I didn’t play chess tonight at Denton Chess Club, but did a lot of match-making. That is, I recommended opponents for new casual games based on what I had seen of their levels of play. I also liked to match similar-aged opponents, but would pair an adult and a child if their chess skills were similar. My technique does not involve pairing cards. I simply say, “Hey, X, come over here and play Y.”
I received the following from USCF Executive Director Bill Hall, "On behalf of the United States Chess Federation, I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive a Special Services Award for 2008. This award is being given in recognition of your many contributions to chess. The strength of any organization lies in volunteers like you." The Awards Luncheon is at noon on August 9th, during the U.S. Open.
My son William and I played chess this morning. Thanks to his thirty minutes of chess a day with his Dad (International Master Doug Root), William has reviewed many games connected with his opening repertoire. I played an Advanced French against him, including an ill-fated g4. William had a commanding position, and drew. I thought about how to remember the day of his first draw against me, and this blog seemed like a good place to do so.
Klein chess camp was held June 16-20, 2008. As parents dropped off children around 7:45 each morning, I autographed (sold) two copies of Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators and two copies of Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving. This year I taught tactics in the upper camp, where students ranged from USCF 612-1479. The schedule was fantastic: One group of 8 students from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., then a recess/snack.
August 7, 2008 is the date of the USCF Chess in Education workshop. Please see the press release. I am the co-organizer of the workshop, and one of the presenters. I look forward to seeing you there!
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.
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.
