The Kennard Chess Tigers invite any KCJA student interested in chess to participate as a member of our chess club. The Chess Tigers are from all grade levels and range in their enthusiasm from introductory students to expert tournament fans. Our meetings are usually evenly divided between chess strategy lessons and “skittle games”. Though our membership is limited, we add new students at the beginning of the school year and throughout the season as spots become available.
- Practices: Kennard Chess Tigers meet weekly on Tuesday, immediately after school until 5:30pm in the Library at Kennard. You should pack a snack to send with your child, as this is a very long day. Parents are expected to arrive no later than 5:15pm to pick up your child. The time between parent arrival and practice dismissal is used to communicate necessary information to parents. Failure to pick up your child in a timely fashion will result in a late fee assessment of $1 per minute past 5:45pm.
- Attendance: Members are expected to attend at least 80% of the Tuesday practice sessions. Practice attendance and participation are crucial parts of membership as students learn and master key factors of the game; ranging from naming the pieces, basic chess strategy, logging their moves, and finishing with checkmate.
- Behavior: During practice and lessons, members are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that does not disrupt either the lesson time or the practice time. It is important that we respect the school’s property, our instructor’s time, and the adults that are volunteering their proctoring services that day. The first time a student has to be asked to leave a teaching session will result in a parent conference. Continuing offenses will result in a meeting of the Chess Board to determine the appropriate consequence based on severity of offense and regularity of offenses. Each Chess Tiger (and his/her parent) will be required to sign a Behavior Contract indicating that s/he understands these rules.
- Instructor: Katlyn Miller will be instructing our children this year. A 8th grader at McKinley Middle School, Katlyn joined us as a coaching assistant last year and took over this fall. Katlyn is a member McKinley's chess team.
- Parents: Volunteer time is required of our dedicated Chess Tiger Parents (without whom the club could not operate). Parents will have three volunteer obligations per child throughout the season, though more are encouraged. Sign up will be available at the first practice in September. Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to, proctoring Tuesday chess club practices, attending and reserving tables at chess tournaments, carpool transport to Red Rook, fund raising opportunities, and keeping this web site up to date.
- Fees: This year the membership fee will be $32 per student and you will need to choose one of two USCF scholastic memberships. The regular scholastic membership is $17 and includes online access to Chess Life for Kids or the premium scholastic membership is $24 and includes a printed copy of Chess Life for Kids. There is also a $12 registration fee for each Gateway Chess League tournament. Please consider the financial obligations, as well as volunteer time, and then ask your child for their thoughts.
- Tournaments: All club members are required to join the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and attend at least 3 out of the 7 USCF sponsored tournaments. We are members of the Gateway Chess League for both tournament and league participation, and attend most of their events. These tournaments are held on Saturdays (about once a month) and last all day. A typical tournament begins at 9:00am and does not end until 7:00pm. All tournament registration fees and accumulated late fees must be paid no later than the close of practice the Tuesday before the scheduled tournament date.
- Red Rook: Red Rook Chess League is a 7 week tournament the club participates in at McKinley CLA during the months of November and December. The exact dates for this year have not yet been announced. As a result there will be no chess meetings at Kennard during this time. This year we will be carpooling 2nd – 5th graders from Kennard to McKinley. Due to the logistics of car seat and booster seat requirements we are not able to extend the carpool option to our younger members. K-1 students who wish to attend must provide their own transportation. All parents will be expected to pick up their children at McKinley at 5:30pm. Participation in Red Rook counts as 1 tournament toward a member’s 3 tournament requirement. .
- Kennard Invitational:
