Chess Club

Welcome back! (08/27/07)
Hello all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and that this new school year is starting off on a good note.

I would like to welcome all new players to our Chess Club. I hope that you enjoy your time here and that you continue with chess, not only for the rest of this year and your stay here at Lineweaver, but also for many years to come after you leave. Chess is a game that I’ve been playing since I was 5 years old and I can’t think of a single game that I didn’t enjoy (win or lose).

To our returning players I say “Welcome back!” I hope that you had a great summer as well and that you practiced your chess skills whenever you could. Last year ended on such a positive note that I look forward to continuing and improving upon it this year.

The returning players are important in helping the new players learn and improve, as well as setting a proper example of what we (teachers, coaches, and parents) expect from members of our club. I have complete confidence in our returning members in this regard. Remember we are all on the same team and any prize, award, or recognition that we receive is shared by the whole club because we worked together to achieve it.

So let’s have a great year and play some chess!

Pawn Evaluations (10/15/07)
Starting next week, we are going to start evaluating the Pawns (youngest/newest chess players) and their knowledge of the game. So far this year we've gone over the names of all the pieces, how each pieces moves, and how to play. During chess club parents will individually ask the kids questions (see below) relating to these topics. This is not a pass/fail or graded activity. This is to help us understand what the Pawns have learned and what we may need to go over again with them.

UPDATE: (11/19/07)

Only one more day of Pawn Evaluations. All of the beginners are doing very well and learning the concepts very quickly. The evaluations have giving me a better idea of what topics we still need to work on. If anyone would like to see their child's evaluations please see me after chess club.

Day 1:

1. Name all the Pieces.

2. Set up the board to start a game.

3. How does each piece move?

4. How does each piece capture?

Day 2:

5. What is "check"?

6. How do you get out of "check"?

7. What is "checkmate"?

8. What is "statemate"?

Day 3:

9. How do you castle?

10. When can you not castle?

Please feel free to discuss this topics with your children to help them learn them at home as well. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Chess Club Matches (10/15/07)
In order to better gauge our Rooks (tournament players), I'm going to start grouping specific players to play against each other during chess club. The players are asked to play against the opponent that I pick, but will be allowed to play against whomever they wish afterwards. If I don't specifically make a pairing for a player, they are free to choose any opponent they want to play against who does not have a "pairing". You do not have to be in the groups below in order to go to a tournament. ALL chess club players are allowed to (and encouraged to) attend chess tournaments.

Elementary players play two games, once as White and once as Black. Primary players play one game against their opponent with the color I assign them.

UPDATE: (11/19/07)

Club matches are going well and are mostly finished. We have a few of the bigger groups still playing. Good job to everyone whether you're still playing or have finished up. We'll set-up new groups next sememster on play some more matches.

Elementary Group A:

1 2 3 4 5
6
Score
1. Sander
-
2
1.5
2
1.5

7
2. Brandon O.
0
-
0
0

2
2
3. Sreekar
2
.5
-

2
X
6.5
4. Cepheus
0
2

-
2
1
5
5. Simone
.5

0
0
-
2
2.5
6. Devin

0
F
1
0
-
1

Elementary Group B:

1 2 3 4 Score
1. Bohan
-
2
X
2
6
2. Ryan
0
-
X
2
4
3. Jared
F
F
-
1.5
1.5
4. Ben C.
0
0
.5
-
.5

Primary Group A:

1 2 3 4 Score
1. Miguel
-
.5
X
1
2.5
2. Thor .5
-
F
1
1.5
3. Fox F
X
-
0
1
4. Zebulon
0
0
1
-
0

Primary Group B:

1 2 3 4 Score
1. Eddie
-
0
0
0
0
2. Baek 1
-
1
0
2
3. Jeremy 1
0
-
1
2
4. Spencer
1
1
0
-
2

Primary Group C:

1 2 3 4 5
6
Score
1. Brooke
-
1
1
0
X

2
2. Calista
0
-
1
1

1
3
3. Tyler
0
0
-

1
F
2
4. Andrew
1
0

-
0
1
2
5. Rudy
F

0
1
-
.5
2.5
6. Zakkai

0
X
0
.5
-
.5

League Match #2 (11/19/07)
Last Saturday was League Match #2 and once again we had a large number of participants from our chess club. We had 14 players show up and I hope we’re able to continue this level of participation throughout the year.

Like last time, our Elementary team was in the Premier section (the top section). They played well, but unfortunately had to play some really tough opponents all tournament long. With only 3 players (the minimum allowable) there were able to defeat their final opponents to finish with a score of 1-2.

Our Primary A team was in the Gold section and started off strong, but unfortunately missed out on a victory in the final round to finish 1½-1½.

The Primary B team was in the Silver section and also started strong, but could not keep it up. They finished with a score of 1-2.

Ribbon Winners: (2 or 2½ points)
Cepheus
Spencer
Jeremy

As always, thank you to the parents for making it all possible!!!

Sam Hughes Tournament (10/24/07)
Congratulations to Sreeker for winning third place at the Sam Hughes tournament held on Saturday, October 20. Although only a 2nd grader, Sreeker scored 3.5 points out of 4 games to win a trophy in the K-6 section. There were 97 players total at the tournament and 49 players in Sreekar's section.

League Match #1 (10/24/07)
What a great tournament! Last Saturday, we had 16 players show up and play in the first scholastic tournament of the year. We had five players play on our Elementary (K-5) team, and we had three Primary (K-3) teams.

The Elementary team was placed in the Premier Section (the highest) and played against some very tough competition. Unfortunately, we only won 1 match out of three.

The Primary A and B teams were placed in the Gold Section and both had two points going into the last round. Unfortunately, they both lost that last round and were tied for 2nd Place. On tie-break points, the Primary B team won a trophy.

The Primary C team was placed in the Silver section. Even though the C team was our youngest players, they were actually rated higher than the Primary A and B teams. They finished with 1.5 points.

Medal Winners: (3 points)
Zebulon
Jeremy
Andrew

Ribbon Winners: (2 points)
Sreekar
Eddie
Fox
Brooke
Calista
Zakkai

As always, thank you to the parents for making it all possible!!!

Rookery Chess

Helping others learn and improve in the game of chess.