TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Name.  Results. Merit.  bef aft  chg

Cavan. L W W ? L  11.5  531 559  +28 

Thomas L W W L L  10    390 452  +62

Simon  L W W X L   7.5  370 430  +60

? = not sure who won. I thought Cavan said he lost but the official results say he wo

X = win by forfeit Counts as a point but doesn't affect rating.s

Both Simon (in rd 1) and Cavan (in rd 5) got to play the number 2 player in the tournament! If Simon had won that game, he would have won a trophy!

Cavan and Thomas both earned their bronze medal for having won 10 games in tournament competition. They will be presented with the medals at the next tournament.

 RATINGS

Merit	Name	8-Apr
11.5	Cavan	559
10	Thomas	452
3	Quillan	440
7.5	Simon	430
4.5	Grant	409
2.75	Owen	363
	Warren	329
	Luke	287
	Lucia	231
	Jack	194
	James	147
	Kellen	127
	Alan	118

 LESSON

Today we went over the pin worksheet and learned that you can actually pin a piece against an empty square if that square is an important square. 

We also learned that the discovered attack is probably the most potent weapon in chess. We had a difficult worksheet and here's a problem from that worksheet.

PROBLEM #6 (which no one solved)

After studying the position a while, you should notice that our Bishop on c2 is aimed directly at our opponent's King! Remember to imagine the Bishop's power extending all the way across the board. Now in order to export the power of that bishop we need to get two pieces out of the way - our Rook, and their Bishop. Rd6 fails because their queen takes it and we're no better off. Can we get Black's Bishop off that diagonal? Well, at great price, but ...  wait this might be worth it - 1. QxNh5+ BxQh5 (if he doesn't take, we got a free knight) and now the discovered check works perfectly! 2. Rd6+ (checking with the bishop) Bg6 3. Rxb6 (we're ahead a knight) .Bxc2 4. Nxc2 and we came out a knight ahead!

TOURNAMENT this Saturday at the Burnsville Educational Center. Looks like we only have 5th graders interested this week, so I'd recommend signing up for the 3rd-5th section.  No teams, just individuals. If some of our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders were coming, I was going to have us all play on the middle school team.

RALTINGS

Merit	Name	5-Apr
9.5	Cavan	531
3	Quillan	440
4.5	Grant	409
8	Thomas	390
4.5	Simon	370
2.75	Owen	363
1.5	Warren	329
	Luke	287
	Lucia	231
	Jack	194
	James	147
	Kellen	127
	Alan	118

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Saturday. APRIL 8 Middle School Championships at the Burnsville Diamondhead Education Center.          My apologies - I misspoke at the last tournament. This is an important tournament! The            competition will be tough, but we're getting better every week.  Grades 5-8 should all sign up for the 6-8 section and we'll all play as a team. Sign up at school chess.com I think they'll have at least 3 team     trophies.

Sat. - Sun. MAY 6-7 Elementary Championships Sections for I-2, 3-5, 6-8 Sign up at Schoolchess.com after April 10. Many team and individual trophies.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

As a team we placed 3rd out of 13 schools represented.

Once again everyone outperformed their rating and raised your ratings. We've got some people who could earn their bronze medal at the next tournament.

Merit Name Results BEF    AFT    CHG

9.5 Cavan LLLWW   504    509    +5    

3 Quillan LLLBW   409    411    +2

8 Thomas LDLWL   397    409    +12

4.5 Grant LLWW    331    380    +49

4.5 Simon LLWLW   359    370    +11

RATINGS

Name	25-Mar
Cavan	509
Quillan	411
Thomas	409
Grant	380
Owen	375
Simon	370
Warren	303
Luke	268
Lucia	239
Jack	166
James	150
Kellen	127
Alan	118

CLASS

On Wed Mar 22 we went over the solutions to the hurdle problems.

We learned about pins. After you pin a piece, attack it!

TOURNAMENT 

THIS SATURDAY at Plymouth Middle School. Register online at Schoolchess.org This is a chance for our fifth graders to earn some honors. I'd like our top 5th graders to be there. We need 3, but more would be better for our score and be more fun.

RATINGS

Gr	Merit	Name	22-Mar
5	7.5	Cavan	504
5	1	Quillan	409
5	6.5	Thomas	397
7	2.75	Owen	375
5	2.5	Simon	359
8	2.0	Grant	331
6	1.5	Warren	303
7		Luke	268
6		Lucia	239
6		Jack	166
		James	150
5		Kellen	127
		Alan	118

FORKS, HURDLES and SKEWERS

Today we went over the Fork worksheet problems.

Then we learned about two similar tactics called hurdles and skewers and tried our hand at solving problems. Remember: "Two big pieces in a line? - Look out! It's hurdle time!"

RATINGS 

Merit	Name	15-Mar
7.5	Cavan	500
1	Quillan	377
6.5	Thomas	368
2.75	Owen	360
2.5	Simon	319
2.0	Grant	319
1.5	Warren	299
	Luke	256
	Lucia	245
	Jack	164
	Kellen	127
	Alan	118
	James	116,

 TOURNAMENT RESULTS

            W L D   Bef Aft Chg. Merit

Cavan   3  2  0  444 500 +56.   7.5

Quillan 1  4  0  335 362 +27    1

Thomas 3 2  0  269 351 +82.   6.5

Grant    2 3  0.  227 289 +62.   2

Everyone performed over their rating!

In a preview of the next tournament, I did a quick check of how 5th grade teams performed. Top teams were:

ERACS 8 points, Heritage 7 points, Breck 4.5 points

Cavan	500
Quillan	362
Thomas	351
Owen	329
Simon	327
Warren	321
Grant	289
Lucia	237
Luke	209
Jack	150
Kellen	127
Alan	124
James	103

March 7

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS 

Saturday March 11 at the Burnsville Diamondhead Educational Center

Register at schoolchess.org

Saturday March 25 at Plymouth Middle School - Grade Level

Saturday April 8 at the Burnsville Diamondhead Educational Center - Middle School Championship

Sat-Sun Robbinsdale Middle School - Elementary K-5 Team Championship

Problem #8 on the worksheet

Answer: Force the black king to a dangerous square 

1.Qxh7+ Kxh7

2.exf8(N)+ Kg6

3.Nxe7

Amazing! We were down a rook so what did we do? First we sacked our queen. Then we under promoted to a knight. with that extra knight we should be able to queen that h-pawn if we are very careful: get your king to g6\\, pawn to h6, and knight to f7. Try it out on your own board!

RATI|NGS 

Cavan	444
Quillan	335
Owen	329
Simon	327
Warren	321
Thomas	269
Lucia	237
Grant	227
Luke	209
Jack	150
Kellen	127
Alan	124
James	103