Lakeridge Chess Club
| As a service to the Lakeridge community, the PTA coordinates the Lakeridge Chess Club for our students. |
about lakeridge chess club
All players are welcome (grades K-5)
--no experience necessary--
Our Chess Club is run by the PTA and is the largest program on Mercer Island with around 100 students from all grades participating. The Club meets on Fridays, right after school from 3:45-5:00 pm with amazing coaches who have many years of chess coaching experience. Our program runs from the end of September through early May. In March, our Chess Club will host a local tournament that we encourage all members to participate in and our season ends after the Washington State Elementary Chess Championships, which many of our players qualify for and attend.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR CHESS CLUB
(You will need to login to your membership account to view the registration form.)
2026-2027 details
The registration fee is to be decided, likely around $400 per player. Please register early to enable us to know how many students to expect and staff accordingly. Our program can fill up!
The registration deadline is Friday, September 11, 2026 at 10 pm.
Late registrations may be accepted if there is space in the program/classroom and at the discretion of the coaches/staff. A $50 late fee may be charged.
The first class will be held on Friday, September 18th at 3:45pm, directly after school. An email will be sent a few days before to confirm where your student's class will meet. Typically, classes are organized by grades. In the past, Kindergarten had a separate class and we combined grades depending on enrollment numbers (for example last year we had a combined 4th/5th grade class). However, this may change from year to year.
The club meets on most Fridays (excluding holidays and half days) from 3:45-5:00pm starting on September 18, 2026 and running through May 14, 2027. There will be 20 sessions. Our season concludes after the Washington State Elementary Chess Championships. Every participant will receive a T-shirt to represent Lakeridge proudly at local chess tournaments. The last session will be a Pizza Party and include a Trophy Parade to celebrate a successful year.
Chess club will meet on the following Fridays:
2026:
September 18, 25
October 2, 16, 23
November 6, 13
December 4, 11
2027:
January 8, 29
February 5, 26
March 5, 12
April 2, 23, 30
May 7, 14 (Pizza Party)
Lakeridge Chess Tournament: If possible, Lakeridge Chess Club will organize a WA state qualifying tournament in March 2027. All members are encouraged to participate and we will be reaching out to all families to help volunteer to make the event a success!
Volunteering is Required: As a PTA-run organization, each participant is required to have a parent/guardian over 18 years of age volunteer at least 3-4 times during the year. The volunteer dates will be assigned and it is your responsibility to switch dates with another volunteer if you are unable to attend your assigned days.
Each class will need 2-3 class managers. One manager will be in charge of email communication. The other 2 managers will volunteer to come to chess for every other class to ensure continuity, consistency and cohesion between students, coaches and volunteers. Please let us know if you can help out as a class manager!
Refund Policy: If a student chooses to withdraw from the Chess Club, a processing fee will be retained but remaining paid fees may be refunded on a prorated basis.
If the tuition poses a financial hardship and you would like to request financial aid or scholarship please contact us before completing the registration form.
Chess Club Contacts:
For questions regarding registration, please contact operations lead Mike Westover at: mike.westover@gmail.com
For questions regarding the Lakeridge chess tournament, please contact co-chair Alessandra Hirai at: alessabeck@gmail.com
For all other questions, please contact co-chair Duncan Stark at: stark.duncan@icloud.com
By completing the Chess Club Registration, YOU ARE AGREEING to adhere to the Club policies that include: fulfilling your assigned volunteer requirement (3-4 times per year, per participant), completing the MISD volunteer paperwork prior to your schedule date, and agreement with the refund policy. After the registration process is complete, weekly email communications by the Club leads/managers, and/or coaches will include student and primary contact information with the Volunteer Schedule to other members of the Chess Club. Photos of Chess Club participants in class and tournaments will be taken for the Lakeridge yearbook and shared with Club members and may be used by MISD. Disrespectful behavior, by students and/or parents, to other students, parents, coaches, and staff is not tolerated and the students will be removed from the program.
Please DO NOT REGISTER for the Lakeridge Chess Club if you are unable or unwilling to adhere to these policies.
NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN and students will be asked to leave the program if student/families do not meet the Club requirements.
Lakeridge Chess Tournament
Save-the-Date: tentatively March 13, 2027
Location: to be determined