want to be a MOVIE STAR?

I'm looking for someone rated 2100-2400 to play a rated match against Alexis Paredes (2048), star of the in-progress documentary Chess Movie.* You would definitely be shown in the movie playing Alexis, and Katie would ask you some questions about the games afterwards (I can't guarantee the interview will be included-- probably depends a bit on what you say :) )

You would also be doing something really nice for a great kid.

I'm thinking 4-8 games, g/60-g/120 at the Marshall Chess Club. He has no annoying board habits.

*working title

Don't know what to do with that week off in March?

Why not go to North Carolina for the US Masters? You could play IS 318's own Justus Williams, plus there's free mini-golf*.

Mar. 13-14, 19-21 or 15-21 2010 U.S. Masters GPP: 60 Enhanced North Carolina
9SS, 40/2,SD/30. Hendersonville, NC. $$5000 b/50 fully paid. Prizes: $$5000 b/50: $1500 $900 $300 $200 $200 $200 $200 $200 $200 U2300: $300 $200 $200 $200 $200. Open only to players who have ratings over 2200, those who have ever been so rated, foreign FIDE-rated players, and juniors (under age 21) rated over 2000. Concurrent with N.C. Sub-Masters for those with lower ratings. Rds (2 schedules merge round 5): 2-Weekend schedule: Sat 12, 7, Sun 12, 7, Fri 7, Sat 12, 7, Sun 12, 7; 7-Day schedule: Mon 7, Tue 7, Wed 7, Thurs 7, Fri 7, Sat 12, 7, Sun 12, 7 EF: $150 by Feb 13, $160 by Mar 9, $170 at site. GMs, IMs, and foreign FIDE-rated players receive reduced fee entry of $30 if preregistered (counts as 1/5 entry toward prizes). Byes: 4 available rds 1-5. HR: Quality Inn & Suites, 201 Sugarloaf Rd,, Hendersonville, NC 28792. $60 or $68/night with hot breakfast, indoor pool, sauna, jacuzzi, and mini-golf. 800-581-4745, www.qualityinn-suiteshvl.com. Info and entry: Kevin Hyde, 705 Old Mountain Page Rd., Saluda, NC 28773. hyde@ioa.com, www.ncchess.org. FIDE. WCL JGP.

*You may not know this, but North Carolinian teenagers universally adore mini-golf.

you have to be careful what you say on facebook

so I notice in Chesscafe's newsletter that Abby Marshall's column this month is on the Max Lange. Some of my kids play this opening, so I checked it out, and then, since I haven't talked to Abby in a while and felt a little bad because I hadn't called her back last time, which honestly was more about how much I hate talking on the phone, I really can't stand it, but ok she doesn't know that. also of course I was interested in her opinion on my earth-shattering novelty. Anyway, I leave this message. If you don't have facebook, it's

hey, what do you think of g4 in the mainline max lange, instead of Nce4 (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. 0-0 Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. ef dc 8. Re1 Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. g4 Qg6 12. Nce4 Bb6 13. f4 idea f5?) I found it with fritz while writing opening handouts for kids. or qxf6 nd5 qd8 rxe6?

so what happens? some guy who friended us both but who I don't actually know copied our conversation to begin a thread on the chesspublishing.com forum.

small world I guess.

How could I stop being the greedy, myopic scumbag they elected me to be?

My Constituents Care Way More About Political Gamesmanship Than Jobs, Health Care, And The Economy
By House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) March 2, 2010 Issue 46•09

It is my responsibility as an elected official to look out for the people back home, the voters who sent me to Washington. So, after 20 years representing Ohio's 8th District, I know what the good citizens of Montgomery, Preble, and Butler counties really want: someone who engages in the kind of calculated political gamesmanship that increases his standing in the Republican party while simultaneously hindering our country's legislative process at every conceivable turn.

I assure you, the last thing my voters need is some well intended, do-all-I-possibly-can-to-help-the-little-guy congressman running around Washington, working across the aisle, and fighting tooth and nail for jobs, health care, and financial reform to ensure their tax dollars never end up in the hands of banks capable of holding our entire economy hostage.

No, sir. My constituents deserve better.

They deserve a leader willing to roll up his sleeves and play the types of twisted, greedy political games that, by their very nature, tear apart the fabric of our democracy for the sake of assuring reelection. They deserve someone on their side who will ask the tough questions, such as how will painting Democrats as radical ideologues play in, say, Arkansas? Can we vote "no" on the health care bill and still make it look like we give two craps about the welfare of ordinary Americans? How can we twist positive news about the GDP into a negative for the Obama administration?

Trust me: If you talk to an unemployed, uninsured mother of two in Greenville, she'll tell you that jobs and reliable medical coverage come a distant second to the crafting of meticulous talking points that deftly omit the facts and reduce what should be honest discourse about our country's future to a series of contrived, easy-to-digest sound bites designed to sway crucial independent voters.

read the entire article here (please do-- very funny)

My sister gave me a Kindle for Christmas, and it's great. You can be on a bus in the middle of nowhere and browse the NY Times best seller list, get many many book samples as you want delivered to you instantly, read them, choose your favorite, and order it for $10. I've found that it extends my range of reading choices, especially nonfictionwise. Lately I've read Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court, by Jan Crawford Greenburg, On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System by Hank Paulson, and Clean: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body's Natural Ability to Heal Itself by Alejandro Junger. I'm in the middle of an amazingly chilling book called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. Here's an exerpt:

That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire. We are an elite group of men and women who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks. Like our counterparts in the Mafia, EHMs provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure —electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. A condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco.

Despite the fact that the money is returned almost immediately to corporations that are members of the corporatocracy (the creditor), the recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire.

318 wins NY State Junior High and Elementary Championships, 2nd in High School

IS 318 won the Junior HIgh and Elementary Championships and came 2nd in high school. Alexis Paredes, Joel Ogunremi, Pobo Efekoro, and Myles Foster tied for first in Junior High*. The light wasn't great in the playing rooms, so few good pictures, but below are Joel Ogunremi and Danny Feng.

update: some pictures of leaving Monday morning and the train:
James and Myles

Alexis and Rochelle, crushing everyone at bughouse

Randy and Danny

Azeez, David, Isaac and Matthew playing Ticket to Ride

David and Myles, in the hotel lobby


*with a kid from another school, who took first on tiebreaks. I'll update with his name when it's online.

wikipedia, unions, photos of girls

I'm in Saratoga Springs at the State Championship. It's midway through round 6 (the last round) and 318 was in the lead in elementary, junior high and high school.

quick funny story: I'm chatting with the kids before round four, and Joel is telling me about a game he won in an opening we had looked at together. Danny Feng is listening, and breaks in, "Oh yeah, Miss Vicary, I looked that line up and you're wrong about the move g4. White is supposed to play Ne4 instead." So I ask how he knows that, where he looked it up, and he says ...

....wikipedia. I died laughing.

Check out the UFT (teacher's union) website, especially the revolving banner photo at the top!

Some photos from yesterday's CIS tournament in Queens:

Anita
Jiejing

Talitha


Xonatia


Ronavia

Rhoda

Manuela

(more pictures here)

chessbase question

I have fritz 11 installed on my computer, but chessbase 9 doesn't see it/ I can't open it by going to add engine. What do I do?
thanks!

crazy politics

does anyone else feel like politics are getting weirder and weirder?

there was an article in the economist 2 weeks ago (I'm still catching up: they get delivered to school and I was away):

New dangers for the world economy
When the crisis started, governments helped save the world economy. Now they are the problem
Feb 11th 2010 From The Economist print edition

LAST year it was banks; this year it is countries. The economic crisis, which seemed to have eased off in the latter part of 2009, is once again in full swing as the threat of sovereign default looms.

oh my god.

on a higher sanity note, take a look at this senatorial candidate's website devoted to abolishing filibusters. I hadn't considered it before, but I think I agree with him. you guys?

I lose horribly and have already checked out of my room

"Sunday morning, praise the dawning
It's just a restless feeling by my side
Early dawning, sunday morning
It's just the wasted years so close behind"

Amateur Team East, Sunday morning, 9 am, round five, Philip Shin, a 1700 kid, a ruy lopez, the worral attack (5. Qe2). He played something like a marshall, and I took the pawn when I wasn't supposed to. Already it's annoying:

I'm scared of something like 16. Be3 Bd6 17. Qf3 Qh4 18. g3 Qh3 19. Qg2 Qh5 20. Nd2 Bh3, whatever, it's unpleasant.

So I think, ok, maybe 16. Bd2. This has the advantage of not allowing 16... Bd6 (I take on e8 and the bishop hangs). It's a little lame, but I screwed up so I deserve it, plus I'm up a pawn.

But then I think maybe 16. Bh6 is a little improvement, he's going to play probably 16...Bg6, and then 17. Bd2. Now he won't have moves like ...Bg4 or ...B(x)h3 later.

So I play 16. Bh6, my opponent makes one move, and I resigned. The worst thing is to lose quickly when you've already checked out.

9 queens presentation

After Amateur Team, I went to Tucson to see my friend Jean Hoffman. It was really lovely getting out of New York and being in the sunshine. It rained one day and everyone there apologized to me. haha

Jean runs a non-profit, 9 Queens, that brings chess to "under-served populations" (women and low income kids). That might sound like a slightly confused mission, but it works out nicely in practice. The great thing about Jean, especially about working with Jean, is that everything she does professionally is quality. you know what I mean?

if you don't, here's a glimpse:

Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk gives a simul for 9 Queens.

doesn't it look great? now that I think about it, I'm really lucky to work with so many competent people.

While I was in Arizona, I spent a day with Jean and chess instructor Andy Roth at an elementary school and gave a two hour workshop on teaching chess at a SACA (Southern Arizona Chess Association) tournament. I was super-flattered that they hosted me and that 22 adults came and listened to me for a couple hours. (my kids have to). My talk was mostly about the importance of a student-practice-centered curriculum, and how to use different chess puzzles and exercises to address specific learning problems. The text of the talk (I wrote it out, but then couldn't bring myself to actually read it) is here.

Jean and I made nice big binders for attendees, but for you here, a brief overview of the puzzles and what they are good for:

double whammys A huge thank you to Jeff Coakley*, for his permission to use his these puzzles from his forth-coming "orange book." (Winning Chess Puzzles For Kids, Volume 2!) If you don't already know this, I'm obsessed with Jeff Coakley's chess teaching books [Winning Chess Strategy for Kids (green), Winning Chess Puzzles for Kids (red) , Winning Chess Exercises for Kids (blue)].

I love double whammys particularly because they directly teach the most effective thinking strategy for anyone rated 100-1200: "If I go there and then there, it's checkmate!" (almost no one under 1000 ever defends anything)

White makes two consecutive moves. The first move cannot be check. The second move must be checkmate. I include four problems here, because I adore series of similar puzzles: I don't have to look like a fool scrambling to set up a new position, plus it demonstrates for kids that details are important in chess: small changes make big differences and they need to be careful.

white plays 1. Rxf6 and 2. Qxh7#

triple lloyds These are great for reinforcing checkmate and stalemate, and teaching mating patterns. I love that they ask students to find checkmate by thinking about what squares are controlled by white pieces, rather than by a trial and error search of checks.

Each triple lloyd asks three questions: where could the black king be so the position is

a) checkmate

b) stalemate

c) mate in 1.

I created the diagrams in chessbase, so I could not make a position without a king, although triple lloyds do not have the black ones. Please ignore the black king in the diagram.

Here, checkmate is a6, stalemate is a8, and mate in one is a4 (Qb4#)

Who's the goof? These are great for getting kids to think broadly about chess and its possibilities and to troubleshoot for rules violations. For each position, you have to say why it is illegal.

The white king and queen are misplaced.

Series of similar mate-in-ones. These are stolen from an out-of-print Coakley mate in one booklet. Jeff was kind enough to send me a copy, and I fell so in love with it that I ordered 10 copies and gave them out as Christmas presents one year to my favorite Chess in the Schools instructors. They save me set-up time at the demo board and they make kids be careful and look at the details in a position. I often use them in my third checkmate lesson, "When you solve a checkmate, you can play." The basic idea is that a kid gets to move from the learning group to the playing area as soon as (s)he solves a checkmate. I start with harder checkmates and move to easier ones. This means that the kids who already understand have more playing time and the kids who are confused get more direct instruction. And that I know who is who.

The other thing that I talked about that I think is super-useful is teaching kids to solve double attack problems methodically, by first identifying enemy pieces that are either not defended or not well-defended**. A piece that is not well-defended is defended only as many times as it is attacked (so if it's attacked again, it's in take). This gives kids a short-list of targets (to which is added the king, of course), and then it's just a connect-the-dots puzzle. For example, in the following position:

The rook on a8 is not defended; the bishop on e7 and the pawn on h7 are not well defended. (attacked once, defended once). White wins with Qe4.

some pictures:

Jean and I

update! : Jeff Coakley's website: http://www.coakleychess.com/

*in fact, all of the puzzles are from Jeff's books. If you teach chess and you don't own them all, you're ridiculous and should order them immediately. Later, you will love me for this.

** I stole this idea from Miron Sher