Busy at Chess!

Every Wednesday we have been busy with Chess club with Tony. Our Chess club runs from 2:40 to 3:40. We really enjoy challenging ourselves every week and we are getting so much better! 

We are learning chess with Tony. Here are today's lessons: Don't move the a or h pawn on the first move. If you are in check you have to protect your king or move it. If your pawn is up move it and try to have the two rooks in the same rank or file. If you can, try to castle. Pawns can become a queen if they reach the other side of the board. Try not to move the same piece twice in a row. A good opening is moving the E pawn to E4.

Craig Farrel

Chess Tournament

Well done to our chess club members who participated in the Cavan Chess Club Junior Tournament last Saturday.
Each player had several games, some were won and some were lost.
Christopher, Dylan, Kate and Jude were photographed by The Anglo Celt, look at the back of the front section!
Tony wants all chess club members to bring a notebook with them from now on.
In the meantime, practice this -

Chess tournament

Today we travelled to Killeshandra to play in the last round of the chess tournament.
Everyone played  very well and enjoyed the challenge.
We met Siobhan as well so we were very pleased about that!
The boys and girls in Scoil Bhride were very friendly and the principal, Ms. Flynn gave drinks and biscuits to all.
Many thanks to Tony for all the organising involved!

Final chess class

Yesterday was the last chess class for the year.
Tony explained the "en passant" rule, where a pawn can be captured by another pawn, but only under certain circumstances. Go over the moves that he showed so that you can either recognise when an opponent uses it against you, or so that you can play it yourself.
Chess team, remember that we are going to Killeshandra next Monday.
Get lots of practice before then!

Chess Tournament

Yesterday we played pupils from Belturbet Boys School.
Tony organised the tournament and kept scores.
The boys and girls enjoyed the challenge and were very friendly towards our visitors.
Ms. White gave drinks and biscuits to all the children.
We will be playing against Killeshandra N.S shortly!

This is our chess team who represented us so well in the Community Games competition during the Easter holidays.
The games were played in Mullahoran N.S.
We didn't get through to the next round but the boys and girls played very well and have done the school proud.

endgame practice

Here is a website that allows you to practice different strategies.
Look at all the options it offers.
The link brings you to its section on endgames.
You can try as many times as it takes to beat the computer!
chessgym.net

Game on!

Set up this game at home. Think about possible moves and threats for both sides.

How could either side develop their game?

Spend some time analysing it before you play.

Black could check white in 1 move, but is it worth playing?

Think about......

We will be looking at this game on Thursday at lunchtime if it is dry.

• What moves and captures can the bishop make?
• What moves and captures can the rook make? 

The next game focuses on endgame strategies.

How can you make sure it doesn't end in stalemate?

Calling all our chess nuts!

Tomorrow and every Friday lunchtime (as long as it is dry), the chess club can come to Ms.Wynne's room to practice and to study moves.
See you then!

Guidelines

Tony has listed a number of strategies to open a game well.
Practice these and try to remember them in your games, we will be playing a tournament soon!

• attack the centre
• develop your pieces
• castle early
• knights before bishop
• protect the king
• don't move the same pawn twice
• move pieces, not pawns
• don't bring out the queen too early

Middlegame guidelines:

• seize the initiative
• block opponents bishops
• place rooks on open files
• avoid double pawns
• use your tactics
• remember pins, skewers and forks
• observe the pawn structure
• expose weaknesses

This is the game you were playing in class this week:

White                      Black

e4                           e5

Nf3                        Nc6

Bc4                        Nf6

Tony wants to see how you can develop this game for next week.

Chess Champs!

Our first ever chess tournament took place yesterday after school. Each pupil played several games with Tony recording scores.
After lots of moves and concentration, we had 2 finals; Callum v's Christopher in the boys final and Ava v's Yana in the girls final.
Callum and Ava were the winners in their games and received their trophies.
Tony awarded Christopher in 2nd class "Best Improver" trophy for the hard work he put in, and for all the enthusiasm he showed.
Well done to everyone in the club, we hope you enjoyed the classes, and keep playing at home.

Chess tournament

Next week will be our last chess lesson this year.
There will be a tournament and everyone will play several games.
Tony will be using the Swiss system for scoring.
1 point will be awarded for a win, 0 for a lose.
In round 2, players will meet opponents with the same score, and so on for as many rounds as we play.
Games will be timed as there will be a time limit.
Pieces remaining on the board will be added up according to their value if the game is not finished, and a win will be determined by the highest score.

(Garry Kasparov)

Homework

Tony showed us how to write down our moves today.
Grid references on the board are always letter then number e.g h4
These letters are always in lower case (small letters) because the pieces are written in capitals.
Each piece has an initial except the pawn. A bishop is B, the king is K, queen is Q etc.
As knight also starts with k, (and we use the K for king) we use N for th knight.
Castling is written as 0-0 (on the
King's side) and 0-0-0 on the Queen's side.
Try to practice this at home this week.

Tony wants you all to play these moves and figure out white's 4th move, and proceed with the game from there. Try as many combinations as you can to see how you can impact the game.

white          black
e4                e5
Nf3             Nc6
Bc4             Nf6

Chess homework

Tony gave us homework to prepare for next week.
There are several plays to practice, as well as the Italian opening to become familiar with.
It is important that you can "checkmate" your opponent, because in some plays, you can end up with a draw
if you don't think it through enough.
Tony talked about "forks" and "pins".
Try to remember what these were; if you need help, or have lost your homework, make sure to ask me as soon as possible.

15th October

Today, Tony talked about how important it is to have a plan when you play a game of chess.

There are several steps to take:

* develop your pieces

* protect your King

* castle early

* play knight before bishop

* attack the centre.

This is the Italian opening that we practiced today.

Go over this a few times so that you are familiar with the moves and can recognise when it is being played.

Now try to develop it from first the perspective of white, then black. 

We also learned about endgames.

It is very important that you can finish well and gain as many points as you can. 

You may not be able to win a particular game but with practice, you may be able to get a draw.

the-most-basic-endgame

More practice!

 




Here is a position we got in class and it's Black to move. What is the danger?  What is White up to? Can Black protect the King?

Try this at home!

Can you see how the White Bishop can 'capture' all the Black pawns if they didn't move?

White can win this game, but how?

Remember, when a pawn reaches the opposite rank, it gets promoted to Queen. 

Try each set-up a few times, and if you have someone to play with, swap places so you can practice from both perspectives.