Nov 1 - upcoming tournament

Today we learned the Danish Gambit, and the Scotch Game with the similar Goring Gambit.
We also learned a lot about knights and the tactic call the fork.

For those interested in competing, there is a tournament coming up this Saturday.
WHO: Anyone can go, though I recommend a rating of 300 or more.
WHEN: Nov 4, 9:00 - 2:00  maybe a little longer if you need to hang around for awards
WHERE: Highview Middle School in New Brighton.
WHAT: Play only other students in your grade. All will play 4 or 5 games - no elimination. Both individual and Team competition - need 3 in one grade, but players can play up a grade or two if needed.
HOW: Register on-line at schoolchess.org or at the door by 8:30am on Saturday.
HOW MUCH: Cost $22-24 plus $5 for lunch or bring your own.
WHY: It's fun! Those highlighted in red have expressed interest.
For a complete schedule of tournaments see www.schoolchess.org

Rank	Name	Nov 1
1	Henry	723
2	Oscar	696
3	Miles	681
4	Isaiah	658
5	Luke	607
6	Jaden	531
7	Niko	526
8	Torben	491
9	Owen	333
10	Shakti	322
11	Christian	296
12	Jack	277
13	Tom	210
14	Patrick	185
15	James	182
16	Nick	172
17	Derrick	167
18	Nolan	159
19	Gere	158
20	Ben	154
21	Quinn	131
22	Tyler	131
23	Naomi	124
24	Sahasra	116
25	Jesse	105
26	Isaac	101
27	Francis	100
28	Winston	100
29	Zach	100
30	Davis	100
31	Ellie	100

Oct 25 News and Standings

Welcome back all fall athletes!

For those interested in competing in Saturday tournaments, there is a tournament coming up.
WHEN: Nov 4, 9:00 - 2:00  maybe a little longer if you need to hang around for awards
WHERE: Highview Middle School in New Brighton.
WHAT: Play only other students in your grade. All will play 4 or 5 games - no elimination. Both individual and Team competition - need 3 in one grade, but players can play up a grade or two if needed.
HOW: Register on-line at schoolchess.org or at the door by 8:30am on Saturday.
HOW MUCH: Cost $22-24 plus $5 for lunch or bring your own.
WHY: It's fun!

Merit Points (basically 1 for each win in tournament - 10 and you get a bronze medal)
Henry 8, Oscar 7.5, Isaiah 4.25, Torben 1

Grade	Rank	Name	Oct 25
7	1	Henry	722
8	2	Oscar	676
8	3	Isaiah	658
7	4	Miles	642
6	5	Luke	600
8	6	Niko	517
8	7	Jaden	514
6	8	Torben	491
7	9	Owen	297
7	10	Christian	296
7	11	Shakti	285
8	12	Jack	277
8	13	Tom	210
8	14	Nick	172
5	15	Derrick	167
5	16	James	160
5	17	Nolan	159
	18	Gere	158
6	19	Patrick	150
	20	Ben	136
6	21	Isaac	131
5	22	Quinn	131
5	23	Sahasra	116
5	24	Zach	111
5	25	Tyler	109
5	26	Davis	106
5	27	Jesse	105
5	28	Naomi	103
8	29	Francis	100
7	30	Winston	100

Oct 11 Lesson and Standings

Today we looked at the Evans Gambit, exploring the ideas of tempo, open and closed games, rapid deployment, and various tactics.

Rank	Name	Oct 11
1	Henry	711
2	Isaiah	649
3	Miles	649
4	Luke	555
5	Niko	531
6	Jaden	508
7	Torben	491
8	Jack	318
9	Owen	250
10	Tom	190
11	Ben	148
12	James	141
13	Quinn	139
14	Derrick	137
15	Nolan	134
16	Tyler	134
17	Gere	130
18	Patrick	129
19	Naomi	128
20	Nick	127
21	Davis	121
22	Sahasra	116
23	Isaac	110
24	Jesse	105
25	Francis	100
26	Winston	100
27	Zach	100

Oct 4 Lesson and Standings

Today we got back our checkmate/stalemate worksheets.
We learned how to castle and the restrictions on it -
a) can't if the king or rook has moved
b) all squares between the king and rook must be open
c) can't castle out of check, thru check, or into check
d) the king moves 2 sq. toward the rook, & the rook moves to the square the king passed over

We also learned the Danish gambit today 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2
Click on the link above for an absolutely amazing game involving the Danish.

Rank	Name	KQ	Oct 4
1	Henry	PASS	711
2	Isaiah	PASS	643
3	Miles	PASS	629
4	Luke	PASS	577
5	Niko	PASS	516
6	Jaden		501
7	Torben		491
8	Jack	-2	346
9	Owen	PASS	232
10	Tom		190
11	Ben		145
12	Naomi		141
13	Gere		130
14	Patrick		129
15	Nolan		129
16	Tyler		129
17	Quinn		118
18	Jesse		116
19	Davis		116
20	Zach		107
21	Winston		105
22	Isaac		105
23	James		105
24	Francis		100
25	Derrick		100
26	Sahasra		100
27	Nick		100

Sept 27, 2017

Someone left a nice bright red and black sweatshirt at chess last week.
No one picked it up this week, so I put it in the Lost & Found.

Today we were introduced to the gambit using the King's gambit.
We had a worksheet on checkmate and stalemate.
Also we learned how to checkmate with 2 rooks or with a King and Queen.

Name	Sep 27
Henry	711
Miles	629
Isaiah	625
Luke	577
Niko	522
Jaden	511
Torben	463
Jack	365
Owen	190
Nolan	154
Tom	147
Naomi	141
Ben	126
Patrick	124
Derrick	117
Isaac	116
Jesse	116
Quinn	113
Davis	111
Gere	111
Tyler	110
Zach	107
Winston	100
James	100
Sahasra	100
Nick	100

Sep 20 Chess Club

We had a good turnnout.
We covered a lot of territory today - Giuocco Piano opening variants.
We learned the 3 objectives in the opening
1) attack the middle
2) get knights and bishops out of the back row
3) castle

Henry	686
Miles	629
Isaiah	599
Niko	555
Luke	547
Jaden	498
Torben	470
Jack	378
Tom	143
Winston	105
Owen	105
Patrick	105
Isaac	105
Tyler	105
Zach	105
Derrick	105
Quinn	105
Davis	105
Naomi	105
Jesse	105
Nolan	105
James	105
Sahasra	105
Lilly	100

Chess Club 2017-2018

Chess Club will meet after school on Wednesdays starting Sept 20 3:25 until 5:00 in room 123.

If you'd like to compete in tournaments there are a lot of tournaments for children, based on grade, run by the School Chess Association. There's a link to the right with a full schedule for the year. Tournaments are on Saturdays (8:30 - approx. 2:30) and often held at Metcalf Middle School in Burnsville and cost about $20. As the year progresses I'll select some tournaments that we'll attend as a team

If, for any reason, you don't want your child's name appearing on this blog, please let me know and we'll get a code name for him/her.