In The Knight School, we understand that the best lesson children can learn in chess is to play and lose and to get mad at themselves. We play as much and often as we can, and we do so in a specialized Mardi Gras bead tournament in which every single child receives one black bead at the beginning of the day. As children win, they earn the black beads of the players they defeat. Since all TKS tournaments are handicapped--which means more advanced players have to give up pieces to less advanced players at the beginning of the game--these games are always close and the mandatory ten-minute chess clock makes them intensely exciting. Finally, one player wins all the black beads and is declared champion. That child receives one black bead to keep forever and also a gray TactixBand. Because of the handicapping, the winner is often not the most advanced person in the room, but in this fun process, champions are forged who are mighty competitors when we get to State and get to attack with all our chess pieces! Once kids lose their black beads in the tournament, they enter a secondary tournament, the 'Rainbow-bead Tournament, and in that "Zombie" tourney kids cannot die, and the fun really begins!

Mardi Gras Bead Tournament Every Class