Integrating Chess and Critical Thinking Chess Champion Named

Every group final produced a clear winner and nobody seemed surprised.  Andre Murphy, Ryan Anderson, Riley Clark, and Mat'ka Last won every game they played in the final RR tables.

In Group 4, I had to have a head-to-head playoff on Monday between Carter Ros and Xavier Haemmerle, each with 2.5 points and a draw for their game.  I was anticipating Mat'ka Last earning a number of forfeits as she only had two points on Monday and was also absent so to be on the safe side I had Carter and Xavier play to see who wins the group.  But Mat'ka showed up on Tuesday (the last day to play tournament games) and won two more games quickly against Yuri McClure and Nic Kane to win the group.  Carter's and Xavier's game became moot and they drew anyways so there still wasn't a clear winner between the two.  I hope Carter and Xavier take their rivalry into the summer and decide who is the better.  

Group 2 tended to play quickly over the course of the week with the fewest absences, so they were able to get two games with each opponent - once as white and once as black.  Each of the students that won their group played games the way they were taught, however, I noticed that their opponents tried whacky openings or just didn't play to win.  Maybe the last week of school blues or anticipation of summer was a distractor?  Consequently, the winners demonstrated that serious practice and chess study can pay off as all the winners were also the most enthusiastic beginners I have ever taught.  

After medals were dolled out and my requisite group picture, students engaged in a 100 question final exam that included 25 questions from their text (that I wrote) and 75 questions (level 1-6) from chessacademy.com.  The bell rang and my chess student rushed to the door.  Great job and have a great summer.  Keep on playing.

Championship	1	2	3	4	5	Totals
Andre	x	1	1(1)	1	1(1)	4
Emmett	0	x	1	0f	1(1)	2
Anthony	0	0	x	1(1)	1	2
Keegan	1	0f	0	x	0f	1
Josh	0	0	0	0f	x	0
2nd Group Winners	1	2	3	4	5	Totals
Nash	x	0	2	2	1.5	5.5
Ryan	2	x	2	2	2	8
Wyatt	0	0	x	2	2	4
Guillermo	0	0	0	x	0	0
Franzi	0.5	0	0	0	x	0.5
3rd Group Winners	1	2	3	4	5	Totals
Riley	x	1	1f	1	1	4
Jon	0	x	1f	1	1	3
Michael	w	w	x	w	w	0
Connor	0	0	1f	x	0	1
Joel	0	0	1f	1	x	2
4th Group Winners	1	2	3	4	5	Totals
Carter	x	0.5	1(1)	0	1	2.5
Xavier	0.5	x	1(0.5)	0	1	2.5
Yuri	0	0(0.5)	x	0	0.5	0.5
Mat'ka	1	1	1	x	1	4
Nic	0	0	0.5	0	x	0.5