School Sessions and Role Models

Time for an update on the situation with our CSC Teesside schools.

We have been working very hard on alternative plans for chess delivery and we now have nine of our Teesside schools enjoying our online lessons. Others are in the pipeline too.

We are delivering the lessons across a range of platforms.

Some of the school classes are almost as large as they would be under normal circumstances.

Sometimes we teach to two or more classes at the same time.

Other sessions see our tutors linking up with children in the school classrooms and also with the children who are in their own homes, who are able to access our lessons on their own devices.

All of the children are excited to be back in chess action. We are energised by their excitement, commitment, smiles and dedication.

We enjoy excellent support from the relevant members of staff and from the parents of the children who join in from home. The parents are participating, learning and playing chess too.

All of the CSC Teesside tutors meet online regularly to share plans, experiences and other thoughts on how we can all improve.

It is a testament to how much our schools, staff and children value our chess sessions. 

Our success did not fall from the sky. Richard, Dave, Sean C. and honorary CSC Teesside tutor Jo have trained hard to upgrade their skills in several key areas, worked even harder and never once shirked a single challenge.

Thank you to everyone who refused to run up the white flag and decided instead to tackle the new challenges head-on.

Please, don't anyone dare tell me there aren't any role models left in this strange old world. 

They were right there in front of you, all of the time.

Project 30 Chessmas Zoom Quiz

The previous Project 30 Zoom quizzes for both adults and juniors had been very well received and for the Chessmas Special I thought it would be fun to combine the two groups and invite even more people besides.

This was our second event in three days and it followed hard on the heels of the 11th Mike Closs Memorial Tournament.

The questions ranged from Christmas song lyrics to tricky chess puzzles and even included a memory test.

The participants included juniors, parents, strong club players, CSC tutors, colleagues and, of course friends.

Nevil, Natasha, Paul Weightman, Zac, Mike and Alice were all making their Project 30 Quiz debuts. The icing on the Chessmas cake was definitely when the great Kineke Mulder joined us from Austria.

Chess-wise, Adrian Thomas of the Voodoo Sheiks is a self-confessed non-player, but he more than makes up for it the questions which do not involve chess moves!

John Garnett looked to have seized victory when we counted up the scores, but - wait! - we had promised bonus points for those who dared to dress up for the occasion. Suddenly, Mike and Alice overtook John, thanks to the bonus points earned by their festive accoutrements.

Congratulations to the new champions!

Final Scores

40/52: Mike and Alice Sturman

39: John Garnett

37.5: Royce Parker

36: Katie and Niamh Sidgwick

34: Catherine and Jessica Lloyd, Rebecca and Isla Horlock

32: Hannah and Lucy Cartman, David Baillie, Nevil Chan

30: Paul and Zac Welling

27: Mike and Natasha Pointon, Adrian Thomas

26: David Hardy

23: Kineke Mulder

22: Dave Edmunds

20: Richard Harris, Paul Weightman

Thank you, everyone!

This was the last Project 30 event of 2020; a year which quite clearly finished a very long way from where it started, in so many different ways.

No matter what happens next in the world, Project 30 will return in 2021 for more fun and frolics.

Meanwhile, here is a new festive tune for you to enjoy, featuring the great Adrian Thomas on guitar and drums. Take it away, the The Don't Look Now Band!

Teaching Adult Beginners

Mark Rivlin, editor of the newsletter for the English Chess Federation, contacted me recently to ask for a few thoughts on teaching chess to adult beginners. This was for a piece he was writing on the ECF website.

Mark and I at the 2019 London Chess Classic

This is what I told him...

Here are some thoughts on teaching adult beginners.

One of the biggest mistakes made when teaching anyone how to play chess is dumbing down the material. This applies mainly to juniors but can also happen with adults.

Here are some pointers:

A coach may feel uncomfortable when teaching juniors and hides in an over-reliance on the teacher/pupil status. This fails to take into account the two-way process of the learning experience.

A coach is unable to convey the message from a position of greater skill and experience.

The desire - on either a conscious or subconscious level - to prove to the student the teacher is superior.

These - and other mistakes - build walls and project boundaries that can be difficult to overcome. There are other mistakes just waiting to be made when teaching adults how to play chess.

These include:

Being unable to take the lesson seriously, which can become a scenario of two friends chatting.

Not understanding the skills necessary to successfully convey the message to a pupil who could be of an age equal to - or greater - than the tutor.

Not structuring the ongoing work and lessons as one would do when teaching juniors.

A fault common to teaching both juniors and adults is the use of money as the sole motivation. Without wishing to stray too far into the tautological territory of false gods, I am sure we are all familiar with teachers who are clearly counting up their figures as they simultaneously count down their days to retirement.

Successful teaching requires, as a starting point, a potent desire to enrich the lives of others and a passion for the subject in question.

The dubious art of dumbing down is on the increase. One cannot help but notice the familiar patterns whenever chess is featured on the news. The presenters simply have to smirk, sheepishly, while they reveal how bad they are at playing chess. Then it seems obligatory to follow through with, ‘Mind you, I’m good at checkers.’

Placed against such a backdrop, the reasons people pitch their lessons incorrectly when teaching adults is understandable. An additional factor can be added: the vast majority of chess tutors are not trained teachers.

This particular obstacle can be overcome as the tutors develop their own style and build up a significant amount of experience.

However, the situation will always be problematic until the almost-universal dumbing down is countered.

Some people want to learn how to play chess merely to enjoy playing the game. Others want to learn the basics and then improve their skills and enter tournaments. No one approach is better than any other in this respect. There is more than enough room for everyone in the chess world.

The average person who plays chess will never elevate their ratings to a level that the majority of established players will find impressive. There is a great deal of snobbery in chess and giving the human brain a number is good way to ensure it continues.

Good tutors will avoid the pitfalls noted above and will treat all students with the greatest of respect - whether they are juniors or adults. They will ensure the lessons have relevant content and are not excuses to show off their own talent or to talk down to ‘lesser’ players.

Patience is required from both sides. Adults will find some aspects very hard to grasp, just as juniors do.

If a tutor or experienced chess player would like to put themselves in the new student’s shoes then all it needs is for the tutor to try doing something new. For instance, try learning how to play a musical instrument. Then think about how long you would keep it up if you had a tutor for music lessons and they were obviously frustrated by your lack of talent or just wanted to show how much better than you they are with the instrument.

There is an enormous difference between dumbing something down and making it more accessible. The two are not as interchangeable as people would have you believe.

In the wise words of Anna from the rather appropriate The King and I:

‘It's a very ancient saying,

But a true and honest thought,

That if you become a teacher,

By your pupils you'll be taught.’

Advice for Beginners

Learn the very basics of a small number of openings (one for White; two for Black - to cater for 1 e4 and 1 d4 by the opponents).

Learn how to finish off an opponent when you have a much superior force. Just knowing a few standard checkmates will considerably increase your confidence and results.

Practice.

Do not neglect chess books. There is an enormous variety on the market. Take advice from experienced players regarding which books would best suit your current playing strength.

Play through the moves of your games and try to understand where you went wrong and what you need to do to avoid the same mistakes happening next time.

Try solving a small number of tactical chess puzzles, several times a week.

Practice.

Do not be afraid of playing against higher-rated players. You would like to beat them, but you cannot do so without playing them.

Analyse the games yourself before you use a computer to do so. This will improve your own analytical powers and when you compare notes with the chess engine you will also see what sort of tactics you are missing.

Practice.

Vary your tournaments. Play in some in which you think you will do well and choose others in which you are aiming to gather experience and gain knowledge.

Set sensible targets for yourself before each tournament.

Practice.

Go to your local chess club (when allowed to do so).

Keep going through the pain-barrier of defeats. Accept that 'you either win, or you learn.'

Remember that every chess player in the world was once a total novice. The ones who are good players now simply had more determination to keep going.

Practice.

You can sign up for the Newsletter of the English Chess Federation for regular news updates and exclusive content by following this link.

International Chess Challenge: The Conclusion

It has been a while since we reported on the International Chess Challenge between Hutt International Boys' School (New Zealand) and The Links Primary School (England).

The game has now reached its conclusion and we can present the final moves.

This was the position when we last saw it here on the blog.

                    

Hutt International Boys' School (New Zealand) v The Links (England)

White to play

The game continued...

24 Rc1

Attacking the knight.

24 ...Nd4+

Saving the knight and checking the white king.

25 Kd1

Trying two find safety behind the knight and pawn.

26 ...Nb3

The 10th and final move by a black knight in this game.

26 Nxb3 Qxb3+

27 Rc2 and 0-1

Hutt resigned immediately after playing their move.

The Final Position

Although the white king is not in checkmate, it is perfectly normal to resign in such a position. Black has a material advantage and a safe king. One way to increase the advantage would be to start pushing the pawn from a7 as far as possible. It may well reach the other side and earn promotion.

We started the game back in October 2019 - long before we had any inkling that the whole world would soon become embroiled in such a strange emergency.

It is curious that we should have started the challenge game before chess on the Internet experienced a huge boom.

The game continued despite various lockdowns and, of course, the usual school holidays.

We thoroughly enjoyed exchanging news and views with Richard Catterall and his excellent team of chess players.

Hutt International Boys' School is now taking its Summer Holiday, just as we head towards our Christmas break. A rematch is definitely in the pipeline for 2021.

Well played, everyone!

The Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge 2020-21

We are delighted to report that the long-running UK Chess Challenge has been confirmed for the school year 2020-21.

The current emergency had an unfortunate impact on chess but Sarah and Alex Longson rose to the challenge and somehow managed to move all of the stages from the Megafinal onwards online during 2020.

This was a magnificent achievement and it ensured juniors from all across the United Kingdom could continue to enjoy competitive chess despite chess clubs having to endure an enforced hiatus.

Sarah and Alex have worked very hard indeed to adapt the event to cater for all of the unexpected challenges.

Big plans are in place for 2020-21 and entries are being taken right now.

This is the rallying cry from their website:

One of the world’s largest junior chess competitions

Fun, educational and aspirational

Schools from all across the UK take part

We welcome complete beginners and will help prepare players to play in competitions

Regional and national leaderboards and prizes for schools

Chance for individuals to compete against the best at National level

There are two levels of entry this time.

The Basic package is free!

The Gold package ensures schools will receive the familiar box of prizes, as in all previous years.

My own schools have enjoyed participating in the UKCC every year since it first started.

I strongly recommend entering this magnificent event and the Gold package is definitely the option I would choose.

Head to the UKCC website for further details.

Meanwhile, Sarah will be one of our very special guest speakers at this year's (online) London Chess Conference, 'ChessTech2020'.

 

ChessTech 2020 Update

The ChessTech 2020 Conference is now just over one week away.

There will be a veritable bonanza of chess talk, demonstrations, presentations and various other events over the weekend of 5-6 December.

Basic tickets are free and there is an opportunity to purchase a Professional Ticket for £50, which will give exclusive access to several parts of the conference.

It will be a meeting of minds like no other and promises to be a very positive experience amid the otherwise desolate landscape of 2020.

250 people have already registered and we are creeping towards full capacity.

The full programme is about to be unveiled, so keep a close eye on the official website.

Be there - or be square!

ChessTech2020

 

The London Chess Conference will be held on the weekend of Saturday 5 - Sunday 6 December.

Circumstances have rather forced our hand to make the entire conference and online affair. 

However, there is an element of serendipity here as the theme was already set as Chess and Technology.

This is from the official website:

ChessTech2020 is the premier chess related conference in the world. Its name reflects the topic: Chess and Technology. This is the Eighth in the sequence of London Chess Conferences since 2013. 

Meet the leaders and pioneers of online chess, discover new products and services, debate cheating and learn about the latest chess-related research!

This year our theme is Chess and Technology with special regard to online learning, teaching and training. 

The conference is held online through video conference with networking opportunities through digital kiosks. 

There will also be a business competition for start-ups.

Topics 2020

Cheating and Anti-cheating
Streaming
Hybrid Events
Digital Strategy
Digital Formats
Online Learning Systems
Integrated Hardware
Playing Platforms
Let’s Make Chess Greener
Online Projects for Girls and Women
New Journalism Formats and much more

General admission is free this year and there is an upgraded Professional Ticket, priced at £50, for those who would appreciate a plethora of extras.

Head to the official website for further details.