Next tournament info

This will be a great tournament for the players in our club:

Registration is now open for the annual January Tournament the 2012 Metzger Winter Classic at Metzger Elementary. The tournament will have multiple sections and an OPEN 1200+ G/60 Section with CASH PRIZES. In addition to the individual awards, this year’s event will have a new TEAM Competition and an ALL GIRLS SECTION! Plenty of awards to go around with top 2 teams in each division receiving trophies, top 5 in Knights, Bishops, Rooks, and Queens plus sportsmanship awards. Team trophies will be determined by the top 4 players point totals in each division with a minimum of 2 players to qualify. For more information contact Jeff Risher at jeff.risher@yahoo.com or Register Here.

No chess club on Tuesday November 22nd, but...

... continue to work on your chess homework!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Announcement for November 15, 2011 - Chess Club Meeting

We are close to order chess clocks for the club, every kid is require to purchase a digital chess clock for the club (35$) as show on the picture (see below). You can do it yourself or e can order them together.

Chess sets (not mandatory) - 12$/set

Homework:

Beginners:  Make sure you finish  "Step 1"

Advance: At least 9 pages from your set.

Andrei

Chess Clocks

We need chess clocks for the club. I am planning to order this clock http://www.chesshouse.com/Saitek_Competition_Pro_Game_Clock_III_p/e321.htm

Please bring  35$ next week so we can order the clocks soon.

Thanks

Andrei

Advance group - homework for November 1st -2011

Finish the handout you got in class. If you lost it, email me (not later then Sunday) so I can email it back to you.

My email:
 happyvalleychess@gmail.com

Andrei

Beginners group - homework for November 1st -2011

Please review how to checkmate with King and Rook versus Rook

http://www.chesskids.com/level2/cl5l7.htm#t1

You can practice here:

http://www.academicchess.org/play/Basic%20Mates/rookvsking.shtml

Funny things about chess pieces names

Beginners group - homework for October 25 -2011

Advance and Beginners group - homework for October 25 -2011

The Chess Board

All of you are advised to learn the chess board so well that you should be able to “see” it in your  mind.

You should be able to quickly answer, without looking at the board, to some questions such as:

- How can a knight from c4 arrive at f6 through d3?

- Say all the routes for a knight to go from d6 to f4 in the minimal number of moves.

- Which are the squares where an h4-bishop can attack a queen on d6?

- Name the diagonals that intersect in c5, f4, h2.

- Name the color of the squares where the b1-h7 diagonal intersects the 4th rank.

….and so on.

Practice those kind of exercises at home, I will test you next week and every other week after that!

Advance group - homework for October 25 -2011

Chess tournament

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 5, 2011!

Don't register yet, we will send registration for the whole group.

Advance group - homework for October 18 -2011

Beginners homework (Part 3 of 3) for October 18 -2011

Beginners homework (Part 2 of 3) for October 18 -2011

Is it: Check, Checkmate,Stalemate or None ?

Black to move in all the positions:

Position #1







Position #2



Position #3



Position #4

Position #5

Position #6



Position #7



Position #8

Position #9

Position #10

Beginners homework (Part 1 of 3) for October 18 -2011

Practice and review checkmate with King+ Queen against King.

Watch the following lessons how to do it ( there is more than one method)

 Link #1

Link #2

Link #3

For the beginners group

For the beginners group (will be fun for the advance group kids to try it too)

Mate in 3

Mate in 1 and mate in 2

How to read a chess game - short version

How to Read and Write Algebraic Chess Notation

Please follow the link from our friends from chesshouse. If you have questions, email me!

Andrei

Our chess club re-open on Tuesday September 20, 2011!

Thanks for coming! See you next week.

Andrei (iushu@hotmail.com)

This summer: chess in the Happy Valley park!

Hello,

For who still wants to play, we will have casual meetings every Wednesday around 16.30-17.00 in Happy Valley park. Bring your chess set and have fun playing!

I will try to be there every time.

Andrei

Who do you think is better?

No homework for May 11th 2011

For the kids who did not bring the homework last week, bring it this week.

Advise from the best living chess player

GM Gary Kasparov born Garry Kimovich Weinstein, 13 April 1963 is a Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion.

Kasparov's ratings achievements include being rated world #1 according to Elo rating almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement in 2005 and holding the all-time highest rating of 2851.^[3] He was the world number-one ranked player for 255 months, by far the most of all-time and nearly three times as long as his closest rival, Anatoly Karpov. He also holds records for consecutive tournament victories and Chess Oscars.

Watch here

Extra homework for the kids who requested

Extra Homework for the "cuties" May 4th-2011

Chess Club Homework May 4th-2011

Happy Valley Elementary - Chess Club Homework April 27-2011

Rule #5: Have fun!

Chess jokes:

A man was walking in the park when he came upon another man playing chess with his dog. He declared, " Geez, that's a smart dog you have!" To which the dog owner replied, " Not really, I am ahead three games to one.

My computer beat me at chess, so I beat it at kickboxing.

Clackamas HS student wins 105,000$ chess scholarship

Link from Fox News

Happy Valley Elementary - Chess Club Homework April 20th-2011

Here are the solutions for this type of homework:

Mate in one: 

1.  Qe8+ Rxe8
2. Rxe8#

Material:

1. Bxa6 bxa6
2. Nxc7 Ke7
3. Nxa8

Best move:

1.Qd1
Black queen is forking the white rook and the white knight. The only possible way in this position to defend both pieces is to defend them both with the queen.

Chess history: Bobby Fischer

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess player and the eleventh World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess writer. After ending his competitive career, he proposed a new variant of chess, and a modified chess timing system; both of these ideas have received some support in recent years.
You can read more about him here: Bobby Fischer

Rule #5: Have fun!

Basic Checkmate: How to checkmate a king with a king and rook.

Basic Checkmate: How to checkmate a king with a king and queen.

This is one of the metods, take a look:

Chess Calculation: The Square Rule

Watch this video for recap of this week lesson:

Happy Valley Elementary - Chess Club Homework April 11th-2011

Happy Valley Elementary - Chess Club Homework April 6th-2011

What is a Tie Break in a chess tournament?

TBrk  stands for Tie Break calculations. Often these numbers are not published and only seen by the tournament director so it is reasonable that many players may not have seen them before. These numbers are calculations made by the computer in an effort to put a number a player’s performance and are often used to break ties when two or more players have the same score.
There are probably 20 or more different calculations that could be made. The TD selects the ones in use at the event. The ones shown are the standard ones we use at most of our events where it is not practical to have playoff games.
The first order of tie break is if the players have actually played each other. That solves many ties straight away.
The TBrk C stands for cumulative score and is the first computer calculation we tend to use. It is simply a round by round accumulation of a player’s score. For example if a player wins every game their score after round one will be 1.0, after round 2 it will be 2.0, and so on. The calculation adds the score at the end of each round, ie 1.0 plus 2.0 plus 3.0 plus 4.0 plus 5.0 for a maximum total of 15.
Now let’s look at what happens to two hypothetical players who each score 4.0. One is challenging for the championship. He has won all four games playing on the top board against the top contenders who, like him are unbeaten. Unfortunately he loses the big final match. His running score at the end of each round would look like 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0. If you add them all together you get 14.
The other player loses his first game. This puts him on the other side of the pairings where he will only play people who have already lost a game. Lets say he wins his next 4 games so his round by round score would look like 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0. If you add these numbers together you get 10. This reflects the fact that his path to 4.0 points was significantly easier than the first player. In a tie the computer would place the first player ahead of the second.
If this calculation still does not resolve a tie the next one is used. TBrk (P) measures the performance of the opposition a player faces. This calculation attempts to recognize the performance of the competition that a player met on the day. The math is a bit complicated but in simple terms a win against a strong player who won all his other games is worth more than a win against a weak player who lost every game he played.

Five of our team players qualify to play at Oregon State Scholastic Chess Championships!

Here they are:
1. Pike Jordan
2. Stefan Caplazi
3. Jacob Deklyen
4. Grant Gustavson
5. Andrea Botez

The OSCF State Championship is the premier scholastic chess tournament in the state — a two-day extravaganza in the beautiful resort town of Seaside, Oregon in April each year. Before the main event on Saturday, the 250 or so participants get a chance to unwind with the chaotic but fun blitz and bughouse tournaments late Friday afternoon. On Saturday morning players are divided into fourteen different playing sections defined by age and skill level to compete for large, heavy trophy cups filled with delicious, fresh salt-water taffy made right in Seaside.

Congrats!

HAPPY VALLEY ELEMENTARY RANKING MARCH 24TH 2011

FAQs About Ratings (From OSCF website)

Q: What is a “rating” and why do I need one?
A: A chess rating is a numerical grading that indicates the history of a player’s performance – and a statistical prediction of his/her near-future performance among other players in the same rating community
A rating helps players to measure individual progress and seek out appropriate competition. Tournament directors use ratings for making appropriate pairings in tournaments.
Q: There are a lot of different kinds of ratings: NWSRS, USCF, FIDE, ICC, Chessmaster, chess.com., etc. What’s the difference?
A: The most widespread rating system in the United States is managed by the US Chess Federation (USCF). To get a USCF rating, a player must join the USCF and play in a USCF-rated tournament. There are scores of USCF tournaments in Oregon every year, and hundreds of Oregon players are USCF members with ratings.  However, because the cost of USCF membership is a deterrent for many young Oregonian novices to go to their first tournaments, OSCF also endorses Northwest Scholastic Rating System (NWSRS). No membership is required and no membership fees. To get an NWSRS rating, simply play in an NWSRS tournament, and you will automatically earn a rating. OSCF endorses and uses both USCF and NWSRS ratings.
FIDE ratings are for international events. Although very common in Europe, there are very few FIDE rated tournaments in the US. There are many websites (ICC, playchess.com, chess.com, World Chess Live, etc.) that host rated internet chess games, but these ratings have little relationship to over-the-board ratings and are not used by OSCF. Some chess-playing computer software packages also assign ratings. The ratings given by these programs can be vastly different from NWSRS and USCF ratings. E.g., Chessmaster ratings tend to be hundreds of points higher than USCF ratings.
Q: What’s my Rating?
A: The OSCF supports and endorses two rating systems. If you are a USCF member, you can look up your rating here:  USCF. If you have played in an NWSRS-rated event, you can find your rating here: NWSRS.
Q: Why use NWSRS ratings at all? Why not just use USCF ratings exclusively?
A: The short answer is that NWSRS gives the benefits of ratings without membership fees. This makes it much easier for parents to bring their young novices to their first tournaments. As a result the number of active scholastic chess players has undergone phenomenal growth since OSCF started using the NWSRS.
In addition, OSCF and NWSRS give great support to parents and teachers who want to organize rated tournaments. A new, would-be USCF tournament director must be a USCF member (about $40 per year for an adult), must have a USCF affiliate (another $40 per year), must get official USCF certification (no charge), and must pay $20-40 per event for ratings fees. For a new tournament director to run his or her first NWSRS tournament, there are no membership fees, no affiliate fees, no ratings fees, and no official certification required. Instead, OSCF will send an experienced TD at no cost to help run that first tournament or two. This friendly, helpful, and economical environment makes it easy for chess parents and chess coaches to host tournaments. As a result of the OSCF’s efforts, many chess parents have stepped into organizing NWSRS tournaments, and the opportunities for Oregon juniors to play competitive chess have expanded enormously since OSCF adopted NWSRS.
For more on NWSRS and USCF ratings, click here.
Q: What’s a “good” rating for a scholastic player?
A: USCF ratings range from 100 to about 2800, and NWSRS scholastic ratings range from 400 to about 2000 (but higher ratings are certainly possible!). Most scholastic players start out with NWSRS ratings around 500, and it normally takes a couple years to advance above 1000. The vast majority of active scholastic chess players in America have USCF ratings under 1200. In October 2010, there were fewer than 25 scholastic players in Oregon with ratings over 1500 and only one over 2000.
See data.
Q: What is the difference between established and provisional ratings?
A:When a player has not played many rated games, there is not enough information to get a good measure of his or her playing strength, so new ratings are considered provisional and can fluctuate wildly. Provisional ratings are not very reliable. The ratings formulas have a built-in mechanism to dampen fluctuations as more games are played, so inevitably your rating will settle down to a realistic level and gradually change as you improve. Established ratings are those in which a minimum number of games have been rated and the wild fluctuations are strongly damped. In the NWSRS, the minimum is 15 games. In the US Chess Federation, the minimum number of rated games is 26.
Q: I already have a rating. Do I have to start “from scratch” when I play under another rating system?
A: NWSRS: Some Oregon players enter the NWSRS system with a previously established USCF rating. If you already have a USCF rating when you play in your first NWSRS rated tournament, give the tournament organizer your USCF member ID and rating; that will be your initial rating in the NWSRS. When an unrated player (both in USCF and NWSRS) competes in a NWSRS rated tournament, his/her baseline rating is based on age and performance at that first tournament. Thereafter the rating is based purely on performance.
USCF: Scholastic players who are new to the USCF start out as “unrated” — no other rating system rating is accepted as a starting point. When an unrated player competes in a USCF rated tournament, his/her baseline rating is based on age and performance at that first tournament. Thereafter the rating is based purely on performance.
No over-the-board rating system, that we know of, accepts computer or online ratings as a “baseline” or for new players.
Q: Why does the OSCF think ratings are beneficial to scholastic players?
A: Ratings provide many benefits to both players and organizers:

• As Chess Master Carl Haessler points out, “Ratings provide a forum where kids of all ages and playing strengths are able to measure themselves, not by comparing themselves to others, but by evaluating their individual progress.”
• Ratings help players and organizers seek out appropriate competition.
• When appropriately used with computerized tournament pairing programs, ratings make for fairer — and more exciting events. The winners are less likely to earn awards based on the “luck of the draw” in getting paired with less skilled players.

Ratings have potential drawbacks as well. Some players avoid certain competitions out of fear of losing ratings points. For example, some players will avoid short time controls because they play better at longer time controls. And some strong scholastic players avoid scholastic tournaments because they know that a lot of young players are underrated. When your opponent is stronger than his or her rating indicates, you don’t gain as many points as you “should” if you win, and you lose more points than you “should” if you lose. Bah!! Have courage and have fun playing! In the long run, you’ll be happier and a stronger player and have a higher rating because of it.
Q: My NWSRS and USCF ratings are very different. Why is that?
A: First, let’s define “very different.” The USCF considers two players to be in the same class grouping if their ratings are within 200 points of each other. Ratings within 100 points are considered nearly equal by the rating algorithms. Differences of less than 100 are normal and can easily result from random variation.
Greater differences can also sometimes be explained by random variation — especially when ratings are provisional. Provisional ratings are not very accurate and can change dramatically in a short period of time. When ratings are still provisional, a few games that are rated in one of the systems but not the other can lead to big differences in ratings between USCF and NWSRS.
In addition, players with NWSRS ratings under 1200 frequently find that their USCF ratings are quite a bit lower than their NWSRS ratings. There are two principal reasons for this. First is that the minimum USCF rating is 100, while the minimum NWSRS rating is 400, so there’s a 300 point difference built into the system for novice players. A second reason is that Oregon juniors tend to play way more NWSRS events than USCF events in their first few years of tournament play. To see how this works, suppose your first tournament is dual-rated, and you get identical initial USCF and NWSRS ratings. Then, you go to six more NWSRS tournaments that are not USCF rated over the next year, and your play become substantially stronger. Your NWSRS rating will increase along with your playing strength. However, your USCF rating won’t change at all until you play another USCF event.
The differences between the ratings gradually diminish as both rise above 1200, and there is little difference between the ratings once NWSRS exceeds 1500. How so? Players rated above 1500 rarely play anyone rated below 1000, so the differential minimum ratings between the systems does not have nearly the impact as it does for novices. In addition, stronger players tend to play many more USCF events than do novices, so their USCF rating tracks changes in playing strength just as well as their NWSRS ratings do.

Happy Valley Elementary - Chess Club Homework March 30-2011 ( Part 1)

Sections as Oregon State Championships

HAPPY VALLEY ELEMENTARY RANKING MARCH 14TH 2011

Before and during the round