The premiere City Chess Championship will be held in Madison in March 2016. Mayor Troy Trulock announced the championship during Girls Chess Night at Taziki’s. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Strategies and critical thinking will be on board when the City of Madison conducts its first annual City Chess Championship in March 2016.

The championship will be open to students who live in Madison and are enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Each champion in four different scholastic sections will receive a $100 prize. Systems Products Solutions Inc. (SPS) is contest sponsor.

Madison Mayor Troy Trulock announced the championship’s premiere during Girls Chess Night at Taziki’s restaurant on July 29. An SPS representative also attended.

“No other city in Alabama holds a city chess championship,” Trulock said. “Chess has become so popular in Madison that it is only fitting that the city hold a chess championship that will be conducted by the Madison City Chess League.”

This spring, Madison earned national honors when Rainbow Elementary School became the first Alabama elementary school to win first place in the K-6 U1000 section of the National Elementary Chess Championship.

“Five qualifying tournaments will determine who will be invited to compete in the championship,” Ranae Bartlett said. Bartlett serves as league executive director.

The first qualifying tournament will be Madison City Schools Fall Scholars Tournament, scheduled for Aug. 29 at Heritage Elementary School. “The MCS Fall Scholars Tournament is only open to students of Madison City Schools who are in good standing. Only those students competing in the championship section of the scholars tournament can qualify for the city championship,” Bartlett said.

The second qualifying tournament for the city championship will be the Queen’s Quest at Mill Creek Elementary School on Nov. 21.

“Time control for the City Chess Championship for all age groups will be 90 minutes per side with a five-second delay,” Bartlett said. Each game could last more than three hours.

These championship games have longer time controls to help students prepare for the national chess tournament season, in which games can last as long as four hours, Bartlett said.

For information about the City Chess Championship, email to Bartlett at mccl.director@gmail.com or visit madisonchess.com.