The Chess Club and Team are popular activities at Chiaravalle. Our Coach Chris Christmas works with our chess club members weekly and our team participates in all of the Evanston Scholastic tournaments. A group of kids also attend local USCF rated tournaments and the Illinois State Championship in March of each year. While chess clearly involves head-to-head competition, we also focus on the core Montessori values of respect, responsibility, integrity, and compassion. And, of course, a love of learning — they love learning how to improve their games. Losing and winning with grace are important elements to our club’s philosophy.
The club is open to Lower and Upper Elementary students and includes a wide range of skill levels. Some of our players are focused on developing their games for competitive tournament play, while others are more interested in casual games in a social atmosphere, and still others are beginners just learning the basics.
We meet just about every week school is in session beginning with the first week of Studios and wrapping up at the end of May. Registration is handled during Fall and Winter Studio registration periods.
- Tuesday Chess Club meets from 3 to 4 pm in the Art Room.
- Wednesday Chess Club meets from 3 to 4 pm in the Art Room.
Currently Tuesday’s group includes first and second graders and Wednesday’s group includes third grade and higher. This division is to keep the groups about the same size and is subject to change depending on enrollment.
For the academic year 2010-2011, the parent coordinator is Kim Rafilson. Please feel free to contact her and Coach Chris (chekmup@yahoo.com) with any questions. Coach Chris is also available for private lessons.