MS Team Championships – Some decisions to make

In February, we will be holding the Middle School Team Championships (Specific Date and venue to be announced later).

I’m not a big fan of  teams from the same school playing each other.  This is done in at the High School Level and there are a bunch of issues that come up as a result. I believe that TEAM competitions are when you bring your best team to play – Just like HS Football. It is a privilege for kids to play on the “Varsity Team”. The whole idea is to pick the best SCHOOL in the State – not the best Team in the Best School.

The problem is that there are not enough kids in Middle School to have a “JV Team competition” – even if we reduce the number of players on a team to 3 (which is the number of players on a team in Middle School). Our objective is to increase the number of teams from different schools to increase the “depth” of Chess in the State.

I’m proposing this year the following:

• There is only ONE VARSITY TEAM PER SCHOOL. These kids will go head-to-head as a team. The school itself must pick it’s “Best Team”.
• All other players will play in a “JV Section” that will be a 4 round Swiss event.
• If there 4 or more teams for JV (4 schools have 6 players or more), we will hold a Team JV event. There can be multiple teams in JV. Schools can choose to play in the JV Swiss or the JV Team Match. If this occurs, we will STILL have the 4 round swiss event to allow “singles” to come and play.

I do realize that this seems to put a couple of the top schools at a disadvantage. They have a large number of great players that deserve to play in Varsity and will frequently take the top couple of places. I can only liken  this to other High School Sports where some schools (like Meadowdale in our area) have a ton of fantastic Tennis players and it is really hard to get on the varsity team but if you go to Lynnwood High (where my son goes), it is easier for him to get on varsity.  Modeling our event after other HS Sports seems like a reasonable thing.

As always, please comment on this proposal.  This is a community effort and your participation is vital!

MS State Team Results

Congratulations to Odle Middle School! They are the current MS Champions for this year with an UNDEFEATED Record (winning all 12 of their games).

Placings were as follows:

1st – Odle Team A

2nd – Pine Lake Team C

3rd – Overlake

4th – Pine Lake Team A (on tiebreaks with Overlake)

This was a very competitive event with great games for all levels of play because the community came out to support it! This was not just “the top teams”, but an event for all Middle School Players.

We  also thank Lynden Christian, Assumption, Alderwood Middle School and St. Thomas More for bringing so many teams, making this a fun event for all!

Middle School Team Tournament – 2010

We have selected St Thomas More Church in Lynnwood WA  to be the site of the event. The site is 10 minutes away from the I-5 Freeway and the previous site we had selected. This was done for cost reasons due to the low turnout. We currently stand at 4 teams committed so we intend to play a round robin event to determine a true champion.

If you think you want to field a team, please contact us immediately at rick.jorgensen@gmail.com.  Directions to the event will be sent to players via email.

The MS Championships are Coming!

Hey Everyone! Here is an update on the MS Championships!

MS TEAM Championships will be held on March 20th at St Thomas More Church . There will be 4 G/45 rounds and kids from the same school district can play together if they do not have enough on a single school. For registration, email us at rick.jorgensen@gmail.com

The MS INDIVIDUAL Championships will be help on April 24 at the Marriot Hotel in Tacoma (across from the Convention Center). There are NO QUALIFIERS REQUIRED and is open to ALL WA State kids Grades 5-9. There are cash awards in the with small “memento trophies” to the winners. The more players signup, the more cash will be available for awards!

The OPEN is a Four round G/60 event and the RESERVE Section is a Four Round G/45 event.

Registration is OPEN NOW and gets more expensive the longer you wait to sign up. There is a maximum capacity of 150 kids so don’t wait till the last minute. Scholarships are available for those requiring financial assistance.

Registration is now open at www.chess4life.com under the MS Individual Chess Championships on 4/24.

If you have any questions, contact Rick Jorgensen at rick.jorgensen@gmail.com

Looking for a Middle School Event in November?

In Middle School, its not as obvious to find an event that you can play in. Here are a couple suggestions. Please note that we are not “recommending” any of these, we are just getting the word out to anyone interested in continuing to compete.

In the Seattle Area – Chessmates Fall Kickoff on 11/14 is a large event that has a section for 5-8th grade. This usually fills up pretty fast so you want to play. This is an event for all levels of skill. You can sign up here.

Also in the Seattle Area, the Washington Class on Thanksgiving weekend (11/27) has a 7-12 OPEN section. You can sign up here.

In the Tri-Cities area, the Queens Quest with Knights on the Side will let you join the fun as well on 11/14. Contact David Sommers (dsommers@libertychristian.net) for more information.