Chess Contests For An Entire School

 

Would you like to see your entire school playing chess? The Principal of Rainbow Elementary announced a school-wide Fast Chess contest for the month of November to achieve just that. Every student at the school was eligible, and a King and Queen of Fast Chess for each grade level were crowned at the end of the month, just in time for National ChessKid Night on Tuesday, December 1^st!

Rainbow Elementary is part of Madison City Schools in Alabama. The school system purchased a site license with ChessKid.com providing every elementary student a ChessKid.com account. That license enabled every student at Rainbow Elementary to learn how to play chess. The Fast Chess contest, however, got them motivated to play. 

Principal Dorinda White believes there are many benefits in her kids playing chess, “including problem solving, planning ahead, and improving concentration just to name a few.” Principal White also appreciates the “self-reflection and growth mindset her students build.” She notes that her students “love to watch and monitor their own growth” using ChessKid.com.

Because the Fast Chess contest was for all students, not just those on the school chess team, everyone in the school was part of the excitement. Leaderboards were posted throughout the school each week of the contest. They were also shared through PTA newsletters and the school website. Prizes were awarded for the highest fast-chess ratings and for the most fast-chess games played in the month of November. Students were organized into grade-level clubs online at the beginning of the year to make it easy to monitor the leaderboards for each grade. At the end of November, the school announced the winners. 

Kings and Queens for grades 1st through 6th were recognized.  An overall school King, Queen and Princess also received special awards.

The school is not stopping there. It is holding a school-wide chess puzzle contest during the month of December. This includes the time kids will be out on holiday break. Principal White loves the idea of kids exercising their brains over the holidays by solving chess puzzles. Grade-level kings and queens will be crowned for the most puzzles solved correctly. By crowning both kings and queens for each grade, the school ensures that both boys and girls of all ages are equally encouraged to participate.

 

Puzzle contests are great for improving chess tactics, pattern recognition, and critical thinking skills. All students can benefit from solving chess puzzles, not just those on the chess team. Puzzle contests using ChessKid.com are fair for all levels of students because beginners will be given puzzles at their level while experienced chess team members have to solve more difficult puzzles.