more neighborhood love graffiti

huffington post / even more USCL photos

I've recently discovered (I know, very late) the Huffington Post. It's a nice way for me to read news and opinion articles that mimic and reinforce my ingrained personal beliefs. Also, I watched some nice videos of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings.

I also enjoyed John Kerry's response to Sarah Palin's Washington Post op-ed piece on cap and trade emissions regulation. It's kind of great, right, actual debate in a public forum by politicians on an important and little understood issue? Kudos to Sarah Palin for taking on such an important question and being wrong so visibly and in such an easy-to-explain way.

As you know, I love Michael Steele. I watch him now and it occurs to me that Republicans used to sound conservative and boring to me, but now sometimes they seem to share this one same manic, incoherant, inappropriately personal speaking style?

other people (/news sources) aside, I'm doing pretty ok. I've felt insanely busy the last few weeks, but life is possibly getting back to normal. I teach summer camp from 8:30-12:30 Monday-Thursday. I'm going to a scholastic tournament tomorrow and taking kids to the Marshall Saturday (g/60), but that's my choice, and overall it doesn't feel like I'm working much.

I spent last week attending the US Chess School. I spent this afternoon writing the student bios for the clo article. It struck me how chill and noncrazy and happy the genius kids were. Greg elected me camp disciplinarian, and at one point I had to take a coca-cola bottle away from a nine year old who is higher rated than me because the child was playing an elaborate game transferring coke from a plastic cup to his mouth to the bottle and back. But they are simultaneously incredible chess machines/lovers (I don't know which I mean, probably both) -- a lot of them study 3-7 hours a day and play 3 tournaments a week or 4.5 hours a day on ICC*. All of them want to play blitz every day, every lunch break. But they also write short stories (with introductory character descriptions and colored pen maps) about an army of mice (allied with weasels and some chickens) that frees a country from its evil rat rulers.

I would say that they were some very interesting, cool kids.

here are some more pictures of them that I did not post earlier because I was in a rush one morning and then my computer broke and then I forgot.

Tommy He

Sarah Chiang

Justus Williams

Arthur Shen

Anna Matlin

Kayden Troff

Joshua Colas

Onischuk watches Joshua Colas and Sarah Chiang play their training game.


training games

*It makes me realize I am not in any way ambitious as a chess player.

more pictures from the 9th US Chess School

participants in the tenth US Chess School

first row: Joshua Colas, Luke Harmon, Tommy He, Christopher Wu, Jonathan Chiang, Kapil Chandran

back row: Arthur Shen, Michael Bodek, Justus Williams, Kayden Troff, Anna Matlin, Sarah Chiang

group picture with teacher GM Alex Onischuk

pizza party Friday afternoon at the Marshall

Tommy He plays guest student Miguel Garcia in the blitz tournament

Mike Bodek and Justus Williams

Jonathan Chiang and Michael Bodek eat lunch in Washington Square Park

Tommy He and Christopher Wu choose cookies at the "cookie party"

Alex Onischuk has an advisory conference with Christopher Wu

GM Alex Onischuk

Anna Matlin

Christopher Wu

Jonathan Chiang

Kayden Troff

Luke Harmon

Justus Williams

Michael BodekSarah Chiang

Tommy He

us chess school 9 first photos

under construction. captions tomorrow.

GM Alex Onischuk, Kapil Chandran

The 9th US Chess School is being held at the Marshall Chess Club. The students are:
1. Arthur Shen: 2112 USCF, 12 years old, NJ
2. Tommy He: 2080 USCF, 9 years old, TX
3. Kayden Troff: 2013 USCF, 10 years old, UT
4. Luke Harmon: 2008 USCF, 10 years old, ID
5. Sarah Chiang: 2000 USCF, 12 years old, TX
6. Anna Matlin: 1995 USCF, 13 years old, NJ
7. Christopher Wu: 1967 USCF, 10 years old, NJ
8. Michael Bodek: 1963 USCF, 11 years old, NY
9. Joshua Colas: 1951 USCF, 10 years old, NY
10. Justus Williams: 1944 USCF, 10 years old, NY
11. Jonathan Chiang, 1905 USCF, 10 years old, TX
12. Kapil Chandran: 1895 USCF, 10 years old, CT

supervised bughouse

Michael Bodek in Washington Square Park

Arthur Shen plays blitz. Tommy He eats a cookie. Greg chats with Ava Harmon.

Anna Matlin

Kapil Chandran

Kayden Troff

Justus Williams

Justus, Michael, Josh
Josh, Luke, Mike, Carl


After lunch, Greg analyzes the game Jonathan Chiang - Justus Williams (0-1) with the group.