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. 

Tournament Schedule for the year

PUT THESE ON THE CALENDAR!
Dec 2 Metcalf in Burnsville grade level - lots of trophies
Jan 6 Metcalf - Team of 5 needed to participate in the team section
Jan 20 Metcalf (Double bug section will draw a lot of the top-notch players
Jan 27 (probable) Middle School Team Competition
Feb 3 Zachary Lane in Plymouth Doubles play with your Dad, Aunt, Grandpa or friend
Feb 10 (probable) Middle School Team Competition
Feb 17 Metcalf StateWide grade level 3+ per team -  let's have a big turnout
Mar 3 (probable) Middle School Team Playoffs if we qualify
Mar 10 Metcalf Middle School Championship 4+ for a team
Apr 14-15 Breck in Golden Valley - the Ultimate Chess Tournament for K-6 in MN

MIDDLE SCHOOL CHESS LEAGUE
We also have a chance to play in the Middle School Chess League. We would either play one match against another school after school (half of the time it would be at FHMS and half we'd have to travel) or we might set it up where several schools meet together on a Saturday morning and we'd play 3 matches. Matches are different than tournaments. In a match we put our top 5 players up against another team's top 5. #1 vs #1, etc. The team that score 3 points wins the match. It's possible to draw a match where each side scores 2.5. Top teams from league play make it to the finals. We did this 3 years ago when the 8th graders were in 5th grade. Check out the junior high league link in the upper right to see who played and look at some problems from those games. USCF rules apply - no talking, all players must notate and use clocks.

Today's Lesson and Ratings ( with 12-2 update)

Today we went over the pin worksheets,
we got introduced to the French Defense (click for a lesson),
we learned about discovered attacks and solved some problems on a worksheet.
High scorers on the disc attack worksheet: Oscar 12, Henry 11, Miles and Owen 10

Name	Nov 29
Henry	730
Isaiah	714
Miles	713
Oscar	701
Luke	587
Owen	575
Jaden	568
Niko	545
Shakti	333
Christian	296
Jack	263
Tom	223
Tyler	223
Nick	219
Ellyanna	211
James	193
Patrick	190
Derrick	190
Ben	189
Gere	189
Nolan	174
Catey	149
Naomi	142
Quinn	132
Zach	125
Winston	124
Isaac	120
Ellie	118
Davis	109
Sahasra	100

Chess Sets

Later this week I will put in an order for chess sets.
Cost will be about $15 includes shipping, weighted pieces, 2 extra queens, carrying case with zipper, sleeve and handle, vinyl roll-up board. e-mail me at gemshein@hotmail.com if you want to order  one specify black, blue, green, or burgundy. Color is for both board and case.

Tournament Results

Henry attended the SCA Chess Tournament held at Metcalf on Saturday.
Although he won only 1 and lost 3 (down 35 points), he did get his bronze medal.
Here's Henry getting his medal.

The top 4 in the club are now super-close:

Miles	725
Henry	716
Isaiah	712
Oscar	700