Players made fireworks of their own at the John Bapst Memorial High School New Year's Tournament in Bangor as thirty-three of them faced off in four rounds of fighting chess. When the dust had settled, it was Ghezai Menelik topping the Open section with four points, Gabe Borland, J. Paul Ciarrocchi and Henry Chai all tieing for first with three points in the U1400 section and Patrick Hall with a perfect four for four in the U1000 section. We bring you the illustrated tournament report with crosstables.
Continue reading "2006 Goes Out With A Bang!" »
Get the New Year off to a great start by playing in the John Bapst New Year's Chess Tournament on Sunday, December 31, 2006 at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine. The tournament will feature four rounds at G/45 in three sections (Open, U1400 and U1000). Trophies will be awarded to the top K-3, K-5 and K-8 players in the U1000 section as well as to the top three players overall in both the U1400 and U1000 sections. Players in the Open section will be competing for cash prizes.
"Use all your pieces, castle, take your time and good luck!" Those were a coach's last words of encouragement to his student at the Brooklyn Chess Tournament held at Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, December 16, 2006. The tournament is part of a series of weekly scholastic tournaments hosted by Chess-in-the-Schools, a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to stimulating and enhancing learning skills by teaching chess to kindergarten through eighth grade children in New York's inner-city public schools, in after-school programs, tournament competitions, and College Bound programs for high school students. We visited with some of the organization's outstanding staff and students and brought back to Maine a host of fresh ideas and plans for collaboration.
A small but significant change in one of the United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess will take effect on January 1, 2007. The rule, 15A. Manner of keeping score, will be altered slightly to require the player to first make their move on the board and only then record it on the scoresheet. As the rule currently stands, the player can record the move first then execute the move on the board. In fact, many chess coaches and trainers council their students to do just that--record the move, look at the board with fresh eyes and then make the move.
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain by David Shenk is an intriguing romp through the chronicles of chess from the origins of the game in fifth-century Persia to a modern, public school classroom in New York City. In this illuminating work, Shenk weaves a facinating tapestry of the game's rich heritage. Read this book!
Grandmaster Susan Polgar, one of the strongest female chess players in history and a fine ambassador of the game, has just announced she will seek a position on the 2007 USCF Executive Board. As one of her many efforts, GM Polgar has created a sixty-two page chess training program designed to provide a chess curriculum for teachers, coaches and parents to use with schools, clubs, organizations and individual students. ChessMaine.net is delighted to bring you the Susan Polgar Foundation Chess Curriculum / Training Program for Teachers in .pdf format.
The George Cunningham Chess Club meets this Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at the Bumps Room in the University of Maine Orono Memorial Union from 7-11 p. m. Come and drop by for a game (all skill ranges are welcomed!) The University of Maine Chess Club will also have a club tournament (four rounds at 5 minutes time
limit each round) featuring the King's Indian (Saemisch variation.)
Game 6 was an interesting and complex affair with both players making deep, far-sighted plans. After forty-six moves with lots of material still left on the board, Fritz played 47.a4 and Kramnik offered his hand. A great success for the Deep Fritz team and a great effort by World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Final match score: Kramnik 2 - Deep Fritz 4.
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For his last at board with the white pieces in this match, Vladimir Kramnik chose 1. d4 again but this time around, rather than a Catalan, Deep Fritz played into a super-solid Nimzo-Indian Defence. As this was Kramnik's last chance for a win in this match he fought ferociously. A victory was not to be however as the computer forced a triple repeat of position and secured the draw in thirty-five moves. This game brings into high relief just how difficult it is--even with an advantageous poition--to beat Deep Fritz.
Forty players from Cape Elizabeth to Lubec and Deer Isle to Bangor decended upon the Airline Community School in Aurora, Maine for the 2nd Annual Aurora Winter Solstice Tournament held on Saturday, December 2, 2006. Winners in each of the four sections were: Ghezai Menelik of Bangor (Open), Gabe Borland of Orono (K-12), Peter Campbell of Cape Elizabeth (K-8) and Ezra Briggs of Lubec (K-5). The logo from Cape Elizabeth's team t-shirt summed up the enthusiasm of the day. 
Using the Petroff Defence, Kramnik came out of the opening phase of the game solid but by the computer's twenty-third move 23.Ra1-e1, he was nearly a full pawn down according to Fritz's positional analysis. The World Champion dourly held on and by move fifty-four it was a dead draw. Current match score: Kramnik 1.5 - Deep Fritz 2.5. Watch Game 5 here via our 
On Saturday, December 2nd, the Aurora Winter Solstice Tournament will take place at the Airline Community School in Aurora, Maine. The tournament features three scholastic sections and an open section with prizes offered in each. Last minute reminder! Hope to see you in Aurora! First round starts at 9:30 a.m. For directions using an interactive map click 
