Vivacity’s March-10 Newsletter
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In this issue:
- Chess News from around the world and around the block
- Chess Stories: serious and with a smile
- Bits of Chess Wisdom
- Test Your Tactical Skills
- Vivacity’s Chess Center
- List of upcoming chess events.
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1. CHESS NEWS
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
- A chess prodigy: Magnus Carlsen
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Articles/Time.pdf
- World Chess News: watch the latest episodes at
www.worldchessnews.com
NATIONAL NEWS:
- 2010 US Junior Chess Congress, Indianapolis, Indiana, February 20-21, 2010
- Almost 200 players, representatives from 14 states, competed in four sections of the Championship.
The winners listed below (by section):
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- 12th Grade and Under Champion: Josh Matti (IN)
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- 12th Grade and Under TEAM Champion: Canterbury School (IN)
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- 8th Grade and Under Champion: Jacob Weaver
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- 8th Grade and Under TEAM Champion: Twin Cities Chess Club (IL)
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- 6th Grade and Under Co-Champions: Shangbo Liao and Peter Chen
(both from MI)
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- 6th Grade and Under TEAM Champion: Michigan Maniacs Chess Club
(MI)
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- 3rd Grade and Under Co-Champions: Sam Witwer (IN) and Jason Zhou
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- 3rd Grade and Under TEAM Champion: Twin Cities Chess Club (IL)
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For complete results of the championship, go to
www.2010chesscongress.com/results.html
Ohio NEWS:
- 2010 Ohio Girls Championship, Columbus, February 20, 2010
- Almost 100 girls competed in three sections of the Championship. The 2010 Ohio Girls Champion
became Anna Delamerced (Cincinnati) and a TEAM Champion is Bellbrook Middle School (Bellbrook).
For complete results of the championship, go to
www.cpu-solutions.com/OhioGirls/results.asp?titletag=ohg10§ion=champion
VIVACITY NEWS:
February 7, Vukcevich Super Cup-6, Mayfield Village, OH
Twenty eight players from 18 institutions competed for the awards in the February VSC.
To see the Kodak moments go to
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/photo3/files/photo-02_07_10.htm
CHAMPIONSHIP Section:
1st ROMAN KOWALYSKO (Hawken High School, Gates Mills), pictured
2nd JONATHAN BOTEK (Gilmour Academy, Gates Mills)
3rd DAN BOGERT (Lyndhurst) pictured |
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PREMIER Section:
1st JAYANTH RAJAN (Beachwood Middle School,
Beachwood) pictured
2nd VIJAY SASTRY (Hudson Montessori, Hudson)
3rd – 4th BRENNEN KEUCHEL (Hudson Montessori, Hudson) and
SEAN REARDON (Shore Jr. High, Mentor) |
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NOVICE - A Section:
1st ONUR KARDZHALA (Hershey Montessori, Concord) pictured
2nd SONYA ANUFRIYENKO (Hershey Montessori, Concord)
3rd PETER JOYCE (Hershey Montessori, Concord)
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NOVICE - B Section:
1st BEN GREYSUKH (Bryden Elementary, Beachwood) pictured
2nd CHASE SCOTT (Hershey Montessori, Concord)
3rd BEN LERNER (Hershey Montessori, Concord)
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2009-10 SUPER CUP Leaders:
Super Cup standings:
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/MRV/CurrentStanding.asp
| CHAMPIONSHIP Section: |
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PREMIER Section: |
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DAN BOGERT – 17.0 points
AARON TIAN – 14.5 points
ROMAN KOWALYSKO – 14.5 points |
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JONATHAN BOTEK – 15.5 points |
TEAM Leader:
Solon High School – 20.0 points
Hudson Montessori School – 13.5 points |
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- February 14, Q-Chess, Mayfield Village, OH;
listed are winners in each section:
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- Section A: DAN BOGERT (Lyndhurst)
- Section B: ONUR KARDZHALA (5th grade, Hershey Montessori, Concord)
- Section C: RACHELLE MAGARAM (6th grade, Hawken, Lyndhurst)
- Section D: ABBY BLITZ (2nd grade, Gross Schechter, Pepper Pike)
- Section E: RYAN FRIEDENBERG (5th grade, Kirtland Elementary, Kirtland)
- February 21, Q-Chess, Mayfield Village, OH;
listed are winners in each section:
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- Section A: AARON TIAN (9th grade, Hudson High School, Hudson)
- Section B: SEAN REARDON (6th grade, Shore Jr. High, Mentor)
- Section C: BEN LERNER (1st grade, Hershey Montessori, Concord)
- Section D: MICHAEL BARTMAN (4th grade, Moreland Hills Elementary, Orange)
- Section E: DESTYNN KEUCHEL (Kindergarten, Hudson Montessori, Hudson)
- February 28, Q-Chess, Mayfield Village, OH
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- Section A: DAN BOGERT (Lyndhurst)
- Section B: VIJAY SASTRY (2nd grade, Hudson Montessori, Hudson)
- Section C: BEN GREYSUKH (2nd grade, Bryden Elementary, Beachwood)
- Section D: BEN LERNER (1st grade, Hershey Montessori, Concord)
- Section E: NELLY AZAR (2nd grade, Ratner School, Pepper Pike)
For a complete list of the results of Vivacity’s tournaments go to: www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Results.htm
After every rated tournament individual ratings are updated, the USCF periodically updates ratings on its web site: www.uschess.org/msa/MbrLst.php
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2. CHESS: SERIOUS AND WITH A SMILE
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| Do you have an interesting or funny story related to chess? If so, I would like to hear it.
<<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>>
I want to hear your stories or stories about people you know.
Any chess story involving kids that will put a smile on someone’s face. Some practical advice
that will help another player reach or even exceed his or her potential at the chessboard.
I want to know what drives one student to excel at chess when so many others lose interest or
fail to advance. Why are so many girls playing and succeeding at chess when a generation ago
they were few and far between? How does an inner-city chess club find so much success when there
is so much turmoil around them? Etc. etc. etc.
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Cartoons by Gary Gifford
Gary is the editor for UON (Unorthodox Openings News), quarterly electronic
magazine. He is the author of a cartoon/word play book (The Bermuda Pie-Angle)
and co-author with Davide Rozzoni and Bill Wall of a chess book: "Winning with the
Krazy Kat and Old Hippo".
www.lulu.com/content/3292224 |
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<<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>>
- Chess Archive…
- 25 years ago the first world championship match between World Champion, GM Anatoly Karpov and
challenger, GM Garry Kasparov was terminated after 48 games by Florencio Campomanes, the
President of International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Read more:
www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6128 and
www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles337.pdf
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3. BITS of CHESS WISDOM
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Knowledge vs. Skill
By Joe Fogarty
| Joe Fogarty, Vivacity’s Instructor, shares his experience from a
recent Case Winter OPEN.
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One of the reasons why chess appeals to me so greatly is because it forces the participants to
rely on a combination of things that are normally left apart. One of the best examples of this
is the way that chess uniquely requires the use of both the left brain and the right brain. For
an upcoming article, I plan to go into detail describing the different between left brained chess
and right brained chess.
Anyway, for this article, I want to talk about the way that chess snaps the normal polarity
between knowledge and skill. While most competitions require some of both, everything else that
I can think of relies far more on one. For example, the baseball batter will have knowledge of
the pitcher he is against and knowledge of his own strategy given to him in signals from the
third base coach. However, I would estimate that baseball is 85% talent to 15% knowledge.
Similarly, a jeopardy contestant will need to have fast reflexes and fingers, but will ultimately
rely on about 95% knowledge to 5% skill. Chess on the other hand is a game that requires a great
deal of knowledge and skill. Most players will probably argue that skill is, by far, the more
important of these. However, I would contest that they are equal and I will put forth a game of
my own to demonstrate how knowledge can reign supreme.
In the following game, I was given white against Carl R. Boor (1906) in the 4th round out of 5
at the Cardinal Open 2010. Playing in the Under 2000 section, I was in sole first place with 2.5
out of 3 points and I knew that winning my last remaining game with white would give me excellent
chances of winning the tournament.
The opening of the game was the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense, something that I have a
lot of knowledge of with both colors. My opponent and I both played the most popular and common
moves, but he was forced to begin thinking by move 7, when I was simply repeating moves from memory.
By move 13, we were still in a very common position that I had been to many times. However, my
opponent had used up 45 minutes of his time, while I had used up approximately 45 seconds.
Follow the game Joe Fogarty – Carl Boor Sr.
His 14th move was the first move that I was unfamiliar with. At this time, many people would think
that the “knowledge” factor of chess goes out the door and skill takes over. However, this is
incorrect. At this time, I began to not rely on my knowledge of the moves, but rather my knowledge
of the ideas and theory behind the opening. Although I had never seen 14…a6, I responded very
quickly with 15. h4 because I knew that it had to be the correct move because this kingside
attack is exactly the plan of the opening.
Between moves 15 and 19, I hardly calculated one move at all. Instead, I relied on my knowledge of
theory and considering how to apply that theory to this particular circumstance. The only tough
decision to make came on move 17, when I decided that, in this situation, the knight maneuver to
f4 would be stronger than an exchange of the knights.
I did not have to show any chess skill at all until move 20, at which time I spent 20 minutes
calculating the best way to continue. This was a good time to use that skill, because the most
obvious and natural way to play may have resulted in a loss for me, which is shown in the game.
By move 21, I had a dead-winning position without having to really apply my calculating skill at
all. I had used up a total of about 20 minutes, while my opponent was scrambling to make moves
because he had used up nearly 2 hours. In addition, he looked to be extremely tired, while I
felt like someone who was still warming up. This game was at least 90% knowledge on my part,
but my opponent was forced to use his calculating skill, which resulted in inaccuracy and fatigue.
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4. TEST YOUR TACTICAL SKILLS
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Problem #6
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The problem was created by Gary Gifford, and was made available by courtesy of
www.Chessville.com.
Solution will be provided in the next issue.
Problems’ Contest
Please, provide your solutions BEFORE the next issue is published. We will post names of
readers who provide correct solutions. At the end of the contest, the names of the five
best solvers and short stories about them will be posted in the Vivacity newsletter.
Feel free to submit a chess story along with your solution. The most interesting stories
will be also published.
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What is White’s Best Move? Support your answer with a comprehensive analysis.
<<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>>
Problem #5
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Solution to Problem #5 (February newsletter):
- Theme:
- Mate
- Hint:
- White’s bishops are very powerful.
- Solution:
- 35.Qxg5+ [or 35.Qf6+ Re7 36Qxe7#]
35…Re7 [The only reply.]
36.Qxe7#
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5. VIVACITY CHESS CENTER
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BIRTHDAYS in March:
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Vivacity students took part in the following
tournaments in FEBRUARY:
- Canton Scholastic Chess League (CSCL) Championship,Massillon, OH, February 13
- TEAM of Hudson Montessori (BRENNEN, CONNOR, DEVIN and VIJAY) took
FIRST TEAM Place (Elementary Schools Championship)
- DESTYNN took THIRD Place (K-2, Novice Section)
- 2010 Ohio Girls Championship, Columbus, OH, February 20
- Girls TEAM of Hershey Montessori took 4th TEAM Place (K-6 Grade,
Novice Section)
- SONYA (Hershey Montessori) and RACHELLE (Hawken) tied for 7th Place
(K-6 Grade, Novice Section)
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Vivacity students are among the top 50 in Ohio
in FEBRUARY:
SIX Vivacity students rated among the
top K-6 GRADE players in Ohio
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BRENNEN K (Hudson Montessori) |
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CONNOR K (Hudson Montessori) |
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DANIEL A (Woodbury Elementary, Shaker) |
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JONATHAN Bo (Gilmour Academy) |
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JONATHAN Bu (Wickliffe Middle School) |
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KENT L (Mayfield Middle School) |
Complete list:
www.ohioscholasticchess.org/k_6_top_50.html
FOUR Vivacity students rated among the top K-12 GRADE
players in Ohio.
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AARON T (Hudson High School) |
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DANIEL A (Woodbury Elementary, Shaker) |
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JONATHAN Bu (Wickliffe Middle School) |
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ROMAN K (Hawken Upper School) |
Complete list:
www.ohioscholasticchess.org/scholastic_top_50.html
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Vivacity Chess Center invites players from beginner to Master to visit our Chess Club; everyone is welcome!!!
For more information about, location, schedule, and/or registration go to: www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Tournaments.htm or call 440-461-3634
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6. UPCOMING CHESS EVENTS:
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MARCH 7, Vukcevich Super Cup-7, Mayfield Village, OH
Info:
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Tournaments/03-07-10.pdf
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MARCH 13, 2010 Queen City Classic, Cincinnati, OH
Info:
www.proscan.com/fw/main/default.asp?DocID=1084
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MARCH 14, 21 and 28, Q-Chess, Mayfield Village, OH
Info:
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Tuition-ChessClub.htm or call: 440-461-3634
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MARCH 20-21, 2010 Ohio High & Middle School Championships, Cuyahoga Heights, OH
Info:
ohchess.org/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=257&year=2010&month=03&day=20&Itemid=32
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SPRING Chess Camps:
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MARCH 29 – APRIL 2, Spring Chess Camp-1, Mayfield Village, OH
Info:
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Camps/Camp-MV-Spring-10.pdf
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APRIL 5 – 9, Spring Chess Camp-2, Mayfield Village, OH
Info:
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/Camps/Camp-MV-Spring-10.pdf
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To view a complete list of upcoming events go to:
www.vivacityinc.com/chess/ChessEvents.htm
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Don't forget to send your news to us at:
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