News

All Star Chess Club, a chess program for 2nd and 3rd graders, returns for its third year.  That should come as no surprise as Madison saw the top 7 places for school team awards at the 2017 State Scholastic Chess Championship occupied by primary teams from Madison City Schools.  With this proven recipe for success, how could we not continue a program that recognizes our most promising young students and offers them additional opportunities to improve their skills?  "Each year we see new stars emerge in the program, while others graduate and go on to lead their upper elementary chess teams," said MCCL Executive Director Ranae Bartlett.

2017 State Scholastic Championship Primary Section competitors Horizon and Rainbow Elementary

For the 2017-18 school year, All Star West Chess Club (for Madison, West Madison, Heritage and Mill Creek Elementary schools) will be run by coaches Ranae Bartlett and Ed Mullin and will meet Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at Madison Elementary beginning on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. All Star East Chess Club (for Columbia, Horizon, and Rainbow Elementary schools) will be run by coaches Ranae Bartlett and Will Stevenson and meets at Rainbow Elementary on Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. beginning on Wednesday, September 6, 2017.  All Star Chess Club is for 2nd and 3rd graders (although coaches, in their discretion, can make exceptions for a few 1st graders).  All Star Chess Club is by invitation only.  MCCL relies on nominations and recommendations from chess team coaches, and each coach can nominate up to five students from each school.

Coach Ed Mullin shares: "I never imagined the level of chess expertise that elementary players have here in Madison. I played chess since I was 5, but didn't achieve the quality of play of many of our top elementary students until I was in college. I get great satisfaction when I can help a 600 rated player reach 800 or an 800 rated player reach 1,000 or higher. I love to see when the light goes on and a chess player moves on to a higher level of play." 

Both All Star Clubs will utilize the free ChessKid.com accounts provided by Madison City Schools to all elementary students.  Students invited to participate in both clubs will be added to online clubs where coaches can monitor their progress.  All Star West and East clubs also plan to hold chess matches with each other to provide additional opportunities to prepare for tournaments.  Many will be participating in the upcoming MCCL Team Cup Championship in the K3 section.

Each class will follow this basic structure:

• Chess Notation Emphasis

• Lesson

• Full game using clocks and notating moves

• Game analysis – sharing games with the class and seeing how well you have recorded moves.

Read this article which contains links to a video and article on how to notate moves.

We look forward to continuing our efforts in developing young chess players in Madison.