Chess Club Tuesday

What a great reprieve from the rigors of teaching!  I spent an enjoyable chess club night with about 18 kids engaged in chess.   It was good to see a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and enjoyment at playing chess.  Chris and Shane showed up (seemingly) as soon as the bell rung.  Were they waiting outside of my room?  Popcorn was popped, announcements made, executive chess bags were disseminated to the top team players, and games were under way.  It was like the start of a great horse race!

I spent the first part of the meeting helping a student relearn photysnthesis and then retake a quiz from class earlier in the day.  As her face showed curiosity at the chess spectacle, I couldn't resist . . ."Do you play chess?" "No" "Well, let me teach you."  She stayed for my introductory lesson while Andrew  poked fun at me for trying to establish chess-thinking by delving a bit too deep into the philosphy of the game.  Well she learned how to set the board up, how the pieces move, and what a basic checkmate looks like.  "The games you play will teach you the rest."  We then played her first ever game of chess. She moved well and even recognized an "en prise" and captured my bishop.  Feeling very proud, she quietly asked for a club registration form.  Maybe she will be back?

Welcome to (new club members):  Kamaron Davidott and Juve Ruiz

Kameron plays chess every lunch in my room and brought much enthusiasm to our club meeting tonight.  He nearly ran from game to game and seemed to be on a marathon to play the most games in one night! 

I am beginning to see the Christmas Challenge setting fire to the competitiveness of the players that are up for the Think Like a King chess workouts prize.  Nick is in the lead with 2059 points but Taylor has closed the gap and earned 2003.

Chris was man of the night with 7 wins.   I keep trying to counter his tendency to Blitz, but when the games all fall on your side, it is hard to keep from playing rapidly.  Shane made a comment while playing Joey, "Hey those chess workouts really do pay off" as he check-mated Joey with nearly all his major and minor pieces.  I love his frequent chess revelations.

I was able to start a game with Tyler and was about to unleash a devastating combo (like how I got burned in my on-line game with Jeff Roland) but the activity buses were arriving and Tyler needed to rush off.

Bughouse ended the very enjoyable evening.

In other chess news, I did some late night shopping at Wholesale Chess and bought Paul Morphy and the evolution of chess theory, some spinner medals for our next tournament, and some mouse pad boards.  I also purchased a great (and I mean GREAT!) wooden chess set that I instructed Lynnet to give me for a Christmas present.  I would like another Christmas present, someone should arrange a chess game for me with Bob Dylan at Hailey Coffee Company.  You don't need to wrap it.