News

2017 Year in Review

The Madison City Chess League continued to grow in membership in 2017 and saw its students compete and grow during numerous chess tournaments throughout the year.  Here are a few highlights from the previous year. We hope you will renew your membership for 2018 and continue to support the Madison City Chess League. Use this link to join or renew.

Blindfold Match during MCCL Challenge BJ freshman Michael Guthrie takes on WHNT's Chief Investigative Reporter David Kumbroch live on Facebook and wins in 32 moves.	Madison Hosts State Scholastic Chess Championship Madison teams brought home a record number of awards at the 2017 State Scholastic Chess Championship held at Bob Jones High School.	Record Number of Awards at Super Nationals VI! Madison students brought a record number of 78 students to compete at Super Nationals and set a new record for individual and team awards. Award winners pictured here during our 2017 Annual Dinner.

2017 MCCL Team Cup Winner - Liberty Middle School The Liberty Middle School team of Will Fox, Sohan Mynampally, Om Badhe, and LJ Saurman wins the first MCCL Team Cup Championship.	2017 City Chess Championship Mayor Finley presents the awards to our City Chess Champions at James Clemens High School.	2017 Summer Chess Camp Rainbow Elementary hosts Summer Chess Camp and welcomed International Master Danny Rensch as one of its instructors.

2017 MCCL Annual Dinner In May, the Madison City Chess League invited all school chess teams to attend our city-wide Annual Dinner where we honored our students and presented our first Educator of the Year and Coach of the Year awards. Our next Annual Dinner is scheduled for Friday May 18, 2018 at Asbury UMC Five Points Gym.	MCCL Launches 1000 Club In the 2016-17 school year, MCCL launched the 1000 Club program recognizing elementary students who achieve a USCF rating of 1000 before they leave elementary school. Read more about the club here.	Bughouse as a Spectator Sport During Summer Chess Camp, MCCL hosted a Bughouse tournament and turned it into our first spectator event allowing parents and outside spectators to observe. IM Danny Rensch was our celebrity competitor and made us want to schedule more events like it in the future.

Fall Chess Camp GM Alex Stripunsky, FM Mike Klein, Jonathan Rasberry and Ed Mullin made this one of most special chess camps MCCL has ever hosted. We were glad we could provide classes for every level of chess player. The instructors were very complimentary of all of our kids. Thank you for participating!	Game Analysis with FunMaster Mike Our campers enjoyed meeting FunMaster Mike and having him analyze their games. It was great getting to meet the person behind all those wonderful ChessKid videos!	Queen's Quest & 2018 Team Cup Combined Mill Creek Elementary once again hosted the Queen's Quest the Saturday before Thanksgiving where we added a new K-3 under 300 section! In addition, we scheduled the middle and high school Team Cup Championship at the same time with the highest turnout for that age range of competitors.

National K-12 Chess Championship MCCL chartered a bus to Disney World and focused on our middle and high school students. The result was a 6th place finish for DMS 8th grade, a 7th place finish for BJ 9th grade, and an 8th place finish for DMS 7th grade! This was the largest showing from Madison in Orlando, and we hope it will grow each year.	MCCL Has a New Home! Madison Library Branch Manager Sarah Sledge and MCCL Executive Director Ranae Bartlett began meeting in 2017 to discuss a new partnership between our organizations. Beginning on January 22nd, MCCL will meet at the new Madison Library at 142 Plaza Blvd on Monday nights from 6:30-8:30 p.m. We are so excited to partner with the Library to grow our program.	All Girls State Chess Tournament in Madison! Bob Jones High School in Madison will be the location for the first All Girls State Chess Championship on April 28, 2018. MCCL is excited to help host this event for the Alabama Chess Federation which made its decision in late 2017.

Renew or Join MCCL for 2018

MCCL Members: It is time to renew your family membership for 2018. If you are a Lifetime Member, you do not need to renew. Annual members, by renewing your family membership for 2018, you will receive benefits of membership for a full year beginning in January. Benefits include reduced registration fees for the Winter Knights chess tournament at Columbia Elementary on January 13, 2018, the City Chess Championship in April 2018 at JCHS, the Summer Knights Chess Tournament in August 2018 and the MCS Fall Scholars Chess Tournament in October 2018. MCCL hosts a members-only Bughouse Night each year and offers reduced fees and early registration for chess camps. MCCL also offers coaching services at National tournaments and rents a team room that is available for members. We hope you will return as MCCL members for 2018 and thank our Lifetime Members for their continued support! You can renew your membership by using this link.

2018 Annual Meeting

Annual Meeting - Jan. 29, 2018 during the MCCL meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the new Madison Library located at 142 Plaza Blvd. MCCL Lifetime members and current 2018 members will be eligible to vote on the board slate recommended by the Nominating Committee which will meet in early January. If you would like to serve on the MCCL Board or volunteer, please contact Ranae Bartlett at mccl.director@gmail.com. MCCL would like to thank all its volunteer coaches and those who assist and lead various MCCL programs like Monday night meetings and Girls Chess Night. We are looking to expand our staff to add a volunteer Assistant Treasurer and volunteer fundraisers. Please let us know if you are interested.