MadWash Chess: The Weekly Chess Tournament

Each week, the children play one chess game that counts toward the weekly chess club tournament. To make it fun, I give the sections funny names. This year the theme is food.

At Madison, I divided the club into four sections and at Washington, five sections. To keep the room organized, each section has a specific place to play. I post the pairings from the computer in the front of the room on a whiteboard with a projector. I also post paper copies of the standings on a wall near where the games are played. When the games are finished, I have the children mark their own scores on the paper standings.

As games finish and the scores are marked, I re-pair the children with a new opponent by hand. All games played after the tournament games do not count toward the standings although I do take notes on some of the results.

At Madison this week, I had two upsets. Players who were on the 6th and under team last year were beaten by players who were not on teams. If this keeps up, it could make for some interesting decisions when it comes time to pick teams.

In the 3rd and under sections at Washington, there are only two players who were on teams last year. That means that six new players will get to be on a team. It's fun trying to guess who those six players might get to be. Right now, I have no clue!