This tournament was a restful break from soccer coaching. Jay Simmonson always runs a smooth and enjoyable tournament. Tournament numbers were low, however, the quality of the games were very good. I won 4.5/5 pts. and took first place in the reserve section. The games are posted at: http://www.idahochessassociation.org/easternidahoopen2009games.asp for those interested.
I started the tournament with an easy win against Gabriel Moffett, who is a tournament newcomer. I helped him along with recording and tried to provide some pointers as he moved way too fast for this type of tournament. I won with only 2 minutes off my clock in 10 moves! No I did not use a version of scholar's mate! My next game was against Katie Patterson(823) who played solidly until I played a discovered attack on her rook while simultaneously attacking her queen. She played out the game valiantly to the end and continued to harass me with her knight. I was hoping to play Kevin Patterson (1158) in the final round, but round 3 placed us across from one another and we played a rather fun game that produced a huge exchange which snagged me a rook for a bishop and a knight. Plus, I also received a much better position as he scrambled to get his queen-side pieces mobilized. On Sunday morning, after a nice big coffee and latte from the College Market, I began play with Doug Finch (1275), from Utah. I opened with Colle-Zuckertort, but ran into the same problem I had with Katie, with a knight that pushed my white bishop back to e2. We ended with opposite color bishops and a handful of pawns for a drawn game. Win, Lose, or Draw, I had already secured first place by round 5. I played Robert Diercks(1371)as white and unleashed the Colle-Zuckertort system, once again. A knight sacrifice removed his pawns guarding his castled king and all my pieces coordinated attacks that left poor Robert with naught but a queen, bishop, and knight left. I was disappointed in myself as I missed a mate on move 20. The game was won after move 30.
Overall, this was a welcomed reprieve from soccer, however, I couldn't resist seeing the men's ISU Bengals play BSU at Davis field in between rounds. Man, I love competition in soccer and chess!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Chess and Reading
http://www.chessforstudents.com/research/
To sum up,"While most students in District 9 performed below the national average in reading skills, most chessplayers performed above the national average." and,"At the end of the year, [non-chessplayers] showed no gain in percentile ranking—while the chessplayers gained 5.7 percentiles!" Again, Why? The teachers "proclaimed" that chess enhanced confidence and ego, and that students that feel good about themselves read better. Then one should argue that any activity that enhances self-confidence should benefit the student. The study dd not compare other activities of children with chess-playing children. Maybe next time. The article continues, chess organizers believe "playing chess develops general intelligence, self-control, analytic skill, and increased ability to concentrate. Because of this, enhanced reading skills naturally follow." Again, a rather large leap without any other activities that foster the same skills, taken into account. Since the study did not distinguish between non-chess playing kids, the fact that chess had such gains is even more astounding, as the non-chess playing group probably had some kids active in other activities (i.e., music, athletics, art, etc.). This should wash out some of the differences. Whatever the reason, the observation that chess improves reading is clear. My own daughter was of reading concern by her teachers, with low IRI reading scores, however, after a year of chess, tournaments, and weekly chess games, she was rated as "advanced" for the state-mandated ISAT reading test scores. When I asked her why? She said that she was able to focus and was even the last one out of the test room. "I didn't feel like I was in a hurry".
To sum up,"While most students in District 9 performed below the national average in reading skills, most chessplayers performed above the national average." and,"At the end of the year, [non-chessplayers] showed no gain in percentile ranking—while the chessplayers gained 5.7 percentiles!" Again, Why? The teachers "proclaimed" that chess enhanced confidence and ego, and that students that feel good about themselves read better. Then one should argue that any activity that enhances self-confidence should benefit the student. The study dd not compare other activities of children with chess-playing children. Maybe next time. The article continues, chess organizers believe "playing chess develops general intelligence, self-control, analytic skill, and increased ability to concentrate. Because of this, enhanced reading skills naturally follow." Again, a rather large leap without any other activities that foster the same skills, taken into account. Since the study did not distinguish between non-chess playing kids, the fact that chess had such gains is even more astounding, as the non-chess playing group probably had some kids active in other activities (i.e., music, athletics, art, etc.). This should wash out some of the differences. Whatever the reason, the observation that chess improves reading is clear. My own daughter was of reading concern by her teachers, with low IRI reading scores, however, after a year of chess, tournaments, and weekly chess games, she was rated as "advanced" for the state-mandated ISAT reading test scores. When I asked her why? She said that she was able to focus and was even the last one out of the test room. "I didn't feel like I was in a hurry".
Chess Helps People Learn
Reading chess research is very informative, however, their is plenty of room to study this in more detail. Why does chess improve reading? Math seems easier to explain, but reading? http://www.quadcitychess.com/benefits_of_chess.html#17
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Buy chess sets, chess pieces, chess boards, and more from Wholesale Chess. Expect guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Why should you play more chess?
The research is conclusive. In fact, there is a lot of room for more research. Support chess! Please see this link to The Chess Nut Website and find PDF file at bottom of tutoring page (blogger doesn't upload files-only links). http://www.wix.com/aporth/chessnut
PET Scan of the Chess Brain
PET scans allow scientists to identify specific brain areas that are activated by different tasks. Here researchers have used PET scans to identify the brain areas stimulated in the complex mental activities during a chess game (Nichelli and others, 1994). In scan (a), areas at the back of the brain, where visual information is processed, are most active when a player distinguishes between black and white chess pieces. In (b), the lower middle region of the brain is more active when a player is determining if a particular chess piece can capture another piece.*________________________________________*Don Hockenbury and Sandra Hockenbury, Psychology, New York: Worth Publishers, 1997, p.68.
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