Chess in the Antelope Valley - Av Chess House in the AV e-Newsletter November 1... · two matches...

Chess in the

Antelope Valley Chess e-Newsletter of the Antelope Valley

Vol V No 12 Editor: Daa (day) Mahowald [email protected] http://chess4.us 1 November, 2014

60+ Participate in the Antelope Valley’s

2nd Annual National Chess Day Chess Mini-Games© Tournament

35 youngsters participated in the 2nd Annual National Chess Day tournament held at Lancaster City Park on Saturday, October 11. But this event wasn’t simply for the kids. Moms and pops, grandparents, and other relatives were encouraged to join in the hands-on fun. The event was designed as a Family Friendly Fun Day so that the adults would learn along with the children and, thus, be able to play them at home. The Chess Mini-Games© Tournament is really 6 tournaments in one. A chess piece is introduced, a Chess Mini-Game© using that piece is presented, and then everyone goes out and has a 20-minute tournament using that Mini-Games©. Then everyone returns to the lesson area to learn the next chess piece. After all 6 tourneys were completed, everyone gathered for the Awards Ceremony. All the youngsters got Participation Certificates, all the adults got Volunteer Appreciation Certificates, and 14 children earned trophies. There was a 1st and 2nd Place for each Chess Mini-Game© each plus two Good Sporstspeopleship trophies. In addition, every family that participated throughout the 4-hour event also received a tournament quality chess set! These sets were made possible through a grant from The Pollination Project. http://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/daa-mahowald-say-yes-to-chess/ In the photo-series below, the K-8 students and their adults learn how the rook moves. More photos of the event are on page 6.

Chess in the Antelope Valley Chess e-Newsletter of the Antelope Valley

Vol V No 12 of 16 1 November, 2014

AV Chess House 3710 Neola Way (nearest major intersection 40th & West Avenue J in Lancaster)

Chess in the Antelope Valley Chess e-Newsletter of the Antelope Valley Vol V No 12 of 16 1 November, 2014

1st Day of the Kids’ Chess Club

15 Kids in grades K-8 Still time to join!

Fifteen kids in grades K-8 have joined the AV-wide Kids Chess Club but there’s still room for more. The club, which meets on Fridays, 5:15-6:45pm, had its first meeting of the fall session on October 3. At that first meeting, the coach, Ms. Daa, played all the club members in a Simultaneous Exhibition (simul) in order to assess their current playing level. “Every one of the kids already knows how all the pieces move and how to checkmate! Even the 5-year-old!” said Ms. Daa. During the assessment, various chess terms were discussed as Ms. Daa learned what the members know and what topics she should cover in upcoming meetings. These terms bandied about included: guarding, pin, booting, fork, castling, isolated pawn, en passant, etc. The October 10 meeting featured a Pillar Game Round Robin so that members could work on their middle game skills and practice minor pieces supporting major pieces. Each of the following weekly meetings will utilize hands-on activities which will strengthen various strategies and tactics of the members. There will also be at least one, possibly two matches against Scholastic Chess Clubs around the valley. Ms. Daa is quick to point out that, “There’s plenty of room for more members and I hope at least 30 will join the Kids’ Chess Club!”

(Kids’ Chess Club continues on page 12)



PRE-REGISTER: City of Lancaster Parks, Recreation & Arts Department, 44933 Fern Avenue, Lancaster, CA 93534 or 661-723-6077

NOTE There is a HIGHSCHOOL SECTION for this tournament! See page 8.


Should My Child Play Chess? (Reprinted with the author’s permission.)

The Talent Myth Don’t worry about whether your child has chess skills or not. If a child has just a curiosity about chess, he can learn how to play the game. However, your child must study, practice and play chess to become a good player. The Chess Coach There are a select few people who teach chess for a living. Most have their own style and school of chess wisdom. Coaches vary from school teachers to enthusiasts to players – amateurs and professionals alike. Basically, a chess coach has to have a love for the game. No matter what their skills may be, a coach can help a child learn to play.

Chess Cost The biggest expenditure when joining a chess club is your child’s time. The average cost for most chess clubs is about $40 per month. There is chess equipment (chess set and clock), supplies (books and magazines) and eventually the tournament competition fees, if your child is serious about staying with chess. Serious competitors will need to join the national (USCF) chess organization, which also have membership fees. [Editor’s Note: Email [email protected] for Antelope Valley chess fees which are much lower than the Birmingham,

Alabama fees discussed in this article.]

Chess Club What will your child do in the chess club? They will learn about the history of chess, chess rules, chess pieces and how they move. Students can play in a chess tournament every month – all year long. Chess is played in many cities and towns in every state. Sometimes, you will have to travel to another city to play in a tournament. Most students travel to other cities to find new competition and build upon their chess triumphs.

Benefits of Chess In addition to learning to play a sport, chess offers many educational and social benefits, which include sportsmanship, socialization, math, reading, writing, pattern recognition, teamwork, planning, logical thinking, attention, focus, analysis, problem solving, friendship, confidence, time management and self-discipline. Chess Parents Parents make new friends and collaborate with one another, too. They bring their children to the tournaments and help run the concessions. Sometimes, they even chaperone each other’s children to the chess practices and/or tournaments. Also, parents will learn how to play the game better, too. They have to, to win some of the chess games at home.

Caesar Lawrence is the Director and Chess Coach for Caesar Chess in Birmingham, Alabama. .CaesarChess.com.

Should your child learn to play? Some insightful advice about the Royal Game

By Caesar Lawrence Published: 02/27/2013

http://birminghamparent.com/article/teaching-chess-should-my-child-

play-chess.html

The non-elimination tournament was, in turns, quiet and busy. The above photo was taken three seconds before the photo on the right.


.

Above, in the background you can see volunteers setting up for the next tournament while, in the foreground, the next chess piece and its Chess Mini-Game© are being presented. Look how captivated these learners are! Unbeknownst to them, while they are having fun with these hands on chess games, they are also improving their academic skills! The benefits of chess include, but are not limited to, math development, reading skills, concentration, logical reasoning, problem solving, planning ahead, pattern recognition, self-discipline, learning from mistakes, etc.

Antelope Valley’s 2nd Annual

National Chess Day Event

(Continued from page 1)


.

Chess in the Antelope Chess e-Newsletter of the Antelope Valley




The AV Chess HouseAV Chess HouseAV Chess HouseAV Chess House provided a free chess activities at the

2014 Agua Dulce Country Fair.

https://www.facebook.com/daa.mahowald



AV CHESS OPPORTUNITIES

FOR ALL AGES USCF-rated Monthly 4 RD SWISS Tournament 10am – 3pm, 2nd Sunday-of-every-month USCF-rated, LOC AV Chess House. PZ 1st

Place 50% of combined entry fee, 2nd Place 25% FEE $10 if pd at least 10 days prior; $15 if email registered 3 days prior, $20 if email registered at least 1 hour prior. RDs 10:10; 11:20; 12:30; 2:00 USCF req. CONTACT: [email protected]

AV Checkmate Sunday TournamentS 2pm – 7pm 1st & 3rd Sundays. PZ TBA. REG at door. RDs TBA. USCF req. CONTACT: [email protected] 661-917-7628

Unrated Monthly 3 RD Chess Tournament 10am – 2pm, 1st-Saturday-of-every-month. LOC AV Chess House FEE $7. PZ 1st Place $15, 2nd Place $10. RDs 10:15, 11:30, 12:45. CONTACT: [email protected]

Improve Your Chess Play with Private Lessons Individual and small-group private chess lessons for Beginners, Beyond Beginners, and Intermediates of all ages. LOC AV Chess House. CONTACT: [email protected]

Bring Chess to Your Client Base Whether you work with seniors, preschoolers, families, special-needs populations, etc, The AV Chess

House can provide a chess program tailored to your needs. CONTACT: [email protected]

Get Your “Chess Match” USCF-rated Only $1/person/game. CONTACT: [email protected]

FOR KIDS

Make a Difference Day Chess Spectacular (full game) Tournament 9am-3pm, Saturday, October 25. LOC Stanley Kleiner Activity Center, Lancaster. REGISTER City of Lancaster Parks, Arts & Recreation Dept Full details on page 4.

HIGH SCHOOL CHESS TOURNAMENT! 9am-3pm, Saturday, October 25. LOC Stanley Kleiner Activity Center,

Lancaster. REGISTER City of Lancaster Parks, Arts & Recreation Dept Full details on page 8. Girl Power Chess Camp Chess learning experience for K-8 girls, all skill levels details coming soon! Have a Chess Match with Another School Several Scholastic Chess Clubs in the Antelope Valley are eager to hold a Chess Match with

other Scholastic Chess Clubs in the AV. If your school is looking for a Chess Match, CONTACT: [email protected]

Boy Scout Chess Merit Badge To earn a Boy Scout Chess Merit Badge or Cub Scout belt with Ms. Daa, CONTACT: [email protected] Boy Scout Chess Merit Badge FREE CLINIC Chess Merit Badge Counselor Ms. Daa will review the requirements,

questions, and answers for the badge. Full details on page 7

Start a Chess Club at Your Child’s School Students who participate in a once-a-week Chess Club reap numerous benefits, especially improvement in math and reading skills. To learn how to start a CHESS CLUB, CONTACT: [email protected]

FOR ADULTS

Chess Club 1-4pm Thursdays. LOC AV Senior Center, 777 West Jackman St, Rm 105, Lancaster Free, casual chess CONTACT:

Casual Chess at Starbucks A free, casually-organized group of chess players meets at different Antelope Valley Starbucks at a variety of days and times. CONTACT: John Buck 661-816-1423 or Christian Mercado 661-406-0798

Chess Equipment For Sale

The AV Chess HouseAV Chess HouseAV Chess HouseAV Chess House buys in bulk and sells at cost just so that more Antelope Valleyans have access to chess equipment.

For more information, contact: [email protected]



16 of 43

Lessons from Total Chess

by John Herron

Bishop Maneuvers (Beginner Lesson)

Bishops are long-range pieces. They work better in open positions where there are fewer pieces to block their movement. They are at their best when placed on long, open diagonals. Each bishop can move to only half of the squares on the board, but it can move across the board very quickly. A bishop is generally worth a little more than three pawns, and it is usually stronger than a knight. The value of a bishop increases as more pieces are traded. A bishop gains mobility

and can maneuver better in open positions. A bishop is usually not as strong as a knight in closed positions. Two bishops are much stronger than two knights. They work well together to attack and defend both the light squares and the dark squares. A bishop and a rook work better together than a knight and a rook. Bishops are often better than knights when working with your own pawns or when working against the opponent’s pawns.

Pins http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/tactics/pins/pins.htm

A pin occurs when a piece is attacked and if it moves a piece of greater value will be under attack.

In the diagram below, the White Bishop is pinning the Black Knight. If the Knight moves the Queen will be captured. At the same time, the Black Bishop is pinning the White Knight. However, this time the Knight cannot move because doing so would put the King in check.

In the diagram below, the Black Knight is pinned against the King. The Knight is unable to move because if it does it would expose the King to check. If a piece is pinned, attack it. White moves her pawn to d3 and the Knight is lost!

From the book, “TOTAL CHESS: Learn, Teach and Play the Easy 1-2-3 Way,” by John Herron, copyright 2011, reprinted with permission from the publisher.



ANTELOPE VALLEY ’S NM Ruben Ondangan’s CHESS CORNER

Ruben Jr-Duell Gumagay Ondangan added a new photo. September 7 at 7:49am “Chess for a Cause” with Boxing World Champion Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao ... how often does one get this close to a famous celebrity? — in Chatsworth, California.

Kids’ Chess Club (continued from page 3) The second meeting of the Kids’ Chess Club had the kids playing a Round Robin Chess Tournament (everyone plays one game against each of the other players). Rather than the full game, the tourney utilized only knights, bishops, rooks, and pillars. To win this game, a player must be the first to capture 3 of their opponent’s pieces. The club members had a blast, especially whenever they were able to beat one of the participating parents.

• Jojo Clamor Dondon What a great opportunity, US Master Ruben Jr-Duell Gumagay Ondangan! I can see GM Econg beside Manny.

• Jojo Clamor Dondon Looking up his game, I can see he is a good tactical player, wow!

• Ruben Jr-Duell Gumagay Ondangan Yes. I did win the first one and draw the second ...

Chess Chess Chess Chess FunniesFunniesFunniesFunnies Chess Tactics Workbook (4th edition)

by Al Woolum

Retail Price $15 Bulk Price $13 Sale Price at the AV Chess House $11

Contact [email protected] for more information.



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