My First Moves: Caissa's first Novice Tournament

MY FIRST MOVES: CAISSA’S FIRST NOVICE TOURNAMENT IS A BIG SUCCESS

Chess is fun. Chess competitions might even be more fun. Chess is also extremely complex. For young beginners it can take a long time before they master the rules, let alone have the board vision to appreciate a full game of chess. Should that mean they cannot yet enjoy the thrills of competitive play?

Absolutely not!

Entertainment between the games

The MFM tournament came to life for exactly these students. The full house was separated into two groups. Instead of playing full games, we have handselected instructive mini games from the Step Method for the B-group. These minigames focus on different aspects of the game. Like this our students master the movements of all the pieces and learn the concepts of for example checkmate in a fun way! They get the excitement of tournament play, without getting overwhelmed by a full board of pieces.

The A-group also started with a mini-game and then moved on to proper chess matches. However, they got a slow buildup. The first two ‘real’ games were played without a clock, with the last two rounds they got a taste of real tournament play with a clock and everything.

Lolly and Vivienne (Ivan was able to escape the picture)

Our more senior students got the chance to help us out as assistant arbiters. Special thanks to Lolly Chen, Vivienne Chen and Ivan Ji for helping us guide the students through a wonderful tournament. Their help was very much appreciated and certainly useful! Both Lolly and Vivienne played in the EOM later in the same afternoon.

We didn’t only have student assistants to make everything clear. We prepared flashcards for every table with the rules of each mini-game well explained. In between rounds, the students had the chance to keep themselves busy with arts and crafts.

Lolly and the A-group winners

Then, on to the tournament itself! The focus might be on fun, we still have a winner! In the A-group, Emilia Purhonen left no doubts on the table and clinched first place by winning all her games. Jasmine Luk followed in the footsteps of her brother Jayden Luk and took her first medal home with a well deserved second place. Kabir Makhija finished third with the same amount of points as Jasmine, but with a worse tiebreak.

Vivienne, Ivan (no escaping this time!) and the B-group winner

In the B-group, Quinton Or showcased dominance over the playing field, winning all his games. With this medal he’s also stepping in the footsteps of his brother! Second and third place went to Aden Poon and Willow Huang.

At the end of the day, we sent a lot of happy faces home with a participation diploma.

We hope to see you again at one of our next MFM’s or in the EOM!

Enjoy more pictures of the event below: