards for chess teams, or at least not at the K-3 and 4-6 level.
REGISTRATION
To pre-register, you start at http://schoolchess.org/registration/player_status.php. If you're a new player, you will choose "I'm a new player - never played in an SCA tournament" which takes you to http://schoolchess.org/registration/new_player_01.php . Calling it 'online' registration is stretching it a bit for new players, since you need to mail a form into the address listed, but the process is pretty painless. Basically you need to:
1. Print out a form from the page
2. Include a check for $18. This includes registering for SCA and for the tournament.
3. Mail it to them at the address listed.
The mail must be postmarked by the Tuesday before the tournament (the 2nd of March) to make sure they get it in time. If you can't mail it by then, you just bring the form and payment directly to the tournament and they'll process you there.
Once you register, you'll get a card with a number on it and you can use that to truly register (and pay) online for future tournaments, which I think is just $16.
If you previously registered with the SCA (for the Capitol Hill tournament), it'll ask you for your SCA number and you'll be able to register and pay online (through Paypal).
GIVE IT A TRY!
This will be our final tournament, and a chance for the kids to see what all the practices has done for them. We will have one more practice the week folowing to let them play one more time and give out some gifts for their participation.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
6th Practice Report
NO PRACTICE ON THE 26TH
There is no school next Friday, so there won’t be any chess club. Enjoy your week off! (I’m sure going to!)
VOLUNEERS FOR MARCH 5TH
We didn’t have as many volunteers as I would have liked today, and I recognize I haven’t been giving a ton of direction to the folks who have been so good about showing up. So for the next practice, I’m asking for volunteers to make a special effort to sign up:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0305
This is a different format for signing up than we’ve had before, and you can sign up to volunteer for a role before practice (before 3:00), during practice (3:00-4:20), after practice (4:20-4:30) or all three of them. I’m trying this because as chess club continues on, things are getting a little more chaotic, and with this number of kids, I think we need all the help we can get.
Thanks again for signing up.
PRACTICE
Among the things we went over on the practice was:
1. Our Trophies! – The kids from our first tournament who brought home two team trophies presented them to Mr. Cadotte in a short ceremony.
2. Standings – We started posting standings for our three divisions (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) so kids could see who they were challenging.
3. Four-move checkmate – We mostly learned this for defensive purposes. Ask you kids what the signs are that their opponent is going to try and pin them in a quick checkmate (answer: bishop moves our three squares and queen moves out two)
Other than that, there was a lot of playing.
CHECK WITH YOUR CHILD
Please take some time in the next week to ask your child if they enjoy playing chess at chess club. One way to get a sense is to ask them how many game they played. If they aren’t finishing at least two and probably three games, they may not really want to play. Kids who avoid playing end up being disruptive. With that many kids, we can’t have volunteers shadowing just one child. Starting next practice, we’ll be contacting parents if this behavior continues.
THANKS
We only have two more practices and two more tournaments left (including tomorrow’s). Thanks so much for helping make our trial chess club season a success.
Sincerely,
John
There is no school next Friday, so there won’t be any chess club. Enjoy your week off! (I’m sure going to!)
VOLUNEERS FOR MARCH 5TH
We didn’t have as many volunteers as I would have liked today, and I recognize I haven’t been giving a ton of direction to the folks who have been so good about showing up. So for the next practice, I’m asking for volunteers to make a special effort to sign up:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0305
This is a different format for signing up than we’ve had before, and you can sign up to volunteer for a role before practice (before 3:00), during practice (3:00-4:20), after practice (4:20-4:30) or all three of them. I’m trying this because as chess club continues on, things are getting a little more chaotic, and with this number of kids, I think we need all the help we can get.
Thanks again for signing up.
PRACTICE
Among the things we went over on the practice was:
1. Our Trophies! – The kids from our first tournament who brought home two team trophies presented them to Mr. Cadotte in a short ceremony.
2. Standings – We started posting standings for our three divisions (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) so kids could see who they were challenging.
3. Four-move checkmate – We mostly learned this for defensive purposes. Ask you kids what the signs are that their opponent is going to try and pin them in a quick checkmate (answer: bishop moves our three squares and queen moves out two)
Other than that, there was a lot of playing.
CHECK WITH YOUR CHILD
Please take some time in the next week to ask your child if they enjoy playing chess at chess club. One way to get a sense is to ask them how many game they played. If they aren’t finishing at least two and probably three games, they may not really want to play. Kids who avoid playing end up being disruptive. With that many kids, we can’t have volunteers shadowing just one child. Starting next practice, we’ll be contacting parents if this behavior continues.
THANKS
We only have two more practices and two more tournaments left (including tomorrow’s). Thanks so much for helping make our trial chess club season a success.
Sincerely,
John
Monday, February 15, 2010
6th Practice & Weekly Notes
Our sixth Burroughs Chess Club practice is this Friday (Feb 19th) at 2:50 in the Burroughs lunchroom. Below you’ll find details about it, but feel free to send any followup questions to BurroughsChess@Gmail.com.
NEED VOLUNTEERS ON SHORT NOTICE FOR THIS WEEK
Please, if you can help at practice, please sign up at:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0219
Thanks!
2ND TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Please let me know if you plan on coming so I can have an idea how big our team will be.
Our second tournament will be the only tournament which is a grade level tournament, meaning your child will only play kids in their own grade level. In most other tournaments, kids often play across a few grade levels. That said, it will be more competitive than the last tournament, especially on the high-end. You’ve been warned. It is held at Capitol Hill school in St. Paul, near (appropriately) Capitol Hill.
For more information, including how to register, see here.
CELEBRATING OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Burroughs team took home a second place prize in grades 4 through 6 and a first place prize in grades K through 3 in our first tournament last weekend. So we’ll bring the plaques we received and present them to Mr. Cadotte. I’ll also post the results so everyone can see how they finished.
For more details on our tournament last weekend, click here.
NEED VOLUNTEERS ON SHORT NOTICE FOR THIS WEEK
Please, if you can help at practice, please sign up at:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0219
Thanks!
2ND TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Please let me know if you plan on coming so I can have an idea how big our team will be.
Our second tournament will be the only tournament which is a grade level tournament, meaning your child will only play kids in their own grade level. In most other tournaments, kids often play across a few grade levels. That said, it will be more competitive than the last tournament, especially on the high-end. You’ve been warned. It is held at Capitol Hill school in St. Paul, near (appropriately) Capitol Hill.
For more information, including how to register, see here.
CELEBRATING OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Burroughs team took home a second place prize in grades 4 through 6 and a first place prize in grades K through 3 in our first tournament last weekend. So we’ll bring the plaques we received and present them to Mr. Cadotte. I’ll also post the results so everyone can see how they finished.
For more details on our tournament last weekend, click here.
Burroughs Chess Club Brings Home Some Hardware
Now THAT’S how you represent a chess club!
Burroughs Chess Club brought 20+ kids to Minneapolis Public School’s Check It Out Chess Tournament on Saturday. Then they brought home three big trophies.
In the fourth grade through sixth grade level, Burroughs team finished in second place overall. This isn’t a participation prize. The team points are determined by totaling the points gathered by the top four students from each school, demonstrating a high level of play across several members of the team. In fact, seven kids finished with winning records. And that’s without having any sixth graders.
In the kindergarten through third grade level, Burroughs’ team was paced by third-grader Davis Everson-Rose, who won the top individual award with a record of six wins and one draw. But the entire team shined, placing ELEVEN kids in the top twenty spots. Not too surprisingly, that team finished in first place, edging out Pillsbury by a half point.
Congratulations to all the kids who participated and represented Burroughs. I hope you had fun! We’ll bring in the two team’s trophies on Friday and I’ll post final results at practice for anyone who is interested.
Burroughs Chess Club brought 20+ kids to Minneapolis Public School’s Check It Out Chess Tournament on Saturday. Then they brought home three big trophies.
In the fourth grade through sixth grade level, Burroughs team finished in second place overall. This isn’t a participation prize. The team points are determined by totaling the points gathered by the top four students from each school, demonstrating a high level of play across several members of the team. In fact, seven kids finished with winning records. And that’s without having any sixth graders.In the kindergarten through third grade level, Burroughs’ team was paced by third-grader Davis Everson-Rose, who won the top individual award with a record of six wins and one draw. But the entire team shined, placing ELEVEN kids in the top twenty spots. Not too surprisingly, that team finished in first place, edging out Pillsbury by a half point.
Congratulations to all the kids who participated and represented Burroughs. I hope you had fun! We’ll bring in the two team’s trophies on Friday and I’ll post final results at practice for anyone who is interested.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2nd Chess Tournament - 2/20, Capitol Hill
INFORMATION
Our second tournament will be the only tournament which is a grade level tournament, meaning your child will only play kids in their own grade level. In most other tournaments, kids often play across a few grade levels. It is held at Capitol Hill school in St. Paul, near (appropriately) Capitol Hill.
Here's the basic info from the SCA (School Chess Association) web site (http://schoolchess.org/):
"THE NEXT TOURNAMENT WILL BE AT CAPITOL HILL IN ST PAUL ON FEBRUARY 20TH
SCA STATEWIDE GRADE LEVEL will be held at Capitol Hill in St Paul on February 20th. This tournament is a grade Level where Players compete within their own grade level in grades K-8. In addition there is one 9th grade - 12th grade section. Team awards for Grade Levels based upon top three players in each grade section from each school.
This tournament will be on-line registration, if you register on-line and pay by using paypal you do not need to be at the tournament site until 9:00am. New players may download a registration form and send a check to the address listed and need not arrive until 9:00am. If you do not pay or register on-line you must be at the tournament site between 8:00 and 8:30am. All players who enter the line after 8:30 may miss the 1st round."
This is a pretty popular tournament. There are usually five games for each child, and there can be over a hundred kids in each grade from all over Minnesota. At the high-end, the kids can be really, really good, but there are plenty of relative beginners too.
REGISTRATION
To pre-register, you start at (http://schoolchess.org/registration/player_status.php), and will probably choose "I'm a new player - never played in an SCA tournament" which takes you to (http://schoolchess.org/registration/new_player_01.php) . Calling it 'online' registration is stretching it a bit for new players, since you need to mail a form into the address listed, but the process is pretty painless. Basically you need to:
1. Print out a form from the page
2. Include a check for $18. This includes registering for SCA and for the tournament.
3. Mail it to them at the address listed.
The mail must be postmarked by the Tuesday before the tournament (the 16th of February) to make sure they get it in time. If you can't mail it by then, you just bring the form and payment directly to the tournament and they'll process you there.
Once you register, you'll get a card with a number on it and you can use that to truly register (and pay) online for future tournaments, which I think is just $16.
I hope you can all make it to the tournanment. If you're like me, you'll be amazed at how large it is and the excitement and interest of all the kids. I hope to see you there.
Our second tournament will be the only tournament which is a grade level tournament, meaning your child will only play kids in their own grade level. In most other tournaments, kids often play across a few grade levels. It is held at Capitol Hill school in St. Paul, near (appropriately) Capitol Hill.
Here's the basic info from the SCA (School Chess Association) web site (http://schoolchess.org/):
"THE NEXT TOURNAMENT WILL BE AT CAPITOL HILL IN ST PAUL ON FEBRUARY 20TH
SCA STATEWIDE GRADE LEVEL will be held at Capitol Hill in St Paul on February 20th. This tournament is a grade Level where Players compete within their own grade level in grades K-8. In addition there is one 9th grade - 12th grade section. Team awards for Grade Levels based upon top three players in each grade section from each school.
This tournament will be on-line registration, if you register on-line and pay by using paypal you do not need to be at the tournament site until 9:00am. New players may download a registration form and send a check to the address listed and need not arrive until 9:00am. If you do not pay or register on-line you must be at the tournament site between 8:00 and 8:30am. All players who enter the line after 8:30 may miss the 1st round."
This is a pretty popular tournament. There are usually five games for each child, and there can be over a hundred kids in each grade from all over Minnesota. At the high-end, the kids can be really, really good, but there are plenty of relative beginners too.
REGISTRATION
To pre-register, you start at (http://schoolchess.org/registration/player_status.php), and will probably choose "I'm a new player - never played in an SCA tournament" which takes you to (http://schoolchess.org/registration/new_player_01.php) . Calling it 'online' registration is stretching it a bit for new players, since you need to mail a form into the address listed, but the process is pretty painless. Basically you need to:
1. Print out a form from the page
2. Include a check for $18. This includes registering for SCA and for the tournament.
3. Mail it to them at the address listed.
The mail must be postmarked by the Tuesday before the tournament (the 16th of February) to make sure they get it in time. If you can't mail it by then, you just bring the form and payment directly to the tournament and they'll process you there.
Once you register, you'll get a card with a number on it and you can use that to truly register (and pay) online for future tournaments, which I think is just $16.
I hope you can all make it to the tournanment. If you're like me, you'll be amazed at how large it is and the excitement and interest of all the kids. I hope to see you there.
Schedule for 1st Tournament
I've just received the schedule for the tournament this weekend (the 13th at North High School cafeteeria). My experience is that it doesn't go quite this smoothly, but I'd suggest trying to be there around 9:00 if you're pre-registered in case they go over rules. I'll try and be there around 8:30.
CHECK IT OUT!!!
CHESS COMPETITION
Student Activities Department
Minneapolis Public Schools
North High School Cafeteria
February 13, 2010
8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Registration
9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Warm-up/ Practice time
9:30 - 10:00 a.m. Round 1
10:15 - 10:45 a.m. Round 2
11:00 - 11:30 a.m. Round 3
11:45 - 12:15 p.m. Round 4
12:15 - 12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Round 5
1:45 - 2:15 p.m. Round 6
2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Round 7
3:30 p.m. Awards
Questions?
Contact the Student Activities Office:
Derek Emery - 668-0167 or Pam Olson - 668-0157
Email: derek.emery@mpls.k12.mn.us or polson@mpls.k12.mn.us
CHECK IT OUT!!!
CHESS COMPETITION
Student Activities Department
Minneapolis Public Schools
North High School Cafeteria
February 13, 2010
8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Registration
9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Warm-up/ Practice time
9:30 - 10:00 a.m. Round 1
10:15 - 10:45 a.m. Round 2
11:00 - 11:30 a.m. Round 3
11:45 - 12:15 p.m. Round 4
12:15 - 12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Round 5
1:45 - 2:15 p.m. Round 6
2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Round 7
3:30 p.m. Awards
Questions?
Contact the Student Activities Office:
Derek Emery - 668-0167 or Pam Olson - 668-0157
Email: derek.emery@mpls.k12.mn.us or polson@mpls.k12.mn.us
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
5th Practice
“Of chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess.”
– Irving Chernev
If life isn’t long enough for chess, certainly the chess season isn’t. We find ourselves halfway through the season, with our fifth Burroughs Chess Club practice this Friday (Feb 12th) at 2:55 in the Burroughs lunchroom. Below you’ll find details about it, but feel free to send any followup questions to BurroughsChess@Gmail.com.
NEED VOLUNTEERS ON SHORT NOTICE FOR THIS WEEK
I’m late in getting this setup, but if you can help at practice, please sign up at:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0212
Thanks!
OUR PREVIOUS PRACTICE
THANKS to all our volunteers and especially to Mike Dietrich who led the chess lessons last week. I was out of town but it sounds like everything went really well. (And after entering well over 100 chess game results, I can confirm there was a lot of chess played!)
OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT – Saturday Feb 13th
You can still sign up for our first tournament. You’ll just need to register in person that morning, starting at 8:30 AM. You can find out more info about the tournament HERE. Last I saw, we had at least fifteen kids signed up across all grades. And don’t forget to wear your Burroughs clothing.
If you think your child is interested in eventually attending a chess tournament, I can’t encourage you enough to try this first one. The “Check It Out” tournament is BY FAR the friendliest tournament for beginning chess players. Is isn’t a School Chess Association tournament – it’s just sponsored by the Mpls Public Schools, and so there are a lot more beginners than there are at any other tournament. It’s also free and lunch is provided free too. Finally, it’s the only tournament where kids don’t need their own chess sets.
But it is a long day. The kids play seven rounds of chess divided into K-3 and 4-6 grades (I think). Each round lasts about a half hour, and then they have long breaks in between to socialize, play with each other, play Nintendo DS, etc. Registration starts at 8:30 and my experience is that the awards ceremony ends around 5:00.
OUR NEXT TOURNAMENT – Saturday Feb 20th
Our second tournament of the year will be next Saturday, the 20th. I’ll get you the information around this within the next day or so, but put it on your calendar now. It is the only grade level tournament, meaning it is the only tournament where your child is assured of playing only kids in their grade, and awards are also given by grade.
CLARIFICATION ON PICKING UP KIDS
Please come into Burroughs to pick up your kids. We’ve noticed several kids running outside as our club ends, and we want to make sure everyone finds their parent safely.
THANKS again for your participation and we’ll hopefully see you on Friday.
Sincerely,
John
– Irving Chernev
If life isn’t long enough for chess, certainly the chess season isn’t. We find ourselves halfway through the season, with our fifth Burroughs Chess Club practice this Friday (Feb 12th) at 2:55 in the Burroughs lunchroom. Below you’ll find details about it, but feel free to send any followup questions to BurroughsChess@Gmail.com.
NEED VOLUNTEERS ON SHORT NOTICE FOR THIS WEEK
I’m late in getting this setup, but if you can help at practice, please sign up at:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0212
Thanks!
OUR PREVIOUS PRACTICE
THANKS to all our volunteers and especially to Mike Dietrich who led the chess lessons last week. I was out of town but it sounds like everything went really well. (And after entering well over 100 chess game results, I can confirm there was a lot of chess played!)
OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT – Saturday Feb 13th
You can still sign up for our first tournament. You’ll just need to register in person that morning, starting at 8:30 AM. You can find out more info about the tournament HERE. Last I saw, we had at least fifteen kids signed up across all grades. And don’t forget to wear your Burroughs clothing.
If you think your child is interested in eventually attending a chess tournament, I can’t encourage you enough to try this first one. The “Check It Out” tournament is BY FAR the friendliest tournament for beginning chess players. Is isn’t a School Chess Association tournament – it’s just sponsored by the Mpls Public Schools, and so there are a lot more beginners than there are at any other tournament. It’s also free and lunch is provided free too. Finally, it’s the only tournament where kids don’t need their own chess sets.
But it is a long day. The kids play seven rounds of chess divided into K-3 and 4-6 grades (I think). Each round lasts about a half hour, and then they have long breaks in between to socialize, play with each other, play Nintendo DS, etc. Registration starts at 8:30 and my experience is that the awards ceremony ends around 5:00.
OUR NEXT TOURNAMENT – Saturday Feb 20th
Our second tournament of the year will be next Saturday, the 20th. I’ll get you the information around this within the next day or so, but put it on your calendar now. It is the only grade level tournament, meaning it is the only tournament where your child is assured of playing only kids in their grade, and awards are also given by grade.
CLARIFICATION ON PICKING UP KIDS
Please come into Burroughs to pick up your kids. We’ve noticed several kids running outside as our club ends, and we want to make sure everyone finds their parent safely.
THANKS again for your participation and we’ll hopefully see you on Friday.
Sincerely,
John
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
4TH Practice - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.”
– Emo Philips
The fourth Burroughs Chess Club practice SHOULD take place at 3:00 this Friday (Feb 5th) in the Burroughs lunchroom, provided we get some more volunteers signed up. Below you’ll find details about it, but feel free to send any followup questions to BurroughsChess@Gmail.com.
NEED VOLUNTEERS TO AVOID CANCELLING PRACTICE
Our signup sheet only shows three volunteers (out of 12) for Friday’s practice. I suspect we have several volunteers who plan on coming but just haven’t signed up, but I’m not comfortable taking that chance with 90+ kids, so if you can be there, please sign up at:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0205
If it looks like we don’t have enough coverage, I’ll need to cancel the practice.
OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT – Saturday Feb 13th
You need to signup TONIGHT to be pre-registered for our first tournament, as I’ll be sending the organizers the list sometime tomorrow. You can signup at:
http://mysignup.com/burroughscheckitout
If you don’t sign up be tonight, you’ll need to register in person that morning, starting at 8:30 AM. I’ll paste the form your children got at practice on Friday at the end which provide more info. Also, you can always ask questions by emailing BurroughsChess@gmail.com
If you think your child is interested in eventually attending a chess tournament, I can’t encourage you enough to try this first one. The “Check It Out” tournament is BY FAR the friendliest tournament for beginning chess players. Is isn’t a School Chess Association tournament – it’s just sponsored by the Mpls Public Schools, and so there are a lot more beginners than there are at any other tournament. It’s also free and lunch is provided free too. Finally, it’s the only tournament where kids don’t need their own chess sets.
But it is a long day. The kids play seven rounds of chess divided into K-3 and 4-6 grades (I think). Each round lasts about a half hour, and then they have long breaks in between to socialize, play with each other, play Nintendo DS, etc. Registration starts at 8:30 and my experience is that the awards ceremony ends around 5:00.
MIKE DIETRICH WILL LEAD THIS FRIDAY’S PRACTICE
I’ll be out this week and so Mike Dietrich will be leading this practice. If you’re a volunteer, look to Mike for direction.
Getting to the Cafeteria
Chess club members will be released to the lunchroom by their teachers. Mr. Cadotte will announce this on Friday and we have provided a list of students to the teachers, but if there is any confusion, a child can tell their teacher that is where they should be. Mpls Kids can also report directly to Chess Club.
Kids Check-in (2:55-3:10)
Outside of the lunch room, each grade will have an area where they can put the coats and backpacks. Also a volunteer will be in that area with a list of nametags for each grade. So as teachers dismiss kids to the cafeteria, they should stop at their grade’s station to take care of those things. (Volunteers will be outside the lunchroom to help them.) Once kids are inside the lunchroom, they can start playing right away!
Snack
We’ll allow snack during the first few minute. Unfortunately, we can’t provide a snack. If you want your child to have one, please send one with them to school. They can eat it in the cafeteria as they get settled. Also, please make sure that your children know that the snacks that are in the cafeteria are for Minneapolis Kids students only.
Playing Chess (3:10-4:15)
We’ll have chess sets out and kids can pair up and start playing. We’ll have one table set aside for beginners who want a little extra help. All kids will play and report their results to the check-in table. Then they’ll find someone else to play and repeat that throughout the hour. I think this is the week we’ll start tracking results and ranking kids, so the level of motivation will likely rise.
Chess Lesson (varies)
During the play time we’ll interrupt them once or twice to conduct a short lesson or review something from last week. This week the lesson will be covered by Mike Dietrich.
Cleanup (4:15-4:20)
Kids will put both black and white pieces for their games into a zip bag and bring the bag and the board to the check-in table.
Pickup Kids (4:20 – 4:30)
Please plan on picking up your child by 4:20. We cannot supervise children that are not picked up by 4:30.
THANKS again for your participation and we’ll hopefully see you on Friday.
Sincerely,
John
– Emo Philips
The fourth Burroughs Chess Club practice SHOULD take place at 3:00 this Friday (Feb 5th) in the Burroughs lunchroom, provided we get some more volunteers signed up. Below you’ll find details about it, but feel free to send any followup questions to BurroughsChess@Gmail.com.
NEED VOLUNTEERS TO AVOID CANCELLING PRACTICE
Our signup sheet only shows three volunteers (out of 12) for Friday’s practice. I suspect we have several volunteers who plan on coming but just haven’t signed up, but I’m not comfortable taking that chance with 90+ kids, so if you can be there, please sign up at:
http://www.mysignup.com/burroughschess0205
If it looks like we don’t have enough coverage, I’ll need to cancel the practice.
OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT – Saturday Feb 13th
You need to signup TONIGHT to be pre-registered for our first tournament, as I’ll be sending the organizers the list sometime tomorrow. You can signup at:
http://mysignup.com/burroughscheckitout
If you don’t sign up be tonight, you’ll need to register in person that morning, starting at 8:30 AM. I’ll paste the form your children got at practice on Friday at the end which provide more info. Also, you can always ask questions by emailing BurroughsChess@gmail.com
If you think your child is interested in eventually attending a chess tournament, I can’t encourage you enough to try this first one. The “Check It Out” tournament is BY FAR the friendliest tournament for beginning chess players. Is isn’t a School Chess Association tournament – it’s just sponsored by the Mpls Public Schools, and so there are a lot more beginners than there are at any other tournament. It’s also free and lunch is provided free too. Finally, it’s the only tournament where kids don’t need their own chess sets.
But it is a long day. The kids play seven rounds of chess divided into K-3 and 4-6 grades (I think). Each round lasts about a half hour, and then they have long breaks in between to socialize, play with each other, play Nintendo DS, etc. Registration starts at 8:30 and my experience is that the awards ceremony ends around 5:00.
MIKE DIETRICH WILL LEAD THIS FRIDAY’S PRACTICE
I’ll be out this week and so Mike Dietrich will be leading this practice. If you’re a volunteer, look to Mike for direction.
Getting to the Cafeteria
Chess club members will be released to the lunchroom by their teachers. Mr. Cadotte will announce this on Friday and we have provided a list of students to the teachers, but if there is any confusion, a child can tell their teacher that is where they should be. Mpls Kids can also report directly to Chess Club.
Kids Check-in (2:55-3:10)
Outside of the lunch room, each grade will have an area where they can put the coats and backpacks. Also a volunteer will be in that area with a list of nametags for each grade. So as teachers dismiss kids to the cafeteria, they should stop at their grade’s station to take care of those things. (Volunteers will be outside the lunchroom to help them.) Once kids are inside the lunchroom, they can start playing right away!
Snack
We’ll allow snack during the first few minute. Unfortunately, we can’t provide a snack. If you want your child to have one, please send one with them to school. They can eat it in the cafeteria as they get settled. Also, please make sure that your children know that the snacks that are in the cafeteria are for Minneapolis Kids students only.
Playing Chess (3:10-4:15)
We’ll have chess sets out and kids can pair up and start playing. We’ll have one table set aside for beginners who want a little extra help. All kids will play and report their results to the check-in table. Then they’ll find someone else to play and repeat that throughout the hour. I think this is the week we’ll start tracking results and ranking kids, so the level of motivation will likely rise.
Chess Lesson (varies)
During the play time we’ll interrupt them once or twice to conduct a short lesson or review something from last week. This week the lesson will be covered by Mike Dietrich.
Cleanup (4:15-4:20)
Kids will put both black and white pieces for their games into a zip bag and bring the bag and the board to the check-in table.
Pickup Kids (4:20 – 4:30)
Please plan on picking up your child by 4:20. We cannot supervise children that are not picked up by 4:30.
THANKS again for your participation and we’ll hopefully see you on Friday.
Sincerely,
John
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)