My name is Bill Heinemann. I learned to play chess when I was six by watching my older brothers play. I played board 1 or 2 on my high school team. I taught my own children how to play and started a club at Moreland in 1991 so they'd have a place to play. In 1996 Moreland won the state championship. In 1991 and 1992 my daughter Marjorie won the state championship for kindergartners an then repeated as a 1st grader. I took her to the National championships that year. In the following years I organized trips to nationals. Teams from Moreland competed successfully winning many trophies in Peoria, Nashville, Pittsburg, Milwaukee. Marjorie competed in the top section and finished tied for top girl in the nation. Her senior year she represented Minnesota in the first Susan Polgar invitational.
Since 2005 I've coached at Moreland, Heritage, Mendota, Farnsworth upper and lower, Capitol Hill, and Salem Hills. So now I'm back at Moreland since 1985. When the pandemic hit, I took a year or two off, then wasn't sure if I could do this after I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. But after teaching chess at Heritage since 2021, I'm confident I can handle Moreland as well.
We're running this through Community Ed. We meet Monday's from 2:15 to 3:15 starting April 8, 2024.
