Glad you can join us. We hope you enjoy playing and learning chess with other students from Northwest Washington. Here's some tips and info.
1. If you haven't yet done so, find an image to replace the boring gray pawn next to your name. (Go to Settings or Profile, and click on the boring gray pawn.) Makes it more colorful, gives you a visual identity, helps build community. Thanks!
3. Parents, you can adjust the safety settings (chat, messages, visibility) if you'd like. See this forum post.
4. It's a litte tricky trying to navigate to our onine tournaments for the first time. Here's a forum post with directions.
5. Monday evenings we play Crazyhouse Chess. It's like regular chess, except when you capture a piece, it joins your team and you can use it. When it's your turn, you can either make a normal move, or place a captured piece on any empty square. That piece is now your color, and it works for you! In Chess.com, if you want to place a piece, drag it from the left side of the board and release it on the desired square.
6. If you "Friend" others, you'll see when they're online, so you can challenge them to a live game.
7. Kraken tourneys may have sections, so look to join the appropriate section when you join a Kraken tournament.
If you're a high school player or an experienced middle schooler, join the (MS, High School) or Upper section. (Elementary players can join too, if they want tough competition.)
If you're an elementary school student, or a middle school beginner, then join the (Elementary) or Lower section. If the Lower section doesn't get four players, it will not begin, in which case you can then join the Upper section in progress. (Tip: Click on the In Progress tab to find a tourney that has already started.)
That's it! Have fun, and feel free to message me with any ideas, suggestions or comments!
Welcome to The Kraken!
Glad you can join us. We hope you enjoy playing and learning chess with other students from Northwest Washington. Here's some tips and info.
1. If you haven't yet done so, find an image to replace the boring gray pawn next to your name. (Go to Settings or Profile, and click on the boring gray pawn.) Makes it more colorful, gives you a visual identity, helps build community. Thanks!
2. To see who you're playing, check the Kraken Member Index.
3. Parents, you can adjust the safety settings (chat, messages, visibility) if you'd like. See this forum post.
4. It's a litte tricky trying to navigate to our onine tournaments for the first time. Here's a forum post with directions.
5. Monday evenings we play Crazyhouse Chess. It's like regular chess, except when you capture a piece, it joins your team and you can use it. When it's your turn, you can either make a normal move, or place a captured piece on any empty square. That piece is now your color, and it works for you! In Chess.com, if you want to place a piece, drag it from the left side of the board and release it on the desired square.
6. If you "Friend" others, you'll see when they're online, so you can challenge them to a live game.
7. Kraken tourneys may have sections, so look to join the appropriate section when you join a Kraken tournament.
If you're a high school player or an experienced middle schooler, join the (MS, High School) or Upper section. (Elementary players can join too, if they want tough competition.)
If you're an elementary school student, or a middle school beginner, then join the (Elementary) or Lower section. If the Lower section doesn't get four players, it will not begin, in which case you can then join the Upper section in progress. (Tip: Click on the In Progress tab to find a tourney that has already started.)
That's it! Have fun, and feel free to message me with any ideas, suggestions or comments!
MooseMouse (Randy Kaech), Kraken director