St. Lucas Hosts Fun, Friendly Chess Tournament

For young chess players in grades K-8, the St. Lucas Chess Tournament in Kewaskum was a great opportunity to see what it is like to play chess competitively, complete with time controls, a pre-game handshake with your opponent, and trophies/medals awarded at the end. At these events, many beginner-level players learn that you don't win every game, and it's how you learn from your mistakes and come back to the board that determines what kind of player you will be.

Isn't that true for all things in life?

For high school players, this year's St. Lucas tourney served as the site of the annual match-up between Kewaskum High School Chess and KML Chess. The teams have had a friendly Washington County rivalry going for the last few years. This year, St. Lucas got the best of KML, scoring 12 points to KML's 9 points in four rounds of play. Senior Ben Polheber came in third overall for the day, winning 3 of his 4 games.

KML Team

The Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation ran the event. Thank you to all the volunteers at St. Lucas Lutheran School for hosting!

Charger Chess Takes Care of Business at January USM Meet

Our team of six Charger chess players scored five wins at the January 10 meet at University School Milwaukee. The meet included a strong field of 11 teams with highly rated players with high point-scoring abilities for their team. So even with five wins, the Chargers came in 8th.

We're happy with that finish because it means our players are taking care of business. Each win means a rating boost for a player, and each meet offers an opportunity to improve.

Wins came from Josh Weber, Ben Polheber, Kimberly Schill, Ben Klemp, and 7th Grader Ian Janz. Ryan Wirkkula is currently KML's highest rated player and was unable to come up with a win this time.

The Chargers are preparing for the state chess meet in March, when all teams will be seeded in divisions according to ratings.

Go Chargers!

USM JANUARY 10 MEET RESULTS

1st: Brookfield East    8316

2nd: Brookfield Academy   8171

3rd:  University School      6668

4th:  Wisconsin Lutheran HS 6553

5th:  Milwaukee School of Languages   5498

6th:  Tosa East  5400

7th:  Reagan   5363

8th:  KMLHS  3614

9th:  Milwaukee King  2415

10th:  Milwaukee High School of the Arts  698

11th:   Washington  0