Newsletter #9, January 24, 2017

Post date: Jan 25, 2017 4:06:11 AM

Dear Prairie Chess Families,

In this newsletter:

    • Chess Tournaments for February
    • T-Shirt Order
    • Monday Chess Club Lesson
    • Prairie Chess Camp Registration Now Open

Chess Tournaments for February

We have a break this Saturday but then start up February 4th with Iowa Match Play Team Championship.

February 4th: Iowa Match Play Tournament, Prairie Point Middle School: This event is structured different than most. We play in teams of four in head-to-head competition. This is much like a tennis match. There will be two sections at the event, Reserve and Championship, with trophies in both sections. Since I have to form our four player teams, PLEASE let me know if your are interested. I will group players based on past performance in chess tournament including our own club.

February 11th: Iowa Girls Chess Championship: Yes, this event is just for our girl chess players! It is hosted at the Wellsburg Public Library Conference Room, 411 N Adams St, Wellsburg, IA 50680. Wellsburg is just west of Waterloo off highway 20. We have a nice variety of trophies for all experience levels. The winner, though, gets to represent Iowa at the Iowa Girls National Championship.

February 18th: Prairie Chess Series, Tournament #2: This is the second of three tournaments in the Prairie Chess Series. You probably know the details but one thing to clarify is that you can play in Tournament #2 even if you didn’t play in Tournament #3.

February 25th: 11th Annual Weber-Borlaug Chess Tournament, 1000 Kennedy Parkway, Coralville, IA 52241: This is a FREE scholastic event is only for K-6 players. Although free, there are great individual and team trophies!

T-Shirt Order

T-Shirt Image.PNG

We will be placing our first T-Shirt order on Friday. Both Youth and Adult sizes are available. All shirts are $6.25 with the exception of 2XL and 3XL, which are $7.25 and $8.25 respectively. To place your t-shirt order, go to our website at www.chessiniowa.org/prairiechessclub.

You may place your order and pay through the PayPal / Credit Card option or you may complete the online form and send a check to chess club or by mail to me at 3411 Blue Pointe Ct. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404. Thank you Parrish Copeland for this great design!

Monday's ​Chess Club Lesson​

For Prairie Creek and Point students, we did something new this Monday I played simultaneous games of two players teams. We started from a position that was thematic from our lesson last week on promoting a passed pawn into a queen. It was a winning position for the students but they had to apply our student. The students really enjoyed working together to beat me in the game.

For the Elementary Students, we returned to the computer lab and logged into our ChessKid.com accounts. The last few students that were not with us either last week or two weeks ago got set up as well. Everyone should have an ID now. If you’re having trouble, let me know and will set you up with a new account.

Last week we learned to use the “computer workout” learning tool (https://www.chesskid.com/computer/). This week we learned the “lessons” learning tool and set a challenge on who could “level up” by chess club next week. Our chess club tracks student achievement on our leaderboard at https://www.chesskid.com/groups/leaderboard.html?id=10837. We will recognize students on Monday who have made progress on the lesson learning exercises.

Prairie Chess Camp, July 17-21, 2017, Prairie Point Middle School

Dates are set for the Prairie Chess Camp. We are now taking online registration at www.chessiniowa.org/chesscamp. Camp hours are 8 am to 4:30 pm with 30 minute early drop off and late pickup. Our Chess Master Instructors Alex Betaneli, Erik Santarius, and Dan Brashaw will be returning. Registration is limited to 64 students currently in 1st through 11th grades. Many of you have participated in the past. For those not familiar, I will provide more details in future emails. We do sell out and so early registration is encouraged. In the meantime, checkout the camp webpage.