WKU Chess Club meets every Thursday evening in the Faculty house on WKU Campus starting at 6 pm.
1. To encourage all school systems in WKU’s service region to adopt chess clubs as an after school program
2. To assist districts and higher education in meeting KY Senate bill I College and Career Readiness mandate in the
following 4 ways using the methodological framework of chess as pedagogy for betterment of Kentucky
learners:
Increase workforce readiness
Enhance college preparedness
Strengthen critical thinking skills
Improve ethical and social behavior
3. To provide for events, training, and sport for those individuals who wish to participate.
4. To encourage community involvement, form sustainable infrastructure, and enhance new and existing
relationships through participation in chess programs.
The WKU Chess Club is the premiere college and community chess fellowship in the great State of Kentucky. Located in Bowling Green, our goal is to incorporate chess into the culture of the University, the Community, and the scholastic districts WKU services, improving the intellectual drive and capacity of its students. We strive to challenge a new generation of Kentucky chess players from kindergarten to college to adult by teaching and improving the quality of chess played throughout our Commonwealth.
In Fall 2008 Dr. van der Meer asked one of his Biophysics students, Samuel J Hunt, to help him organize a small chess 960 tournament. After a couple of discussions, Samuel had the big idea that WKU could host a large regional event with a $10,000 prize fund -- and he went to work. At first everyone thought the idea was too big, but after a meeting with then provost, Dr. Barbara Burch, who was very gracious and helpful with the request, she directed him to meet with Mr. Joe Tinius, Superintendent of Bowling Green City Schools. It was discovered that there was virtually no chess in the local schools surroudning Western Kentucky University, and after a presentation to the principles of the schools at the superintendent's office, cehss was initiated in 5 city schools, which Samuel happily began coaching. After holding inforamtion meetings at all schools, many parents and teachers began to support the idea and help out with the clubs after school. In all, there were approximately 80 participants.
We organized our first tournament with the help of Harry Sabine and Chris Prosser, National US Chess Federation tournament directors, called the First Warren County Scholastic Chess Championship. In all, 75 scholastic participants participated, and in the adult section we attracted 30 players. We offered a $500 prize fund that first year -- a far cry from the big idea of $10,000, but this was a very successful first step.
Fall 2009 represented our 2nd year of developing WKU Chess Club and chess programs in the schools.
This year, chess programs expanded into the remaining city schools. The Bowling Green Jr. High was the big success story which went from 25 players in 2008 to nearly 50 players at the start of 2009. As a matter of fact we saw increases of players in all schools --so much so that we just didn't have enough bodies to meet the demand.
Over the summer, Dr. Burch scheduled a meeting with Samuel Hunt, and asked him what it would take to stay at WKU and continue building chess in the schools. Samuel accepted a graduate assistantship in Academic Affairs and worked closely with Dr. Doug McElroy in defining what needed to be done next. He began his MS in Exercise Science.
The key to our success this year was the development of the MasterMind Conference for teachers. The purpose was to develop (in 4 sessions), new and existing coaches in the schools from existing teacher/sponsors. In all we had 15 coaches participate and they received everything they needed to increase participation and begin new programs at new schools. This was a huge factor in the expansion of chess the following year.
This year we held 3 events: our first midnight chess tournament on Halloween (which hosted nearly 60 adults and children in costume who all played in a haunted faculty house with lots of music, food, and fun); our first winter invitational which catered the best players from each school; and our 2nd WKU Open with a prize fund of $750. This year we had 85 children participate and 40 adults participate, inlcuding our special guests: IGM Jaan Ehlvest, IM Ron Burnett, and FM Todd Andrews. Dr. Burch attended taht year, along with Mr. Tinius, and both deemed chess a huge success for the schools. But, Samuel was still not satisfied as WKU had not yet reached the tier of $10,000 events.
Fall 2010, this represents the year that WKU Chess Club really began to rock!
Dr. van der Meer and I envisioned an actual chess course(s) that students could take to get a minor. WHile we didn't get that off the ground (yet), we were able to get a course designed as a colloquium for Honors students. This was a huge success and filled up within 1 minute of opening the course for scheduling.
Samuel was able to meet with Mr. Tim Murley, the Warren County schools Superintendent to talk about how chess is a necessary supplement to education in the schools. After that discussion, the county schools decided to begin 6 programs helping to expand chess to 12 schools in Warren county. in all, in 2010, there were approiximately 250 new chess players.
We held our 3 events again this year. The real success this year was the 3rd Annual WKU Open. We really increased the prestige, quality, and fame of our annual event. We had 145 scholastic participants, and 45 adult participants. In the adult section we actually paid out a $1,500 prize fund (our biggest yet), and attracted 15 business sponsors, as well as 6 college departmental sponsors. We hosted 6 titled masters in our Open section, and the average rating of our top ten boards was nearly 2200. Participants included: IM Steven Zierk, IM Ron Burnett, FM Jason Cao, FM Todd Andrews, FM Miles Ardamon, FM Peter Bereolas.
Amidst all this extracurricular work: Samuel was able to finish his MS in Exercise Science. Dr. Burch, retired from the Provost's position at the end of the 2010-2011 year.
Details coming soon. Highlights so far this year:
Expansion: 25 chess programs across 6 counties.
Super-GM Vladimir Malakhov to visit WKU Open
WCM 14-year-old Claudia Munoz to visit WKU Open
2nd Honors chess class
3 annual Academic Scholarships
Working on expanding to all 300 plus schools in WKU Service region by January 2013.
Expanding WKU MasterMind Conference to train new coaches
