Chess Club

Chess Club Registration Form 2009-2010

Once again, we are offering a school chess club, running from October 2009 through April 2010, which will allow kids to experience the learning and competition of chess. Students in grades K through 6 are invited to join the club. Last year, McAuliffe took 9th place for 1-3 and 14th place for 4-6 at the Washington State Elementary Chess Championships competing with hundreds of schools! We hope to continue our strong tradition!

 

Visit our Chess Club News page for updated tournament results and more!

David Hendricks is returning as the chess coach. Coach Hendricks has been coaching elementary chess clubs for ten years. Last year, he coached eight elementary school chess clubs, including a team that took 1st in the nation three times and 1st in Washington State. He is the Scholastic Director for the Washington Chess Federation, and was the Director of the Microsoft Chess Club. He plays regularly in Washington and National Chess tournaments, coaches many private chess students, and runs summer chess and sports camps. David is an electrical and software engineer and designed computer hardware and software for Microsoft and Hewlett Packard companies.

The class teaches chess basics, openings, middle game strategies, end game principles, tactics such as pins, forks, skewers, distraction, x-rays, decoys damming, blockades, and many others. We cover checkmates, stalemates, how to determine when a piece is in trouble, how to escape trouble, how to attack and defend, how to look at all your options, preserve your material, improve your position, and how to compete. We will practice with chess clocks and will learn chess notation. Hendricks uses a very interactive teaching style with lots of hands-on involved learning and feedback. We can take beginners through advanced players.

Meeting Times

Fridays (change from last year) from 7:30am to 8:45am (1 hour 15 minutes)
October 9, 2009-April 30, 2010

Dates

The first meeting is the first week in Oct 2009. Last meeting is the last week of April 2010. We follow the Lake Washing District Calendar - no club during days when there is no Friday school. We have 22 sessions: Oct. 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov. 6, 13, 20, Dec. 4, 11, 18, Jan. 8, 15, 22, 29, Feb. 5 (not 19), 26, Mar. 5, 12, 26, Apr. 9, 16, (not 23), 30.

Location

McAuliffe School Commons. We need one parent volunteer each week per class.

Enrollment

A minimum of 15 kids to run the club - if we can't get the minimum, chess club may be cancelled or the fee may need to be raised. If we get 30 or more, we will limit entries to those with the highest chess ratings, then first come first served. Many days I will divide the group into beginnings and advanced sections, the advanced section will get harder material and more tournament preparation drills. The beginner section is for players who are new to chess or with ratings below 500.

Tournaments

Tournament participation is optional but encouraged for those that are ready. We will target one Saturday tournament per month (Nov - April) in the greater Seattle area to test our skills against other schools. Tournaments usually run from 8:30am to 4:00pm. There are five games, each one hour long. Kids play all five games win or lose. We need a good turnout to tournaments to win some team trophies. The coach will attend to review games and coach the kids. The State Championship is in April in Spokane this year - players need 3 out of 5 wins in any tournament to qualify for State.

Website

We will be using the ChessMagnetSchool.com website again this year. This serves as our textbook, provides homework drills, and tracks individual results. Students should plan to do two hours of chess homework per week (it's fun!) from home or from any computer connected to the Internet. Once a month we will spend part of class session in the computer lab where the coach can answer questions live about the chess problems.

Cost

$260 per student for the full year - this is only $9.15 per week. Fee includes: 22 chess club sessions, the license fee for the chess website, all the chess equipment and supplies needed, handouts, in-class trophies and medals, the coach's attendance at one Saturday tournament per month, free attendance at the annual Sammamish Elementary tournament (McAuliffe, Blackwell, Mead, and Challenger), and the year end party.

• Sibling discount - subtract $40 for a second or third sibling in same family.
  Not Included: tournament registration fees (about $15 per tournament) and t- shirts

Kindergarteners

To be ready for chess, your kindergartner should be able to do simple math and some reading and writing. If you are not sure if your child is ready, we are offering a 4 week trial for $37 (for Kindergartners only). After 4 weeks, we can decide together whether to continue for the rest of the year. The 4-week trial does not count toward the minimum enrollment.

Volunteer Opportunity

We still need a Parent Scheduler and Tournament Coordinator. If interested, contact Jane Dulski at president@mcauliffeptsa.org

Chess Club Registration Form 2009-2010