I've moved to . . .

Go to idahochessassociation.com 

I am running that website, chess in Idaho, and a blog there!

Turkey Shoot Announced!

See flyer for details.

Turkey Shoot!

all ages

Wednesday, Nov. 16

Starts at 4:00 pm

Community Campus

5SS, G/15; 0d

Open Section

Everyone Welcome, Unrated

Round Times:  continuous beginning at 4:00 pm

Prizes: 1st place wins a Turkey, 2nd place wins stuffing, 3rd place wins a yam

Registration Donation:  $5.00 registration. Scholarships available by request.

Register here.

Games:  Chess sets provided, clocks provided.  No Insufficient Losing Chances rule.

TD: Adam Porth

Tie-break Order: Solkoff, Modified Median, Cumulative, Cumulative of Opposition.

Byes:  Maximum 1-half point bye, Rounds 1-4, commit by round 2. 0-point bye round 5.

Other Information:  Door prizes and other perks donated by merchants!

Details:   Mr. Porth, SCHS, 450-9048, BCSD Chess Rage FB, bcsdchessclub@gmail.com, or www.adamporth.blogspot.com, https://sites.google.com/site/chessclubbcsd/

**By entering the tournament, permission is given to the organizers to use photos for publicity and news on the world wide web, newspapers, and school literature.

Happy 4th of July!

Place to Play - Iconochess!

Come to Iconochess! in Ketchum.  Please come on Wednesday evenings during the summer months, 5 pm - 8 pm to play chess at Iconoclast Books & Cafe.  Boards and clocks will be provided.  See you there!

Chess and Culture slideshow

MVCC Tuesday Blitz

Students continue to play into the summer and seven of us visited the MVCC on June 28 to play some blitz chess (G/5 d0).  Tournaments are a fun way to up your chess level and feel the heat of competition in your checks, as well as, a means to find excuses for losses!  In my first round, I played Otto and he really took it to me in the first game forcing me to run out of time.  Nothing like keeping the board complicated for an old player allowing excess time to disappear as quick as a blitz game!  I ran out of time.  Too slow.  Otto beamed and enthusiastically rushed to each game.

Darwin and Tyson (with Fred watching)

I watched Tyson Spellman, our ex-alumna President of our club, enjoy each game thoroughly using all the time a game would allow with his opponents.  He is one of the most polite chess players we own as he points out illegal moves and neglects claiming a win.  He plays for the joy of chess and wants to play games that are "legit".  He feels that he is somehow cheating if he claims victory over technicalities.  Later in the night, he "dropped" a pawn and it's head bounced across the floor.  Is this some sick metaphor?

Otto

Quentin jumps at every opportunity to play and tonight he quietly sat across from each opponent and methodically moved his pieces.  He is working on his hand movements as he plays to mimic the gestures of an experienced master.  His face displays defeat when he sees the pairings.  I was able to observe his games as I sat as his opponent and he doesn't like to play coach.  He clings to mainstream ideals of fairness in competition that don't exist in the chess world.  But I love his tenacity on the board as he will never just quit and he looks to play the best move possible when playing me.  Whereas games with my other players take on wild positions and risky sacrifices, Quentin's games are more positional, classic, and by the book.

I think for the first time in our MVCC Blitzes, I did not have to play Darwin.  Tonight he was excited to play and did not use the word "boring" to describe his games.  He handedly won some and ended with 3.0 points in 6th place behind me.   He described his unique draws and stalemates and he learned the benefits of playing a game out to the end against experienced players.  Sometimes experienced players forget how to mate with a queen and a king under time pressure and screw up won positions.  These stalemates feel like victories for the lone kings!

Desmond was convinced to come and play, as well, even though it was "his night off."  Desmond now plays better than me and his games were complex and still displayed growth.  He can compete fully with the experienced players and he downed most of the veterans, scoring 4.0/6.0 points.  Fred, Dave, Barry, and Gary have to be on their guard but can achieve victory if they win a piece against Des.  Des gives in when he goes down in material as he likes to see the path to victory and uphill battles are a nuisance.

Liam was our 7th player and Mom needed to be convinced that he could handle playing at this level.  He is a rookie that loves the camaraderie that traveling chess players exude.  He performed great and learned much, despite not winning a game.  His victories included learning the etiquette and nuances of a tournament.  He has only participated in scholastic tournaments (occasionally, as he is in Taekwondo and misses a lot of chess opportunities) and was no worse for the wear after 3 hours of blitzing into the night.

These are my players and I love to travel with them and see their antics, trials, and tribulations as much as I like playing the game myself.

On to Leuven, Belgium - Follow the Grand Master Tour

Here is after Paris

JUNE 17-20, 2016 • LEUVEN, BELGIUM • RAPID & BLITZ

Viswanathan Anand • Levon Aronian • Fabiano Caruana • Anish Giri • Vladimir Kramnik • Hikaru Nakamura • Wesley So • Veselin Topalov • Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Wildcard: Magnus Carlsen

The Tour is a series of four Events in which players earn Grand Tour Points in accordance with their final rank in each Event. At the conclusion of the Tour, the top two players based on the final Grand Tour Point standings shall be awarded Tour Prizes.

Please see the website

Live Stream

The Grand Chess Tour - Paris

JUNE 9-12, 2016 • PARIS, FRANCE • RAPID & BLITZ

Levon Aronian • Fabiano Caruana • Anish Giri • Vladimir Kramnik • Hikaru Nakamura • Wesley So • Veselin Topalov • Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Wildcard: Magnus Carlsen • Laurent Fressinet

The Tour is a series of four Events in which players earn Grand Tour Points in accordance with their final rank in each Event. At the conclusion of the Tour, the top two players based on the final Grand Tour Point standings shall be awarded Tour Prizes.

Please see the website

Live Stream

Viktor Korchnoi dies at 85

Please see this article on Chess News
BBC Article

games of Viktor Korchnoi

Muhammad Ali dies

   

Results of Final Chess Tournament

The final chess tournament for the year was held on May 14 with 12 students vying for the claim to the BCSD Chess Champion, the top Elementary School, and the Elementary Champion.  The G/30 tournament began at 10 am and continued until about 3:00 pm when our Co-champions, Yayee Tonsiri and Dartanyon Ratliffe emerged with 4.0 points.  Three different students played as house players during each round as they were not able to stay for the whole tournament.  Last year's champion, Levi Catangcatang played as one of the house players.  Most players were new to the club this year.

There were three elementary players from Hailey, Alturas, and Bellevue Elementary schools.  Darwin Porth won 3 place overall in the tournament and was crowned the official Elementary School Champion.  He also took the Trophy to Bellevue Elementary School where he presented it to the Principal.  This will be the last year he plays for Bellevue Elementary.  

Additionally, prizes were also awarded to Tyson Spellman in a raffle.  He won a book about solar power.  The Community Campus Cafe donated $10 gift certificates to 3 lucky winners, Rylee, Quentin, and Yayee.  Students also received a free ice cream cone from Snow Bunny.  Levi won the raffled chess board.  All in all, it was a comfortable tournament with newcommers having an opportunity to be champions!

	Name/Team	Rate	Score	MMed	Solk	Cum	CumOp
1	Tongsiri, Yayee (4)	975	4	13	14.5	11	45.5
2	Ratliffe, Dartanyon (5)	938	4	12.5	14.5	12	46.5
3	Porth, Darwin (3)	979	3	12.5	14.5	10	46.5
4	VanLaw, Quentin (6)	901	3	12	13	12	37
5	Zaccardi, Rylee (8)	878	2.5	5.5	10.5	7.5	28.5
6	Harris, Ethan (2)	980	2	8	12	7	35
7	Spellman, Tyson (9)	839	1.5	7.5	11.5	2.5	31.5
8	VanLaw, Leam (11)	nnnn	1	7	10	3	30
9	Bauer, Carson (7)	882	1	7	10	1	32
No.	Name	Rate	Pts	Rnd1	Rnd2	Rnd3	Rnd4	Rnd5
1	Tongsiri, Yayee	975	4	W8	L3	W2	W4	W5
2	Ratliffe, Dartanyon	938	4	W5	W7	L1	W6	W4
3	Porth, Darwin	979	3	W6	W1	L4	L5	W7
4	VanLaw, Quentin	901	3	W10	W9	W3	L1	L2
5	Zaccardi, Rylee	878	2.5	L3	W10	W9	L2	D8
6	Harris, Ethan	980	2	W9	L2	L5	W10	L3
7	Spellman, Tyson	839	1.5	L1	L5	L10	W9	D6
8	Bauer, Carson	882	1	L7	L4	L6	L8	W10
9	VanLaw, Leam		1	L4	L6	W8	L7	L9

Final Chess Club Tournament tomorrow!

Wood River Elementary School &

BCSD Chess Club Championship

Saturday, May 14

Starts at 10:00 am

Silver Creek High School

Behind the Community Campus

• K-12th grade Chess Club Section, 5SS, G/30;d5

• Unrated K-5th Elementary section, 5SS, G/30;d5

Round Times:  continuous beginning at 10:00 am

Prizes:

• K-12th Chess Club section 1st - 3rd place overall
• K-5th Elementary section 1st - 3rd place overall, 1st place each grade
• Top Team 1st place Wood River Elementary School team (top 3 boards)

Pre-registration Donation:   $10.00 per player/ $25.00 per family.  Scholarships available.  

On-site Registration:  9-10 am

Pre-registration Online (here) preferred.  

SCHS

1060 Fox Acres Rd.

Hailey, ID 83333

Phone: (208)309-5071 or e-mail: aporth1@cox.net

Games: Chess sets provided (clocks provided to Championship Section), touch move rule.  No Insufficient Losing Chances rule.  

Tie-break Order:  G/5 playoff, if time permits.  Modified Median, Solkoff,  Cumulative, Cumulative of Opposition.

Byes:  Maximum 1 half point bye, Rounds 1-5.

Details:  BCSD Chess Club, or Mr. Porth, (SCHS, 450-9048),   bcsdchessclub@gmail.com, www.adamporth.blogspot.com, or BCSD Chess Rage FB,

**By entering the tournament, permission is given to the organizers to use photos for publicity and news on the world wide web, newspapers, and school literature.

Kasparov All-Girls Champioships

Dylan Porth, Yayee Tongsiri, and Carmen Pemsler represented Idaho at the prestigious Kasparov National All-Girls Championships held in Chicago, Illinois this past weekend.  Both Dylan and Yayee are students at Silver Creek High School and competed in the U16 section against 69 girls in their section.  Yayee’s and Dylan’s combined score allowed the Silver Creek High School students an opportunity to earn a large, national trophy.  The competition began last Friday, April 22 and included 6 rounds featuring games that could last up to 3 hours.  Dylan and Yayee also competed in Blitz, or fast chess, and also Bughouse, a team-oriented variation of chess.  Overall, the tournament contained 454 girls, K -12th grade.  Carmen is a senior in Eagle and without her mom’s support, the SCHS students would not have been able to go.  All the girls worked together and created a very memorable experience.  This is a tremendous feat for our little group.

Girls Only Registration

Online registration for the Girls Only Tournament

Adam,

Just wanted to wish you luck on the girls only tournament.  We went last year for our first time and our 2 girls absolutely loved it!  We will be out of town this coming weekend and our girls are really bummed they are missing it.  I hope you have a wonderful turnout!

Warm wishes,
Deonna Hollist

http://okgazette.com/2016/02/18/local-group-launches-women-and-girls-only-chess-club/

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/19/nyregion/chess-s-effort-to-attract-more-women-is-stalemated.html?pagewanted=all

https://www.chess.com/article/view/earnings-of-top-women-chess-players2

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/queen-may-rule-chess-board-women-players-get-second-class-treatment


https://aeon.co/essays/why-are-only-two-of-the-world-s-top-100-chess-players-women

Girls Chess

It is scheduled to happen on Sat April 16th on the Community Campus in Hailey. This is an awesome opportunity for girls to play chess.  

WHAT:  GIRLS ONLY CHESS TOURNAMENT
WHEN: APRIL 16, 11 am
WHERE: Community Campus, Hailey Idaho
COST: $10.00
FREE SIDE EVENTS: Movies Searching for Bobby Fischer” & “Knights of the Bronx” & “Brooklyn Castle”
INFORMATION:  Contact Adam Porth, 450-9048, email bcsdchessclub@gmail.com

or Alise Pemsler: abpemsler@gmail.com 

WHY:  

Boys outnumber girls by nearly 20-1 in the chess world. 

Research shows that playing chess dramatically improves student math and science. Some of the educational benefits of chess include: Improved IQ scores, problem solving ability, concentration, and critical thinking skills. Test scores improved by 17.3% for students regularly engaged in chess classes. 

Chess can seem to be a male sport, and some suggest females “shy away from math-oriented careers because of previous experiences with stereotypes threat in math-related situations.”

We encourage girls to play chess and create situations where they are not isolated in a group of boys. According to Chess Power: “Girls are far more social than boys and tend to feel most comfortable in supportive and positive company with other girls.”

I hope that you can help us get the word out. Thank you 

Girl's Only Tournament

Flyer here

2016 Girls Only Tournament

Saturday, April 16th

11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Community Campus, Hailey

• K-12th grade Championship Section, US Chess Rated, 4SS, G/45;d5(RR if nec.)

• Unrated 6-8th grade section, 5SS, G/30;d5

• Unrated K-3 & 4-5th grade section, 5SS, G/30;d5

Meet 2016 Idaho Scholastic Girls Champion - Carmen Pemsler!

Round Times:

• Champ. Sect. 11 am, 12:30 pm, 2 pm, 3:30 pm, Awards follow
• Grade Sect. 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, Awards follow

Prizes:

• Championship Section 1st - 3rd place overall
• Unr. 6-8th grade section 1st - 3rd place overall
• Unr. 4-5th grade section 1st - 3rd place overall
• Unr. K-3rd grade section 1st - 3rd place overall  
• Medals for top half of each section.

Registration:  $10.00 per player/ $25.00 per family.  Scholarships available.  US Chess Membership required for Championship Section only.

Games: Chess sets provided (clocks provided to Championship Section), touch move rule.  No Insufficient Losing Chances rule.  No Local Rules.

Tie-break Order:  G/5 playoff, if time permits.  Modified Median, Solkoff,  Cumulative, Cumulative of Opposition.

Byes:  Maximum 1 half point bye, Rounds 1-5.

Free Side Events:  

• Movies in Community Campus Theater (“Searching for Bobby Fischer” & “Knights of the Bronx” & “Brooklyn Castle”).
• “Interrupted” Simuls - play Fred Bartell and Barry Eacker while you wait for next round, go play your round, then return to finish simul game.  Medals awarded to each winner.
• Play giant chess.
• Analysis by ICU chess players - Fred Bartell & Barry Eacker.

Other Information:

• Parents - bring work out clothes and visit the BCRD Fitworks located in the Community Campus while your student plays (Free Day Pass).  
• Community Campus Cafe will be open (food, snacks, espresso, coffee, etc.)
• Banana/Nutela Crepes.

Door prizes and other perks donated by Idaho merchants!

On-site Registration:  8:00 am - 10:00 am

Pre-registration preferred.  Online Registration (here).

Mr. Adam Porth,

SCHS

1060 Fox Acres Rd.

Hailey, ID 83333

Phone: (208) 450-9048

TD:  Alise Pemsler

Details:  BCSD Chess Club, or Mr. Porth, (SCHS, 450-9048),   bcsdchessclub@gmail.com, www.adamporth.blogspot.com, or BCSD Chess Rage FB,

**By entering the tournament, permission is given to the organizers to use photos for publicity and news on the world wide web, newspapers, and school literature.