The webinar is on at 8.00 pm, Monday the 19th of April, 2021. For anyone who can’t attend here is a video link with all the key info. below:

The “how to” Video for parents, teachers and students interested in playing in this years Online school chess championships !

Students, Parents, Teachers .. registration is now open for this years schools events. Click on the link ..

REGISTER HERE

P.S. please register your students with lichess.org before joining these online schools events!

 This video explains how to get started ..   Parents go to www.lichess.org  and Register your child. 

Then you can join our team : https://lichess.org/team/irish-school-kids-chess-club use the password : ComharLinn

The First practice event is on at 6.30pm , Thursday 22nd of April. With the grand final on the 13th of May 2021.

When: The final is on Thursday the 13^th of May @ 6.30pm.  In advance of the grand final there will be 3 practice events on April 22^nd, 29^th and on May 6^th.  Students will be put into sections depending on their chess level. All students should play in the practice events to ensure that they get matched against players of similar ability.

Here are the 2021 School Events, with rating bands for National School players:

1. National schoools – Expert players with a lichess.org rating of 1600 or higher.
2. National schoools – Intermediate players with a rating over 1200 up to a rating of 1599.
3. National schoools – Novice and beginner players rated 1199 or lower.
4. Secondary Schools – all players in one section.

Prizes fund of €1,500.

1. First place – 10 chess sets AND 5 chess timers for their school, All-Ireland Gold medal.
2. Second place – 10 chess sets OR 5 chess timers for their school, All-Ireland Silver medal.
3. Third place – 5 chess sets OR 3 chess timers for their school All-Ireland Bronze medal.

Participation Prizes:

For the schools with the highest number of participating students there will be a prize of 10 chess sets or 5 chess timers for your school chess club.

Grading Prizes:  There will be multiple prize winners in each section.  These will be Medal prizes. Here’s an example of the prizes for the Novice section:

• Rating band 1:  players rated under 900.
• Rating band 2:  players rated between 900 and 1000.
• Rating band 3:  players rated between 1001 and 1100.

If you’d like to learn chess and improve your chess skills then join our new chess club, which is free for Teachers!

We meet at 8pm on Monday evenings. Our first meeting was on January 25th and we will continue until mid May 2021. You can join any Monday. Each evening we’ll play some chess games and have a chat (on zoom) about the games we’ve just played.

There are 2 groups, one for absolute beginners and another for players who want to learn more about the game.

Email us mfl@movesforlife.ie for details of how to join.

The coaches will once again be April Cronin and Brendan Buckley, who many of you will know from the chess for fun courses.