2010 Girls Scholastic Championship

This is one of my favorite tournaments to attend.  Dylan looks forward to it but does not do anything extra to prepare.  Maybe next year will be different.  She is a 4th grader in a 4-6th grade section.  Dylan played a strong first two rounds, winning both her games.  She was clammering for a perfect tournament going into round 3 but her opponent was tough and capitalized on some mistakes.  After an outstanding game in Round 4, she was heading into round 5 with high spirits of winning a trophy.  Round 5 games are hard for Dylan because she makes numerous friends during the previous rounds and engages in hard play while waiting for the matches to begin.  She is a social butterfly!  Her opponent was also a 4th grader and they were vying for first place 4th grade.  Unfortunately, Dylan lost the game which dropped her to 6th place and was knocked out of the trophies due to tie-breaker points. Not bad in a field of 18 4th graders, the largest section at the tournament.  She is always on the edge of winning trophies during tournaments.  If I can get her some decent training, she would do much better in 5th round games.  Dylan has music lessons, soccer, hip-hop and ballet lessons, girl scouts, and chess club.  As she gets older and consolidates some of the activities, her game will be unstoppable.

Chess Player Characteristics

"If you're a thrill seeker with a paranoid streak, chess may be the game for you. After all, a 2002  study concluded that "unconventional thinking and paranoia" characterize competitive chess players, two attributes the study also noted as characteristic of thrill-seekers like daredevils and skydivers."

I think my principal just described me with those very terms the other day!

Thursday Chess Club

Raleigh wins the chess clock with his cookie dough sales.  Congratulations, Raleigh.  Thank you to all the members that worked hard to sell and raise money for the club.  Also, thank you all cookie dough purchasers.

Here is an end game scenerio that I wanted to work on with the kids for king pawn endings.

                    This should be a win                                                           This should be a draw

The Idea:

If you have the pawn:  try to get your king in front of the pawn and move to control the squares where you want to promote.  For example, pawn on d2 get your king in front and try to control e7 or c7 so you can advance the pawn.

If you don't have the pawn:  try to keep your king in front of the pawn, stay on the side of the pawn where the opposition king is, and try to prevent the opposition king from controlling key squares.  For example, pawn on d2 - try to prevent opposition king from getting in front of pawn, try to prevent opposition king from getting to e7 or c7.

In the above diagram, if it is white to move, then it is a win with d7 allowing the king to win e7 and protect the pawn for promotion.  If it is black to move, then it is a draw with Ke8 (always keep the kings on the same side of the pawn). If the white king moves to e5 or d5, then the black king must move to d7 or d8.  To keep dancing around the pawn with the kings will also draw by three move repetition.  It is bad manners to do this in the hopes that your opponent will blunder the e7 or c7 square away.

Video link for more thorough explanation or go here for interactive practice.

Twin Falls Invitational

 

For nearly 6 years, Carl VanValkenburg and Twin Falls High School has invited WRHS to play in friendly chess exchanges.  The goal is to inspire kids to learn tournament etiquettes, to introduce new players to tournaments, to play some challenging chess games and to have some fun with other students interested in chess.  In other words, it's a learning environment.  The Twin students can only make weekday evening games so there is also a bit of a time crunch as we usually arrive between 5-5:30 pm.  WRHS Chess Club is fortunate to have the support of our school district as they supply us with a mini-bus to get kids to tournaments.  I am unaware of any other Idaho school districts offering their support in such a way.  In fact, TFHS has never come to WRHS for a match.  Carl always provides some nice prizes out of his personal pocketbook. This time it included Target Gift Cards.

When we arrived, I began the rapid entry of players into the tournament software as Twin does not have the pairing software. After the kids played warm-up games, we got the first round underway by 6 pm.  In this tournament, there were twenty-three 7-12th grade players.  In a K-6 section, there were 5 players.   Our team brought 11 players.  I tried to keep most of the room noise to a minimum but with mostly new players, it proved a daunting task.  New players thought I was just being a Chess Nazi.

Round 1:  Chess builds competitive spirit and sportsmanship.  I love it when the rounds begin.  It became intensely quiet.  A hand raises and I march over to do my TD duties.  "Touch move" in the elementary section is called.  The poor boy wanted a take back move and his opponent (my daughter) was not about to budge- having been burned by this in other tournaments.  The boy backtracked and then exclaimed "what a stupid rule!"  He then proceeded to give away most of his pieces and stormed off grumbling about "that girl" and "that rule".   His mom and he left after round 1.  I remember consoling my own kids and even the high school players about those basic rules that challenge players to give their best effort in our early tournament years.  WRHS:  7 Wins and 4 loses.

Round 2:  Chess builds confidence and respect.  The more games you play, the more confidence you earn.  Becca nearly ran to me to tell me that she "actually won a game!"  If we lost every game but that one I would have felt extremely satisfied.  Her lifted face will stay with me forever.  Becca is a very enthusiastic chess player that just started and is progressing by leaps and bounds.  I am happy that she is starting to win some games.  Julia also won a game and is a bit more introverted than Becca, but again, that wonderful face of gained confidence.  Dylan's second opponent left the board in tears.  His dad consoled him and explained that girls can play as well as boys.  WRHS:  Only 2 Losses and a Draw.

Round 3:  Chess builds determination and pride.  Nicole gets another draw and is giddy with pride.  She just began playing last week!  Becca gets a draw and can hardly contain herself.  "I am not so bad," she exclaims. She is no longer looking to me for approval - she is actually supporting herself, now.  This is good for her and for me!  Miles wins again and is on a mission for improvement.  He begins politely "shhing" people while he checks out other games in progress. I suddenly envision Miles as an executive, CEO, governor, senator, a future leader.  Taylor has worked hard since the West Jordan tournament, meeting me almost every morning for a quick game.  He uses the Think Like a King software on my computer when in my room and not playing.  He plays every lunch and is constantly questioning me and picking my brain for better moves.  Taylor is almost religious in his dedication and coolly beats Andrew (from our own team!).  WRHS:  3 Losses.

I call everyone over to clap hands for the winners in the elementary section:  Wyatt Owen (3 pts.), Dylan Porth (2 pts.), Mitchell Grimm (1.0 pt.).  "It is 8:10, raise your hand if you guys want to stay and play one more."  It is an overwhelmingly, yes.  I begin to pair but notice players leaving again without saying anything.  Thankfully, some respectfully say good bye.  There are only 4 players left from the Twin Falls contingent!

Round 4:  Chess builds strength and humility.  Taylor and Miles face off on table 1.  Andrew faces Andrew Bortz.  Max plays Richard Heinz. And Jasen plays Roman Terry.  My other players play games against each other.  Andrew discovers that "I shouldn't have been so cocky and over-confident".  Taylor and Miles on the other hand are engaged in a very even and serious duel and then Taylor blunders a piece.  Miles wins a place on our plaque with a perfect tournament.  Max played like a machine during the last game.  His opponent getting more and more frustrated with a positional Colle game that keeps things locked up.  As Richard blunders piece after piece, he finally starts yelling at Max about writing secret messages on the score pad.  I am called over and Richard is nearly frothing about keeping track of moves.  I explain that it is fine to keep score and he should too.

We all help clean up and then present gift certificates to:  Miles Hendrix (4.0), Andrew Bortz (4.0), and Max Bates (3.0).

My prize:  I get pulled over for not coming to a complete stop from a gas station parking lot in Shoshone.

2010 TFHS Invitational
Feb. 23, 2010

k-6
#	Name	Rd1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Tot
1	Wyatt Owen	W4	W5	W2	3.0
2	Dylan Porth	W3	W4	L1	2.0
3	Mitchell Grimm	L1	L2	W5	1.0
4	Dylan Wilkinson	B---	L1	L4	1.0
5	Connor Heyburn	L2	U---	U---	0.0
7-12
#	Name	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot
1	Miles Hendrix	W20	W11	W4	W5	4.0
2	Andrew Bortz	W17	W9	W3	W7	4.0
3	Max Bates	W15	W6	L2	W10	3.0
4	Coby Carter	W12	W8	L1	W9	3.0
5	Taylor Walton	W21	W22	W7	L1	3.0
6	Roman Terry	W16	L3	W14	W8	3.0
7	Andrew Uriarte	W18	W10	L5	L2	2.0
8	Jasen Black	W19	L4	W16	L6	2.0
9	Desmond Porth	W22	L2	W20	L4	2.0
10	Richard Heinz	W14	L7	W18	L3	2.0
11	Marcus Ko	W13	L1	W12	U---	2.0
12	Matt Lichenberg	L4	W23	L11	X18	2.0
13	Nicole Lichtenburg	L11	D20	W21	D14	2.0
14	Rebbecca Self	L10	W17	L6	D13	1.5
15	Zayne Slotten	L3	D21	W22	U---	1.5
16	Julia Broderick	L6	W19	L8	U---	1.0
17	Kahnor Hite	L2	L14	W23	U---	1.0
18	Nico Orozco	L7	B---	L10	F12	1.0
19	Brandon Perkins	L8	L16	B---	U---	1.0
20	Himzo Haracic	L1	D13	L9	U---	0.5
21	Kadrija Haracic	L5	D15	L13	U---	0.5
22	Alfredo Vargas	L9	L5	L15	U---	0.0
23	Kyle Snyder	U---	L12	L17	U---	0.0