Celebrating Five Years in Madison, Alabama

This year, the Madison City Chess League (MCCL) in Alabama celebrated five years in the community supporting chess education for students in grades K-12. We invited our community to an International Food Festival representing the great diversity among our chess families who made native dishes that attendees enjoyed. We also held a bughouse tournament for the kids, and some of our coaches took on all challengers at blitz and bullet games.

A Little History

The first meeting of the Madison City Chess League occurred on Monday, July 22, 2013 at the Rainbow Landing Clubhouse located across the street from Rainbow Elementary. Fourteen students from across Madison attended. Madison County Commissioner Steve Haraway donated funds to allow MCCL to purchase its first chess sets for the kids to play with.

Within six months, we outgrew the space and moved our Monday night meetings to the Hogan Family YMCA. MCCL again moved to Dublin Park, still meeting on Monday nights. Beginning in January 2018, MCCL moved to its most recent home at the new Madison Library. Monday night chess continues weekly from 6:15-7:45 p.m.

 

So Many Memorable Events

MCCL has sponsored some of the most memorable events in Alabama chess history. Many of these moments were captured by our photographer Scott Wilhelm. Here are a few photos marking the impact of our organization:

2014 international chess match with students from China 

2015 National Chess Day Simul at US Space & Rocket Center

2016 National K-12 Chess Championship - Nashville

First All Girls State Chess Championship in 2018

High School Chess Clubs Give Back

Our fifth anniversary year marks a milestone in Madison as our two high school chess clubs initiated two new service projects to give back to the elementary schools that gave them their start as chess players.

Chess Club members are adopting elementary schools that need chess coaches by volunteering to share their expertise during after school practices and during tournaments. Elementary kids look up to high school students, and they can relate to these young adults, many of whom are competing beside them at local tournaments.

 

The second project our high school chess clubs are engaged in this year is a Junior Tournament Director program where students train with a USCF-certified tournament director before and during local tournaments to learn how to officiate and resolve disputes. Many local chess organizations struggle to staff their tournaments with qualified tournament directors. This is a win-win for our community as students can be paid for their services after their training period is over.

 

It has taken MCCL’s five-year commitment in our community to reach this moment where our investment is now being reinvested. The message we gave to our high school students at their initial chess club meetings is to be sure you are present in some capacity at local tournaments: as a competitor, coach, or TD. “Kids look up to you, so be a mentor and give back.”