Tag: Scholastic Chess

Complete Chess Scholastic Tournament

Complete Chess in San Antonio is holding an online tournament for scholastic chess players (K-12) from any state on Friday, June 25th and Saturday, June 26th. Registration is limited to 50 people, so hurry now to register if you’re interested. See the release below from Complete Chess for details:

Complete Chess Scholastic Tournament – Saturday, June 26th

This is an unrated chess tournament open to all students(K-12) in San Antonio and nearby areas. We will play on Saturday at 10a.m. until finish (usually around 1p.m). Registration online only, no registration on site. Registration ends at 8:00pm on Friday.

FREE TOURNAMENT – LIMIT 50 PEOPLE FOR THIS EVENT.

Register Here

Complete Chess Grand Prix Tournament – Friday, June 25th

This is our weekly online rated Swiss Scholastic arena tournament on Lichess. The tournament will run on Friday, June 25th and the first round will start promptly at 5:15 pm CST. Any K-12 players from any state are allowed to participate in the tournament. By the end of the tournament, a running total of points will be collected, based on the number of wins/draws, and it will be recorded on the website. The 2021 Complete Chess Summer Season will continue to have weekly tournaments until the second week of August. By the end of the Season, the top 10 players with the most points will each receive an individual trophy.

Entry fee: $15 if received by June 24th, and $25 on tournament day.

Register Here

Endgame – A Movie Review

Up against the border between the United States and Mexico is the town of Brownsville, Texas, where the residents get much of their past and contemporary culture from a mixture of the two nations. Jose, the unlikely protagonist of Endgame is an elementary school student who is struggling to find his way in a world where he feels disconnected, unappreciated, and unwanted. When he’s not getting into trouble at school, being lectured by the most insufferable movie Principal in history, or arguing with his mother, Jose spends time with his grandmother playing chess.

Endgame does its best to mimic many of the feel good chess movies that have come before it. There are times it tries to channel Searching for Bobby Fischer with a mix of Knights of the South Bronx. Although it certainly doesn’t come close to the beauty of Searching, there are moments that make Endgame a worthy family movie.

Given the story’s setting, the producers do take time to address some of the contemporary political discussions surrounding illegal immigration in the United States and the consequences that come with it for the families involved. Without giving too much away, there is a subplot involving one of the chess team members who’s parents are illegal immigrants. The way in which the film deals with this subplot is very interesting because it has a resolution, but not in the way that one would expect for a film that seems to be geared toward a family friendly audience.

As the world around him seems to crumble, Jose finds himself immersed deeper into the world of scholastic chess. He’s encouraged by the eccentric tutorage of his chess coach, Mr. Alvaredo, who is based on the real life Brownsville chess coach J.J. Guajardo. Mr. Guajardo was a teacher at Brownsville (Russell) Elementary School in the 1980s when he took a group of kids given detention for allegedly destroying a school record collection and taught them to play chess. Since then, Brownsville has been overrun by curious media and chess fanatics curious about its incredibly strong scholastic teams.

Through his effort to win on the board, Jose faces a myriad of challenges that mirror the movement of his pieces. Friends come and go just as though they were nothing more than pieces on the board. There is deep symbolism in chess, which requires little effort from any competent producer or director to bring out in a film. Endgame does a good job of juxtaposing the challenges of daily life and the struggles around us with the endless struggle to checkmate our opponent’s King.

How does Endgame stack up against the increasingly crowded field of feel good chess movies and feel good sports movies in general? Well, for me, it’s a mixed bag. There are some interesting characters, for sure. The Principal is one of the scummiest people I’ve ever seen in a film. Very rarely has a character created a sense of physical rage inside me, but the school’s smug Principal certainly did the job. My main issue with this movie was the character of Jose. It’s obvious that the producers wanted to create a character who was realistic and relatable, but he’s often an obnoxious and annoying boy who’s eventual victories are sometimes overshadowed by his overall attitude and demeanor.

Endgame is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It has its fun moments and it has some legitimate tear-jerking moments. You can’t go wrong with giving it a try if you’re looking for a lightweight chess film or something for the family to sit down and enjoy over a bowl of popcorn one evening.

Verdict: ♟︎♟︎♟︎♙

2021 Complete Chess Summer Camp

Learn chess this summer with San Antonio Chess Champion
National Chess Master
Jesse James Lozano

This summer, Complete Chess will offer a series of five-day chess camps for children of all grade levels and chess skill sets. Each camp, taught by City Champion Jesse James Lozano and experienced chess coaches, will provide a range of chess related activities including chess lessons, puzzle competitions, blitz games, Bughouse chess, game analysis, tactics training and strategy workshops. To keep camp fun, additional activities include Rubik’s Cube, LEGO, Pokémon and movie night.

Camp Hours
Monday thru Friday 
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.


Early drop off (8am) is available for an additional $10 per day.
Late pick-up (4 p.m.) is available for an additional $10 per day. 

Cost: $200 (five-day camp) OR
$50 (daily pass)

Can’t commit to a full week of camp?
Try out their daily pass.

Find out more by visiting Complete Chess on their website, Facebook, or
contact them at: (210) 393-3056

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