December Chess News | Director's Report
Greetings Chess Families,
November was a banner month, as we set a new ICN record with our monthly Team Tournament - hosting two sites, and fielding over 390 players on one day!
As we now enter December, highlighted by our participation (40 + players) at this weekends US National Grade Championship this weekend in Orlando, It's very exciting seeing our teams and players again start to build confidence and vision around a shared goal and idea. - We are thrilled week by week now as kids are playing regularly, and ratings are once again climbing.
In December, we look towards the City Championship - traditionally held in Brooklyn, and usually soon after the new year. This year's event is scheduled for February 5-6, 2022, and there is no time like the present to prepare.
We are preparing a strong suite of events to do just that:
Saturday Quads - Saturdays @ PS 111
December 11th & 18th
(We will be launching a Brooklyn Team Training Quads starting very soon - stay tuned!)
ICN December Team Tournament - Sunday, December 19th
PS 111 Event (for Manhattan teams) - Register Here
K280 Event (for Brooklyn teams) - Register Here
Our PS 111 Event on December 19th will feature the unveiling and awarding of the first ever Manhattan Cup, a new team prize that will go to the team with the best overall 10-board score across all sections. And since both events have a registration cap, I recommend getting signed up soon!
There are MANY new names atop our ChessKid stat pages these days. If you look closely at the screenshot above, you'll see familiar names, like the indefatigable Colette Elkind-Maron, the hardest working ChessKid in Brooklyn (although Arden from PS 889 has something to say about that this week!). But you'll also see new 7-day champs popping into the mix, such as Ethan from Lower Lab or Alexes from PS 33 (our hardest working kinder).
It's also noteworthy how many in our top 50 are in kinders & 1st graders. Our teams are gaining depth, from having so many hard working littles. Keep up the good work, and we'll be sure to keep checking the charts every day!
Grade Nationals is this weekend, and we wish our teams and coaches a safe and productive trip to Orlando. We've prepared well, and we expect to be celebrating soon!