Elite Chess Update - Structural Changes 2026-27

Dear chess families,

School is well under way, and with it comes a new championship season! We have multiple programs with realistic national championship aspirations for Orlando in December and Columbus in May.

We are opening the year with some of our strongest teams ever! PS 130K in Brooklyn and PS 198 in Manhattan return as the respective K-5 and K-3 national champions. Many of our other top programs will be every bit as strong and competitive as they are. PS 166 boasts the highest rated K-3 team (based on top-4 board average), PS 77 is always in the mix of contenders, NEST+m looks strong top to bottom, and schools like PS 10 and PS 59 are returning to the championship conversation in the very near future!

PS 59's Austin Schnitzer enters 2nd grade at an incredible 1619 after a successful summer with us. He is one of the absolute top players for his age in the country, and spearheads a resurgent PS 59 program.

This summer was truly something special. For the majority of July and August, we had 80 of the nation’s strongest scholastic chess players learning and competing every day at our Elite Clubhouse in Times Square. Many of them saw significant gains in their rating and understanding of the game.

This was by far our largest and strongest summer on record. With such growth comes great opportunities, as well as great challenges. We want to make sure our most dedicated students get the full support they deserve. With this in mind, we are making some changes. 

Going forward, participation at our Elite camp in Times Square will require a minimum peak rating of 1500 USCF. 

Additionally, we will now have 1000+ Elite sections at all of our Manhattan and Brooklyn Camp location at PS 230.

This change will allow us to give even more dedicated focus to our most engaged students, both those between 1000 and 1500, as well as those even higher rated. Our goal is always to achieve maximum improvement for every student we come across. As players climb the rating ladder, the effort and attention needed for further improvement becomes exponentially greater.

Additionally, Elite Quads at St Luke's (in Times Square) will also require a 1500 minimum peak rating. We will have Elite Quad (1000+) sections at all of our other Grand Prix sites.

Coach Alex reviews a student's game alongside camp special guest GM Liam Putnam.

Coach Mubassar and Coach Toshi helping some of our campers.

We understand this represents a significant change, and it is a reflection of just how much our elite programming has grown these past couple of years. Our cohort of players rated over 1000 has gotten so large that it is requiring even more dedicated attention.

With Elite (1000+) sections at all of our camps, we will now be able to give this exponentially growing group of star players the focus they deserve, while also creating a new platform of Elite (1500+) at St Luke's for the uppermost tier of scholastic chess.

PS 118's Maddox Kretschman enters 2nd grade at an impressive 1328. Brooklyn chess continues to thrive!

This should be a fantastic year!

-Coach Logan

New Hatchlings! (Players Who Have Broken 1000 Since the Last Newsletter)

  • Adam Atwa PS 11

  • Alessio Hendricks PS 281

  • Alex Kou Nest+m

  • Bodhi Judge PS 130K

  • Devin Stubbs PS 124

  • Isla Miner PS 130K

  • Jacob Hoelscher Nest+m

  • Jaxson Vanderpoole PS 11

  • Levi Jean PS32

  • Liam Roff PS 33

  • Lincoln Freeman Nest+m

  • Liyana Dar PS 77

  • Lucas Flores PS 198

  • Marcus Lau PS 124

  • Maximus Yuk PS 42

  • Natalia Liew PS 34

  • Tiger Moskowitz Nest+m

Russ Makofsky