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- The Rookly Winter 2026 Season is off to a Great Start!
The Rookly Winter 2026 Season is off to a Great Start!
Your recap of league standings, plus a look at the Game of the Week and the Move of the week.
Lucas Thompson
February 16, 2026
Presidents’ Day Scheduling Note
Our Monday leagues will be running as per usual today!
Students are welcome to play from home if they are not attending school today. Please let Coach Lucas know if he can send you your school login link so that you can share it with your students.
Coach Lucas can be reached at lucas@rookly.com.
Welcome to the first Rookly Winter 2026 Season newsletter! This is where we will share updates on league standings, highlight some great moments from each week’s games, learn a thing or two from our coaches, and of course, share any news about Rookly.
First let’s look at the current scores for each league. You can click on the title of a league to view the full standings for that league. The standings pages are public, so please feel free to share with parents, friends, or whoever you think might be interested!
Week #1 Standings
(4:00pm ET) | (3:30pm PT) |
|---|---|
iMater Academy - 46 | WIISER - 69 |
Boys' Latin - 38 | Lakeside - 51 |
Newman - 31 | Moreland - 41 |
Cathedral School NYC - 28 | Laurence - 41 |
Ark Connections Academy - 28 | Temecula Prep - 40 |
(3:30pm ET) | (4:00pm PT) |
|---|---|
Hackley - 53 | Stanford Online - 45 |
Scarsdale - 50 | Gilman - 34 |
Lesley Ellis - 39 | Temecula Prep - 29 |
Grayson - 39 | Archer - 21 |
Downtown Middle - 35 | Hill School - 20 |
(5:00pm ET) | (3:00pm ET) |
|---|---|
RALI - 40 | Winston Prep - 38 |
Eastbrook - 28 | St. John Paul II - 26 |
Rogers - 25 | Hudson Catholic - 26 |
Texas SD - 23 | Westbrook -19 |
St. George’s - 23 | OFL - 19 |
(3:30pm ET) | (4:30pm ET) |
|---|---|
Overhills - 38 | Trinity Episcopal - 42 |
Manatee School for the Arts - 32 | Cedarville - 31 |
MCVA - 31 | Leffell - 30 |
Elite Preparatory Academy - 29 | Eureka Springs - 30 |
Frederica Academy - 26 | Austin Jewish Academy - 30 |
Game of the Week
The game of the week this week goes to Michael P from the Hill School (white) vs Nathan G from Stanford Online (black).
This one saw perfect play for the first 21 moves. White was able to create some small advantages in the middlegame, leading to this wonderfully aggressive position on move 33 with white threatening mate-in-one with the queen on f6 and mate-in-two with the rook on h8 if black falls for poisoned queen:
Qg6 threatens mate in two ways.
Black calmly sidesteps the threat with Bd8. White brings in another attacker with Bxc5+:
The computer likes d6 here instead of Bxc5+.
The threats are even more numerous now, but black has a convenient way out of this: Qxc5+, very importantly capturing with check:
An incredible escape for black!
Now white has to move the king, and with the queen hanging on g6, this game is now lost. White tries a final attack, but throws in the towel after this position is reached:
The final position.
Great attacking and great defending! Amazing work by both Michael and Nathan in this one. You can check out the full game here:
Move of the Week
Here’s something you don’t see every day—a lone bishop delivering checkmate!
Harley N from Archer (black) spotted this after checking the white king on f2 with the rook on f8. After the white king retreated to the (seemingly safe) g1 square, this game was in a mate-in-two position.
Harley pounced on the opportunity immediately with Bc5+. White was forced to play Bd4, blocking with their own dark square bishop, but checkmate was to follow on the next move with Bxd4# from back. Great work!
If there’s anything that you need help with this week please feel free to get in touch with Coach Lucas at lucas@rookly.com.
Looking forward to another great week of chess!