Posts Tagged ‘classes for kids’
Interview with “The Chess Queen” Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Kosteniuk is a former Women’s World Chess Champion and an great person! She promoted chess, especially chess for girls, all across the world and has motivated many kids, teens, and adults to improve their lives with chess. I had the pleasure of interviewing this very special lady and think it would be interesting for all of you to read. More Info about Alexandra can be found @ www.chessqueen.com.
George Krasnopolskiy: At what age did you learn to play chess, and from who?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: At 5 from my Dad. I was very happy that my Dad would spend so much time with me, and I always tried to make him happy by listening to his explanations on how to play chess. He would reward me for correct answers (by giving me candy and/or coins), so it was great learning chess!
George Krasnopolskiy: Who did you play chess with while growing up? Did you play mostly boys or girls? And were you afraid to play boys, or was it the other way around?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: I played chess with every one. I was lucky to grow up in Russia, as almost everyone plays chess, in parks, at school, in clubs. We used to play all together, boys and girls. In Russia boys are not afraid of girls and girls are not afraid of boys, chess is a universal game. My Dad would teach me during the week and during weekends would take me to parks and chess clubs so I could test myself against other people.
George Krasnopolskiy: Were you always good at chess?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: I started like everyone knowing nothing. But my Dad spent a lot of time training me, I would study chess at least 5 hours a day, mostly tactics solving. Chess is a fair game, the more you study, the more it will reward you with wins! In a sense it’s a great school of life, since in life it’s the same, to achieve something, you need to work hard!
George Krasnopolskiy: When did you beat your dad (or other significant chess figure in your life)?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: It’s funny, but while my dad trained me for more than 10 years since I was 5 till I became Grandmaster, and I never played a game with him, he used to quiz me with chess books. As for having proud of a win, I was very proud to have beaten a man Grandmaster (Sergey Kudrin) in 1999, when I was 15 years old. After that I have beaten many men Grandmasters in classical, rapid and blitz games.
George Krasnopolskiy: What were your other favorite activities to do, other than chess, while growing up?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: I lived like any girl, simply I had 5 hours of chess studying a day apart from school. I simply did not watch any TV, that saved a lot of time. Nowadays kids waste much too much time watching TV. Imagine how much you could achieve if you simply did not watch TV. I used to go out for sports, with friends, singing karoke, skating, going to movies, etc.
George Krasnopolskiy: What is your favorite chess quote?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: Tarrasch: Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy.
George Krasnopolskiy: What do you like most about chess?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: It’s fair. If you win, you deserve the win, if you lose, it’s your fault, and you can learn to play better next time. You can always get better at chess. Also, it’s a great game to meet new people and make friends. Thanks to chess, I have travelled to dozens of new countries, learned new languages, have many international friends!
George Krasnopolskiy: How do you feel chess has helped you in your life? Are there any specific situations you can think of?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: Sure, chess makes it easier for me to think logically and to come out with a decision. It has helped develop my memory, and my problem-solving abilities. Chess helps concentrate and find the main elements in an issue to be resolved. Chess teaches you to uses all your assets, not to waste efforts, and to have a plan.
George Krasnopolskiy: What did you want to be when you were a kid? Work/ Profession wise.
Alexandra Kosteniuk: Since I was very young I was a chess champion (at 8 Moscow champion, at 12 girls world champion), so I never actually thought of doing anything apart from chess. When you do well, why change and start a career from scratch?
George Krasnopolskiy: You are not just a chess player, but also a model and a mother; are there any other goals in your life you are still trying to pursue?
Alexandra Kosteniuk: I love to do all kinds of new things and to always be learning new subjects. In life it’s important to be flexible, you never know what you will like in the future and how good you’ll be at it. So don’t be afraid, try!
Minooka Chess Tournament
Minooka Chess Club and CheckmatesUSA
present the first ever
Minooka Area Chess Tournament
Sunday, April 15, 2012 (1pm to 4:30pm)
Minooka Village Community Room
121 East McEvilly Rd. (Next to Creamery)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Entry fee: $10 with advance registration, $15 on-site
Sections: Juniors (K-8) and Open (All ages)
Juniors = 4 rounds, Open = G/30, 3 rounds
For more information, please contact [email protected]
Or call Brian Quast at (815) 922-9291
The Pin
The Pin is a very important tool that every chess player should have in his or her repertoire. The word pin literally means that something cannot move. For example, if a poster is pinned to wall, it cannot move. In wrestling, a pin is when your opponent cant move. In chess, a pin is when a piece cannot move.
Creating a pin in chess can be useful, but it does not always win a piece. Above, the King from A1 can move to B2 to protect the Knight. Whenever you know a chess piece cannot move, it is always a good idea to put pressure on it, and attack it with more chess pieces.
The Bishop from H6 can move to G7 to pin the Knight. The King is expected to protect it by moving to B2. The Black player can then win the knight by attacking it with the pawn on B5 by moving it to B4. The white player then does not have to defend the white knight, and cannot move it either because it is pinned. Remember: when a piece is pinned, take advantage of it by putting pressure on the pin.
Insufficient Mating Chances (a technicality in chess)
I love learning something new in chess, and this is something I never knew about. Here’s the deal:
Insufficient Mating chances (or insufficient losing chances) is when a special rule that is used in tournaments. Basically, it has to do with a situation when the chess player with a winning position is almost out of time. They dont just need a winning position, but they need to have an un-winnable position. A referee is called over and the game is called a tie.
The Reason: The point here is simple, chess players want the game of chess to be decided on the moves a player makes rather than the time on the clock. If one player cannot with the game regardless of the moves that he/she makes, then why should he/she be awarded a victory. O Chess players…so righteous.
How the chess pieces are called in Spanish?
"Mexico set a new record for simultaneous chess games on when 13,446 players faced off at the same time in a vast Spanish colonial square at the heart of the former Aztec empire, Mexico City officials said."
How are the chess pieces called in Spanish?
Chess is a popular sport in the Hispanic Culture and is played in all Latin cultures across the world. Knowing what the chess pieces are called in Spanish could allow you to analyze a game in another language (Spanish).
The King in Chess is called “Rey” in chess in Spanish.
The Queen is called “Reina” in chess in Spanish.
The Bishop is called “Alfil” in chess in Spanish.
The Knight is called “Caballo” in chess in Spanish.
The Rook is called “Torre” in chess in Spanish.
The Pawn is called “Peón” in chess in Spanish.
If you are playing chess in a spanish speaking country you must know how to say Check. Check is Spanish is called “Jaque.” If you need to say CheckMate in Spanish, you can say “Jaquemate.”
The Rook and how it moves
The Rook is an important piece to use in chess and not very hard to learn. There is an easy rhyme I made up for the rook; here how it goes:
“Up, Down, Side to Side, that’s the way the rook will slide.”
The rook moves forwards, backwards, and sideways as many squares as it wants. It attacks the same way it moves and cannot skip over pieces. Like all the other pieces, it can only attack one piece at a time.
Each team gets two rooks and they start on the corners on the board. For white this is a1 and h1. For black this is a8 and h8.
Also, it is the rook, not the castle!
How the Pawn Moves
The Pawns are always the smallest of the pieces, and you should have eight of them. They will go on the second and seventh rows. White on the second row (a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, h2) and black on the seventh row (a7, b7, c7, d7, e7, f7, g7, h7).
The pawn is my favorite chess piece and also a very unique one. The pawn usually only moves one square forward. The pawns have the ability to move two squares forward if they have never moved before and only one square forward afterwards. They can also just go one square forward on their first turn. They are the only piece that cannot go backwards, and also the only one that attacks differently than it moves. A pawn attacks on a diagonal.
The white pawn on f4 captures the black pawn on e5 and takes over its square.
Attacking in chess is different than in checkers, as the attacking piece does not skip over the piece, but actually captures it by taking over its square.
En Passant
There are a few exception in the rules of chess; things like pawn promotion, castling, and en passant are exceptions to how the pieces move. Castling is very commonly seen in chess games, pawn promotion is a lot less common, and en passant is almost unseen. It is so rare that many casual player do not know the rule or are confused about it.By the way, En Passant means “in passing” in French.
Here’s what poppin:
En Passant can only happen the move after your opponent moves one of his or her pawns two squares up. If your pawn is to the side of your opponents (which just moved two squares) you can go diagonally to capture it. Here what it looks like:
Your pawn moves forward to c5.
You opponent moves from b7 to b5.
- You then capture the pawn on b5 by moving to b6 with your pawn from c5.
Castling in Chess
Castling is a unique and special move in chess. Castling is one of the three main goals in the opening of the game and you SHOULD do it in every game you play. Castling is the one time in a chess game that you can move two pieces at the same time!
Why would you castle? Well…just think of the word. Chess is a medieval battle and the castle is where the King goes to stay safe.
You should know that there are two ways to Castle: Kingside and Queenside. Chess Players are very logical and therefore you probably correctly assumed that Castling Kingside is going towards the rook on the King’s Side. The Queenside Castle is towards the side of the Queen. Because castle is such an important and special move in chess there are some special rules that a player must obey in order to castle.
Rule #1: To castle in chess you need to make sure that you have moved all the pieces in between the King and the Rook on the side you want to castle to.
This Player is ready to Castle Queenside. Notice that it takes longer to be able to castle queenside bause there are more chess pieces in the way.
Rule #2: To castle in chess you need to make sure that your King is not in Check and will not travel through check.
Rule #3: To castle in chess you need to make sure that your King and Rook (that you are castling with) have not moved. If either piece has moved you lose the ability to castle.
Finally, if your King and Rook have not moved, your King is not in check and will not travel through it, and there are no chess pieces in between the King and the Rook, then you can castle. Move your King two square and bring the rook around him. You final Castle should look like this:
What is a stalemate?
Stalemate is either a relief to you or a huge disappointment. A stalemate in chess is one of the four ways to achieve a draw (a tie game). A stalemate happens when a player cannot make any moves. In chess you are never allowed to skip your turn; therefore, if you cannot move the game is over in a tie. Look at the position below: can you find how white is able to force a stalemate?
If you thought of Queen taking h7 you are correct. Black has no option but to take the Queen and White now cannot move: stalemate. Moving the Queen to g4 or any other square where it can get taken doesn’t work because black does not have to take the queen…therefore the game doesn’t have to end in stalemate.
A stalemate can be a huge relief to you if you are losing but also a huge disappointment to you if you are winning. In a losing position you must know how to force a stalemate. if you are winning, you must know how to avoid giving your opponent a stalemate. You really don’t have to worry about a stalemate until the end of the game. You can practice forcing stalemates with chess puzzles that we have posted online.
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