Eleven students attended Denton High School chess club on Friday, January 24, 2014. Eight students solved the “three-on-three” pawn problem from Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving then played chess for fun. Three students went across the hall to train for the State tournament, coming up Feb. 8-9. 2014.
Dr. Alexey Root asked the beginners if a black rook on a8 could stop five white pawns, on White’s second rank, from promoting if White moved first. The beginners thought not, so Dr. Root called on them to make the pawn moves and she made the rook moves. Then the beginners experimented in pairs with pawns all on the third rank, all on the fourth rank, all on the fifth rank, and with pawns adjacent to each other or not.
For beginners, Dr. Root reviewed on the demonstration board how to checkmate with a king and two rooks against a king. Then Dr. Root played a simultaneous exhibition (simul) against them where they had two rooks and a king and Dr. Root had a king. Students were in groups of two against Dr. Root and were told to decide together on their next move as they were waiting for Dr. Root.
The match was played December 21, 2013 at the Denton Public LIbrary, North Branch. Time control was G/75. The first name listed played White. 1-0 means White won. 0-1 means Black won. 1/2-1/2 means draw.
Official Games (where a UNT student played a DHS student) resulted in a 3.5-1.5 win for UNT:
Eight students attended the last Denton High School chess club meeting of 2013, which meant two games of bughouse during the party. There was food and soda available too. Next event is the Denton High School chess match against the University of North Texas, December 21, North Branch Library.
Dr. Alexey Root taught the two-rook checkmate to the beginners. Then children partnered up to practice the checkmate or to be tested on it against Dr. Root. As children passed a two-rook test against Dr. Root, they became "testers" and tested/taught the others. Then Dr. Root reviewed the notated chess games of two pairs of intermediate/advanced chess players.
On Friday, November 22, Denton High School students reviewed games played at Dallas Chess Club, practiced basic endgame checkmates, and played chess for fun.
Follow the UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational, which has a GM and an IM section, right here on Monroi.com. Also look for Dr. Alexey Root’s articles about the tournament on Chess Life Online and in Chess Life.
At St. Vincent’s School chess club, beginners and intermediates notated the four-move checkmate (Scholar's Mate) as Dr. Root showed it on the demonstration board. Then they replayed it with a partner and came up with a different third move to avoid the checkmate. The advanced group learned the King and Pawn vs. King win. Dr. Root showed it on the demonstration board (White: Ke3, Pe2; Black Ke5 and Black to move).
For the beginner and intermediate groups at St. Vincent's School, Dr. Alexey Root taught the Create challenge from Thinking with Chess: Teaching Children Ages 5-14. In the Create challenge, children cooperatively create a 10-move chess game that includes three en passant captures. Both groups notated their games.
Upcoming event: On November 16, 2013 the public can play against (and learn from) Denton High School chess club students at International Games Day @your library, 1:00-5:00 p.m., Denton Public LIbrary (North Branch).
For the last chess session for fall 2013, Greenhill School students received awards, ate food, and played bughouse and regular chess games. Dr. Alexey Root talked with parents and students, supervised games, and helped with clean up.
