Many people are thinking about the beginning of basketball and hockey seasons, but did you know that this is also the beginning of the chess season? Although you can find tournaments across the country throughout the year, many tournaments for students are held during the academic calendar year. Several regional tournaments have already been conducted, but there are many more to come!
Chess is a great way to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Chess tournaments are a fun and exciting way to practice skills and meet people with a similar interest in the challenging and dynamic game of chess. Most of the tournaments are one day and have nominal fees for participation.
A great organization to follow to find local and regional tournaments for students is the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation. Here is a link to their website where you can find lots of good information on all things chess: http://www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org/about-us/ Another interesting site is the Wisconsin Chess Association site linked here: http://wischess.org/
If you are not sure if you would like to play in tournaments, you can still practice and connect with other students online at the chesskid.com site. It is a student centered site that considers online student safety and is a fun way to play other chess enthusiasts. Also, with the holiday season approaching, there are lots of interesting programs and tools to learn the game of chess. A site with fantastic resources at various price points is from the U.S. Chess Federation linked here: http://uscfsales.com/
If you have any questions about tournament play or about the game in general, feel free to contact one of Howard Suamico's Gifted and Talented Specialists, Mrs. Rank, Mrs. Maroszek, Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Schuh and they will do their best to answer your questions.
Let the games begin!
