Tournament Update! and latest ratings

Friday Jan 26 Two matches at Metcalf. Round 1 we take on Metcalf B  and round 2 we take on Faithful Shepherd B from Eagan. We'll meet at FHMS at 2:55 Owen's mom is driving to Metcalf. Luke's mom is bringing them back to FHMS at 5:50 or sooner - call from Metcalf when we're leaving. 1. Henry 2. Isaiah 3. Miles 4.Luke 5.Owen. Bring your charged IPads to use as chess clocks. Set the clocks for 30 minutes each with a five second delay.

Friday Feb 2 Two matches at FHMS against Metcalf A and Metcalf C. Arrange for your transportation home at 5:30 1.Henry 2.Isaiah 3.Miles 4.Luke 5.Owen

Saturday Feb 3 SCA tournament at Zachary Lane in Plymouth - all welcome

Friday Feb 9 Two matches at Metcalf against Highview of New Brighton, and Plymouth

Friday Feb 16 One match at Metcalf against Faithful Shepherd A

Saturday Feb 17 Statewide Grade Level at Metcalf - all Welcome let's have a big turnout!

Saturday-Sunday March 24-25 State Championship - St. Kate's University. If you or the team wins a trophy, it will be awarded at this tournament.

Name	17-Jan
Henry	801
Isaiah	741
Miles	727
Luke	695
Oscar	678
Owen	603
Jaden	569
Niko	540
Shakti	333
Christian	311
Nick	293
Gere	278
Jack	274
Tyler	242
Ben	228
James	218
Ellyanna	211
Tom	209
Nolan	193
Isaac	191
Derrick	190
Naomi	176
Quinn	157
Catey	149
Zach	142
Patrick	141
Winston	118
Ellie	118
Davis	100

Positons from your notated games

#1. Isaiah, playing black, has a strong attack going against Henry. How should he continue?

#2. Gere, playing black, tried to drive away Jack's knight but made the mistake of moving up foolish Freddy - the f-pawn. Don't move up that f-pawn unless you're castled. Jack, playing white, shows why you shouldn't move up that f-pawn - Qh5+! Gere blocks with g6. But then Jack plays the nice move Nxg3 attacking the rook which Gere moves leaving this position. How should Jack continue?

#3 Jaden, playing white, has overwhelmed Nick who lost his Queen by getting out too early.
After 9 excellent moves, Jaden missed a forced checkmate from this position. Can you find one in less than 5 moves?

Answers:
#1. Rxg2+ creating a discovered attack on the d1 Rook.
#2. 1. Bxg8 is probably best, but there are other good choices, such as:
      1. Nh4 (if Ke7 you've got a checkmate - can you find it?) Rg6  2. Nxg6 hxg6  3. Qxg6+ Ke7
      3. Qxe4+ Kd6 4. Qxa8
      1, Nxf8+ (which is the move Jack chose) Gere played Kxf8? Why is that a mistake?
          Unfortunately, Jack missed the checkmate and played Bxg8.
#3. The one I saw first was 1. Qxf6 Rxf6 2. Rh8+ Kg7 3. R1h7#, but there are also others -
      1. Rg7+ Kxg7 2. Qh6+ Kg8 3. Qh8#
      1. Rh8+ Kg7 2.Qh6#

Middle School Chess League - Jan 15 New Schedule

MATCHES
We'll need to arrange rides to get there. We may need to get out of school early on game days.
Matches start at 3:30 and end at 5:30. The school is paying all fees.
We need parent volunteers to drive 5 or 6 kids to Metcalf which is 35E so. to Diffley, then west on Diffley 2-3 miles to just past Cedar. Bring a book or shop til 5:20

The format is we'll meet at a school for two matches on a Friday until we've played all teams.
Matches consist of top 5 players playing top 5 from another school. 3 points wins the match.

Jan 26 No school -meet at FHMS main doors at 2:55 to go to Metcalf Middle School in Burnsville
      for two matches (35E S to Diffley w past Cedar; 8.9 mi. 16 min.)
      Driver to MMS: Owen's Mom      Driver from: Lukes' Mom
      Pick up your own child at Friendly Hills at 5:50 or use cell phones for more accurate time

Feb 2 matches at Friendly Hills (no drivers needed) Pickup at 5:30 or use cell phones

Feb 9 two matches at Metcalf in Burnsville
      Driver to MMS:       Driver from:
      Pick up your own child at Friendly Hills at 5:50 or use cell phones for more accurate time

Feb 16 one match at Metcalf in Burnsville
      Driver to MMS:                   Driver from:
      Pick up your own child at Friendly Hills at 4:50 or use cell phones for more accurate time

Committed -green in, red out, yellow - probable
Jan 26 (no school) Henry, Miles, Isaiah, Luke, Owen,  Jaden
Feb 2   Henry, Miles, Isaiah, Luke, Owen,  Jaden 
Feb 9   Henry, Miles, Isaiah, Luke, Owen,  Jaden
Feb 16 Henry, Miles, Isaiah, Luke, Owen,  Jaden, Niko

TEAM MEMBERS
1. Henry Evenson
2. Miles Dunn
3. Isaiah Walker
4. Luke Reisig
5. Owen Glewwe
Alternates
6. Jaden Partyka
7. Niko Hess
8. Shakti Gurung
9. Christian O'Hara

LEAGUE
There will be 8 teams in the league:
Burnsville Metcalf A, B, and C
Friendly Hills
Plymouth M.S.
Faithful Shepherd in Eagan A an
Highland M.S. New Brighton

Henry	802
Miles	727
Isaiah	725
Luke	683
Oscar	678
Owen	628
Jaden	576
Niko	540
Shakti	333
Christian	293
Gere	278
Nick	273
Tyler	258
Tom	249
Jack	239
James	218
Ellyanna	211
Ben	206
Nolan	193
Derrick	190
Isaac	186
Naomi	157
Quinn	157
Catey	149
Patrick	136
Winston	118
Ellie	118
Zach	116
Davis	102
Sahasra	100

Jan News Update

I just got an e-mail saying there are not enough chess teams interested in league play in the St. Paul area and if we want to participate, we'd have to join the South Division which plays one match after school 3 or 4 Fridays in Jan-Feb. Stay tuned for more details.

Grade	Rank	Name	3-Jan
7	1	Henry	795
7	2	Miles	727
8	3	Isaiah	720
8	4	Oscar	678
6	5	Luke	657
7	6	Owen	634
8	7	Jaden	566
8	8	Niko	540
7	9	Shakti	333
8	10	Nick	273
7	11	Gere	257
8	12	Jack	250
8	13	Tom	226
5	14	Tyler	224
5	15	James	218
7	16	Ellyanna	211
5	17	Nolan	204
8	18	Ben	201
5	19	Derrick	190
5	20	Naomi	168
6	21	Isaac	165
5	22	Quinn	157
7	23	Catey	149
6	24	Patrick	144
5	25	Zach	121
7	26	Winston	118
5	27	Ellie	118
5	28	Davis	102
5	29	Sahasra	100

Test Results and New Ratings

Test Results
Here's the scoring formula: R =100+100N where N is the number right from 0 to 9 and R is a Rating
I then pretended that you drew two games agains a player with that Rating. Some went up and some went down. Biggest gainers from the test were Niko +30, Luke +20, and Tyler +16.
Congratulations to today's quad winners -
Quad 1 - Henry
Quad 2 - Owen
Quad 3 - Gere
Quad 4 - Tyler
Quad 5 - Isaac
Competition against other middle schools begins in January. We will probably play on Saturday mornings, so if you're in the top ten (we need 5 but will actually play 6 if 6 come) be prepared to keep Sat. a.m. free. Others will be called upon if needed. See previous blog entitled "Tournament Schedule for the Year" for more detail.

Rank	Name	13-Dec
1	Henry	795
2	Miles	727
3	Isaiah	720
4	Oscar	678
5	Luke	652
6	Owen	625
7	Jaden	555
8	Niko	540
9	Shakti	333
10	Jack	266
11	Gere	257
12	Nick	255
13	James	231
14	Tom	227
15	Tyler	220
16	Ben	211
17	Ellyanna	211
18	Derrick	190
19	Naomi	179
20	Quinn	157
21	Nolan	152
22	Catey	149
23	Patrick	143
24	Isaac	141
25	Ellie	118
26	Winston	113
27	Davis	112
28	Zach	100
29	Sahasra	100

Ratings after our quads

TEAM COMPETITION
Our first team competition is Jan 6 - I will select the top five players at that time.
In Jan -  Mar we will have more matches - these are always a lot of fun because it's real chess with notation, clocks, and total silence! We put our top 5 players up against another school's top 5. The team that scores 3 points is the winner. (we'll actually have six and three players will sit out one round. As soon as i know more I'll let you know. If some of the top 5 can't make it, I'll go down the list and invite others. Dates will probably be Jan 27 and Feb 12 from 9:00 am - 12:00 noon.

Todays Class
Today we went over the discovered attack worksheet, learned the Pirc Defense and did a two-move checkmate worksheet. For those of you interested in the King and Rook vs King ending click on the link to the right labeled "Bill Heinemann's Chess Blog" Blog dated Oct 26, 2009.
Congrats to:
  Quad 1 winners Isaiah and Henry
  Quad 2 winner Luke
  Quad 3 winner Nick
  Quad 4 winner Gere
  Quad 5 had no winner- 4-way tie

Rank	Name	Dec 6
1	Henry	757
2	Isaiah	739
3	Miles	724
4	Oscar	678
5	Luke	641
6	Owen	596
7	Jaden	555
8	Niko	514
9	Shakti	333
10	Nick	277
11	Jack	266
12	Tom	228
13	James	214
14	Ellyanna	211
15	Gere	211
16	Ben	198
17	Patrick	190
18	Derrick	190
19	Tyler	184
20	Naomi	163
21	Quinn	157
22	Nolan	150
23	Catey	149
24	Davis	130
25	Isaac	120
26	Ellie	118
27	Winston	113
28	Zach	100
29	Sahasra	100

Tournament Results (and 3 good puzzles)

Name W L D Bef Aft Chg
Owen 1 2 1 568 575 +7

Q1. Here's an interesting position from one of Owen's games.
Black has just moved the knight aggressively to d4. How should Owen respond?

Q2. In another game, Owen's queen is attacked. Is Qb5+ the best choice? Why or why not? 

Q3. In that same game, Owen reached this position. Owen is up a pawn, but has a chance to be up a piece. Can you figure out the good move? (Hint: it will involve a discovered attack)

ANSWERS

A1. Remarkably, the computer pointed out that the best move is Qxe7+ Do you see why? You end up getting the bishop, gaining a pawn, ruining his castling, getting his queen, then either doubling his pawns and gaining a knight or losing a knight but gaining a rook for a knight. Play it out - you should come out 3 points ahead.

A2. Bad idea. The Queen has no retreat squares. 1. ... Bd7 leaves the queen without any good choices. For example,  if 2.Qxb7 Bc7 and the Queen is done. Or  2. Qa5 b6 3. Qa3 Nxc2+ fork!

A3. Nc4 If Black moves the attacked bishop, Owen will play dxc6 with a discovered attack and pin on the bishop on d7. If instead black tries Qc7, white still plays dxc6 threatening both bishops and the best black can do is Bf4+ losing the bishop but forcing us to triple our pawns.