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Kid Chess News

December 10, 2024

A weekly roundup of happenings in the Kid Chess community

This weekly web publication is designed for the adults in our community who have children enrolled in our classes, camps, and tournaments. It is designed to keep you informed about what your kids are doing in our programs and to teach you a little bit about the chess world. Let us know what content is important to you by writing to dan.lucas@kidchess.com.

In this edition:

National K-12 Grade Championships Feature a Number of Kid Chess Schools!

Upcoming Kid Chess Events and Register for Next Semester

The World Chess Championship Ends this Week!

Meet our Coaches: Francis Lisasi

National K-12 Grade Championships Feature a Number of Kid Chess Schools!

2024 K-12 Grade Championships by Caroline King

The tournament hall in National Harbor. Photo by Caroline King, courtesy of US Chess.

The 2024 National K-12 Grade Championships was held this past weekend in National Harbor, Maryland. This US Chess scholastic event crowns individual and team champions in every grade level from kindergarten through 12th grade. We’re happy to report that a number of current and former Kid Chess students competed. A total of 42 players from Georgia made the trip to Maryland, where a record-breaking 2,700 kids played in the event.

The best performance from a current or former Kid Chess student came from Andy Poon, a 5th grader at East Side Elementary School who used to participate in our program at the Marietta school. Andy, who is rated 1403, tied for 21st-53rd place with 5.0 points. The winner of the 5th Grade Section had 6.0 points (competitors earn one point for a win, zero for a loss, and a half point for a draw in the seven-round event).

Bella Belegradek, our head coach at East Side, tells Kid Chess News that Andy “… was always one of the top players and he became school champion several times. He was part of East Side chess teams at the state championships for several years.”

Andrew Jiang is an 8th grader from Alpharetta who has played in a number of our Chess Zone tournaments. The Autrey Mill middle schooler tied for first in the 8th Grade Section with three others.

Here are other schools that had competitors at the championships that also have current Kid Chess Programs:

Shiloh Point Elementary School, Cumming, GA
Brookwood Elementary School, Cumming, GA
Medlock Bridge Elementary School, Duluth, GA
Dolvin Elementary School, Johns Creek, GA
Johns Creek Elementary School, Suwanee, GA

The next US Chess national scholastic championships will be the SuperNationals in May, 2025, where the National Elementary, Middle School, and High School Championships will be contested under one roof in Orlando, Florida.

Upcoming Kid Chess Events

Kid Chess players posing for picture thumbs up

Located at Chess.Zone | 2500 Old Alabama Road, Suite 11 | Roswell, GA 30076

Register online here or call to register: 770-575-5802.

No on-site registration. Please register in advance.

- - Saturday, December 14th – Kid Chess 1st Time Tournament
    - AM Regular Chess Tournament – 3rd – 5th Grade Open
    - PM Regular Chess Tournament – Kindergarten – 2nd Grade Open
  - Friday, December 27th – Kid Chess Holiday Tournament
    - AM Regular Chess Tournament – Kindergarten – 2nd Grade Open
    - PM Regular Chess Tournament – 3rd – 5th Grade Open
  - Monday, December 30th – Kid Chess Holiday Black Light Tournament
    - AM Blacklight Bughouse Tournament – 3rd – 5th Grade Open
    - PM Blacklight Bughouse Tournament – Kindergarten – 2nd Grade Open

Please click here for even more Kid Chess events.

It’s also time to start signing up for our winter/spring school clubs! You can register your child by clicking here.

The World Chess Championship Ends This Week!

FIDE World Championship

The FIDE World Championship between current World Champion Ding Liren and challenger Gukesh Dommaraju is coming to a close this week, with this Friday December 13 being tiebreak day. That’s only if tiebreaks are needed of course, but after 12 of 14 rounds the match is all tied up so it is looking like it will be necessary. The games with analysis to help you along can all be found on YouTube. Are your kids watching the match? Let us know at Kid Chess News!

Helpful links:

Main Match Site

Stream Live Games Here

(Many platforms besides chess.com will be streaming live with commentary; check your favorite platform!)

Meet our Coaches: Francis Lisasi

Francis Lisasi

Instructor / Coach

Francis is originally from Congo Kinshasa and has lived in South Africa, Belgium, and Sweden. He is married, with four adult children, two of whom live in South Africa while the other two are here in the U.S. Francis holds degrees in law and criminology as well as business administration/marketing. He is fluent in both French and English.

Francis started playing chess at the age of 8. In 2006, he took part in the national championships in the Congo, where he placed sixth! He continues to play online daily. He loves teaching chess, especially to kids because they have plenty of room for learning. He likens it to turning lead into gold

When not playing chess, Francis can be found teaching French to all levels, from beginner to advanced. He also translates professional documents from English to French. He enjoys reading detective novels and watching good movies.

Do you want to join our team of coaches? See how by clicking here.