Chess Club 2023/2024
Chess Club 2023 / 2024
Chess club has now drawn to an end for this school year. We have a new bunch of chess players in our midst. We finished off our 10 weeks of chess with a mini tournament and I'm delighted to say we got plenty of checkmates and tough games. As it was a fun tournament we randomly chose 3 girls to be the winners of our 10 euro Marshes vouchers. They were Erin, Millie and Cara-Leigh. A big thank you to the 5th and 6th class chess players who helped out and supported me in teaching the 3rd and 4th class girls. The winner of the Marshes voucher here was Grace. Here are some photos from our last day of chess club:
Finally, some good news from the Ficheall organisation. After the February tournament I entered the girls into a photo competition organised by Ficheall. They were looking for a photo that encapsulated the spirit of Ficheall. The good news is we won! We got a 100 euro voucher to spend on chess equipment. The girls insisted on getting the chess clocks so we've two now on the way! Here is our winning photo:
How to set up an online account:
We will be doing some online tournaments and will use the lichess.org platform.
Step 1: To set up an account, click on the following link: https://lichess.org/signup and complete the steps. You need a Username, Password and Email address. Once your account has been set up, click on your Username on the top right hand corner of your screen and click on Preferences. Then on the left hand side of your screen you will see KID MODE. Click on this, enter your Password again and enable KID MODE. In KID MODE, the lichess logo gets a :) icon, so you know your kids are safe.
Step 2: Join the St. Malachy’s GNS online Chess Club (link) and click JOIN TEAM - https://lichess.org/team/st-malachys-gns-chess-queens
Step 3: Join the Easter tournament by clicking on the following link: https://lichess.org/tournament/WQyUoxt4
A new group of chess players have started Chess Club after school. These girls are from 3rd and 4th class. We're starting from the beginning playing lots of mini games. So far we have learned all the moves of the various pieces (pawn, knight, bishop, rook, king and queen) and we've seen how to do check and checkmate.
Our mini games so far are: Pawn Wars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWzqiLADAcI ), Rook Challenge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x146nAGAM8Y ), Radioactive Horse Poo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMZEWDTelFY ), O Lonely Knight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o7U6L35Ysg ) and the Dark Knight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGtbm72Cfm0 ). All of the above games are curtesy of Ficheall.ie
Our chess experts in the school from 5th and 6th classes are helping out on a weekly basis. Ciara, Ava and Caoimhe have created the following slideshow to help with the next piece we are learning about - the bishop. Check out the link below for their fabulous slideshow:
Caoimhe, Ava and Ciara have worked their magic again and created the following slideshow about the Queen: Check out the link below for their super slideshow about the Queen:
Grace has done a fantastic presentation on the king, including how to castle. Check out the link below for her super slideshow on the King:
Here are some photos from one of the chess club gatherings after school:
Ficheall Tournament
On Friday, 9th February, we had two teams of 8 players taking part in the Ficheall.ie Tournament in Ardee Parish Hall. There were 8 schools taking part from the area including a team from the Boys School. The teams played 6 games of chess with each game taking at most 20 minutes. The tournament was non-competitive with the aim to get as many pupils playing chess in a fun-filled relaxed way. The key was to take part and enjoy your game of chess. I'm delighted to say that all the girls scored points for their teams. Our two chess teams for the Ficheall tournament were:
Rookie Raccoons: Tetanya, Ruby, Freya, Kayla, Lauren, Grace, Ava and Aoibhinn
Cheerful Checkmaters: Charlotte, Alex, Lily, Holly, Dearbhla, Caoimhe, Amy, Ciara
Here are some photos from our day at the tournament:
Here is how the hall was set out for the tournament:
Our superstar teams, the Rookie Racoons and The Cheerful Checkmaters together with their certificate and lucky mascot from the day. Well done to all the girls!
Christmas Tournament
At Christmas we played off our in-school tournament. Every week we played against someone different and our points were tallied up at the end of the ten weeks. Our three winners of the Marshes vouchers were Ciara, Ava and Tetanya with everyone else getting a selection box.
This is the link to take part on the Lá Fichille tournament on 29th November 2023:
Lá Fichille Masters Day Tournament
(https://lichess.org/
The tournament starts at 1:30 and continues for an hour. Click JOIN and our team is St. Malachy's GNS Chess Queens. Enjoy!
This was the link for the practice tournament held on 22nd November. 34 teams took part.
(https://lichess.org/
Click JOIN and then choose the team St. Malachy's GNS Chess Queens to play. Good luck everyone! Enjoy your games!
Chess Club has returned for the new school year with 14 girls joining. The club returned on Wednesday, 27th September and will continue for 10 weeks up to Christmas. We are currently playing a game of chess every Wednesday building up points towards the Christmas tournament. Here are some photos of our Chess girls in action already.
We will be doing some online tournaments and will use the lichess.org platform. To set up an account, click on the following link: https://lichess.org/signup and complete the steps. You need a Username, Password and Email address. Once your account has been set up, click on your Username on the top right hand corner of your screen and click on Preferences. Then on the left hand side of your screen you will see KID MODE. Click on this, enter your Password again and enable KID MODE. In KID MODE, the lichess logo gets a :) icon, so you know your kids are safe.
On Wednesday, 25th October we will be having a mini online Halloween Chess Tournament.
Step 1: Join the St. Malachy’s GNS online Chess Club (link) and click JOIN TEAM - https://lichess.org/team/st-malachys-gns-chess-queens
Step 2: Join the Halloween tournament by clicking on the following link: https://lichess.org/tournament/utGOdKap
Pupils can avail of practice sessions on lichess.org by clicking on LEARN and Chess Basics. Also there are tutorials available on how to play chess from ficheall.ie. Click on the following link for the tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjMGqkD90yk&list=PLk59VQzwMYtZkQsZ6X0F4YTL0q-eKac6h