News

**2012-2013 School Year** 8 Paideia chess students (2nd-4th graders) competed in the Quick Start tournament run by the Georgia Chess Association. All competed in the K-5 section. Adi Kadragic placed 1st with a perfect score. Remy Bondurant placed 5th with 4 of 5 points. Charlie Apolinsky, Finn Hartley, Kenan Kadragic, and Patrick Leary won 3 of 5 points. Mitchell Felske earned 2 pts. Christian Smith put up a great fight for his very first tournament! Our players gained valuable tournament experience and we thank all the parents for supporting them in chess!
 * PiChess News**
 * Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012 **

2012 Fall Elementary chess begins after labor day on Thursday, Sept. 6th. Registration deadline is Friday, August 31, 2012 (Friday before labor day weekend). New this year is online registration (for $5 credit card fee). See start up packet for links & registration form.

2012 Jr Hi & HS chess meets Mondays in Kathy Chavez room (upstairs Mother Goose bldg) starting mid-september. **===============================================** **2011-2012 School Year - Old News...**

**2012 Eastern Regionals Scholastic Teams Tournament (Feb 4, 2012)**
Paideia Chess competed in the Eastern Regionals Scholastic Team Chess Tournament today and rocked the school house! Top 5-7 players from all 3 teams will represent Paideia Chess at the State Championship in March. 400 chess players ranging K-8th competed under one roof today at Creekland Middle. Here's how our 29 Paideia Chess Pythons did:

*Paideia K-5 Team tied for 1st, placed 2nd in tie-breaks

*Paideia K-3 Team placed 3rd

*Paideia 6th-8th Team placed 4th

Each year Paideia Chess grows stronger. Congratulations to all our players, Coach Carlos, Coach Jose, Assitant coaches & parents. The kids had a long (9:15am - 6pm) but fantastic day. We are so proud of them!

=11th Annual MLK Holiday Scholastic Tournament (Jan 16, 2012) = Six students from Paideia Chess competed in the 11th Annual MLK tournament. Kenan Kadragic won 1st place in the K-1 rated section with 4.5 points!! Rohan Chanani tied for 2nd (5th in tie-breaks) with 4 points. Finn Hartley (K-1) & Charlie Apolinsky (K-3) earned 2 points, Adi Kadragic (K-3) 3 points and Sagan Hartley (K-5) 4 points. There were 300 players at this event competing in many sections K-12th grade. All Paideia players were Jr. Ambassadors at this tournament and volunteered between rounds to help run service projects on this special day. We stuffed 50 backpacks and 50 toiletry bags for refugee families and decorated many door signs for children in local hospitals. Thank you so much to our fabulous players and parents who helped out at this event!! = = =2011 Grade Level State Championship (Oct 15, 2011) =

==== Four students from the Paideia Chess Class competed in Georgia's Grade Level State Championship Chess Tournament over fall break and did an amazing job! **Sagan Hartley** won State Championship for the second year in a row, this time for 4th grade (receiving first place in the tiebreak after two nail biting rounds against strong opponents and winning 4.5 of 5 points). **Adi Kadragic** and **Patrick Leary** earned 3 of 5 points for 3rd grade - a fantastic feat in a highly competitive section. **Kenan Kadragic** won an amazing 4 out of 5 games for 1st grade tying for 2nd and placing 4th after tiebreaks. Best of luck to all Chess students competing at Team Regionals this winter...looks like we'll have very strong chess teams this year! Go Paideia Chess!! ==== = = **Chess In Schools article** October 2011

Elementary Chess To Start September 1, 2011

The Fall semester of Elementary Chess starts Thursday September 1. Sign up is happening now. The form is available in the start up pack or [|here]. Please contact Katie Hartley (katie@tyro.org) or Sally Dorn (sdorn47@gmail.com) if you have any questions regarding Elementary Chess.

Junior High Chess Starts Tuesday September 6, 2011 Junior High Chess starts Tuesday September 6. Sign up is happening now. The form is available in the start up pack or [|here]. Please contact Jennie Saliers (levsal@aol.com) or Helen Laseter (laseterhhc@comcast.net) if you have any questions regarding Junior High Chess.

News from Spring 2011:

New Tournaments and Summer Camps Announced. Possible Chess League Conflict Parents should be sure and check the Calendar for listings of summer camps being offered by Carlos Perdomo and for listings of some upcoming tournaments. We have been notified that the DeKalb Chess League will not be held on Wednesdays this Spring. Unfortunately it appears the date selected may be Thursday which would preclude us from participating. We are looking into trying to have several mini tournaments afterschool on Wednesdays in an effort to give our younger players the opportunity to try out tournament play. More details will follow.

State Tournament Held On Saturday March 19, three Paideia teams (Primary K-3, Secondary K-5 and Middle School) traveled to Duluth High School to compete in the State of Georgia K-8 Team Championship Tournament. Each team had 5 members and two alternates. The Elementary K-5 Team scored 3.5 points and took sixth place. They are bringing home a nice trophy to add to Paideia's collection of Chess trophies. The Primary K-3 team scored 3 points, received a plus score trophy and placed 11th in the state. The Middle School Team struggled against some strong opponents and scored only 1.5 points. It was a disappointing day for the middle school team. The good news is all of our teams were filled with young players so we expect to have stronger teams next year. The Primary team had three 3rd graders, two second graders and one kindergartener. The Elementary team had four 4th graders and one third grader and the Middle School team had four 7th graders and one 6th grader. Special congratulations to Andrew and Yani who scored 4.5 points each and Bryson and Keyes who scored 4 points each. But hearty congratulations to all of the team members and alternates. This is the first time ever that Paideia has sent three teams to State and the first time we have brought two trophies home from State. The team members and alternates were: Middle School - Henry, Nick P., Kiran, Bryson, Olivia, Josh and Tamir Elementary - Sagan, Andrew, Yani, Oscar, David, William C. and Nick V. Primary - Adi, Mitchell, Keyes, Jack A., Maxim, Kenan and Isaac.

Play Offs To Select Alternates Because the rules for the State Tournament limits the number of players that can represent a school to 5 team members and two alternates, we conducted mini tournaments to determine who the alternates would be for the Primary and Elementary teams. The playoffs were conducted dring Chess Clas on March 10 and March 17. In the Primary section, the competitors were Aeren, Alex G., Apollo, Isaac, Jacob and Kenan. The alternates selected were Kenan and Isaac. In the Elementary Section, the competitors were Dov, Keb, Nick V. and William C. The alternates selected were William C. and NIck V. An alternate would come and play in the event a team member has a scheduling conflict or becomes ill.

Regional Results and Sagan Gets a Perfect Score On Saturday Feb 19th, 29 players representing Paideia School arrived at Trickum Middle School in Lilburn to participate in the East Metro Regional Tournament. This was the largest number of Paideia kids to attend a regional tournament. Our players wore new Paideia chess team shirts provided compliments of the Allred family (Thank you Jennifer and Jeff.) We almost had 33 players but in the 24 hours before the tournament 4 players had to withdraw because of illness. At this tournament the top two Middle School teams will advance to State and the top 5 Primary and Elementary teams will advance to State. All three Paideia teams qualified for State. The Middle School team had 17 points and took 2nd place. The Elementary team had 17 points and also took second place. The Primary team had 17 points and took 5th place. Sagan playing in the Elementary Section scored a perfect 5 points. Congratulations also go to Henry, Nick P., Oscar and Keyes who all scored 4 points. Paideia brought three trophies back to school and presented them to Paul Bianchi and Mary Lynn Cullen at separate ceremonies held at Junior High Chess and Elementary Chess. All 29 players did well and all of our players scored at least 1 point or more. Thank you to all of the parents who chaperoned, provided snacks and to the Baxters for keeping score for the teams. Next yer I hope we will have 40 players participating.

Regional Tournament Date Announced - Saturday Feb 19 The schedule for Regional Tournaments has been determined. Paideia is assigned to the Eastern Region. That tournament is scheduled for Feb 19 which is during a three day weekend. The tournament will be played at Trickum Middle School in Lilburn. This is a team tournament and Paideia will be sending three teams (K-3, K-5 (4th and 5th graders) and Middle School - 6-8). Please put this date on your calendar. For more details go to [|Regionals] Click on Eastern Metro Regional for information. You can register for the tournament online as well by clicking [|EMAR ONLINE Registration]

MLK Jr. Tournament Will be Saturday Jan 15 The MLK Jr. Tournament is seen as the kick off of the scholastic tournament season. This is a fun tournament and provides good practice for the upcoming regional and hopefully state competitions. It is an all day tournament, but a child can take a bye and miss a game. The tournament will be at the New School at Carver High School just off the downtown connector in southeast Atlanta. For more info, see [|MLK Jr.]

Sign Up for Winter/Spring Term of Chess The last day of Chess for the Fall Term will be Jan 13. The Winter Spring Term starts Jan 2o. The last day of Chess will be May 26. There will not be chess on March 3(Winter Break), April 7 (Spring Break) and May 5 (Elementary Nationals in Dallas). There are 16 classes in the Winter/Spring term. The fee is $224. The registration form is here

Holiday Chess Camps Chess Atlanta and Carlos Perdomo will be hosting a Chess Holiday Camp in December at Pace Academy. For the first time, Chess Camp will be offered during Holiday Camp! Campers can register for a morning, afternoon or full day of Chess Camp. During Chess Camp campers will participate in strategic lectures, practice drills, and play in several types of tournaments, including regular, blitz, and bughouse. Chances to play/work with instructors will be numerous. Handouts for home study will be provided for the campers. Extended day options are available for all Chess campers. A student can attend full day or half day (am or pm) and can attend for one day or more. For more details see Opportunities or go to [|Pace Academy Holiday Camps.]

Fall Chess League Results Nick P., Nick V. and one time substitute, Finn. Each student received a Paideia Blue Team won first place at the DeKalb County Fall 2010 Chess League. Fifteen Paideia students participated in this Wednesday tournament which ran for six weeks. Paideia had three teams (Blue, White and the Pythons). The teams played teams from Fernbank, Cliff Valley, the Friends School and mixed teams of students from differschools or home schooled. Two students finished with undefeated records: Andrew B. and Sagan. Congratulations to all of the participants: Yani, Andrew B., Ean, Aidan C., Keyes, Zoya, Mitchell, Jacob G., Sagan, Adi, Kenan, Patrick M., Maxim, trophy and the school received a nice First Place Trophy which can be viewed on the 1509 landing. Chess League requires a lot of logistics so thank you to Tim who drove the bus, Katie, Sally, Wendy, and Christina for driving or riding the bus and Maria for helping with snack.

National Grade Level Championship Tournament in December The National Grade Level Championships will be held Dec 10 - 12 at Disney World. This event is open to chess players in grades K-12. Already seven Paideia students have registered for the tournament and are participating in extra tournament training with Coach Carlos Perdomo. The students are: Finn and Sagan, Andrew B., Jack A., Oscar, Maxim, Nick P and Henry. There is still time to sign up. Airfares to Orlando are now in the $175 range and you have until Nov 15 t o reserve rooms at the Coronado Springs Hotel at the $129 per day Chess rate. Further details can be found at [|US Chess]

Georgia Grade Level Championships Results Two third graders, Sagan H. and Jack A. performed admirably at the GCA Grade Level Championships on Saturday October 16. Sagan scored 4.5 points and was in a 4 way tie for 1st place. Sagan won 1st place on tie breaks and is now co-champion 3rd grader in Georgia. Jack scored 4 points and finished in 7th place on tie breaks. Finn H came in 5th in the Kindergarten group and Alex G scored 2 points in his first tournament appearance in the 1st grade group. Congratulations to all of these students. Job well done.

Chess League Teams Performing Well Paideia has sent three teams to Fall Chess League. The teams travel to the Atlanta Chess Center each Wednesday after school to compete against other schools. The Paideia players so far include: Kenan, Keyes, Adi, Sagan, Maxim, Jacob G., Andrew B., Yani, Zoya, Nick V., Ean, Nick P., Aidan C., Mitchell and Finn. Paideia Blue is 3 and 0 so far, Paideia White is 2 and 1 and the Paideia Pythons are 1 and 1. There are three more weeks of play.

SEPT 24, 2010 CARLOS' BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED Before the start of Chess Class, we celebrated Carlos' birthday by singing Happy Birthday and eating a delicious cookie cake. Happy Birthday Coach Carlos.

CHESS LEAGUE STARTS WED OCT 6. See Upcoming Tournaments for details. We will be sending three teams of five players each to Chess league each Wednesday afternoon starting October 6 and ending November 10. We still have one position available. If your child is interested in participating, please let Sally know.

SEPT 17, 2010 We have arranged for the students at Paideia to receive a free annual membership in Chess Magnet School. Parents should have received an email from Chess Club about this opportunity. CMS is a website filled with thousands of chess puzzles designed to teach from the basic concepts of chess to the more advanced. Your child will need internet access. CMS keeps a record of what the student has studied, what they have mastered and what they need additional help with. These records are then monitored by the coach and he can assign lessons for the student. For additional information or to enroll your child click CMS.

SEPT. 10, 2010 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Optional Later Dismissal Available for Older Elementary Students Because it is taking a little longer to access the classroom and set up for Chess, we are offering for the older kids to stay until 4:15. This will give our older students time to get here after school ends and have a snack and relax for a few minutes before starting chess. We will be starting as soon after 3:00 as possible but we felt adding the additional 15 minutes at the end will allow the class to proceed at a more relaxed pace. Parents should plan to pick up at 4:15 from the firetruck playground. If your child needs to be picked up at 4:00, please notify Sally or Katie and we will dismiss them at 4:00.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Elementary Chess Has a Successful Start!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Elementary Chess started on Sept 9, 2010 with 58 students enrolled. Eighteen of these students are new to the Chess program. We welcome all of the newcomers and all of our veteran members who have returned. In addition we also welcome a new assistant instructor, Quinn Shallenberger. The students are divided into 4 groups partly by age and by their skill level. Right now our groups range from brand new beginners who learned today how to set up the chess board to our most experienced and skilled players who have been to state and national tournaments. Parents can help their kids with chess. In the beginning you can help them learn the names of the pieces, where they go on the board and how they move. We have sets of chess pieces that show on the piece how the piece can move. If you would like to borrow a set, please let Sally or Katie know. You can play a game with your child and take the time to point out what to be aware of. We have had success using the Fritz and Chesster chess program as a teaching tool, especially for younger players. We have some beginning chess books that you can borrow for your child. We also have workbooks for beginning players. Chess Class is fun but your child can only learn so much in that hour each week. If your child wants to improve at chess he/she will need to play chess at home and practice.