Elizabeth Vicary's blog

Rick Parry

2012-01-05T17:09:00.002-05:00

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Xtreme chess, James, Cancun

2011-12-28T15:21:00.004-05:00

Jennifer, Daniel, and Greg's first installment of their tv pilot, Xtreme Chess Challenge, is up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwxTuRHlrYM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(sorry it's so primitive with the lack of hyperlinks-- I'm without my laptop in Cancun, writing from Jonathan's iPad, and I guess he needs to update his browser.)

I have a few things to say:

1) Overall, it's entertaining and fun and gives you a nice little dose of chess. I think it's really hard to get the balance right in talking about chess with a mainstream audience, keeping it intelligible without pandering, and I think they do an excellent job on this.

I wish I had my copies of all the recent mainstream books that have tried to talk about chess: Counterplay, the Chess Artist, King's Gambit, and Bobby Fischer vs. the World with me, because I think they all faced something like this same issue in written form: how to talk about chess without getting too technical or too simplistic/symbolic. I want to read their chess passages side by side and compare their approaches/ success.

2) I think a lot of the success of this series will be determined by often the hosts can get the kids to open up and say interesting things on camera. Kassa stands out with his "I'm calm, cool, and collected" but most of the kids' sound bites don't grab me at all. I hope that changes as we get into the later episodes, but I know it's not easy getting kids to talk about themselves. There are some nice brief clips of them doing non chess stuff, but they are very short-- I wish we saw more of Alisa dancing and Justus playing judo.

3) Jonathan, who has no real interest in chess beyond a polite one, wanted to see Survivor-like challenges added in: to advance to the next round a contestant would have to talk to a pretty girl in the lunch-line, or change a car tire.

4) I like the NYC/MTV/fast paced feel, but I'd like to hear more a more extended blurb from the players about their lives and what place chess has in it. Maybe a 2 minute "this is who I am," like they do in the winter Olympics?

5) one of the most interesting things about the event was the weird Greg-inspired rules: you bid a low amount of starting time to get white. In the event of a draw, players switch colors and play again, but keep their remaining time. I'm a little confused why this wasn't explained-- maybe to keep here video short? It's a cool, completely original twist that also maybe provides a jumping off point for the kids to talk about their tournament strategy/approach to each opponent.

6) I can't tell if it's weird to have 4 hosts. I know 3 of them, so it wasn't for me, but I suspect it might be more than most shows have. It also seems a little weird that Greg, the highest rated player and someone with a cult following of video watchers, doesn't do any of the commentary.

Overall, I think making a popular tv show about chess is extremely difficult and they've done a great job.

In other news, James Black is 2313! It took him 14 months to go from 2100 to 2200, but only 3 months to break 2300. He will be the second highest rated 13 year old in the country on the next list, just 25 points behind Kayden Troff. Justus Williams is also doing extraordinarily, beating both Kassa Korley (2378) and Eli Vovsha (2531) in his last tournament.

I'm in Cancun, enjoying the sunshine and the all-inclusivity of the resort. I've read/ am reading 1Q84 (Murakami, great, but I was disappointed in the lack of an ending), Thinking Fast and Slow (Kahneman, about cognitive bias), and Everything I Never Wanted To Be, an entertaining /touching memoir of drug addicted family life by a female comedianne/ grocery store cashier from Albequerque.

hilarious ridiculously good amateur chess.com video contest entry

2011-12-16T22:26:00.001-05:00

good luck, guys

James Black, Jr. is looking for an Amateur Team East

2011-12-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

He's 2275 in the January supplement (but 2297 up to date!). Let me know if you think he'd be a good fit on your team.

Gingrich proposed death penalty for marijuana possession, also smoked

2011-12-13T17:35:00.002-05:00

full story

Also, my dad just skyped me in great excitement to say he met Garry Kasparov at some scholastic tournament. (He's the volunteer chess coach at a local elementary school.) He said Garry was incredibly charming and went over two of his kids' games with great seriousness and the kids were ecstatic.

Xtreme Chess Championships

2011-12-12T13:42:00.003-05:00

This Friday, at 7 pm, I'll be joining Greg and Jenn Shahade and Daniel Meirom, for the premier of their project, the Xtreme Chess Challenge, a made-for-tv knockout tournament of 8 of the top American juniors, including IS 318's own NM Justus Williams.

Watch the trailer on youtube or see the show's website. Come join us Friday to see the whole show!

the Incredible Isaac Barayev + vote for Brooklyn Castle

2011-12-09T17:54:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to report that Isaac Barayev, who has been 1900 for about a year, just started taking lessons with the amazing Alex Stripunsky, and has gained 100 points in the last week and a half! He won the Marshall Thursday night action last night with a perfect 4-0 score, beating a 2340, 2330, 2160, and a 1900.
Bravo Isaac!

Also, James Black is now 2293(!!!)

Please vote for Brooklyn Castle on this indie film poll. Thank you.

I had an idea for a new unit.

2011-12-08T18:52:00.000-05:00

It's going to be on how to make plans and find ideas. Kids will have an assignment to put a star next to any move in their scorebooks when they are just stumped for an idea, where they don't see a plan at all. And we will find ideas as a class. In between I will teach typical plans (?!). I will show you some of the best ones.
I got a smartboard and I love it. Now I just sit in my comfy chair all day, behind my desk in a dark room; I get to play with some lights and force children to listen to me talk. It's awesome. If I need help, Fritz is right there. I don't have to remember what the position was before I tried to answer the kid's question. I go home feeling happy and relaxed.

article in the Daily News and Google visit!

2011-12-01T20:39:00.000-05:00

An article about IS 318's chess team in the NY Daily News.
We went to Google headquarters today! The kids played Google employees and had a tour of the offices. Everyone had a great time.

Shanniah

Maya watches Mariah

Tommy

James

Yuxin and Haby try out the nap pod.

which is which?

James and John Galvin

Donny's blog and Greg's tournament

2011-11-29T18:07:00.000-05:00

My enigmatic and brilliant friend Donny is writing a new blog. I thought at first it was going to be about his return to the grindingly real world from virtual life in poker stars, but I'm no longer so sure of that.

Also, follow Greg Shahade's return to tournament chess! He's playing in the Chess Club of Saint Lous' GM Invitational. Watch here.

running on williamsburg bridge

2011-11-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

I went running this morning over the Williamsburg Bridge, turns out to be very inspiring to run over a bridge towards the city, and took some photos with my iphone.

grade nationals

2011-11-23T14:31:00.006-05:00

Brian, Jack, Marcus, Kevin, Tristan

Dennys with Mr. Galvin and Maya

Jack

Kenneth, Chris, Jack

Kevin

Kenneth and Jack enjoy a post-tournament lesson from Matan

        We came 1st in 8th grade, 2nd in 7th grade, and 5th in 6th grade. I was overall very disappointed in the quality of the kids' play, but it showed me that I need to spend much more time teaching middlegame planning. There were some fine exceptions, like Isaac who scored 5/7 and placed 8th, and some games of the 6th graders, who had moments of hard work and thoughtfulness.

       I talked to my classes today about Quinton Smith, the 11th grader who fell/jumped to his death at the tournament. He had been an honors student, interested in law, theater, tennis, and was in the choir. He was one of 2 kids representing his school, and he went 0-4 and jumped off the roof. I assume his tournament performance had something to do with his death: that he was used to being smart and successful and just couldn't take the frustration and pain of so much losing.
       We (my classes and I) had talked a few weeks ago about decision making, and specifically about what a mistake it is to make decisons when you're upset. The conversation started when we were looking at Tristan's game from this blog post, where he blundered, horribly and uncharacteristically, in the end because he'd been upset at his earlier mistakes. We talked then about how frustration can lead you to make decisions quickly and can blind you, and that it's important to try to recognize when that's happening.

I told the kids I wanted to revisit this idea today, in light of this tragedy. We talked about how when you feel emotion very strongly, whether that emotion is self-hatred, or anger, or frustration, that you can feel it so intensely that you want to act on it, you want to do something.
But that one of the big lessons of chess is that being emotional makes your decision-making worse. That chess is like a training ground for making decisions in life, and for looking at how you make decisions and when you make mistakes and what causes them. And that they have to try to apply what they learn from chess to bigger choices: that when you feel angry and you want to curse someone out, or break up with someone, or quit the baseball team, or hit someone, smash something, kill yourself, that you have to at least give yourself time to calm down.

Masters of the Game, and Leaders by Example

2011-11-13T08:50:00.001-05:00

A great article about James, Justus, and Josh, from the NY Times

grade nationals, adderall shortage, Brooklyn Castle, Bunga Bunga Bunga vs 999

2011-11-12T22:56:00.005-05:00

Let's start with grade nationals. We'll be missing James and Justus in 8th grade; they'll be at the World Youth (good luck!!). We'll have Isaac (1980), Kenneth (1800), Maya (1700) and Mariah (1580). I don't see any other strong teams there, so I guess we're favorites. In 7th grade, Hunter is probably the slight favorite with 1879, 1688, 1580, 1428, but I like my kids there: Kevin (1719), Brian (1616), Marcus (1580, but up-to-date 1740), Jack (1394 but now 1525), and Carlos (1500).

I'm rooting for NEST-M in the 3rd and 4th grade sections. It's Matan's first year managing the program there, and he has good chances to win two national championships after 3 months.

What I'm really curious to see is if the nationwide shortage of adderal affects certain teams. I notice some usual contenders have an strangely low number of pre-entries. A flabbergasting 5% of children aged 6-12 take a stimulant (an amphetamine) to treat their ADHD. I suspect in the insanely competitive scholastic chess world it might be somewhat higher.

Katie and Brian will be there, showing Brooklyn Castle. I'm interested to see how people react to it. Release-wise, they are waiting to hear if it makes Sundance, whichh should be announced around thanksgiving.

I'm watching the republican debates avidly; they're like an ongoing reality show: exaggerated, typecast characters, scripted conversation pretending to be spontaneous (Does Perry ever respond to the question he was asked?), each episode having a character shine or crash and burn. I wish Jon Huntsman was just a little more articulate or Ron Paul was a little less crazy or Gary Johnson was invited.

Today's NPR show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" had a fun game called "Bunga Bunga Bunga or Nine Nine Nine," where you have to decide whether each quote was said by Silvio Berlusconi or Herman Cain

1. Here's what Cain or Berlusconi said when asked if he was faithful to his wife: "I am pretty often faithful."
2. Which of the two said this? "I have little hair because my brain is so big, it pushes the hair out."
3. Cain or Berlusconi says this a lot, this phrase about staying strong in hard times: "A poet once said 'life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, but it's never easy when there's so much on the line.'" That sounds good but what makes it a significant quote is that the poem he's quoting was, in fact, the theme song to the Japanese animated film "Pokemon: The Movie 2000."

answers
1. CHARLIE PIERCE: The problem is the sentiment is Berlusconi but the syntax is Cain.
SAGAL: Yeah.
PIERCE: So absent the accent, I'm going to say Berlusconi.
SAGAL: Berlusconi, well done, that's who it was. He's pretty often faithful. It's a good spin. That may be where Cain got the idea for his one in a thousand defense.

2. Of Berlusconi's many problems, this is one of the few he can blame on his brain.

3. It was Herman Cain. He became the first candidate since Gerald Ford to quote Pokemon in a presidential debate.

I'm reading Murakami's 1Q84 and Aravind Adiga's Last Man in Tower, and the New York Times, obsessively.

the date that most resembles corderoy, EVER

2011-11-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

Do you know about the corderoy club? They love corderoy and have semi-annual meetings on Jan 11 and Nov 11, as these dates are the dates that most resemble corderoy. Imagine their excitement on 11|11|11*, the date that most resembles corderoy, EVER.

Black to move. Jack Wen is a genius.

Amyas

*you have to write it like that (instead of with /) for obvious reasons

how my bulletin board is looking so far

2011-11-08T18:41:00.001-05:00

thanks for the help and please keep the suggestions coming.

Bobby Fischer - Greg Shahade, 1-0

2011-11-02T14:18:00.000-04:00

Bobby Fischer posthumously defeats Greg Shahade in the NY Times "Sentence of the Week" competition in the NY Times:

Sentence of the Week, Pathos and Petulance Edition

By SAM ANDERSON

Here are our candidates:

A. DeWitt brings to satire what Roberto Bolaño’s “2666″ brought to the detective story: purity of means, ineffability of ends. (Garth Risk Hallberg on Helen Dewitt’s new novel, “Lightning Rods”)

B. I was no great fan of “Taxi Driver,” I found it a thesis statement shot from a spatter gun. (James Wolcott, “Lucking Out”)

C. Mr. Berlusconi pretended to fall asleep at one point, officials said, and afterward said he had never been held back a year at school. (Europe, keeping it classy)

D. Basically, unless you’re world champion, you feel like an idiot. (Chess master Greg Shahade, quoted in “Counterplay: an Anthropologist at the Chessboard”)

E. “Nothing soothes pain like the touch of a person.” (Bobby Fischer’s last words, quoted by Robert Desjarlais, “Counterplay”)

full article

photos and puzzles from ps 150

2011-10-30T10:01:00.003-04:00

Stephen Yurgel

1. Patryck was black here against Yazmeen. What amazing tactic does he have?

2. Isaiah (black) hung his queen earlier, but he has a chance to trick his opponent here. What clever move could have have played?

3. Vincente (black) has two chances to win a piece here. How?

4. Later in the same game (vs. Devin), Vincente found a nice tactic. Where?

5. I was proud of myself to recognize an important positional moment here in Jack's game at the end of the day. It's not easy (at least for me) to go back and forth looking at beginner games and seeing lots and lots of simple tactics and doing huge amounts of talking, and then actually think about chess again when you look at a 1500's game. White to move.

6. Carlos (black) vs. Eriberto Guzman. Black forgot his opening lines and got a bad position, but he has one last chance to save himself. (kudos to Carlos and Eriberto for analyzing their game together afterwards and finding this great moment).

answers below pictures!

Farai Mandizha, Isaiah Lewis and Adam Dabrowski (winner of the non-rated beginner section!) (photo by Haby Diallo)

Sumayyah

me, analyzing with Michael Yu

William (Michael's older brother)

me, analyzing with Isaiah (photo by Haby Diallo - I love her composition choice!)

answers!

1. Patryck can play 1... Nxe4, which wins a pawn because 2. dxe4 loess the queen to 2... Bxf2 3. Kxf2 Qxd1

2. Isaiah wished he had tried 1... Bxf2, which wins a pawn and the exchange if white plays 2. Kh1, but wins back the queen and equalizes in case of 2. Kxf2 Ng4+!

3. Either 1... Nxf3+ or 1... Nxd3+ wins the Bf4.

4. I found this funny: 1..Ng3 forks the rooks.

5. Black really wants to play c6-c5 and Bc6 to activate both bishops. White should try to stop this freeing advance and also to trade the dark-squared bishops to reach a good knight vs. bad bishop ending. The right move is 1. Nb3, with the idea of 2. Bc5, exchanging bishops.

6. 1... Rdxd6 threatens white's back rank, and after 2. Rxd6 Rxd6 3. Bb2 Rf6! wins the two bishops for the rook.

review of Brooklyn Castle

2011-10-28T11:05:00.000-04:00

read a review of the upcoming documentary Brooklyn Castle:

Let's Play Chess With 'Brooklyn Castle'
Matty W. Kelley

...
Now, if you're anything like me, once you hear the word "documentary" you assume you're going to have "global warming" stuffed down your throat, or Michael Moore is going to creep out from under a rock and toss his politics in your face, but let's remember, there have been some great documentaries made over the years. Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," Ken Burns' PBS documentary "Baseball," and VH1's ROCK-umentary on "Guns 'n Roses" were all fantastic and interesting movies. "Brooklyn Castle" is right up there with these.

Brooklyn Castle tells the story of five kids living in Brooklyn, that all go to the Intermediate School 318 (i.s.318). They all share the love of chess and they all have major obstacles to overcome throughout the film.

Pobo, a 12-year-old stud on the chess board, is the ring-leader. He's a politician in the making and even runs for school president (under the name "Pobama"). He takes the chess team under his wing and is the perfect picture of optimism.

Justus and Alexis (11 and 12, respectively) are prodigies. These two are at the top of their class when it comes to chess. Justus seems to not want the limelight. He seems shy to me, and I hope he may overcome that as he gets older because he may be the best player in the country at his age (maybe even older). Alexis is a calculating player who knows what he wants. He wants a better life for himself and his family and chess can get him an excellent education.

Rochelle, (13) is striving to be the first female, African-American master in chess history... Not an easy task.

And then there's Patrick... Patrick is a terrible chess player who I think even I could beat, and I've never even played chess! But I kid. To me Patrick is the most interesting boy in the film. He plays chess to help him focus more since he has ADHD... You can't help rooting for this kid. His personality is infectious, and when he finally wins his first match, you get a lump in your throat, you're so fired up for him.

...
read the full review at Patch.com here

Anita - Tristan

2011-10-28T09:26:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick quiz position from Anita's afterschool game vs. Tristan. White to move and win.

chess positions from IS 318 tournament! also running and Greg

2011-10-23T08:24:00.006-04:00

I saw a lot of very interesting chess games today.

1. Keith is black in the above position and lost after his opponent played 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Ng5 Ke7 9. Qxg4. What did he miss?

2. Yuxin was on the black side of this Panov, and her opponent just played 9. c5. What are some ideas for black in this position (and in general in panov positions where they play c4-c5)?

3. Anita was white here. Find an idea for her.

4. Jacob can take one b7 in three different ways. Which way is best?

5. In the above position, Edeli blundered with 5... Bf5. What's wrong with this natural-looking developing move?

6. Kevin was black in this caro kann and he's just played 5... h6, which prompted his opponent to sac on f7--6.Nxf7. Is Kevin in trouble, or is the sac just bad?

7. Tristan has just played 9. Qa4+. Black has five ways to block. Rank them from best to worst.

8. Later in the same game, a second Qa4 check was blocked with 13...b5. How should white respond?

9. and the game's conclusion: Tristan is in check and has four legal moves. Rank 40. Kh3, 40. Kg1, 10. Kh1, and 40. g3 in order from best to worst.

pictures!

Tommy, Zanea, Stefek, Justin, Tristan

Jacob

Kevin and Jorge

Mubassar and Vincente

Maya

Shanniah, Joel, Mariah

Isaiah

Jamye

William

answers!

1. Keith missed that after 8. Ng5, he can just take the knight: 8... Qxg5, since 9. Nxg5 allows 9... Bxd1 and black ends up ahead a piece for a pawn (the bishop that white incorrectly sacked on f7).

2. In some lines (usually the 5.. Nc6 lines), c4-c5 can be dangerous, especially when white can support it with b2-b4.

Yuxin played 9... b6, which makes a lot of sense, trying to break down white's pawn structure and space advantage.

Another great idea to know for black is Nf6-e4. The point is if 9...Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Bxe7 Qxe7, that the Nf3 has to move and Rfd8 is coming and black will win white's d pawn. If white doesn't take, then black just has a nice centralized knight.

Playing e6-e5 is possible sometimes, but it's hard because it usualy hangs or seriously weakens d5.

3. White can double rooks on the a file and win the a5 pawn.

4. 22.Rexb7 and 22. Bxb7 are both good moves, but Jacob unfortunately chose the one that lost: after 22. Rbxb7, black wins the exchange with 22... Rd1+ 23. Kg2 Bd5+.

5. 5... Bf5 undefends b7 and allows the double attack 6. Qb3, hitting d5 and b7.

6. I was worried when I saw Kevin's position because he normally remembers everything I've ever told him, so if he gets caught in an opening trap, it's probably my fault. But Nxf7 is nothing here, and Kevin kept his cool and defended well: 6... Kxf7 7. Bc4 e6 8. 0-0 Bd6 9. Re1 Re8. Kevin told me afterwards that he was worried more about the variation 7. Ng5 Kg8 8. Bc4+ e6 9. Ng6 Rh7 10. Bd3, but we agreed that after 10... Bd6, black is really just fine.

7. The worst is 9... Qd7, which loses the queen to 10. Bb5.

9... b5 is just sacking a pawn for no reason.

Tristan's opponent played the bad move 9... Nfd7, which loses the bishop after 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Qxg4.

9... Ned7 is ok.

9... Bd7 gains a tempo on the queen and is therefore the best way to block.

8. Tristan correctly took on b5 with the knight: 14. Nxb5 axb5 15. Bxb5 Nd7 16. Bxd7 Ke7 (16... Qxd7 17. Qxa8).

9. After 37. g3 Qf2 38. Kh3, black has no more checks and white is up a piece and completely winning.

37. Kg1 and 37. Kh1 both allow either perpetual check (Qh4-f2-h4-f2), or if white interposes with Qh3, allow black to play e3-e2-e1.

Tragically, 37. Kh3 allowed 37... Qh4#.

In other news, I have begun running again with the very inspiring NHS Couch to 5K running podcasts, designed to motivate couch potatos who hate running. They are very good--like having a super-positive mtoivational coach with an English accent. I've only just started, but I'm going to go 3 times a week before work with the dog.

Also, the New York Times celebrates Greg's chess comeback, grouping him with Morosevich and Kamsky as "(among) the world's best players."

know any good chess rules?

2011-10-21T11:25:00.001-04:00

I'm making a bulletin board for my classroomm of useful "rules of thumb" in chess. For example:

Rooks love open files and the seventh rank.
Don't move the same piece twice in the opening until you've developed all your pieces (unless you have a really good reason!)
Capablanca's Rule: When you are up the exchange in an endgame, sometimes the easiest way to win is to sac the exchange back for a pawn.
In endgames, opposite colored bishops increase drawing chances. But in middlegames, they increase the winning chances of the attacking side.
When you are ahead material, exchange big pieces, but don't trade off all the pawns. When you are behind in material, trade pawns but not big pieces.

I'd love everyone's help in brainstorming as many rules as possible. They can be easy or advanced! Thank you!!!

nothing is really new except I moved

2011-10-19T13:35:00.001-04:00

hello blog readers! I've moved. Jonathan and I bought a house. I never thought I would own a house. It's 5 minutes walk from school, part of my "never commute" life strategy. We are in the middle of painting, actually Jonathan is in the middle of painting and I am in the middle of unpacking. We have a marital strategy of dividing all household tasks into "his" and "mine" rather than sharing them-- eliminates any disagreements about whose turn it is and allows us to specialize-- working very well so far.

      The school year is going pretty well. Teaching takes so much energy, it's unbelievable. It's like you against their collective inertia. Also you vs their collective preference to forming meaningful social relationships through conversation rather than listen to you. and every year you start again, explaining why they shouldn't trade bishops for knights and how they should slow down and bring out their pieces and all the same things you've been saying for the last, wow, 13 years. I don't know how much longer I can do this.

      I'm intending to play chess again at thanksgiving. I hope I actually will. It's been months. I can tell I'm getting worse as an analyst because I'm not playing.
      I was happy to be mentioned in Steve Goldberg's latest chess cafe article, but thought it was pretty funny that his first criterion was
•How frequently is the blog updated? Daily is great, monthly is boring.
and he awarded me 2nd place anyway. good motivation, I guess.

IS 318 Fund Raising Drive-- please help!

2011-10-03T10:00:00.004-04:00

Please help support IS 318's chess team. Our funding has been reduced every year for several years now, and it's at the point that we have to make really fundamental cuts. We won't be able to take many students to Nationals or go to many of the tournaments we regularly win/do well in (the Marshall, the NY State Championship, Girls Nationals, High School Nationals, Elementary Nationals).

87% of our students live below the poverty line, which is currrently $22,000 for a family of four. That's even harder to live on in New York City than in the rest of the country. The money you donate will give these kids educational experiences they would not otherwise be able to afford. Because we bring so many kids to tournament and I work on salary, your donated dollar is spent extremely efficiently and goes really far. For example:

$40 sponsors a student to play in a weekend Marshall tournament. Playing in the Marshall is the first introduction my students get to a time control slower than G/30, and it's an essential part of getting over 1800.
$133 ($70 hotel; $35 entry fee; $28 train) pays for a student to go to Amateur Team East, where they play 6 slow time control games against strong players and analyze them with me. It's the equivalent of 36 hours of serious chess training.
$160 ($70 hotel; $40 entry; $50 train) pays for a student to play in the State Championship in Saratoga Springs.
$500 pays for National Master James Black to play in the Liberty Bell Open. Playing in the open section of these top tournaments is an important training experience and one his family is unable to afford without help.
$650 pays for a student to play in Junior High Nationals in San Diego. (flights to CA are pricy)
$1500 This is a pipe dream, but maybe someone would be excited to sponsor it. I'd like to organize a mini-US Chess School for the Young Black Masters Club (Justus Williams, Josh Colas, James Black, Jehron Bryant + Nigel Bryant), where they study intensively with GM Gregory Kaidanov for 2 days, 10 hours/day. The $1500 covers Kaidanov's expenses and payment, and is a generous discount on his normal fees. If you sponsor this in full, you would be welcome to observe.
$5000 pays for 6 students (and two teacher coach/chaperones) to compete in the National High School Championship in Nashville, TN. Last year, IS 318 finished in 2nd place by half a point. We have kept our three highest rated players (they are in 8th grade this year) and we hope to make history by being the first junior high school to win the section.

$30,000 pays for 40 kids to play in Junior High Nationals.

Any donation amount is greatly appreciated. . You will receive thank you cards, photos, and games from the kids who benefit from your generosity. For large donations, the school will write you a tax receipt. Please contact me at evicary@yahoo.com for more info/ to donate. Thank you.

donation update!!

Many thanks to Jan Newton of Goddesschess.com and its blog, goddesschess.blogspot.com for her donation, which will pay the entry fees for IS 318's girls to play in Girls Nationals. (Her donation was not given specifically for this, it was given generally, but our Assistant Principal/ BudgetMaster John Galvin decided we would go to Girls Nationals to honor Jan's generosity. Thank you so much and know our girls are ecstatic!)

Many thanks to Marc Widmaier and an anonymous donor for their generosity!

Many thanks to an anonymous donor for sponsoring $500 of the $1500 needed for the Kaidanov mini-camp for the Young Black Masters Club. This sponsorship is contingent on getting the remaining $1000, so please consider giving if this idea interests you!

Jehron Bryant Makes Master!

2011-09-28T19:06:00.000-04:00

an old photo with James Black

Congratulations!

Justus Williams - Craig Jones

2011-09-22T18:05:00.003-04:00

Justus William's beautiful USCL game last night against Craig Jones. I was watching when 16. e5 was played and I was just awestruck.
Justus Williams - Craig Jones

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.e4 d6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O Bd7 10.Rc1 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.f3 Nd7 13.b4 Bxd4%2B 14.Qxd4 Qb6 15.Qxb6 Nxb6 16.e5 dxe5 17.b5 Be8 18.c5 Nd7 19.Nd5 e6 20.Ne7%2B Kg7 21.c6 bxc6 22.bxc6 Nb6 23.c7 Bd7 24.Rfd1 Ba4 25.Rd6 Kf6 26.Rxb6 Kxe7 27.Rb7 Rfc8 28.Ba6 Bd7 29.Rb3 Rf8 30.Bb7 Rae8 31.Ra3 f5 32.Rxa7 Kf6 33.a4 Bc8 34.a5 Bxb7 35.Rxb7 Ra8 36.a6 Rfc8 37.a7 Ke7 38.Rb8 Kd7 39.Rxa8 Rxa8 40.c8Q 1-0

I am outraged by the stupidity of standardized testing

2011-09-22T14:35:00.009-04:00

Here are some sample questions from the practice 8th grade state reading test given in my school this week:

(after reading a short passage on World War I)
1. If the Archduke of Austria had not been assassinated,
       a. there would not have been a war.
       b. he would have stopped the war from occuring.
       c. some other event would have caused World War I.
       d. Germany would have won the war.

That's a good question, but it seems more like a take home essay topic in Modern European History (HS 201).

(after reading an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland)
2. people who enjoy reading this type of literature would probably read
     a. Fear Street thrillers
     b. a biography about Michael Jordan
     c. Gulliver's Travels
     d. A Child's Garden Book of Verses

I think it's either c or d, but what junior high school kid has read Gulliver's Travels? It's hardly a children's book. There was a movie about it last year, but it seems even worse to me if the kids are being tested on their movie knowledge. And who in the last 40 years has read A Child's Garden Book of Verses? and which one is Alice in Wonderland more similar to?

(after reading a job application)
3. Why would an employer be interested in an applicant's "Employment History"?
      a. to find out salaries other companies offer
      b. to find out why applicants have left previous jobs
      c. to help determine an applicant's qualifications
      d. to help determine what salary to pay an employee.

um, all of them?

These are the evaluation tools being used to sort the smart kids from the stupid ones and to denigrate teachers and take away their collective bargaining rights.

I will never complain about my last round pairings again.

I know I made this point before, albeit in a comment, but here's my insight into the standardized testing cheating scandals. If a teacher wants to cheat and not get caught by telltale erasure marks, all (s)he has to do is tell the class "Don't guess if you aren't sure; big deductions are taken for wrong answers. Just leave it blank if you aren't 95% sure"

Then you can cheat faster (you know which questions were hard for the child) and you don't need an eraser at all! It's amazing to me that no one in the Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Connecticut school districts seems to have thought of this.

the best part of the republican debates

2011-09-12T21:52:00.000-04:00

is reading the Economist live blog at the same time.
a couple more important things I've learned:
1) If you wear contacts, you can order them online for hlaf the price. Lens.com "requires" that you have a prescription, but "require" means they fax what you say to the fax number you give them, and then if they don't hear back in 8 hours, they send you your lens! I got the new Oasys for $19.99 plus I think free shipping.
2) Before you buy anything online, just google the store name and "coupon code," and you get 10% off! amazing!

cool weird public art projects

Chess in the Parks!

2011-09-09T08:19:00.000-04:00

11th Annual Chess in the Parks Rapid Open!

Central Park at the Bethesda Fountain

(enter at 72nd Street/5th Avenue or Central Park West)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

6/SS, G/10, Unrated Event

Check-in: 9:00am- 10:00am

ROUNDS AT 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM

2:00 PM, 3:00 PM AND 4:00 PM

Bring Chess Sets & Clocks if you own them

To register or for more information, email:

tournaments@chessintheschools.org or visit our website:

http://www.chessintheschools.org/

You may also register by fax at (212) 564-5523

Rain Date: September 25, 2011, Rain Info: Dial 311

Please send name, section, phone number, e-mail address and

USCF chess rating (if applicable)

SECTIONS: (subject to change if necessary)

Youth Unrated: open to unrated players under age 10

Teen Unrated: open to unrated players aged 10-15

Adult Unrated: open to unrated players aged 16 and above

Novice: open to players rated under 1000

Intermediate: open to players rated 1000-1399

Open Championship: open to all

Featuring GM Speed Chess Match at 10:00 AM

GM to play with challengers throughout the day. There will also be chess puzzles for kids.

Chess sets, Trophies, Medals, and other prizes to be awarded following the last round!

http://www.chessintheschools/

James Black's Master Celebration Party

2011-09-05T10:01:00.002-04:00

Adia Onyango and Sean Miller organized a party to celebrate James A. Black, Jr. making master. Adia speaks to the crowd. Seated in front are GM Maurice Ashley, and the three inaugural members of the Young Black Masters Club: NM Justus Williams, NM James Black, and NM Josh Colas.

James' proud parents: Tanya Coles and James A. Black, Sr.

James listening to one of many congratulatory speakers, who included his teachers (Al Freeman, Tom Haggins, myself), his former teammate Nigel Bryant, Guy Colas, GM Maurice Ashley, Stuart Chagrin, and representatives from the many parks where James plays.

Adia presents a cake with edible photo paper.

Guy Colas, father of Josh Colas, speaks.

Pobo Efekoro plays blitz.

Maurice Ashley with Supermom Rose Williams

I'm also very pleased to announce that both James and Justus will be playing in the World Youth in November!

These were my remarks:

Thank you. I’m very honored to be asked to speak to you today. I’m also very honored, and consider myself very lucky, to be thought of as one of James’ teachers.

We’re here today to celebrate James’s accomplishment of making master, and I take my hat off to him. It’s an amazingly difficult thing to achieve at any age. Someone commented to me one that it’s harder to become a chess master than to get a master’s degree, and I think that’s right.

But to me, James’ real accomplishment is not exactly breaking 2200. The real accomplishment is how long it took him to do that, and the sum total of the effort it took.

James broke 2100 for the first time in May 2010. He slowly gained points, and in December was up to 2174, before falling back down to 2140. All spring, he was tantalizingly close to 2200: he would be with in 5 or 10 or sometimes 1 or 2 points, and then go 3 out of 4 at the Marshall and lose points. Imagine how frustrating that must be, and then add to that frustration the fact that everyone is watching you, asking how you did, expecting you to already be there.

For more that a year, James studied, solved tactics, played, analyzed his games confronted his own mistakes and misunderstandings, and did not give up.

In the last year he has played 65 tournaments and 301 rated games, most of them at slow time controls. He plays in tournaments until 11 o’clock at night, and then gets up early every morning to do 30 minutes of tactics before school. He comes home and studies more, or has a lesson, or plays a rated game. His coach, Alex Stripunsky, tells me James always does more homework than he’s assigned. I see, when James shows me his games, how carefully he has memorized all the opening files and theoretically important games that Stripunsky has given him. Nobody but James and his father know how many hours of work he has put in, but I know it’s a lot.

He has worked so hard, so patiently, for so long, and that is what I respect the most about James.

I also want to take a moment to honor both of James’ parents, but especially his father. James Black, Sr. I have never met a parent more devoted to their child than James is to his son. It’s my impression that James Sr. spends every waking moment he is not at work with his child. When I meet the kids at 7:45 on Saturdays to go to tournaments, Mr. Black is in the schoolyard, playing handball with his son. He’s at the Marshall on weekends, making sure James doesn’t rush through his games. He came up to Saratoga at the last minute for the State Championship and slept on the floor of his kid’s hotel room, just to be there for his kid. I hope one day to be as loving, as stable, and as present of a parent as James Sr. is for James.

I’d like to thank everyone for their kind attention, and to thank Adia and Sean for organizing this wonderful party.

favorite honeymoon photos

2011-09-04T07:34:00.003-04:00

I took this on a one day trek in the hills around Inle Lake. It was the rainy season when we were there, which meant that the colors in the hills were extremely vivid and beautiful, but also that we were wading through mud most of the way.

A cave in the hills near Inle Lake.

a "long-necked woman" from the Karen tribe. The necklaces are slowly added to a woman's neck from age 9 to 19, and can't be removed later in life (neck muscles atophy). There are several explanations for the purpose of the rings: protection from tiger and snake attacks, beauty (it makes you look more like a dragon), and protection of a family's wealth (you can't steal the rings).

a kid canoeing on Inle Lake. Kids who looked like they were 5 or 6 were canoeing around like it was nothing.

the beautiful Inle lake, Myanmar

naked escape!

in a doorway in Bagan. Bagan is a plain about the size of Manhattan, with 4,600 pagodas dotted all over. We stayed here for five days and bicycled around, exploring. About ten of the pagodas were large and famous, but the fun part was stopping randomly and exploring whatever looked interesting to us. The whol district, which emcompasses 3 small towns, Old Bagan, New Bagan, and Nyaung U, seemed to have a total of about 20 Western tourists.

Bagan

also Bagan

a dead frog in Bagan

at Shwedagon Paya, the largest and most famous zedi (=stupa, Buddhist place of worship) in Yangon. It's raining quite hard in the picture.

flowers at Shwedagon Paya

a reflection at Shwedagon Paya

in a cave at Ha Long Bay. You can see Jonathan if you look very closely.

me, taken by Jonathan in a cave at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

a dog, almost smoking, in a cafe in Nyaungshwe, Myanmar. There are thousands of stray dogs in Myanmar.

many, many more:
Inle Lake, Myanmar
Bagan, Myanmar
Bagan, Myanmar, continued
Yangon/Rangoon, Myanmar
Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

also more gorgeous wedding photos from the ubertalented Nina Yoh!

Justus Williams!

2011-09-01T05:41:00.002-04:00

Justus Williams is an enormous champion of chess. He recently tied for first (5.5/6) at the Barber Tournament of Junior High State Champions (to qualify he actually won the NY State High School Championship, but is officially too young to play in the Denker, so he had to "settle" for the Barber).

He then spent a couple weeks in South Africa to teaching chess with David MacEnulty and Jonathan Corbblah (photo stolen from DMac's facebook).

Finally, he beats NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2292) in the first match of the US Chess League pretty easily, playing 1. e4 for one of his first times. I'm impressed that he's unafraid to play complicated new openings, and I'm so excited he will play 1. e4 some of the time -- I think it will suit his crazygeniuskiller(material??sowhat?) style beautifully.

Williams-NY (2239) - AdithyaB-BAL (2292)

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.g3 e5 5.Nge2 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.a4 b6 8.0-0 0-0 9.h3 a6 10.Be3 Bb7 11.g4 b5 12.Ng3 exd4 13.Qxd4 c5 14.Qd2 b4 15.Nce2 Ne5 16.b3 d5 17.f4 Ng6 18.e5 Nh4 19.exf6 Bxf6 20.Bxc5 Nxg2 21.Nd4 Ne3 22.Qxe3 Re8 23.Qd2 Rc8 24.Qxb4 h5 25.Bb6 Bxd4+ 26.Qxd4 Qh4 27.Nf5 Qf6 28.Qxf6 gxf6 29.Nd6 Black resigns 1-0

wedding!

2011-08-03T14:30:00.000-04:00

more photos here and here!

James beats Asa, the Republicans seem +-, my outrage over recent events

2011-07-26T23:01:00.010-04:00

James Black (white) won the following nice game against Asa Hoffman in the Marshall's FIDE Monday tournament. He hangs a pawn in the opening and has to move his kingside rook, but gets a brutal attack and wins quickly. This was James' first win in many games against Asa.

        I watched Obama's speech and Boehner's response last night. I was open jawed. It was like watching an adult plead for democracy to work, and then watching a two year old have a tantrum. A two year old who was just looking slightly off-camera. but regardless of your political leanings, is it not clear to everyone when someone is behaving decently and when someone is an asshole? I do not understand what the other side of the coin could be.
     That aside, it seems to me that objectively the Republicans are already positionally winning. Why can't they push one ultra-right wing bill through the House of Representative; the Senate will cave and Obama is too big-picture to veto it?

       I have become convinced in the last 3 years that the US is being turned into a Russian/Saudi Arabian-style oligarchy, and a Fox News- Republican-ultra right wing conspiracy exists to change the nature of this country by unfunding education (so people won't understand what is being done to them), removing the middle class and turning this country into a feudal society of wealthy landowners and impoverished serfs, buying the media and turning them into propaganda machines, and encouraging religious extremism as a tool of social control.

     Oh and let me add, I find the behavior of the prosecutor in the Dominique Strauss Kahn case absolutely outrageous. The idea that because the woman lied on an asylum application years ago, that she's not credible in a rape case when multiple pieces of physical evidence (on the floor and trauma to her body) support her story-- again, what?? It is clear cut cases like this, when dozens of women in this man's past accuse him of rape, assualt, violence, when physical evidence supports the victim, that I am just amazed by how people believe what they want to. I'm also amazed when people seize on tiny details, things like her recollection of what she did immediately afterwards changing slightly, to prove she's lying. Doesn't it seem normal that she was traumatized by what happened, and didn't behave in a totally collected fashion afterwards? She's not making up his bodily fluids on the floor.

Photos from the 15th US Chess School

2011-07-21T17:22:00.001-04:00

I'm too lazy to caption this, but instructors Gregory Kaidanov and Greg Shahade are in the back.

Greg Kaidanov

Greg Shahade

Local Organizer Mike Klein in the back

Jeevan Karamasetty

John Hughes

Greg and Mike

Jeevan (front), Justus, Andrew, and Mike

Sam Xin

James Black makes Master!

2011-07-18T11:20:00.002-04:00

James Black is now 2205!!! I am so proud of his determination and hard work.

republican candidates, stupid cheaters

2011-07-13T13:41:00.005-04:00

I love this guy. He's so intelligent and reasonable.

Also he supports legalizing online gambling. I don't gamble at all and think it's silly, but it seems bizarre to make it illegal online, especially when Vegas and Atlantic City and Foxwoods really exist.

He didn't get invited to the second Republican debate, but answered the questions anyway:

unfortunately, he will be crushed by this lunatic:

There's an amazing piece in Rolling Stone, Michelle Bachmann's Holy War, which begins

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and, as you consider the career and future presidential prospects of an incredible American phenomenon named Michele Bachmann, do one more thing. Don't laugh.

It may be the hardest thing you ever do, for Michele Bachmann is almost certainly the funniest thing that has ever happened to American presidential politics. Fans of obscure 1970s television may remember a short-lived children's show called Far Out Space Nuts, in which a pair of dimwitted NASA repairmen, one of whom is played by Bob (Gilligan) Denver, accidentally send themselves into space by pressing "launch" instead of "lunch" inside a capsule they were fixing at Cape Canaveral. This plot device roughly approximates the political and cultural mechanism that is sending Michele Bachmann hurtling in the direction of the Oval Office.

Bachmann is a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions. She believes that the Chinese are plotting to replace the dollar bill, that light bulbs are killing our dogs and cats, and that God personally chose her to become both an IRS attorney who would spend years hounding taxpayers and a raging anti-tax Tea Party crusader against big government. She kicked off her unofficial presidential campaign in New Hampshire, by mistakenly declaring it the birthplace of the American Revolution. "It's your state that fired the shot that was heard around the world!" she gushed. "You are the state of Lexington and Concord, you started the battle for liberty right here in your backyard."

I am generally suspicious of articles written in such an unabashedly mocking tone, but Taibbi seems right on here.

Compare this to the unbelievable sycophantic "email interview" (what??) that Newsweek did with Sarah Palin (or possibly her administrative assistant).
an excerpt:

Palin has also become conversant on the subject of quantitative easing, the inflationary effects of which she illustrated with a personal anecdote. “I was ticked off at Todd yesterday,” she said. “He walks into a gas station as we’re driving over from Minnesota. He buys a Slim Jim—we’re always eating that jerky stuff—for $2.69. I said, ‘Todd, those used to be 99 cents, just recently!’ And he says, ‘Man, the dollar’s worth nothing anymore.' A jug of milk and a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs—every time I walk into that grocery store, a couple of pennies more...”

When did Newsweek stop being a real news organization? It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Marge says "wow, Fox news turned into a hard core sex channel so gradually, I didn't even notice."

Finally, I'm amazed by the cheating scandal in the Atlanta public school system.

Systematic Cheating Is Found in Atlanta’s School System
By KIM SEVERSON

Published: July 5, 2011

ATLANTA — A state investigation released Tuesday showed rampant, systematic cheating on test scores in this city’s long-troubled public schools, ending two years of increasing skepticism over remarkable improvements touted by school leaders.

The administration of former superintendent Beverly L. Hall punished whistle-blowers, hid or manipulated information and altered documents, the investigation found.

The results of the investigation, made public by Gov. Nathan Deal, showed that the cheating occurred at 44 schools and involved at least 178 teachers and principals, almost half of whom have confessed, the governor said.
...
In 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution began aggressive reporting that questioned the statistical probability of some test scores and eventually led to a separate state investigation of 2009 tests that showed an unusually high number of erasures." full article

When all you have to do to not get caught is to tell your students: "If you aren't sure, leave it blank. There's a penalty for guessing." That really occurred to no one?? People that stupid shouldn't be allowed around children.

us chess school 15, day 1

2011-07-07T12:04:00.001-04:00

John Hughes, Andrew Tang, James Black

John, Andrew, Cameron Wheeler, Greg and Mike Klein (with camera) in the back

Michael Chen, Justus Williams, James Black

GM Gregory Kaidanov and Mr. Wheeler

more here

Obama, the Musical

2011-07-03T09:07:00.002-04:00

I saw a great movie last night: Blue Valentine

summer

2011-07-01T14:01:00.011-04:00

keys

how's everyone been?
      School is over for me. I was going to play in the World Open, but then caught a cold and decided not to. I am thinking I will play the G/30 tournament at the Marshall Saturday, I'm going to play 1. d4 and some new caro lines and the Hennig Shara gambit and whatever openings I'm curious about at that moment, then go to Philly, stay with Greg, and just visit the World Open to see old friends.

update: the cold continued, and I stayed in bed until Sunday. Saturday morning Jonathan was telling me his father and brother had exactly the same symptoms and they went to the doctor and got antibiotics and were better in a day. I was brought up that you didn't go to the doctor unless you had a fever of 104 or a rash or some other unfakeable-mistakable symptom. And that it wouldn't do any good anyway because you have a virus and antibiotics only work against bacteria. But Jonathan pressured me and, because my regular doctor was gone for the holiday weekend, I called the guy with the highest rating in Yelp. The doctor himself answered the phone ("hi") and told me he couldn't see me because he was at the hospital, but asked me a few questions, and said "You should not have to be sick this weekend; you should enjoy this holiday weekend! This weekend we should all celebrate freedom!"

I swear I am not making this up.

So I go to the pharmacy near my house that he tells me to go to, and when I walk up to the counter, the pharmacist says to me, "Miss Elizabeth? Your prescription is almost ready." He takes my insurance card, charges me $10 and gives me antibiotics + some mega-strong cold medicine.

I have had some great experiences with Yelp recently.

     On Tuesday, James, Justus, and I train it down to Charlotte for the next US Chess School. I'm looking forward to seeing my old friend Mike Klein there. Mike is a fantastic conversationalist: tells great stories, is always witty and on, always going for the joke-opportunity, and so I'm looking forward to hanging out with him, plus Greg (x2), James, Justus, Guy and Josh for five days and everything being extremely entertaining.

      I laughed out loud several times reading this NYT magazine piece What Does Newt Know?

      I watched the Bobby Fischer HBO documentary last night. What surprises me about him in general is that no one says autism. He can't relate to other people's emotions, hates changes to his environment, is super-sensitive to stimuli most people can't detect, prone to tantrums, can't read emotional cues, loves focusing on one thing over and over again for many hours, and loves animals. Why is that paranoid schizophrenia and not high functioning autism?

     Speaking of autism, an interesting and heart-warming article about a Danish (thanks!) company that recruits autistic people for IT jobs that require extreme concientiousness and attention to detail.

     I'm doing the bare minimum amount of wedding planning, and I'm looking for song suggestions. please.

     Jonathan and I put in an offer on a house! I'll tell you all about it if they accept. We've spent the last few Saturdays biking around the neighborhood, going to open houses. It's a beautiful combination of physical exercise and romantic real estate fantasy.

James A Black, Jr., in the New York Times

2011-06-28T12:22:00.002-04:00

One Move Ahead of Opponents,

and Two Ahead of Trouble

It is impossible to miss that James Black Jr. is a chess champion when you walk into his home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Three trophies, each nearly three feet tall, sit on the floor in front of a fish tank. Other trophies crowd the floor in front of a living room cabinet that is covered with more trophies, many with medals dangling from them. There is an inlaid chess board on the coffee table in the center of the room with carved wooden pieces, and another board on the kitchen table.

James, 12, is a seventh grader at Intermediate School 318 in South Williamsburg, a perennial powerhouse in chess. Though the school’s teams have many talented players, James stands out.

full article

guerrilla education in Milwaukee

2011-06-26T12:30:00.002-04:00

The Guerrilla Classroom Initiative in Milwaukee has put up signs across the city that make it easier for parents to interact with their children in educational ways. genius. see this article or their website for more

Fischer, Qaddafi, Ilyumzhinov

2011-06-25T18:58:00.000-04:00

amazing photos of Fischer-- I love the last one where he's wrapped in the blanket.

nice couple

second bughouse article!

2011-06-17T18:10:00.002-04:00

a heated 318 bughouse dispute

The second article by my eighth grade class, Bughouse Attacking Themes and Partner Management is up!

more James Black press!

2011-06-15T19:41:00.000-04:00

James Black Jr. King of Chessboard: Bed Stuy Youth wins national chess tourney

June 9, 2011 by Ashley Broadbelt

It’s morning at I.S. 318 on Walton Street in Williamsburg and James Black, Jr., 12, looked across the chessboard at his opponent, coach Elizabeth Vicray, and hit the timer with his right hand.

“Checkmate,” he said, smiling.

And so went another chess victory for Black, Jr., a Bedford-Stuyvesant resident who is determined to become the youngest grandmaster in the United States.

Black, Jr. recently led the school’s team to the national championships in both the K-8 and K-9 divisions. He is only seven points away from the 2,200 needed to be named a master by the United States Chess Federation.

“I think it will be great,” said Black Jr. of the notion of possibly being the youngest grandmaster ever in the United States. “I’ll make history.”

full article Our Time Press here

A Master and a Gentleman

After church at Emmanuel last Sunday, I walked into Fulton Park with a winning spirit. This was my very first time there. Fulton Park in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York is a well-known place where serious chessers come to demonstrate their tenacity on the board. I walked over to a huddle of chess players to greet my friend Sean and there was James Black, Jr. demolishing his opponent. His style was tough and aggressive—rapidly and impetuously capturing his opponent's piece and placing his piece in one swift move.

A man, who I'll affectionately call "The Referee," told me to sit down and play. Armed with my pink board, Saitek Competition Pro Game Clock III, and fancy tournament weighted pieces, I was very ready to play—but not James Black, Jr.! When I winced at the thought of playing James, Ref started to suggest that I was being a punk. I was nervous, but I ain't no punk; so before ridiculing myself further with trepidation, I plopped down across from this twelve-year-old master to begin what felt like a hazing into this camaraderie of chess players.

full article here

what you see is what you get

2011-06-15T14:12:00.002-04:00

A study with obvious implications for female chessplayers.....

When What You See Is What You Get: The Consequences of the Objectifying Gaze for Women and Men

Psychology of Women Quarterly January 25, 2011

Sarah J. Gervais sgervais2@unl.edu
1. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Theresa K. Vescio
1. The Pennsylvania State University

Jill Allen
1. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Abstract

This research examined the effects of the objectifying gaze on math performance, interaction motivation, body surveillance, body shame, and body dissatisfaction. In an experiment, undergraduate participants (67 women and 83 men) received an objectifying gaze during an interaction with a trained confederate of the other sex. As hypothesized, the objectifying gaze caused decrements in women’s math performance but not men’s. Interestingly, the objectifying gaze also increased women’s, but not men’s, motivation to engage in subsequent interactions with their partner. Finally, the objectifying gaze did not influence body surveillance, body shame, or body dissatisfaction for women or men. One explanation for the math performance and interaction motivation findings is stereotype threat. To the degree that the objectifying gaze arouses stereotype threat, math performance may decrease because it conveys that women’s looks are valued over their other qualities. Furthermore, interaction motivation may increase because stereotype threat arouses belonging uncertainty or concerns about social connections. As a result, the objectifying gaze may trigger a vicious cycle in which women underperform but continue to interact with the people who led them to underperform in the first place. Implications for long-term consequences of the objectifying gaze and directions for future research are discussed.

FULL ARTICLE

If you look at the result carefully, you see that the "objectified" men actually perform better (although not significantly) than the control group.

a kas pillowcase

2011-06-11T15:22:00.002-04:00

think it's intentional?!

kudos to Jonathan for noticing.

photos and bughouse!

2011-06-08T21:34:00.000-04:00

The 8th graders first bughouse article is up!

Todd Maisel, the photographer with the NY Daily News, was very kind to send me these beautiful photos of James Black:

Know Your Neighbor: James, the Chess Champ!

2011-06-02T18:24:00.002-04:00

from WNYC/ NPR. original story here

James Black in the NY Daily News!

2011-06-02T07:28:00.003-04:00

12-year-old Brooklyn chess champ eyes bold move: becoming youngest grandmaster ever

BY Michael Preston
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, June 2nd 2011, 4:00 AM

Already a rising national star at age 12, Bed-Stuy chess champ James Black Jr. wants to become the youngest American grandmaster in the game's storied history.
Black led the chess team from Intermediate School 318 in Williamsburg to national championships in both the K-8 and K-9 divisions in April - and is only seven points away from the 2,200 needed to be named a master by the United States Chess Federation.
"It would mean a lot because I've worked so hard for it," said James. "I've practiced a lot to become a great player."
James wants to beat the record of Ray Robson, a Florida player who became the youngest American elected grandmaster at age 14 in 2009.
He needs to amass at least 2,600 points by continuing to win tournaments and score favorable results against existing grandmasters to receive that title.
Few players ever reach that level, but Black's IS 318 coach Elizabeth Vicary said James has the ability to do it.
"I'm amazed by James," she said. "He's got enormous potential and is one of the smartest people I've ever met."
James' quest to be the best started at a young age after his dad, James Black Sr., bought a chess set at a K-Mart to teach himself how to play.
"My dad showed me how to move the pieces around and I just liked it," he said.
James joined the chess team when he was in third grade at Public School 308 and quickly developed into a formidable player.
"He learned some things so he could start whipping on his dad," Black Sr. said.
Years of waking up early before school to play against a computer or to read chess books helped James to become an elite player, but his dad said the game also helped his son grow into a well-rounded young man.
"Over the years his chess has become something that makes him think first before he reacts," he said. "We attribute that all to chess. It's a wonderful feeling."
As one of the few young African-American players to play on the national circuit, James wants to serve as a role model for others who want to take up the game.
"It means a lot for me to be able to continue to play and win and inspire others," he said.
James' strength as a player comes from his lack of ego, Vicary said. He is willing to try whatever he can to win and doesn't become discouraged when one plan of attack doesn't work.
"He's got a fantastic memory and is very clever at forcing plays," she said.
James said he likes to "create ideas...I like to dictate what the other player has to do."
He said he models his game after Mikhail Tal, a Russian grandmaster and world champion player who gained fame in the 1950s and '60s for his attacking technique.
"We have the same aggressive style," James said.
mpreston@nydailynews.com

original article here

Hilariously, the article is reprinted/reposted on Susan Polgar's blog, but all references to me are edited out, and I'm cut out of the photo. :)

phoeyeto

2011-06-01T06:54:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Bryan Smith!!

2011-05-31T21:46:00.001-04:00

who made his first (sorry, second!) GM norm by winning a tournament in Romania by 1.5 points. nice to see the local (Alaskan / Philadelphian) boy make good!

a pawn endgame from Markus Pond

2011-05-29T19:48:00.000-04:00

Markus played 1. Ke6, which only draws. Where is the win?

SHE'S RUNNING!!!!

2011-05-28T19:54:00.000-04:00

awesome.

post-fusionist, libertarian-leaning fiscal conservative

2011-05-26T14:58:00.000-04:00

a great essay on Gary Johnson:

Leaning libertarian

Gary Johnson's hobbling virtues

May 24th 2011, 18:03 by W.W.
IOWA CITY

..ILYA SOMIN, a law professor at George Mason, takes up one of the urgent questions of our age: which libertarian-leaning Republican bucking for the GOP presidential nomination, Ron Paul or Gary Johnson, ought libertarian-leaning Republicans and Republican-leaning libertarians prefer? Mr Somin makes a strong case for Mr Johnson, an ex-governor of New Mexico, citing Mr Paul's "very nonlibertarian positions on free trade, school choice, and especially immigration", in addition to his penchant for unusual interpretations of the constitution, and his past association with racists.

Writing earlier this month in The Daily, Shika Dalmia nicely captures the contrast:

Like Paul, [Johnson] is anti-war, anti-big government and pro-civil liberties. But unlike Paul, he is pro-choice (except for late-term abortions), pro-immigration, pro-trade and untainted by bizarre conspiracy theories that NAFTA is a prelude to the dissolution of North American borders. Nor does he have Paul’s racist newsletter baggage. His signature issue is not abolishing the Fed or returning to the gold standard. Rather, it is avoiding the impending financial collapse by cutting government spending on everything by 43 percent—Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and defense—a plan bolder than any that either party has proffered.

Moreover, unlike Mr Paul, Mr Johnson has racked up executive experience and a sterling record as governor of the Land of Enchantment. As Ms Dalmia relates:

Johnson cut in half the 10 percent annual growth his state budget had been experiencing. He vetoed 750 bills, a third of them Republican, privatized government services and trimmed public-sector employee rosters. He lowered taxes and still exited with a tidy budget surplus.

original article

318 junior middle school chess total victory triumphal returns!!!!

2011-05-25T18:59:00.003-04:00

Wenhao Feng (Danny)

From the Chinese newspaper World Journal! (translated by Google Translate!)

The Bululun Williamsburg's 318 junior middle schools on the national junior middle school Western world chess tournament which holds in the Ohio Gelunbu win total victories in April 15th to 17th, altogether picks four team titles and five individual championship title. 318 junior middle school chess team in the past several years from Bululun to national each sports event, this team obtained the innumerable award items. On this national Western world chess tournament, 318 junior middle school chess team becomes in the history the first same year to pick K-8 and the K-9 two rank championship title troop.

In the chess team Chinese young 13 year-old Feng Wenhao (Danny Feng) and 11 year-old Tang Jiayu (Jiayu Tang) displays outstandingly, lets coach is the praise greatly. 318 junior middle school assistant Principal Galvin (John Galvin) said: “Feng Wenhao is in the team one of most outstanding chess players, he has the talent.”

I especially enjoyed the prominence of my blog in the article:

Feng Wenhao in competition fight energetic and self-confident also praiseworthy. In a competition, he draws the situation under the inferiority to turn defeat into victory patiently slowly, lets Coach Vicary who observes a war (Elizabeth Vicary) drop the tear for this reason. Vicary wrote in the chess team's network diary that “he demonstrated to us the praiseworthy fight spirit, he to his self-confidence, certainly also had me exhausted as well as lays down the heart after the competition to come finally, I flowed off the tear in the presence of everyone, the children had felt that was surprised”.

—full hilariously translated article here

mystery photo, James!, a North Korean murder mystery, good teaching

2011-05-23T11:40:00.000-04:00

This photo is from the NY Times-- any guesses as to what it is?

James Black is 2199! I'm on the edge of my seat.

I'm enjoying a murder mystery set in North Korea (preparation for honeymoon to Burma and Laos!) called A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church, the pseudonym of a former East Asian CIA operative. From an Economist review: "Daily life, rather than a particular crime, is the mystery here. Much of the story involves the inspector trying, never entirely successfully, to join the dots between one inexplicable event and the next, and connect them all to the murder of a foreigner that may or may not have taken place in the Koryo Hotel."

An education article that caught my eye:

A New Measure for Classroom Quality

By R. BARKER BAUSELL

Published: April 30, 2011

     OF all the goals of the education reform movement, none is more elusive than developing an objective method to assess teachers. Studies show that over time, test scores do not provide a consistent means of separating good from bad instructors.
     Test scores are an inadequate proxy for quality because too many factors outside of the teachers’ control can influence student performance from year to year — or even from classroom to classroom during the same year. Often, more than half of those teachers identified as the poorest performers one year will be judged average or above average the next, and the results are almost as bad for teachers with multiple classes during the same year.
     Fortunately, there’s a far more direct approach: measuring the amount of time a teacher spends delivering relevant instruction — in other words, how much teaching a teacher actually gets done in a school day.
      This is hardly a new insight. Thirty years ago two studies measured the amount of time teachers spent presenting instruction that matched the prescribed curriculum, at a level students could understand based on previous instruction. The studies found that some teachers were able to deliver as much as 14 more weeks a year of relevant instruction than their less efficient peers.
     There was no secret to their success: the efficient teachers hewed closely to the curriculum, maintained strict discipline and minimized non-instructional activities, like conducting unessential classroom business when they should have been focused on the curriculum.

full article

Photos and Puzzles from Mayor's Cup; the Brooklyn Castle website!

2011-05-22T11:15:00.003-04:00

IS 318 won the Under 1250 and Under 1600 sections of the 2011 Mayor's Cup, and came second (to Hunter) in the K-12 Open. Kevin Marin won clear first in the Under 1600 section and Jack Wen tied for first in the Under 1250.

James, in the process of "converting" his second round endgame from lost to winning.

Matan goes over a game with Jack Wen (1040), who tied for first in the Under 1250 section.

Aleks Ostrovskiy went 4-0 and shared first with Hunter teammate Alec Getz.

Raphael Clifton and Kevin Marin

Jake Miller (who was accepted to Harvard next fall!) goes over his game with 318's Kenneth Martin.

on the subway going home

Pobo

more photos here

1. Mariah McGreen is white against Anthony Lawrence. What's her best move?

2. David Kim is white against Ashanti Murray; what's the trickiest (and best) move for white to play here?

3. David is white here against Jonathan Williams. He played the clever 1. Be6 Bxe6 2. g4 but missed the saving 2...Bc4. How does white win brilliantly in the diagrammed position?

The website for Brooklyn Castle has launched!! I love the bios of Greg (Chess Heroes) and the main characters in the film (About).

answers!
1. 1. Qg5 threatens 2. QxBf5 and 2. Qxd8 Nxd8 3. Re8#

2. A great c3 Sicilian trap: 6. d5! Ne5 7. Nxe5 Bxd1 8. Bb5+ Qd7 9. Bxd7+ Kd8 10. Nxf7+ Kxd7 11. Kxd1 wins a piece and a rook. Black should play 6...Nb8, but that's very pleasant for white.

3. White has the amazing 1. g4 hxg4 2. hxg4 Qd7 3. Nf6+! Bxf6 4. Qxg6+ and 5. Qh7#!

I find a nice idea

2011-05-15T18:36:00.000-04:00

I played in the Bankers League against a 2100, Shevelenko, and reached the position above (from a ....g6 Panov). I found what I thought was a nice idea, although houdini doesn't love it as much as I do.

answer tomorrow unless it's in the comments tonight!

Sean Christian Reader Memorial

2011-05-15T18:30:00.000-04:00

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. will host an International Master norm round robin tournament on May 11 to 15 of 2011. The tournament is sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, Chess.com, MonRoi, LawyerFy, and Betty Bottom Showroom.

This tournament is dedicated to Sean Christian Reader, titled the Sean Christian Reader Memorial, and will be held in Suite C998 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament is organized by Ankit Gupta, the chief arbiter is Randy Hough, and the deputy arbiter is Michael Belcher. The participants include: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Timothy Taylor (USA), IM David Pruess (USA), FM Joel Banawa (USA), FM Pedram Atoufi (IRI), FM Michael Casella (USA), NM Konstantin Kavutskiy (USA), SM Roman Yankovsky (RUS), NM Kayden Troff (USA), and Janyl Tilenbaeva (KGZ).

The tournament will be a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 11th: 7:00 PM, 12th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 13st: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 14th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 15th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM. Spectators are welcome and encouraged to come to watch the games in person at the tournament site. There will be two grandmaster commentary days live on-site by GM Melikset Khachiyan. These commentaries will also be viewable on www.chess.com/tv

Sean's Fund honors the memory of Sean Christian Reader, who lost his valiant battle with leukemia on August 14th, 2006. Sean, age 12, was a nationally-ranked chess player and fought his battle with cancer as fiercely as he faced any opponent across the chessboard. Sean's Fund works with California Chess League (CYCL) to provide financial aid to those who need it to pay for chess classes and tournaments. Our deepest respect and appreciation goes to Sean Christian Reader, who loved chess, and his family in their selfless efforts to support youth chess talent and interest in the greater Southern California area.

Watch the games relayed live on www.MonRoi.com.

Renaissance Kings Trailer

2011-05-15T18:23:00.000-04:00

Renaissance Kings Trailer from Fifth Pocket Productions on Vimeo.

I'm happy to see the wonderful Kevin Fite getting some recognition for his tremendous work. I see him at every nationals and am so impressed with his program, and everything he manages to do year after year for so many kids and so few outside resources.

new chess t-shirts from Endgame Clothing!

2011-05-10T15:59:00.001-04:00

Our friends at Endgame Clothing have two new chess t-shirts out!

The Turk was one of the greatest hoaxes of all time. Built in 1770, the Chess Playing Automaton, nicknamed The Turk, was said to be a machine that could best any man at chess. While in fact, The Turk was an elaborate mechanical illusion that swindled people on both sides of the Atlantic for nearly 100 years before being destroyed in a warehouse fire in 1854. The Turk's victims included both Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. Edgar Allen Poe even tried to debunk the machine, but was wrong with several of his assertions.

As most players know, the Fool's Mate represents the fastest possible checkmate in the game of chess.

You can get 15% off by using the coupon code CARNIVAL during the month of May!

First Republican Debate and High School Nationals

2011-05-10T12:17:00.003-04:00

I watched the Republican debate and was really impressed! Ron Paul seems intelligent, consistent, reasonable -- I don't happen to agree with him on the evils of government, but it's so nice to see a Republican who isn't anti-intellectual and who doesn't pander to religious extremists, that I'm a fan. Gary Johnson also seems like a sane, thoughtful, competent person. Rick Santorum seems like an asshole; Hermann Cain seems like a lightweight, and Tim Pawlenty was right in the middle until it was revealed that he borrowed millions of dollars from school districts and then refused to pay it back. That makes him an asshole.

Did everyone read Melinda Matthew's article about high school nationals? In which she describes how, when she was working for the USCF as a volunteer tournament director, that she catches Sunil Weeramantry cheating in the last round, that he goes crazy and curses her out, she tells the entire TD staff, and they do nothing at all, don't even ask him to leave the floor. How unbelievable is this?

A Rant

My plague allusions (if that’s the proper literary term) reached an interesting conclusion when I incurred the wrath of...well, a figure who probably comes closest to being deified in the scholastic chess world: a chess coach.

Round 7 began innocuously with a phone call from Tom Nelson asking if I could score-keep in the Championship section. I donned my blue apron and raced to assist.

As the round progressed, a man came to my table repeatedly to lean over my shoulder and, without asking, to examine the score sheets. Because I thought he was not directly affiliated with a school, I allowed him to look. But I finally gave into my suspicions and asked if he was a coach, which he affirmed as he reached to take the score sheets from me.

I had been instructed: No coaches at the scoring table. So I took back the score sheets, placed my hands on top of them, and told him I couldn’t allow him any more access unless all the other coaches were allowed access as well.

That’s when the fireworks began.

This coach instantly exploded, heaping his vituperative rage on me personally and insultingly. Fortunately for me, the tournament’s professional staff took note of our ongoing confrontation, questioned everyone involved and rallied to my side, vehement in their unified censure of the coach’s actions and behavior.

And here I am going to hop on my soapbox. This coach, with his prima donna attitude and inconsiderate treatment, is sending a powerful, negatively-charged message to his team. Coaches, above all, should hold themselves to the highest standard, one that includes good sportsmanship and consideration to others, both on and off the boards. No one – not a coach, not anyone – has the given right to demand special dispensation or, especially, to belittle and demean others when they don’t get their way. By feeling entitled to publicly berate a volunteer, this coach set a very poor example to his team and to the other players who witnessed the noisy proceedings – and his disturbing behavior.

Even if this coach could help Nicky achieve 200 rating points in one week, I would never, ever let Nicky anywhere near such a person, because ultimately, how people live their lives and how they treat others far supersedes mercurial ratings or tournament results. Hyper-competitiveness will never trump simple human decency in my rulebook.

The coach began his tirade by asking huffily if I knew who he was. My answer: No, and I really don’t care, because now I know exactly what he is.

End of rant.

In case it's unclear, the reason coaches can't have access to the last round results of other players isthey also have the right to advise players who ask in the last round whether or not a draw helps the team. If some coaches can see all the results and the rest cannot, you're giving one team a huge edge. Notice that Hunter was half a point behind Bronx Science going into the last round; 3 Hunter players took somewhat surprising draws against lower rated opponents, and Hunter won by half a point.

What to me is the most amazing is not that they let him cheat, but that they let him verbally assault a female volunteer and mother, and she complains about it, and they agree, yet nobody says or does anything. Two hours later, he's up on stage, representing the USCF, giving out the Scholar-Chessplayer Awards. sick.

positions from nationals

2011-05-07T19:06:00.004-04:00

some long-awaited quiz positions from nationals:

Rashawn Williams is white. How can he turbocharge his attack?

Rashawn is black here, and has a forced win. Try to see the whole variation.

Former IS 318 student Rochelle Ballantyne (black) won this game against current 8th grader David Kim, but she missed black's best move here.

From the game that made me cry: Danny (white) finds the only winning move in this rook ending.

Danny got lucky here. Daniel Rasmuson (white) failed to find this crushing move.

answers soon

games from high school nationals

2011-05-03T16:43:00.006-04:00

Jason Clinton (1753) - James Black (2160)
High School Nationals, RD 3

Kageen Kemp (1736) - Justus Williams (2250)

Randy Rivera (1800) - Kendrick Freeland (1484)

Jonathan Pagan (1753) -Danny Feng (1993)

thanks ChessFlash!

Also, if you listen to WNYC/NPR in the morning,

A voice like honey, no one else could fill his shoes
The time and the weather, the headlines and the local news
He lays it down with perfection and grace
Done by noon, he goes home to his place
Where he sleeps and he waits for the night

Just before midnight he gets up, gets out of bed
A can of Red Bull, a tab of X to clear his head
He shoots his cuffs, now hes headed downtown
Picks up one life, puts another one down
And his body hums and the musics playing

Dance, Soterios Johnson, dance
Its a cold world, nobody understands
The feeling you cant keep inside
Go, Soterios Johnson, go
All the club kids are watching your glowstick glow
With the light of a truth you cant hide
That the news is the news, but the dance goes on forever

He shimmies his shoulders, undulates his slender hips
Arms akimbo, Jaggeresque, he pouts his lips
A circle forms, everybody comes 'round
Just to hear the incredible sound
Of a genius smashing expectations

Dance, Soterios Johnson, dance
Its a cold world, nobody understands
The feeling you cant keep inside
Go, Soterios Johnson, go
All the club kids are watching your glowstick glow
With the light of a truth you cant hide
That the news is the news, but the dance goes on forever

Hes dancing, hes a machine
Like no one, that theyve ever seen
Hes flying, hes living a dream

The magic fades as the sun comes up, its time he goes
A hand on his shoulder, he turns around: its Teri Gross
He takes her hand, spins her body just so
He holds her close, he will never let go
As the room explodes, they dance like angels

Dance, Soterios Johnson, dance
Its a cold world, nobody understands
The feeling you cant keep inside
Go, Soterios Johnson, go
All the club kids are watching your glowstick glow
With the light of a truth you cant hide
That the news is the news, but the dance goes on
That the news is the news, but the dance goes on
That the news is the news, but the dance goes on forever

an article about 318's chess team in the Brooklyn Eagle.

a game that made me cry

2011-05-03T10:56:00.001-04:00

This is Danny Feng's last round game against Tip Wolfe from Junior High Nationals. Danny hangs a pawn in the opening, but then plays so well and slowly slowly fight his way back, goes into a rook ending with a small plus, trades one advantage for another, and finally wins a theoretical position! I start crying while he's showing us, some combination of admiration for his game, his fighting spirit, his obvious confidence in himself, and my own exhaustion and relief at the end of the tournament and year. The other kids are a bit amazed by this (I normally try not to cry in front of them), and one says to Matan later in the elevator "Was Ms. Vicary really crying over Danny's game?" and he awesomely replies, "Of course. It was a very beautiful game."

Intermediate School 318 comes 2nd!

2011-05-02T23:19:00.015-04:00

at high school nationals!

Last night, most people seemed unsure if I would be happy at the result or upset at losing by half a point. People were consoling me. I wasn't what to say when they did that, but agreed we would try again next year.

I thought their performance was unbelievably fantastic, mostly because it is, also because the games were amazing and epic, and also because I was expecting a last-round disaster. We were 1 point behind Hunter and 1.5 points behind Bronx Science going into the round, and I thought their pairings looked easier than ours. We got 2.5/4 -- Justus beat a 2200, Isaac beat an 1800, and Danny drew against Bronx Science's Nitai Leve (2245) so I figured we might come 3rd or 4th, maybe 5th. But the other guys all choked in varying degrees (except Hunter's Ostrovskiy)-- some funny stories with early plane flights, draw offers, and angry coaches -- and drew or lost, so Bronx Science got only 1/4, Hunter 2.5/4, (corrected, thanks) leaving the results you see below

1 NYHUNT Hunter College Campus School, N (10) 20.5 87.0 124.0 171.5 85.0 
             GETZ, Alec (6.0,2385)              
             OSTROVSKIY, Aleksandr A (5.5,2332) 
             WILLIAMS, Jonathan David (4.5,2030) 
             LANDESMAN, Aaron (4.5,2110)        
  2 NYI318 I.S. 318, Brooklyn,NY (7)        20.0    82.0 116.5 155.0 79.5 
             WILLIAMS, Justus D (5.5,2255)      
             BLACK, James A, Jr (5.0,2156)      
             FENG, Danny (5.0,1993)             
             BARAYEV, Isaac (4.5,2025)          
  3 NYBSCI Bronx High School of Science, (8) 19.5    79.5 112.5 144.5 79.0 
             TUHRIM, Richard J (5.0,2226)       
             STURT, Raven M (5.0,2431)          
             LEVE, Nitai D (5.0,2245)           
             HESS, Peter (4.5,1923)

I will post some games tomorrow.

we had a good weekend

2011-04-18T18:24:00.009-04:00

the K-8 team: David, Danny, Rashawn, Jakob, Randy, and James

the K-9 team: D'Andrea, Shawn, Joel, Justus

National Junior High (K-8) Champion James A. Black, Jr.

IS 318 won clear first in the National Junior High School Chess Championships, in the K-8 and K-9 Open sections simultaneously. James Black tied for first in the K-8 Open and won on tiebreaks. Danny Feng tied for 3rd and placed 6th with 6/7; David Kim and Rashawn Williams placed 9th and 12th with 5.5/7. Shawn Swindell finished 11th in the K-9 with 5/7.

IS 318 also won the Under 750 section with 24/28 points, and Mubassar Uddin and Jiayu Tang shared first individually with perfect scores. Jiayu only got to go to Ohio because we had two extra seats on the bus and Galvin told me to pick the two best kids from my early morning class. :) This was his 4th tournament.

We came third in the Under 1000 and Under 1250.

IS 318 won the blitz team championship by 9 points. James Black won clear first with 11/12 and Justus Williams, Joel Ogunremi, and Danny Feng were half of a 6 way tie for second place with 10/12.

Black Feng (James Black and Danny Feng) won the bughouse tournament; David and Randy finished second. JP Garcia played with Aaron Schein of Horace Mann; they finished 4th, and D'Andrea and Joel were 5th.

National Under 750 Champion Mubassar Uddin does his tactics worksheet.

Maya McGreen does hers.

Paul Tough (author of Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America) hung out with us for the weekend.

Danny Feng, right, (1996) shows William Yu (475) how to use Chessbase

Joel and Earl

Galvin congratulates the kids. Matan is listening in the back right corner

a bughouse dispute

more photos here. I should have some games and positions later this week.

moby budget

2011-04-12T18:14:00.000-04:00

Girls Nationals: student photography, a limo singalong, and CT Art

2011-04-11T11:49:00.004-04:00

Ashe and Xonatia, across the street from the hotel, after the last round. I'm going over a game in the back.

Ashe, Zanea, Rhoda

Edeli, Ashe

Mariah is about to show me her last round win over Sophia Flanagan.

Haby

Ashe and Xonatia

Xonatia and Mariah

We took a white stretch limo from the tournament to the airport, because it was 40% cheaper than the airport shuttle we had taken from the airport to the hotel. Of course, Galvin told the girls it was because they won (the 12 and under, came second in the 14 and under) and none of them had been in a limo before, so there was enormous excitement.

sorry I'm shaking the camera so badly, but I figured you would want to share in the limo singalong:

Jamye Moya (white) has a CT-Art-like problem in her 4th round game against Taylor Cogshell.

more photos here

Girls Nationals, Saturday

2011-04-09T22:45:00.006-04:00

Mariah and Haby

Haby

Rhoda, Ashe, Edeli

Jamye, Xonatia, Shanniah

Jamye, Haby, Xonatia

After 3 rounds, we are leading in the 2 sections we are playing in: 12 and under, and 14 and under. results here. I sit in my hotel room and analyze chess all day. Some of the girls are really playing quite well, and most of them are working hard at the board, so I am happy. I had two tempting offers to experience the nightlife of the windy city, but I'm so exhausted, I can't. I know that next weekend (62) will be much much worse than this one (11), and that fills me with fear.

look: a running race

help finding a chess board that changes color/ shows moves?

2011-04-08T19:33:00.000-04:00

I saw something on the internet a while ago: a site with a chess board you can play that changes colors of the squares to show move possibilities, but not in an instructional way, in an arty way. If anyone has seen it, I'd really appreciate a link. thanks!

Irina Krush gives a masterclass at IS 318

2011-04-06T19:01:00.002-04:00

IM Irina Krush was kind enough to come to 318 today and teach an excellent lesson on improving pieces to a specially-convened class of top students. She leaves to play in the US Championship on the same day we leave for Junior High Nationals! good luck to us both! (shouldn't the fantasy contest be starting?? I get all my students to enter as class projects so they care when we look at the us championship games. It's awesome because we win some books and prizes just through sheer numbers.)

Many thanks to Irina for generously volunteering to her time!

The kids in the front row take a laid back approach (but pay rapt attention)

D'Andrea and Joel

This was earlier in the day, when Rashawn, Kenneth, Isaac, Avery, and Jamye from my seventh grade class are showing me their answers to Final Jeopardy. The Final Jeopardy (from Nationals Opening Review Team Jeopardy) question was "Place 2 kings, 2 queens, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, and 2 knights on the board so no piece attacks another." (from Coakley)

Jeff Ashton, director

2011-04-05T19:23:00.000-04:00

I love some of Jeff's recent videos. See more here.

Shredding The Center from Jeff A on Vimeo.

Queen's Gambit Accepted 2k10 from Jeff A on Vimeo.

do it for the children

2011-03-27T21:09:00.001-04:00

       I think it's stupid when chess teachers refuse to teach openings. I've met a whole range of these people with a range of explanations: it's superficial to make the kids memorize things, they want to teach how to think, they're all about discovery learning or creativity, they teach only endgames, and leave it to the kids to intuit middlegame principles, they teach through a "critical positions" approach.
        This is their problem: they think too much about teaching and not enough about learning. It looks good but it doesn't work.
        People don't learn the deep stuff first; you learn the superficial stuff first, and later, once you can do it, then you learn why it's like that. When you learn a foreign language, you learn how to say "hi, my name is Elizabeth" before you know what a possessive is, or a predicate nominative, or how to conjugate the verb "to be."
     Beginners have no idea what is going on in a game of chess, they are the semi-blind, lost in a new world. They need and want to be told what to do. Teach a kid the colle, even better, the colle zuckertort, give them a plan to play for, and they will learn how to make and carry out a plan. They will get the same type of positions and structures, so they will be able to use their experience from past games and post-mortems to orient themselves in the future.
    teach them critical positions when they're 1500 and endgames when they're 1800.
    they need to know openings now. it's good for them, I promise, plus they'll love you for it.

wow

2011-03-14T17:46:00.000-04:00

incredible before/after interactive google pictures of the tsunami

2011-03-13T16:43:00.002-04:00

Satellite Photos - Japan Before and After Tsunami - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard

2011-03-13T08:42:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Bob Desjarles on the publication of his new book, Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard, and on its glowing review by Rowson in New In Chess. I'm quoted and described in it, so I'm not impartial, but it's insightful, engaging, and will inform how you think about chess in relation to the rest of life. You can buy it here.

an exerpt from Rowson's review:

Perhaps the main reason I feel charmed by this book is that it is so well-balanced. The author is as credible when describing his passion for the game as he is when he gradually falls out of love with it. There have been lots of non-fiction books about chess which convey the positive side of chess — the wonder of it all, but few that honestly face up to the experience of alienation that arises when players realize that the game is not the exis¬tential panacea they thought it might be. Life goes on, and chess doesn't always help us to live it well. Desjar¬lais highlights that the competitive spirit of the world, and the quest for chess status becomes strenuous after a while, and he had me laughing in agreement with the observation that “a hierarchy of dominance exists, not unlike that which can be found at a posh country club or among a troop of baboons.”

He also refers to the “trivial depth” of the game, but captures the alienation best through his own experience:

“Later, before heading out to my car, I walk through the tournament area. I step past the tournament directors' office, where two men are keeping track of results reported and complaints lodged, past the display of chess books, past the food vendors selling soggy hot dogs and crisp burgers. I stumble around three kids seated on the carpeted floor, placing pieces on a board, and I overhear two men discussing a game. `That's a nasty pin,’ mutters one of them. I stick my head into the skittles room and see pairs of players jousting over rooks and knights, and then walk into the playing hall, where all is quiet and somber and deadly serious, as though a world is at stake. I feel I should be seated at a board as well, fighting it out. But I don't care to be here. Playing now would be like counting pebbles in the sand. I feel discordant, antiheroic. Moments later I'm on the road, heading for home.”

I can’t quite say I know the feeling, but I identify with that sense of being “discordant, antiheroic” and I have felt it many times when I was, as a Grandmaster who is supposed to love the game, suddenly unable to muster any deep concern for the quality of my moves or the outcome they might lead to.

weight by state

2011-03-13T07:24:00.004-04:00

There's a hilarious infographic in Charles' Blow's op-ed piece in the Times called "Weight by State: Measure of childhood obesity and some contributing factors in states won by John McCain in 2008."

Which leads to the punchline/thesis of the article, which is "Maybe conservatives aren't attacking Michelle Obama's seemingly unobjectable anti-obesity campaign because they attack Michelle Obama reflexively, maybe it's because THEY'RE FAT."
which at first I thought was a little mean ("no, you're fat!" "no!! you're fat!") but keep in mind, Blow is attacking leaders who are taking a stand against important public health education.
I was a little surprised that I couldn't find any direct look at obesity rates among registered voters by party.

Jeff Coakley is World Champion at writing instructional chess books/material for children

2011-03-12T05:50:00.002-05:00

hey look, free awesome kids' chess magazine / lesson plans!

Justus has a website!

2011-03-12T05:13:00.001-05:00

JustusWilliams.com

New World Youth Qualification Policy

2011-03-10T20:10:00.004-05:00

This was approved by the executive Board on Feb 22, 2011. It should be of interest to chess parents, as it opens up many more spots for the World Youth, especially under the rating minimums (2.).
FIDE World Youth Chess Championships Selection Criteria:

The World Youth is an annual tournament held traditionally between June and November. Players must be selected by their individual federations in order to participate. The age categories are currently U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (Subject to change by the host country and FIDE). In the event that any FIDE rules or regulations are determined to be in contradiction with these selection criteria, FIDE rules and procedures will supersede these criteria. (REVISED January 2011 to take effect for the 2011 World Youth.)

A. Within each age and gender category, players may qualify to represent the USA under any of the following criteria:

1. be established as one of the three highest rated candidates by peak post-tournament rating in the previous 12 months, ending with events included in the May Rating Supplement;

2. The minimum rating requirement within the age and gender categories for players who do not qualify for this event by some other means is the following:

Girls Under 18 Minimum Rating1900

Girls Under 16 Minimum Rating 1900

Girls Under 14 Minimum Rating 1800

Girls Under 12 Minimum Rating 1700

Girls Under 10 Minimum Rating 1500

Girls Under 8 Minimum Rating 1100

Boys Under 18 Minimum Rating 2400

Boys Under 16 Minimum Rating 2300

Boys Under 14 Minimum Rating 2200

Boys Under 12 Minimum Rating 2000

Boys Under 10 Minimum Rating 1800

Boys Under 8 Minimum Rating 1400

Players whose peak post-tournament rating equals or exceeds this minimum rating will be able to participate in the World Youth.

3. have earned a personal right to compete by virtue of one's performance at this event or the previous Pan American Youth Festival – see below “Qualifying by Personal Right”:

4. win the US Cadet Championship.

5. win clear first place in a championship section of the National Elementary Championship, the National Junior High Championship, or the National High School Championship.

The USCF office may set a reasonable participation fee to cover administrative and coaching expenses for the players who are not in the top three and yet qualify based upon a national championship or based upon their rating. The Scholastic Council recommends that the fee setup by the USCF office is revenue neutral and fair to the young players.

B. the top qualified player in each category will be considered the official representative and will be entitled to receive whatever financial assistance is offered towards the cost of participation. If a player who has earned a personal right also qualifies as the top qualified player by rating in their category, the next player in line will be considered the official representative in that category and will be entitled to receive whatever financial assistance is offered towards the cost of participation.

C. If the top qualified player declines the invitation, the next player in line will be entitled to the financial assistance described above.

D. If a qualified player is unable to attend, that place will not be offered to a non-qualified player ranked lower on the rating list.

E. All qualified players will have the right to participate and will be considered to be part of the national team.

F. The Scholastic Council Chair shall review the rating history of all qualified players before approving the final selection. Irregularities in a player’s rating history may be grounds for disqualification.

G. Qualifying by personal right - Players may earn a personal right to compete in the World Youth by earning a gold medal in one of the following ways:

- A player who receives the gold medal at the World Youth will be qualified by personal right for the World Youth (as well as the Pan-American Youth) for the next year based on maintaining the activity requirement in that year.

- A player who receives the gold medal at the Pan-American Youth Festival will be qualified by personal right for the next World Youth and will qualify for whatever financial assistance is offered towards the cost of participation.

- The minimum activity requirement will be 30 rated games (either USCF or FIDE-rated – if FIDE-rated, submitted to the USCF for verification) in the 12 month qualification period.

the rating list :)

2011-03-10T19:14:00.001-05:00

I.S. 318 Top Rated Players

1. Justus Williams 2255
2. James Black 2152
3. Ms. Vicary 2076
4. Isaac Barayev 2029
5. Danny Feng 1979
6. Shawn Swindell 1947
7. David Kim 1837
8. D’Andrea Dey 1811
9. Randy Rivera 1811
10. Joel Ogunremi 1810
11. Rashawn Williams 1778
12. Kenneth Martin 1765
13. John Paul Garcia 1696
14. Jermaine Cooper 1694
15. Alex Bradford 1684
16. Aleem Awan 1682
17. Jakob Kobajlo 1637
18. Lukasz Fron 1622
19. Maya McGreen 1622
20. Sebastian Dabrowski 1571
21. Matthew Kluska 1566
22. Mr. Galvin 1548
23. Mariah McGreen 1542
24. Markus Pond 1534
25. Kevin Marin 1515
26. Jorge Quiroz 1487
27. Vaughn Soso 1473
28. Anita Maksimiuk 1472
29. Kevin Dominguez 1442
30. Avery Jonas 1441
31. Rhoda Lynch 1417
32. Rashawn Baldwin 1416
33. Sekou Prowell 1413
34. Otto Schatz 1412
35. Brian Arthur 1409
36. Yuxin Zhao 1392
37. Kamil Chmielewski 1354
38. Carlos Tapia 1350
39. Anthony Asseviro 1340
40. Keith Leary 1334
41. Raphael Clifton 1309
42. Shanniah Wright 1291
43. Warren Zhang 1268
44. Tommy Zhang 1228
45. Mr. Murnieks 1222
46. Anthony Ovando 1215
47. Nicholas Amatulli 1207
48. Richard Wu 1195
49. Austin Tang 1175
50. Earl Chase 1155
51. Lequasiah Lawrence 1154
52. Brian Flores 1154
53. Spike Smith 1152
54. Henry Cali 1146
55. Teraab Feaster 1142
56. Lisa Laundry 1133
57. Cedric Brown 1096
58. Xonatia Lee 1093
59. Moshe Lopez 1077
60. Zion McKenzie 1069
61. Ashe Collier 1020
62. David Ding 1001
63. Ariel Peguero 999
64. Jack Wen 996
65. Humzh Alborati 992
66. Jamye Moya 976
67. Edeli Cuate 954
68. Jessy Ramirez 890
69. Justin Bannister 889
70. Ricardo Bellamy 886
71. Sebastian Garcia 736
72. Haby Diallo 725
73. Jiayu Tang 722
74. Mubassar Uddin 693
75. David Yuen 668
76. Patrick Johnston 627
77. Zanea Seymour 601
78. Sebastian Wisnewski 554
79. Alexander Vega 488
80. Jasvir Rai 480
81. Jakub Kulczynski 474
82. Hieu Hoang 467
83. Matthew Vega 460
84. William Abreu 432
85. Kandiwar Randhawa 425
86. Empress Brown 399
87. Jacob Ostrovski 398
88. Vincente Gomez 333
89. Prasant Das 284
90. David Tsoi 236
91. Tariq Troutman 235
92. Shihab Islam 227
93. William Yu 208

south east asia?

2011-03-07T18:47:00.004-05:00

We're going to Southeast Asia for our honeymoon. The lesson I learned from last summer is that I get bored after a week anywhere, and so we are planning to go to 4-5 places for 4-5 days each (+ 4-5 days of travel time). You can buy passes for multistops on many local airlines. So I'm looking for suggestions of places to go.

So far, we're thinking:

Inle Lake, Myanmar: "A wonderful watery world of floating gardens, stilted villages and crumbing stupas, Inle Lake is one of those few places that are a tonic for the soul*" (Myanmar). They also have a tradition of foot-rowing (pictured).

Bagan, Myanmar: "Gather all of Europe's medieval cathedrals onto Manhattan Island, and throw in a whole lot more for good measure, and you'll start to get a sense of the ambition of the temple-filled plains of Bagan."

Gunung Bromo, Indonesia: "A lunaresque landscape of epic proportions and surreal beauty, Gunung Bromo is one of Indonesia's most breath-taking sights." If you start hiking at 4 am, you get to the top for sunrise.

Hanoi, or possibly the smaller town of Hoi An, Vietnam.

Has anyone been anywhere that was unmissably awesome?

*descriptions taken from Lonely Planet: Southeast Asia on a shoestring

happiness by state

2011-03-06T07:07:00.002-05:00

a fun infographic from the NY Times: quality of life by state

and.... meet the happiest man on earth: Alvin Wong

Can't Handle the King

2011-03-05T18:18:00.001-05:00

presenting Scottie, aka Michael Peguero, a 318 alumnus who goes over games with me on Saturdays!

318 in the news: the "LeBron James of Chess" and American Teacher

2011-03-03T09:40:00.003-05:00

photo courtesy Monroi

A quick glance at Justus Williams and he looks like a typical 12-year-old. He's quiet, loves Jay-Z and Lil' Wayne, and wears the latest and greatest Air Jordans.

However, Justus has a talent up his sleeve. He's an internationally ranked chess master and the youngest black chess master ever. Justus started playing the game while in an after school program called Chess in the Schools.

Read the rest of this fabulous article on Justus at NBC NY.

These beautiful photos are republished with kind permission from photographer Bruce Gilbert from a fantastic article in American Teacher on the team (scroll down to page 4).

NY State Championship, Michelle Obama, rook endings, an idea for a charter school, books, under sections, nationals

2011-02-28T18:44:00.008-05:00

I’m on the train coming home from the NY State (Scholastic) Championship in Saratoga Springs. Only half of us made the train, comically: we met an hour beforehand in the hotel lobby, but every cab company said it would be a couple hours (because it’s raining?!). James Black’s dad talked a newspaper delivery van into taking as many of us as could squeeze in amongst the bundles of papers. The train was already in the station when we arrived, and we ran like lunatics to catch it. (Un?)fortunately for Galvin and the five kids who couldn't fit, the remaining train today is sold out and the bus is $45 one way (x 6), so they are staying in Saratoga another night.

Justus Williams tied for first with Ben Gershenov in the high school section, and won on tiebreaks! Unfortunately, he doesn’t qualify for the Denker because you have to be in grades 9-12 and he’s only in 7^th. IS 318 won the high school and junior high team championships.

The kids played remarkably well: I didn’t fully realize this until Matan pointed out they weren’t hanging pieces in ridiculous ways like they did at Grade Nationals. One sixth grader, Kevin, spent 20 minutes (in a G/60) in the position after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3. I’d just taught him the slav the night before, and I’d mentioned we would learn the semi-slav next (since 4...dxc4 doesn’t make much sense in that position—white can just play 5. Bxc4). So Kevin spends 20 minutes thinking about this position, trying to figure out the semi-slav at the board, and it just melts my heart: this kid was 600 2 months ago, is now 1450, and clearly is already a very serious player.

Kevin on move 4

Maya McGreen had a terrific tournament also, beating Lilia Poteat (1930) and another 1800, and gaining 100 rating points for a new high of 1623.

James Black writes in his chess journal.

Aleem

I basically don’t do endgames with my kids, mostly because I believe you hardly get (nontrivial) endgames until you are 2000 or so, especially in the G/30 that my kids normally are playing. However, I have one kid, Randy, who goes into rook endings all the time and wins 95% of them. He’s really a specialist/ magician. I think I’ve learned more about technique in rook endings from him than from anyone or any book.

I had an idea for a charter school. It came to me at Amateur Team East, when I was yelling at my students for holding the North American Wrestling/Pillow-Fighting/Screaming Team Championships in room 539. I thought, ok, they can’t help it, they’re children who have been sitting still all day, so I took them to the exercise room. And then I thought: if I had a charter school, I would have mandatory forced runs for the first 90 minutes of school, and then when they are so exhausted they don’t even want to talk or fool around, then we have class. Also, they will not be obese.

How bizarre are the attacks on Michelle Obama for promoting healthy eating? It’s amazing: I’m starting to think even if her cause was cancer research, republicans would be saying “why is the government interfering in our lives?” My favorite was Rush Limbaugh’s comment, “Our First Lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you." The first lady isn’t slutty enough?!

I’m reading a couple of interesting books: The Next Decade: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going (George Friedman) (I also enjoyed his earlier book, The Next Hundred Years), and The Emperor of All Maladies (Siddhartha Mukherjee), a very enjoyable history of cancer.

Nationals are coming up. I think we are taking a small contingent (8-10) to girls nationals (Chicago April 9-10). Then we will take 58-59 to junior high nationals. I have no decent teams in any under sections this year, but I don’t care at all. We used to win those sections all the time a few years ago, because Chess in the Schools used to send in their tournament results really really late. But when you think about it, winning an Under section just means you have the most under-rated kids in the country. congratulations. Maybe they are under-rated because they got a lot better between the cutoff for the rating supplement and the tournament because you are an amazing amazing teacher, or maybe they are under-rated because someone artificially kept their ratings low, but who really cares? Winning an under section is a nice personal accomplishment, I'm not taking away from that, it's a impressive feat to go 7-0 or 6-1 or whatever, I'm just saying it's of absolutely no national significance.

We’ll split the open section kids: put the top ones in the K-9 and the rest in the K-8 and see if they can win both. I'm proud to say we have 41 kids over 1250. Aside from obvious benefits of depth (someone can’t help but have an exceptionally lucky tournament), it also means I can do a lot more opening prep before rounds than most coaches.

We’ll also go to high school nationals, just the top 10 kids or so, and if I can convince Galvin that we have a decent shot of winning elementary, we might go to the k-6. My life dream is to win the elementary, junior high, and high school, all in the same year. I understand this makes me an egomaniac.

3rd Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational

2011-02-24T16:31:00.002-05:00

Metropolitan Chess will host a International Master norm round robin tournament on February 23rd to 27th of 2011. The participants include: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Timothy Taylor (USA), IM Jacek Stopa (POL), FM Alexandre Kretchetov, FM Joel Banawa, FM Michael Casella, FM Philip Wang, NM Konstantin Kavutskiy, NM Kayden Troff, and CM Giovanni Nieto Carreto. The FIDE average of the field is 2305, for a respectable category 4.

From August 17th to 21st, super-GM Mickey Adams, GM Loek van Wely, GM Ilya Smirin, GM Dejan Bojkov, GM Mark Paragua, GM Mesgen Amanov and GM Melikset Khachiyan are currently slated to play in a 9 round Swiss tournament, the 1st Metropolitan International, that will offer the opportunity for GM and IM norms. DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?

for more info see the chess.com announcement or their website.

I reorder a book

2011-02-17T07:03:00.001-05:00

Some kid borrowed Forcing Chess Moves from our library a few years ago and didn't return it, and I really loved this book, so I ordered another copy. It arrived yesterday morning.

This totally made my day. I carry the book around now and look at it every few hours.

My students mostly couldn't see anything unusual at all about the cover at first, but after I pointed it out, they were like "Miss! How did you do that??"

an amusing miniature and even more puzzles from Saturday

2011-02-14T16:46:00.002-05:00

An amusing miniature from Kenneth:

Amin Abdullah - Kenneth Martin
1. d4 f5
2. h3 Nf6
3. g4 fxg4
4. hxg4 Nxg4
5. Qd3

5...Nf6
6. Rxh7 Rxh7
7. Qg6#

1. Kevin Marin is white and has a fabulous move. I found this immediately in analysis because I once read the book Essential Piece Sacrifices, and this move is a whole chapter.

2. Randy Rivera is white. His opponent captured on e5; how should he recapture?

4. Not quite a tactic, but an instructive position to think about and decide where you would move as white.
(from Carlos Tapia's game)

5. Carlos is black here against Ashanti Murray. What is white's best move? (be careful!!)

answers

1. 1. Nxg7! Kxg7 2. Bh6+ Kxh6 3. Qxf6+ Kh5 4. Bd1+ Qg4 5. Bxg4#! You also have to make sure things are good if black takes the first piece and not the second one: 2...Kg6, but 3. Bxf8 Rxf8 4. d4 is a big problem for black: taking on d4 allows e4-e5+, and retreating the bishop different places loses to a variety of tricks against black's king. I'm sorry that I'm too lazy to go into details, but ask your engine.

2. 1. Nxe5 threatens both Qh5+ and Ng6, with a discovered attack on the Qc7. Black's best is 1...0-0-0, and then he can meet 2. Ng6 with e5 and comes out only down a pawn.

4. 1. f5 is really good, much better than 1. e5, which is what Carlos played. Black can't meet 1. f5 with dxe4, as 2. f6 wins a piece. After 1. f5 exf5 2. exf5 Nxf5 3. Bxf5 gxf5 and now white can take on f5 with the queen, but the knight would love to recapture there even more, so 4. Ng3! is best.

5. Ashanti took on h7, but 1. Nc5 Qc7 2. Nxd7 Qxd7 3. Qxc6 wins a piece. You can't play the combination directly after taking on h7, because the bishop hangs at the end.

puzzles for PS 11

2011-02-13T07:52:00.006-05:00

1. Anthony (white) has been studying the Max Lange, and here he played an exciting "318 theory" sacrifice to generate play.

2. This is his position a few moves later. How did white force checkmate?

3. Zion McKenzie was white. What should he have done?

4. Carlos Tapia (white) found a way to win a piece here.

5. Later in the same game, Carlos finds a nice tactic to win even more material and simplify the position.

6. 318 alumnus and assistant coach Pobo Efekoro showed us a beautiful tactic he played against Ashanti Murray at the city championship 2 weeks ago. White to move, above.

7. Spike Smith was thrilled to win the Junior High Novice section for the first time. He is black in the above position, and his opponent failed to find the best move with his Nc3. Where should white have gone?

8. Same game, a few moves later. What is black's most crushing line?

9. Ariel Peguero was white in the above position. How could his opponent have won a pawn?

10. This time it's Ariel's turn for a tactic. White to move.

11. Kevin was black in the above position. How can he set up an UNSTOPPABLE CHECKMATE?

how's everybody doing?

I'm good. My life is pretty much totally about work from September to May every year. I work from 7:30-4:15, come home, grade some papers, eat dinner, watch the daily show, read, and go to bed by 9, Monday - Saturday. Sunday I either see my mom, or we see Jonathan's parents, I usually do some more work, post the positions from yesterday's tournament, and I try to do something with Jonathan. I'm very happy, but man, it's a lot of work. I've been really enthusiastic about working with some of the 6th graders this year, and that's kept me energized, but I had a rough week. I need to read a book on positive behavior management.

I am excited about some reservations I have. Normally, I'm not really a foodie. I like fresh, healthy food, but I don't care enormously about the upper ranges of tasty. But NYC Restaurant Week has been extended through Feb 27, through my midwinter week-off break, which frees me to take advantage of the attractive Lunch Option. Many of the fanciest restaurants only participate at lunch, plus it's cheaper. Tuesday we are eating at Nobu and Wednesday at Le Cirque!

I decided to take 4 kids to Amateur Team East. Shaun Smith was kind enough to transfer an extra reservation to me, and so I'm bringing four awesome, awesome children with me: Randy, Kenneth, Carlos and Kevin. These four kids have been working so hard recently on chess-- I don't think the last two have missed a single day of early morning class, chess lunch, afterschool chess club, and Saturday tournaments all year (!!). Kenneth has gone from 1459 to 1730 since September, Carlos from 1093 to 1402, and Kevin from 0 to 1319. I wasn't all that pumped about USATE before this (although my team should be fun-- Laura, Abby, and Alanna), but now I'm so happy thinking about how great the kids will do and how much fun they're going to have.

We're taking a bus to Junior High Nationals in Ohio! It's an ugly 11 hour trip, but it means we'll get to take 55 people (4 adults, 51 kids), plus a small group will fly, so despite the budget problems, we will have a full contingent of 58-60 kids there, all the ones who have earned it! I'm not counting on winning any under sections, but we'll put the top 5 or 6 in the K-9 and then like 35 kids in the K-8 open from 1250-1800. I'm really looking forward to this. (and to it being over, so I can regain a toehold on normalcy)

answers
1. Anthony played 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Ng5+ Kf8 9. Qxg4 d6 and they reached the second diagram.

2. The game finished 10. Qf4+ Kg8 11. Qf7#

3. Zion missed 1. Nb3 Qb6 2. Na4

4. Carlos played 10. Ne4, and black cannot hold both the Bc5 and Nd5. the game continued 10...Qf8 11. Bxd5 Bg4 12. Nxc5 Qxc5, and they reached the position in the fifth question.

5. The game continued 13. Bxf7! Kxf7 14. Ng5+ Kg8 15. Qxg4 (amazingly,15. Qb3 is even better).

6. Pobo played 1. Qh5+ Kd8 2. Ba5!! Qxa5 3. Nxe6#

7. White should play 1. Nxd5, since 1...exd5 2. exd5 regains the piece. Instead, he retreated with 1. Nd1, after which black captures on e4 and is up two monster pawns.

8. Spike can play 1....Qa5+ since both 2. Kf1 Bb5! and 2. c3 Bb5 3. Qc2 d3! are fantastic for black.

9. 1...Nxa2+ 2. Kd2 (2. Nxa2?? Qxe4; 2. Kb1?? Nxc3 3. bxc3 Qxe4) Qxe4 3. Nxe4 Rfb8 4. b4 Rb4 is slightly better for black.

10. 1. Qc6! traps the knight. It's better than 1. Qb7 d5!

11. 1...a5 cuts off the white king's escape and threatens both 2...Rc3 and 2...b5.

watch the egypt protests

2011-02-10T18:24:00.002-05:00

This time, the revolution will be televised.

the Marshall party for Justus Williams!

2011-02-06T18:47:00.002-05:00

Marshall VP Larry Price, Justus Williams, GM Maurice Ashley

Friday night, the Marshall gave a party for Justus Williams, to celebrate his breaking the record for youngest African American master. He made 2200 at 12 years old, breaking Kassa Korley's record of 15.

Katie and Brian, the filmmakers responsible for the upcoming Brooklyn Castle, came out to film the party

Matthew and Kenneth play blitz. Polly Wright is behind them.

Mitch Fitzko and Isaac Barayev

Shaun Smith is standing, CIS instructors Laura Ross and Jeff Kelleher are sitting in the background, 318 kids between them.

Galvin plays Randy. Isaac and Shaun Smith watch.

Russ Makovsky, who runs NYC Chess, Inc, and Marshall VP Larry Price

Larry gives the nicest speech ever about Justus: "I've seen the future of chess, and it is Justus Williams."

James Black, Adia Onyango, and John Galvin

Shaun Smith

more photos here

pictures of my dog with the grass moving really fast

2011-01-30T17:02:00.002-05:00

Loeph!
by Jonathan

two positions

2011-01-29T23:57:00.014-05:00

I am happy to tell you that IS 318 won the NYC Junior High Championship, and that Danny Feng tied for first with 5/5. I don't know more than that because I was at the simultaneous IS 318 tournament.

NY's mayor, Mike Bloomberg, announced the likelihood of more teacher layoffs next year.
from the NY Post:
Here are three scenarios of state budget cuts and how many teacher layoffs those cuts would translate into under the current “last in, first out” policy:

$500 million in cuts:
* 7,972 layoffs, or 11% of workforce

$750 million in cuts:
* 11,726 layoffs, or 16% of workforce

$1 billion in cuts:
* 15,265 layoffs, or 20% of workforce. (This would include everyone who has been hired in the last five years, i.e. me.)

* City financial plan also recommends eliminating 6,166 teaching positions
* Under doomsday scenario, Bloomberg said, city could lose 21,000 teachers through layoffs and attrition
* There are currently about 75,000 teachers

I don't know exactly how they get from 15,265 to 21,000, but wow either way. This would mean class sizes of 40 or 45. I need a larger room. The thing is, when classes get that big, it's not a small drop in learning. You have so many kids in the classroom that you spend all your time managing behavior, dealing with kids who knock each other's pieces over/kick each other and you spend no time on teaching. I'm getting used to the idea that it's never as bad as they say it's going to be, but there really isn't much left to cut.
anyhow, chess problems:

1. Brian Arthur was white here. What should he play?
2. He actually played 22. Rf3 Rxc2 23. Bxc2 Qa5! How should he continue here?

3. Carlos took on h2: 15...Bxh2 16. Kh1. What should he play next?
4. The game actually continued 16...Bd6 17. Nb5 Play for black?

answers

1. Brian has mate in 6 with 22. Rxg7 Kxg7 23. Qg4+ Kh8 24. Qe4.

2. After 22. Rf3 Rxc2 23. Bxc2 Qa5, Brian found the only winning line, 24. Qxh6 gxh6 25. Bxf6+ Kg8 26. Rg3+ Qg5 27. Bxg5. Unfortunately, he had some trouble winning the piece up ending. :)

3. He should continue 16..Ng4! 17. Be1 Rxb2!

4. 17. Nb5 allows black to simply take the knight, 17...cxb5, as white's queen is then attacked.

are you a digital strongman?

2011-01-23T17:05:00.003-05:00

Greg Shahade, at the site of his latest top secret chess organizing project. He is practicing with a special new hand strengthening device that Greg believes has improved his blitz speed by an average of almost 0.04 seconds/move.

1. Edeli is white in the position above. Her opponent played 9...Bg4. What happens next?

2. Teraab was black in the above position, and his opponent advanced in the center with e4. Is this thematic or just bad?

3. Jorge (black) found a great move here, winning white's queen. What is it?

Danny, with the fist of determination.

answers
1. A beautiful position reminiscent of a trap in the Fort Knox French (after 1, e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nf6? 7. Nxf6 Qxf6? 8. Bg5! Bxf3 9. Qd2!!). After 9... Bg4, it looks like the queen is trapped, but white can try 10. Bxf6, since 10... Qxf6 11. Qxg4 and 10...Bxf3 11. Bxd8 both leave white up a piece. However, black has the tricky move 10... Qd7! defending the bishop and keeping the white queen trapped. Now white cannot play 11. Qxd5 because of 11...Bxh2 and 12....Qxd5. White can try the startling 11. Bf5!, hoping for 11...Qxf5? 12. Qxf5 Bxf5 13. Bb2 (13. Bxg7). But black just continues calmly with 11...Bxf5 and after 12. Bxg7 Rg8 13. Bb2 Be4 wins for black, as does 12. Bb2 Bg4.

2. Teraab's opponent (Mario) could not play e4, because the rook on e1 will prove to be overloaded. For example, 8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 Nxe4 (9...Bxe4? 10. Nxe4 Qxd1 11. Nxf6+ and white is up a piece) 10. Nxe4 Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Bxe4 and black is up a pawn. Compare this to a line we play against the pirc: 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 c6 6. a4 0-0 7. 0-0 Nbd7 8. Bf4 Re8 9. h3 e5? 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Bxe5.

3. Jorge played the beautiful double attack 1...Nb4, hitting the queen and threatening 2...Nxa2#. After the only move, 2. Qb3, Jorge continued 2...Nd3 3. Kb1 Nc5+.

puzzles from the marshall and FDA tournaments

2011-01-19T15:57:00.005-05:00

1. In the above position, Kevin Marin blundered with 10. Ne5. How should Vaughn Soso (black) have responded?

2. Suggest an idea for Avery Jonas (white).

3. James Black was black in this position against Vaughn Soso. The game continued 8...d5 9. Bd3. How did Black now win a piece?

4. Kenneth Martin has gotten his bishop trapped. What should he (black) have done about it?

5. Here, Kenneth played 7...Bg4. What was he planning if white takes on b7?

6. Should black (Vaughn) trade rooks?

7. David Kim is white in this position, and he found a long forced mate. Try to see all the way until the end.

Kenneth, Maya, and Kevin

Kevin

Marcus

Kenneth

James

answers
1. a common trap in the French Fort Knox. Black wins a pawn with 10... Bxe5 11. dxe5 Qd5, forking g2 and e5,

2. We've been doing "improve a piece" exercises in class, so I was happy to find this great example! A nice idea for white here is Nc1-b3, pressuring the a5 pawn. Unfortunately, Avery was too hasty with 1. Ra6, allowing a fork with Bd3.

3. 9...e5 10. Ne2 d4!

4. Kenneth played 1...Ne8 2. Nxg6 fxg6 3. fxg6 h6, hoping to win the g6 pawn later. He ended up in more serious danger than he anticipated. he should have played 1...Bh5! 2. Bxh5 Nxh5 3, Qxh5 Bxh4 =

5. He had seen that 7...Na5 8. Qb4 e6! traps the queen. Kenneth has gained 180 points from his current published monthly supplement. three cheers for Kenneth!

6. The endgane is quite ok for black if he keeps both or one pair of rooks on the board. It's easy to give in the evil impulse to trade when you feel you are losing, as here, when Vaughn's decision to trade both pairs of rooks with 1... Rxd1 2. Rxd1 Rd8 3. Rxd8 Kxd8 4. Kf4 h6 5. g4! (after which the white king invaded easily) led direcly to losing an (almost) even position.

7. David won with 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. Qh8+ Ke7 25. Bh4+ g5 26. Rxf7+ Kxf7 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Bg6 Be8 29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Qg7+ Bf7 31. Qxf7#. Bravo!

Teacher Data Reports

2011-01-15T13:15:00.005-05:00

This is my new Sideshow Bob look.

This is the Save the Date card Jonathan made for our wedding.

Let me say I'm shocked they are going to release these teacher data reports. I'm not opposed to it-- if a teacher is ineffective they shouldn't be in the classroom-- no doubt, but wow, it seems like a huge thing to do. Imagine if you could read the performance report for all the adults you interact with: your doctors, your garbageman, your accountant, your drycleaner, the cop who gives you a speeding ticket. Imagine the potential unintended consequences: parents calling nonstop to get their kid in the most effective teacher's class, teachers feeling economic pressure to get a low scoring kid taken out of their class and put in special ed, teachers with mortgages only teaching test prep all year long. It just makes me wonder if they've thought this through*.
I like the idea of teachers being measured on what skills they have taught, but I'm not sure the English tests are good enough to do this (maybe math is). I'm not sure that you can measure much about reading and writing from multiple choice tests, and the grading of the written portions is potentially very random: it's done in long, mind-numbing, paid-by-the-hour grading sessions, without much control for consistency or room for appeal. There are also too many ways to game the system. I know an English teacher, for example, who only gives his class boring 2.5 page biographical articles to read, because that's the most common genre on the state test. Or you could easily spend 6 months making them take practice test after practice test-- your students will hate you and reading by the time you're done, but they'll test really well.
I will be told how effective I am in a meeting next Friday.

*While we are on the subject, how amazing was Cathy Black's comment, “Couldn’t we just have some birth control for a while?” during a meeting about overcrowded schools.

Free Chess Tournament for 1900 + Players!

2011-01-12T16:04:00.000-05:00

Come play in Chess in the Schools' Martin Luther King Day Tournament at the Frederick Douglass Academy. It's open to anyone in high school or under, or any adult rated over 1900. It's 9:30-3:30, and runs like clockwork. Details are below, email Shaun for more info.

Time	Monday, January 17 · 9:30am - 4:00pm

Location	Frederick Douglass Academy HS, 2581 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. BLVD

Created By	Shaun M. Smith

More Info	This will be a rated 4-round G/30 event for 1900 and above players. The event is FREE and will award the following prizes: 1st- $100 2nd - $50 3rd - $30 4th - $20 For more information, please email ssmith@chessintheschools.org