Welcome to the Rookly Winter 2026 Season weekly newsletter! This is where we share a weekly update 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 scores. 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!

And now, without further ado, here are the results after the tenth week (plus the 11th week for the Monday leagues!) of the Rookly Winter 2026 Season:

Current Standings

Game of the Week

This week’s Game of the Week features Charlie R from Roycemore (White) vs Finn B from The Study Academy (Black).

This was a very well played game by both players, and it came down to very instructive endgame. Who do you think is winning in this position?

If you’re just counting material on the board, White (1 rook + 5 pawns = 10 points) is ahead of Black (1 bishop + 6 pawns = 9 points) by a point. However, the computer has the evaluation in this position at -4.1!

So why is Black so far ahead? I highly recommend going through this endgame—you’ll find that White’s rook never really gets a chance to contribute in such a congested position, whereas Black’s light-square bishop is able to not only hunt down White’s passed h-pawn, but also to assist the promotion of Black’s e-pawn some moves later.

Check this one out!

Move of the Week

A very rare moment happened in this game between Alan A from UICCP (White) and Thomas A from Montgomery Academy (Black). First of all, can you find the continuation for White in this position that forces checkmate in three?

Did you spot b4+? Do you see why this is the Move of the Week?

The amazing part of b4+ is that Black’s only move is to capture en passant!

White can continue the forced mating sequence with Nxb3+

Black only has one move once again—this time Ka4.

White can now bring in the rook to find this nice finish. Well done to Alan!

Coaches’ Corner

At Rookly, we have the privilege of working with some amazing coaches. One of the best we know is Ryan Phillips, who coaches the team at The Meadows School in Las Vegas—winners of the Rookly Fall 2024 Season in the Monday En Passant League!

In addition to coaching the Meadows School team and running in-person tournaments in the Las Vegas area, Ryan also offers online instruction to both individuals and groups. Check out his website to learn more!

Ryan can also be contacted at [email protected], 702-682-8208, and lesson time can be booked on his calendar here:

Ryan’s calendar

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!