Two great sources for chess tips and information

The Chess Cafe Archives

Chess Guidelines and Principles

Results from 12/3/11 Winter Open in Hopkins

Four Turtle Lake teams "batted for the cycle" in their divisions last Saturday.

The 2nd grade team placed first.
The 5th grade team place second.
The 4th grade team placed third.
The 3rd grade team placed fourth.

Turtle Lake also won six individual trophies, including a first-place trophy for kindergartener Case P.

Full tournament results and photos are here.

Two Turtle Lake players win individual trophies at the Priyanka Open in Burnsville

Second-grader Carter L. won the fifth-place trophy in the 35-player K-3 division at the Nov 19 Priyanka Open in Burnsville. 

Fourth-grader Matt N. won the first-place trophy in the 44-player 4-6 grade division.

Full results and photos are here.

A couple of good web pages on chess for children

Resources for Learning

[good writeup on standalone software, websites, books, and more]

The Value of Chess

Introduction. Recent studies have confirmed what educators have known for nearly 40 years: that chess improves academic performance, concentration, logical thinking, judgment, creativity, problem solving, emotional intelligence, and social skills. Much of the research can be found online, and we’ve tried to collect some of the best of it here.  We also include, at the end of this section, some links to video clips that show, better than words on paper, what chess can do for kids.

11/5/11: Turtle Lake takes a first-place SCA team chess trophy!

For the Nov. 5 chess tournament in Burnsville, full results and tournament photos are now available here.

Here's a photo of the first-place second grade team:

Sunday chess school, Hopkins, Oct 2-Nov 20, 2011

City of Hopkins, Minnesota: Sunday Chess School

[click the link above for details and registration information]

October 2 - November 20, 2011

2011-2012 Schoolchess schedule now available

(click to enlarge)

The full flyer is here.

Just FYI, the Turtle Lake school carnival is scheduled for March 10, 2012, so there's no conflict between the carnival and the SCA statewide grade-level tournament this year.

Notes for chess helpers

Some suggestions on what you can do to help:

--Grab a clipboard and write down game results. Please jot your name down at the bottom of the score sheet. When recording a game result, please give me enough of each player's name so that I know who it is. First name and last initial may not enough (we had two Ben C's and two Anish S's recently). If you write down a unique name, the player's ID number isn't required.

--help kids find their nametags--they're laid out by grade

--help kids find an opponent. I'd prefer that kids be playing their own chess game rather than standing around watching another game.

--help with general crowd control. No running, no bad sportsmanship (taunting, etc). Encourage kids to shake hands after each game.

--keep backpacks and jackets from clogging the entryway. Some kids tend to drop their belongings right in the doorway.

--cleanup time is 8:28am (please don't start putting boards or pieces away any earlier--the hallways don't open up until 8:30am, and the kids tend to get antsy if they have nothing to do while waiting for 8:30am).

--Around 8:28am, we need an adult watching the gym door to make sure that no child leaves before 8:30am.

--make sure kids return their nametags before leaving!

--Note that kids need to spend the chess meeting in the gym (they can't wander the school halls).

--please roll up the boards with the colored squares on the outside, rather than the inside of the roll. (On their next use, the boards tend to lay flatter when rolled up with the colored squares on the outside.)

Your help is crucial in helping our chess club run well. Thank you!!

Some 2012 USCF events  (information about national events here)
=====
National High School (K-12) Championship 13-15 April
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
1300 Nicolett Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Some sections available at the 2011 event:
K-12 Championship   K-12 Under 1600   K-12 Under 1200   K-12 Under 800   K-12 Unrated   Blitz K-12   Bughouse   Parents & Friends - Rated   Parents & Friends - Unrated   Parents & Friends - Combined  

...
National Elementary (K-6) Championship 11-13 May
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
in 2011, 9 Sections: K-6 Championship, K-6 Under 1000, K-6 Unrated, K-5 Championship, K-5 Under 900, K-3 Championship, K-3 U800, K-3 Unrated, K-1 Championship. April Rating Supplement will be used. Unrated players may play in the Championship or Unrated sections only

good explanation of USCF rating supplements here.

Excerpt:
USCF rates events the same day they are submitted when they are submitted electronically. Your "published" rating ( a misnomer since they no longer print the rating list) is updated based on events rated through the first Friday of the month. We held our State Championship this weekend and submitted the rating report on Monday May 4. This will not make the cutoff for the June supplement, takes effect June 1. Results from this tournament won't be used at tournaments, then, until July 1.

Try a "test drive" at this web site: Chess Magnet School

Chess Magnet School

"The cream of the crop...all our coaches are dreaming of the level they might have achieved,
had they known the program 20-odd years ago. This is really extraordinary material."
- Ton Montforts, Schaakacademie Limburg, Belgium

A good chess book for more advanced Elementary players: Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors

Details here.

Andover May Open results

Three Turtle Lake players participated.

Kaustubh S was 10th in the Silver division; Matt N was 1st in the Bronze division; and Anish S was 10th in the Bronze division.

Results

Excellent advice from the Salem Hills Chess Club

Everyone needs to take enough time on each move to consider the following:
1. What was my opponents last move - what is the threat? What would I do next, if I were on the other side of the board?
2. How many ways can I stop his good move? Which defense is best.
3. If I can't find a terrific move for my opponent, I'll look for a good move of my own.
4. Look for weaknesses in your opponents position -like two big pieces on a line, K & Q on same color square, a nice outpost for your knight, a chance to undermine (we'll learn that Friday)
5. If you're ahead trade pieces. If you're behind try to avoid trading pieces.
6. Don't weaken your position with a bad pawn move. Look for pawn moves that open highways for your pieces and close highways for your opponent's pieces.
7. Toward the end of the game, get your King out and use it as a fighter. Experience will eventually tell you when it's time to get the King out, but a good rule of thumb is if your opponent has less than 10 points in pieces left (not counting pawns), it's time to get the King out.
8. When you are in trouble take extra time - find a way out.
9. When you have your opponent in trouble take extra time - finish him off.
10. When ahead never get overconfident. When behind never give up - even when you're down to just a King, try to maneuver your King into a position where your opponent could easily stalemate you.

Turtle Lake took the 7th place team trophy at last weekend's K-3 Unrated Chess Nationals in Dallas

Of 78 competitors, Alexander Bonsager was 19th with 4.5 points; Matt Nelson was 22nd with 4 points.

Complete results here.

Minnesotans competing at Nationals are listed here, along with their results

Minnesotans did exceptionally well. The kids you play against on Saturdays are among the best in the country

Congratulations to Turtle Lake's District chess champions

On Saturday at Chippewa Middle School, the Turtle Lake chess team won the Mounds View Elementary District Chess tournament for the fourth straight year. Turtle Lake competed against six-player teams from Island Lake, Valentine Hills, Pinewood, and Sunnyside.

Turtle Lake scored 23 out of a possible 30 points, swept the top three places, and placed four players in the top six.

Three Turtle Lake players finished undefeated.

Chess tournament in Andover on May 21, 2011

Chess

Andover HS (MN) Unrated Chess Tournament-May 21st, 2011.
3 sections: Gold (1300+), Silver (800-1299), Bronze (under 800)
2011 May Open Tournament Registration & Information Form

Turtle Lake wins their first-ever Schoolchess team trophy

Congratulations to the Turtle Lake K-3 chess team, who placed fourth in the Statewide Primary chess tournament at Breck on April 2-3, 2011!

Team results are here.

Information on chess notation--recording your games

I've been told by a chess master that the single best way most young players can improve is to start recording the moves of their chess games.  Below is some helpful information on how to do this:

Algebraic Chess Notation - How to - ChessHouse.com

You're going to quickly learn everything you need to know about reading and writing chess moves, called "chess notation". There's even an actual real-life "scoresheet" below that shows exactly how to write your moves in a chess tournament or chess club.

YouTube - Chess Lesson #1, Part G  (Chess Notation)

[11 minute video]