Central Texas Chess club
Thank you to Carey McKay for taking some great candid photos during our club meeting on October 16th. She captured the Pawns and Knights skill groups playing in the library as well as the Rooks and Kings playing in the Gym. Looks like everyone is having a good time, with some kids lost in concentration as they contemplate their next move.
Dr. James Grime, a mathematics professor from the University of Cambridge, answers the question, “How many unique games of Chess are there?”
There are more unique Chess games than there are atoms in the universe! Think about that.
25 Spicewood Elementary students participated in this past weekend’s Kealing Middle School Chess Tournament. Sixteen local elementary schools participated. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 53 out of a possible 125 points. Four Spicewood students received trophies for scoring in the top percentile of their groups: Rounav Sur (K-1 U300 1st place), Aria Mitra (K-1 U300 3rd place), Yifan Qiu (K-1 U300 4th place) and Peter Kim (K-5 U600 3rd place). Five Spicewood students received medals for scoring in the second percentile of their groups: Noah Cush, Leon Chen, Ethan Fung, Bela Jere and Ethan Yang.
Our club came in 2nd place in the K-3 Reserve team results, 5th place in the K-5 Reserve team results and 4th place in the K-12 Championship team results. Canyon Vista Middle School took 1st place in the K-12 Championship team results lead by Eric Gao who is a Spicewood Elementary Alumni.
Congratulations to all of our participants. Each received 5 Chess bucks.
If you have any photos from the tournament that you would like to share, please email them to chris@spicewoodchess.org
The second scholastic tournament of the year is this Saturday at Kealing Middle School. Good luck to the 28 Spicewood students registered in this tournament. The school is located on North I35 and it takes about 20-25 minutes to drive there from Spicewood Elementary.
Google Map of Kealing Middle School
We have some helpful advice for all parents to help your kids prepare for the tournament. First, please make sure to get a good night sleep. The tournament day is long and you want to be well rested. There is typically a lot of downtime between rounds, so make sure you bring healthy snacks and drinks. The school will have a concessions area, so you can support their school by making purchases through them as well.
We typically find and reserve a section for Spicewood students. This area becomes our homebase where the students hang out between round, review their recent matches and practice chess. We recommend bringing a couple of comfortable folding chairs in case seating is limited. We also recommend that you leave portable video games at home. We have seen parents and kids bring books to read, games to play (other than chess), homework, coloring books, soccer balls, etc. It has been normal to have wifi access to the Internet, but each school is different, so we are not 100% sure about this at Kealing.
This will be a relatively small tournament with around 300 participants. Round 1 starts at 9AM for the Open section and 9:30AM for the Scholastic sections and you should find your board at least 30 minutes before the start. We recommend arriving as early as possible in order to claim a good spot to reside for the day. If you plan to be late to any round, please make sure you request a BYE for that round with Lori Balkum (Lori.Balkum@austinchesstournaments.com) who will be located in the computer room which handles all the pairings and result entry.
Results of the tournament rounds will be posted on bulletin boards outside each section as well as online on this page:
https://www.austinchesstournaments.com/events/659
With the book fair behind us, we were back to normal with the Pawns and Knights in the library and the Rooks and Kings in the Gym. Today was National Chess Day which was designated by former President Gerald Ford in 1976. It is rare for us to have a club meeting on the same day as National Chess Day! President Ford is quoted as saying:
“To give special recognition to a game that generates challenge, intellectual stimulation, and enjoyment for citizens of all ages.”
The Knights skill group reviewed more information on first moves including the three C’s and the importance of developing the minor pieces (knights and bishops). We watched a Chesskid video that shows very well what can happen if you bring your Queen out too early.
Chesskid video: More First Moves
We observed much improved kid behavior at today’s meeting, so thank you to all the parents who helped today.
We had 25 students from Spicewood Elementary participate in the Meridian Tournament last weekend. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 63.5 out of a possible 125 points. Five Spicewood students received trophies for scoring in the top percentile of their groups: Rounav Sur, Annika Shivam, Ivan Leong, Aryan Punalekar and Ethan Tang. Seven Spicewood students received medals for scoring in the second percentile of their groups: Aria Mitra, Yifan Qui, Jhivan James Ravichandran, Marvel Chung, Aakash Nagarahalli, Raghav Aggarwal and Tianwen Gao. Congratulations to all of our participants. Each received 5 Chess bucks.
Every chess game begins with the opening — but what moves should you play? FM Mike Klein shows you the fundamentals behind the ideas of good openings, so you know why to play them, not just how. Learn how important controlling the center is in a chess game, and apply that lesson to your choice of first moves.
Chesskid video: First Moves
Howcast video: 3 Basic Opening Stratety Principles
The Ruy Lopez is one of the most popular openings in chess. We will look at some of the common themes you might see when playing the Ruy Lopez.
PLAY 10 MINUTES EVERY DAY
Spending 10 minutes a night playing chess with your child, or having them play their sibling(s) will make a huge difference. If you are a beginner parent, learn chess along with your child. Chess has less rules than Monopoly. Allow your child to play on chesskid.com. Leaving your chess board out and set up ready to play, greatly increases the amount of chess played by your child.
GET A PORTABLE CHESS SET WITH ALGEBRAIC NOTATION
A good chess set with roll up board and algebraic notation is strongly recommended. Learning to identify the squares on the chess board significantly increases the speed at which a beginner player is able to learn. This set which has a missing piece guarantee, can be used by your child and family for years:
http://www.wholesalechess.com/
PARTICIPATE IN TOURNAMENTS
Tournaments are integral in building confidence, teaching self-reliance and how to compete. Beneficial on many levels, not just for chess. Most children who attend will play as much chess in a single day as they do in a month of Chess Club. Students play their peers. Many develop friendships that last for years.
RECOMMENDED BOOK: “CHESS FOR CHILDREN” BY CHANDLER
Strongly recommended by the Chess Club Coaches. This great hardback, kid-friendly book can be used for the first and second year of Chess Club. It significantly contributes to and augments the students’ understanding and enjoyment of chess. The Spicewood Chess Club beginner program is based loosely on this book. It’s a great investment. Amazon link
REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT ON WWW.CHESSKID.COM Spicewood Elementary Chess Club Students are online a few times a week. Children who frequently play on this site improve very quickly. Allows children to play independently. Free version allows children to play their friends from Chess Club, as well as children from all over the world. Gold account allows access to wealth of educational tools, including video’s and puzzles. The site tracks the kids’ chess (non-USCF) rating in real time.
DINOSAUR CHESS App
https://itunes.apple.com/us/
Excellent teaching tool for beginner players.
The Knights group will review the following two videos on opening strategy.
Chesskid video: The Four Knights Opening
Howcast video: 3 Basic Opening Strategy Principles
The first scholastic tournament of the year is this Saturday at Meridian School. There are 22 Spicewood students registered in this tournament. The school is located on North I35 and it takes about 20-25 minutes to drive there from Spicewood Elementary.
We have some helpful advice for all parents to help your kids prepare for the tournament. First, please make sure to get a good night sleep. The tournament day is long and you want to be well rested. There is typically a lot of downtime between rounds, so make sure you bring healthy snacks and drinks. The Meridian school will have a concessions area, so you can support their school by making purchases through them as well.
We typically find and reserve a section for Spicewood students. This area becomes our homebase where the students hang out between round, review their recent matches and practice chess. We recommend bringing a couple of comfortable folding chairs in case seating is limited. We also recommend that you leave portable video games at home. We have seen parents and kids bring books to read, games to play (other than chess), homework, coloring books, soccer balls, etc. It has been normal to have wifi access to the Internet, but each school is different, so we are not 100% sure about this at Meridian.
This will be a relatively small tournament with around 270 participants. Round 1 starts at 9AM and you should find your board at least 30 minutes before the start. We recommend arriving as early as possible in order to claim a good spot to reside for the day. If you plan to be late to any round, please make sure you request a BYE for that round with Lori Balkum (Lori.Balkum@austinchesstournaments.com) who will be located in the computer room which handles all the pairings and result entry.
Results of the tournament rounds will be posted on bulletin boards outside each section as well as online on this page:
https://www.austinchesstournaments.com/events/602
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