Blog

Thanks to those who joined Denton High School chess club players and tournament director Alexey Root at a non-rated tournament for middle and high school students on Saturday, May 24.

Ten Denton High School chess club students welcomed 20 students (and their parents and chess sponsor) from Newton Rayzor Elementary. The high school students taught small groups (2-4 students) the two-rook checkmate, the Pawn Game (or Battleship Chess), and UIL Chess Puzzle solving. The elementary students had time to practice. Dr. Alexey Root dismissed the elementary school students with a game of chess Simon Says.

Denton High School students played bughouse. Three new members learned chess from the Chess Club Secretary. There was food, particularly lots of cookies. This was the last regular meeting of the 2013-2014 year. However, two more important events are coming up May 9 (visit of elementary school students) and May 24 (tournament at Denton Public Library).

Greenhill chess students had their last meeting of spring 2014. Chess Director Cathleen Garcia passed out awards. Parents brought in food and took photos. Dr. Alexey Root supervised bughouse games.The club is for first through fourth grade students. Fifth grade students attend the middle school chess club.

Denton High School chess students played Progressive Chess today (Scottish variation). White starts with one move, then Black plays two moves, then White plays three moves, and so forth. Dr. Root noted that a turn ends when check is given and that the checked king must use its first move to get out of check.

UIL stands for University Interscholastic League.Thanks to UIL and Texas Tech University Chess Program, Chess Puzzle is now an official event for UIL A+ Academics. Dr. Alexey Root is writing an article about Chess Puzzle for Chess Life magazine. Her book Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving provides activities that UIL Chess Puzzle sponsors can share with students to help them succeed at the UIL Chess Puzzle event.

This was the last chess day for spring 2014 for St. Vincent's chess. There was pizza and all the students stayed together rather than separating into three groups by level. Dr. Root taught Progressive Chess (Scottish variation). Briefly,White starts with one move, then Black plays two moves, then White plays three moves, and so forth.

Greenhill chess students played Progressive Chess today (Scottish variation). Briefly,White starts with one move, then Black plays two moves, then White plays three moves, and so forth. Dr. Root noted that a turn ends when check is given and that the checked king must use its first move to get out of check. And that it cannot move into check during its turn. The variant teaches students to make every move count and to plan ahead.

On another free day at Denton High School chess club, Dr. Alexey Root finished her game against a group of students. Two other students tried a UIL chess problem solving test. Three students planned activities for tomorrow’s outing at Arts in Bloom in McKinney. And four other students played a chess variant (Knightmare Chess).

Dr. Alexey Root will be appearing April 10 and April 12 at huge gatherings. On April 10, Dr. Root is signing her books about chess in education (and libraries!) at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference. Look for Alexey Root in the exhibit hall in the ABC-CLIO/Libraries Unlimited booths, 2122 and 2123, on Thursday, April 10. A complete list of authors at the conference can be found at this link.

Greenhill chess students in the beginner and advanced groups tried the "3 on 3" challenge from Dr. Alexey Root’s Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving. One six-year-old boy commented that trying different moves to find the right solution was "like science."

The seven high school students attending Denton High School chess club today played chess games for fun. One pair of students played a king safety vs. material drill, where white plays without a rook on h1 and black's king to start on e4 with play continuing normally from there. Dr. Alexey Root continued her game from last week against two students.