This game decided the tournament
Winner of the iPod Touch!
News Articles
Chess on board for the little masters
We always thought that Melbourne was the hub of chess in this country – turns out the Sydney Daily Telegraph has found some schools in Sydney just as enthusiastic. Could it be the recent Chess Kids trips to Sydney are having an effect?
At Bronte Public School, the teacher in charge of chess Helen Foster said up to 60 children from kinder-garten to Year 6 were involved in the chess program.
“The numbers are increasing and it is of enormous benefit to their work,” Ms Foster said.
Student Louis Shtein said: “Chess makes you think outside the box, improves your logic and your attention span.”
Jayden Forday, 12, added: “It definitely has helped me with my work – now I am doing a lot better in everything.”
Our amazing coaches
This is Vineetha – she is one of our hard-working coaches. Some of you may have been lucky enough to receive some coaching from her at the recent Vic Youth Championships.
Her son, Thumula, is also a good player – probably helps to have someone to practice with at home.
Full time scores
The Victorian Youth Championships – what a great event! By Sunday morning everyone had forgotten the Grand Final draw and was totally focused on their chess again!
Final results saw Jonothan Cannon come out on top with 6.5/7, only giving away a draw to his little brother, David Cannon.
Prize Winners
1st Place – Jonothan Cannon $150
1st U/13 – Karl Zelesco $150
1st U/11 – David Cannon $75
1st U/9 – Vishal Bhat $75
1st U/7 – Alistair McCutcheon
Girl Champion – Zoe Harrison $50
U/11 Girl – Chloe Chin
Lucky Prize – Matthew Hayes winner of an iPod Touch
We have to mention in particular William Lai and Nicole Chin who showed that they’ve improved incredibly in the past few months…well done.
Photos will be available soon.
Half time scores
Looking good at half-time! (Click the picture to enlarge)
We know the second half is much more important than the first — anything can happen!
Pawn in schools
From today’s Herald Sun
Jammo’s Chess Puzzle #55
The 39th bi-annual Olympiad is currently being played from September 19 to October 4 in Khanty-Mansiysk which I gather is somewhere in Siberia (Russia). Doesn’t sound like the ideal holiday destination but it could be worse. They could be playing in New Delhi!
It’s a good time zone for Australia with the live games being broadcast from 7pm each evening. I’ve certainly been tuning in and following Australia’s fortunes. In round two the Men’s team was matched against the defending champions Armenia, but only Smerdon came away with half a point. In the following round he was paired as black against IM A.Montalvo 2250 from Puerto Rico and the game appeared to be evenly balanced. Smerdon was obviously planning to play …Re4 followed by doubling on the “e” file so his opponent was tossing up between 1.Rbe1 and 1.Ree1. After 1…Re4 he planned to play 2.Bg1 and swap off rooks. Today’s puzzle is which move would you advise him to play?
Knight Times
The latest issue of Knight Times – in a new web-format; let us know what you think:
Jammo’s Chess Puzzle #54
I’m so happy! I’ve just found a new chess application for my iPad called ChessDB HD which I’ve download for the princely sum of $8.99. It’s a database of chess games/positions which comes loaded with such things as “1000 great short chess games, 773 mates in 1-4 moves, annotated immortal games, middle game lessons” and so on. It won’t let you play through variations, only the actual games with notes shown beside the board, but there is just so much material – and the short games are ideal for my chess coaching lessons. No more late nights trolling the internet for a good games for tomorrow’s chess lesson!
For today’s puzzle I’ve picked out one short game (see diagram). Black has just played 6…Be7 and White is pondering whether or not the sacrifice 7.Nxf7 works. He needs your help! How would you advise White?
r1bqk2r/pppnbppp/4pn2/6N1/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq – 5 7Should White play 7.Nxf7?
Practice makes perfect
Meet Sebastian and Lachlan who play each week at their school chess club at Elsternwick Primary School. Many of you will know these boys but not by these names. Both of these players have made big improvements in their chess and their secret is an easy one to follow.
Lachlan, on the right, won his class tournament and improved his rating by 19 points. Sebastian came 4th, but increased his rating by an even bigger 26 points. So what was the secret of their success?
Both boys have been busy practising their skills on the online chess site. In term 3 Lachlan (those of you that use the online site might know him by the username ‘bubblegum’) reckons he’s played about 500 games, while Sebastian (mi_boy78) has played about 600 games.
So chess, just like any thing in life, can work by the motto “Practice makes Perfect!”
