This year’s edition of chess rivalry between the armed services is already showing hints of historical proportions. For the first time ever in the history of military chess, a lone Air Force tigress laid waste to a field of mesmerized men by defeating the top boards of both the Army and Navy teams.
Hi everyone! This is Ray Robson from Las Vegas. I have just finished playing in the National Open, and I will be going home soon. In the end I finished with a good 4.5/6. Here is a short recap of my games:
Tonight I attended Denton Chess Club. My first speed chess game was as black against Julia Jones. It was her move in this position. White: Kh1; Qh4; Rs a1, e4; Ps a2, b2, f6, g5, h3. Black: Kg8; Qc6; Rs d2, f8; Bf4; Ps a7, b5, c5, c4, f7, g6. The white rook on e4 is pinned to the white king on h1. What was nice about the continuation is that more pressure was put on this pin. In other words, just as I taught students last week at T. H. Rogers, when you have a pin, add pressure! The continuation was
From June 2-6, T. H. Rogers public school hosted a chess camp. The organizer was chess parent Martha Jenkinson. As usual, she provided fantastic snacks and lunches for campers and instructors. After each of the four classes per day, students ate snacks of string cheese/yogurt/cookies/granola bars (or lunches of pizza/tacos/nuggets/veggies/fruit) and drank juice/soda/water, then headed to the gym for basketball or went to the playground.
Ray Robson is the youngest chess master in the history of the state of Florida. He was awarded the FIDE Master (FM) title in June of 2005 after tying for first place at the Pan American Youth Chess Championship in Brazil. He earned the US Chess Federation (USCF) National Master (NM) title in January of 2006 by raising his chess rating above 2200 (the minimum required for the title of National Master). In 2004, at the age of nine, Ray defeated his first National Master in tournament play.
On Thursday, May 29th, I was one of the parent chaperones on a sixth grade field trip to a local park. I brought along two chess sets and boards, and set them up on a picnic table. The table was one of many in the pavilion, which had a roof for shade and a view of the playground. Except for lunch, when I packed up the chess equipment to make room for pizza, the chess games were in use the entire time (10:30-2:15).
My rabbit Abba keeps me company while I write this blog, articles, and books (Children and Chess, and Science, Math, Checkmate). He was adopted from a shelter, and is litter-box trained. See the House Rabbit Society Web site for how to keep a rabbit as an indoor pet. In this photo, Abba poses next to a MonRoi flyer. I usually do not write poetry, but will share my poem about Abba.
Before I recommend Grandmaster Yury Shulman's book, I congratulate him on his 2008 U.S. Chess Championship. I met Yury when he was a student at The University of Texas at Dallas. He was the chess team captain: intelligent, well-spoken, and interested in helping others.
Dana Mackenzie asked, after holding a non-rated tournament, “Should I be happy with running the one tournament a year and seeing the kids have a good time? Should I aim higher? Should I steer them into rated tournament chess, and if so, how?” I run one non-rated tournament a year too, the Denton ISD (Independent School District) Middle School Tournament.
Taking problems from Bruce Pandolfini, Chessercizes, 1991, New York: Fireside and Bruce Pandolfini, Beginning Chess, 1993, New York: Fireside, I developed tactics worksheets for small groups (2-4 students) in my Strickland Middle School classes and my summer chess camps. I group problems by type of tactic. For example, one page of 10 problems might be all forks.
Duke imploded against Drake and lost quickly in 22 moves. He recklessly blundered a pawn and the right to castle on move six, which can only be attributed to a classic case of simple oversight. It got worse on move ten when he allowed a knight fork on e6. The game was totally lost at that point. Duke came very close to making the team in his first try. I am sure he will have many chances in the years to come.
Macaspac continued his winning streak to nine games. Donovan managed yet again to lose a winning advantage this time against West. I am sure he is disappointed with the outcome of this game. In a sense, he handed West a gift. His outside chances to take the 6th spot on the team have been kept alive courtesy of Donovan’s many errors especially with his 66th move. West’s 66…a4 is a blunder but it is hard to suggest anything better. I am not sure if either player is really aware of the truth in the position.
