For nearly a century, National Capital Optimist Club has been a positive presence for youth throughout the greater D.C. area. NCOC has enlisted financial support for countless children’s charitable initiatives, including, for the past 20 years, the U.S. Chess Center.
National Capital Optimist Club’s annual Christmas tree sale is now in progress at Kensington Baptist Church. Each tree sold helps provide funds for local youth enrichment initiatives. If you are shopping for a tree for the festive season, we strongly urge you to consider coming to Kensington to support NCOC and the work they do.
The new season of the Elementary Team League, the friendly competition we run for students enrolled in after-school chess clubs, has just begun. We are grateful to St. Luke’s United Methodist Church of Tysons Corner for providing the venue for a fourth consecutive year.
Students from twelve schools — eleven in Northern Virginia and one in the District of Columbia — showed up at the church on Saturday for the first and second round of matches. Kent Gardens and White Oaks are off to an early lead after winning their first two matches, with Spring Hill close behind in third.
Since the League began in the mid-1990’s, we’ve had thousands of students use this competition as a runway to build up their skills in preparation for stronger tournaments like the state and national championships. Any student enrolled in one of our after-school clubs may sign up to represent their school team, and we especially encourage participation among children who haven’t played competitively outside of their school.
The next match day for the League will be December 14.
Round 1: Colvin Run 1-3 Haycock White Oaks 3-1 Willow Springs Spring Hill 2.5 – 1.5 Churchill Road Oakton 1-3 Kent Gardens Greenbriar West 3-1 Mixed Team Ravensworth 1-2 Mixed Team Orange Hunt 0-3 Mixed Team
Round 2: Greenbriar West 1-3 Churchill Road Spring Hill 2.5-1.5 Haycock Orange Hunt 1-3 White Oaks Colvin Run 2.5-1.5 Ravensworth Mixed Team 1-3 Kent Gardens Mixed Team 4-0 Willow Springs
Standings after Matchday 1 of 1: Kent Gardens 28 White Oaks 28 Spring Hill 26 Churchill Road 21 Haycock 21 Greenbriar West 20 Oakton 20 Colvin Run 19 Cleveland Park 16 Orange Hunt 12 Ravensworth 11 Willow Springs 10
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins
Only a little over a month ago I had no USCF membership and had never played in a rated chess tournament. What’s funny is that one of the reasons I avoided this for so long is I did not want to make mistakes yet I find myself making plenty. In my first action tournament, I accidentally touched my queen from this position and so moved it even though there is no good queen move. Re5 is a move I had considered for some time and wanted to play before blundering the position. Re5 puts white in a position to either force a draw with Nh6+ or play out a very dangerous game in time trouble!
Even though I did not finish well in the tournament which included the above game (2.5/6) I received a second-place finish (4/5) in my latest one. Here are a few of my favorite positions I found from those games.
In this first game my opponent and I both got caught up in the moment and quickly played 17…Rxg3?? 18 fxg3 Qxg3+ and my opponent resigned. A very strange ending!
In this game I was permitted to achieve a very satisfying mate after pinning the black pawns to their king. The position arose after my opponent played two knight moves …Nb4 attacking my queen that had been on c2 and then retreating back …Nc6, letting me move my bishop in from c1 for the ensuing checkmate.
In this position my opponent blundered in an attempt to protect their pawn structure with …Rac8 ignoring the powerful mating threat of Bd3. Realizing their oversight, my opponent attempted to block mate with …g6 but I simply strengthened the threat with Rg1. At this point, my opponent wished to trade queens on …Qf5 but it’s too late because Rxg6 is crushing and my opponent is soon to blunder their way into my checkmate after …Qxf6+
Here I have just played Bd2+ and my opponent will play Kf3 because they do not want to lose their rook. Would you have played differently with the black pieces? My bishop had been under threat on b4 and I had ideas like Bc4+ or f5 as well.
This was the final position I recorded from the last game of my night in the open action portion of the tournament. It was just before midnight, but there is no excuse for what I allowed! With both of us in time trouble, my opponent played Kxc3 and lifted my c-pawn off the board. Eager to trounce my opponent with Ne4 I flinched forward, causing my opponent to lift their finger and replace the pieces on the board before changing their move and hitting the clock. Of course, this was only allowed because I did not stop the clock and call an arbiter over – as I was caught up in the moment. Despite the loss I suffered, this game served as a valuable lesson for me.
It was great to see some of our students at the tournament as well! You all get to make your mistakes much earlier than me, and will become much stronger chess players if you want to!
“Never Regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful… If it’s bad, it’s experience.” – Victoria Holt
This sentiment resonates well with my recent tournament experience. I finished with 2/5 points. Here is one of the wins I managed to take in the tournament with the black pieces from a losing position. No one ever won a game by resigning, said Saviely Tartakower.
In the 2nd round of my first-ever USCF rated tournament, I faced a tough position. Having already lost the first game, I could have been disheartened by my situation. However, I chose to adopt a fighter’s spirit instead. My opponent held two passed pawns and a material advantage, making my position dire. If White managed to simplify, the game would be over for me. Despite my earlier miscalculations and my opponent’s superior play, I decided to play on.
29. g3 may seem OK. However, my opponent seemed reluctant to remove their rook from the a-file. 29… Qb2 and my opponent missed trying to force their win condition with 30. a5, I followed with 30… Nd2 and the position quickly changed in my favor from here.
31. Qc1 is a blunder. The only non-losing move for white is Qa6, which with accurate play, white can force a draw. 31… Ne2+ 32. Kg2 32… NxC1 and white resigned.
We all make mistakes. Even if I should have lost this game against a more accurate player – I made my opponent have to earn their win from me. It was a satisfying victory and one I fought hard for.
Dozens of Washington chess enthusiasts turned out this past Saturday for D.C. Public Libraries’ Battle of the Branches. Hosted at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library near the National Portrait Gallery in Northwest, the event had chess players from all over the city turning out to represent their favorite library branch.
The event had separate categories for children (ages 5-12), teens (ages 13-19), adults, and seniors, and all four age groups were well represented. In the final standings, the host branch, MLK, came out on top, with Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library placing second and Petworth Neighborhood Library taking third.
This past Friday, the U.S. Chess Center was proud to be named in U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (MD-08)’s congressional remarks for National Chess Week.
In a statement celebrating the double medal-winning performances of the two American teams at September’s Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, Congressman Raskin also highlighted the value of chess as an educational and social tool for young people, a belief that has animated the work of the U.S. Chess Center since our founding.
Congressman Raskin is a strong and enthusiastic chess player himself, and while celebrating the success of our country’s greatest grandmasters, he was also quick to emphasize that chess is a vocation not just for the sublimely talented; it enriches the minds of everyone who learns to play the game.
Our last week at Alpha STEM in Chantilly brought the curtain down on a fun summer of chess camps, during which we had around 150 kids enrolled with us. We spent time teaching students in Springfield, Chevy Chase, McLean (two weeks) and Vienna (two weeks) prior to the aforementioned camp in Chantilly.
Some of our summer students we knew already from our after-school chess programs, while there were others we were happy to meet for the first time. As usual during our camps, we had all ability levels represented; some of the kids were beginners who learned the rules and strategy of chess over the course of camp. Other students used the time to build on the basic knowledge of the game that they already had. All of our lessons were structured and stratified so that everybody was challenged to learn something new.
In between the lessons, the kids relieved some tension in the school gymnasium and made new friendships over skittles games. Each Friday of camp finished up with a tournament, during which the students got to put what they’d learned during the week on full display.
Chess helped us all make a lot of great memories this summer, and with the new school year nearly upon us, we are already looking eagerly ahead to the start of our after school clubs in just a few short weeks.
Tournaments are emotional endeavors, and it has taken awhile to process this most recent DMV Summer Open. I am still absorbing my games, and will continue for a while. I should not be so melodramatic, but it is not fun to lose, and losing happens a lot when you are the third lowest rated player. It is worse still having to write out your public thoughts about losing. But now I am being melodramatic.
The first game started fine and oops there goes a pawn, and oops there goes everything. Although a lot to be learned about taking initiative against passive defenses. The second game was much the same, with a subpar response to an opening novelty. The third game broke the streak, with a win grinded out after 7 pawns locked up the position. A better chance was lost earlier, which could have secured the win without another 50 moves in time pressure, but a win is a win. It was also a rare opportunity to enforce the touch-move rule, which created a lasting example to tell kids about when explaining tournament rules. The last game of the evening was my first on a DGT board, which was extremely convenient for recording a 103-move game. While it ended as a tough loss – blundered away with 2 seconds on the clock – it was still perhaps my best game of the evening. I faced off against a dangerous gambit, and held on to even a winning position. However, my advantage melted with my time, and I left the playing hall in a rotten mood.
There are always more tournaments to play, I tell myself, but poor performances (from my point of view) are not easy to swallow. A chess player must be very committed if they want to improve, and that begins with a lot of hard losses.
In the decades I have been involved with chess, I have enjoyed my friendships with players more than playing the game itself. Some of those friendships have lasted more than fifty years.
Having been a chess teacher and coach for quite a while, another enjoyment that nearly equals those friendships has been to watch my students grow into adults. Seeing students become parents and bring their children to our classes is very gratifying. It suggests that those former students recognized the value of learning chess.
Recently, a group of recent college graduates who had kept in touch with each other since they had been students at Churchill Road Elementary School invited me to lunch. These brilliant students, mainly computer engineers but one who is becoming a materials engineer, wanted to catch up with me.
We discussed their careers as chess players (all but one still play competitively) and professionally. It seems likely that they would have had successful lives without learning chess, but the friendships they developed over the board and the competitive skills they learned have been wonderful.
Chess enhances people’s lives. It helps people from diverse backgrounds create relationships. It improves skills society values. It is an enjoyable way to become better people. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to meet talented people because of their interest in chess and I hope that those opportunities continue for others as well as myself.
In spite of the heat, we had 61 students show up to Eastern Market Metro yesterday for the second edition of Chess in the Park for the season. We ultimately cut the event 25 minutes short because of the weather, but a majority of the students got to play at least six games, with some playing as many as ten.
Over a dozen elementary and middle schools throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia were represented among the players. BASIS DC took the trophy for the top-performing team. St. Peter School fielded the largest team with 12 players (10 of whom were girls!) Congratulations to all who participated.
On Saturday, June 1, 2024, we held another great day of Chess in the Park at Eastern Market Metro Plaza. 49 students in grades 2 – 8 enjoyed the pleasant late spring weather and friendly chess competition. This style of tournament reduces the wait time between games allowing some kids to play as many as 10 games (while most played 6 – 8 games) that morning.
We awarded trophies to the top players, top girl, and the top two D.C. school teams to compete. Congratulations to the Washington Latin PCS team for winning their fourth consecutive Chess in the Park and to the BASIS Washington, DC team for their strong second place showing. Both schools had also competed in the most recent season of our Potomac Youth Chess League.
We will hold another Chess in the Park FREE Tournament at Eastern Market Metro Plaza on Saturday, June 22, 2024 from 10:30 am until 1:00 pm. Any students in grades 2 – 8 who know the real rules of chess and understand tournament etiquette are welcome! For more information and/or to pre-register visit: https://chessctr.org/play/easternmarketmetro/
Thank you to Barracks Row Main Street for their continued partnership and support of Chess in the Park!
We are sad to announce the passing of Norman Constantine, who taught chess with us for many years. Mr. Constantine, or Mr. C as so many children knew him, was a gregarious man, a wonderful teacher who was as generous and kind as any educator could be.
Mr. C was known for giving books to students, especially classic literature and history books. In the chess world, he gave his time. He was responsible for keeping the Maryland Chess Association afloat during the 1980s and ‘90s, serving as Membership Secretary but doing much more.
He found sites for tournaments, directing some and assisting with others. He was instrumental in creating the Capital International Invitational tournaments in 1989 and 1990, the strongest chess tournaments ever held in Maryland. Both Vladimir Epishin and Maryland’s Alex Sherzer earned their first International Master norms at the 1989 event, helping to propel them both to the Grandmaster titles.
Mr. C taught not only history and computer science at the high school level, employed by the Newport Schools, St. Albans, Wakefield School and Annapolis’ St. Mary’s school, he sponsored chess clubs at each of them. Following his retirement as a classroom teacher, he accepted employment with the U.S. Chess Center, where he taught the youngest children in our Chess Kids classes on Saturday mornings, hosted Open Play on Saturday afternoons, and taught chess classes and clubs at schools including Burroughs Elementary in the District and Spring Hill Elementary in McLean.
Until recently, he would come to Bishops & Beers gatherings to engage in two of his favorite pastimes. He will be missed by all who knew him.
In the wake of the great success of last year’s events, we are happy to announce that the U.S. Chess Center, in cooperation with Barracks Row Main Street, will be returning to Eastern Market Metro to stage two additional Chess in the Park tournaments on June 1 and June 22. Like last year’s events, these tournaments are free of charge and open to all students in grades 2-8 who understand the rules of tournament chess.
Students may register for one or both Saturday tournaments, and we strongly recommend signing up in advance to reserve a spot. More information and online registration is available here: https://chessctr.org/play/easternmarketmetro/
Chantilly High School dominated the Metro Area Chess League playoffs yesterday. Run as a three-round Swiss System tournament in the beautiful offices of the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, DC, the playoffs featured the top eight schools from the regular season.
The final standings in tiebreak order were:
1. Chantilly
2. Langley
3. Jackson-Reed
4. Oakton
5. Montgomery Blair
6. Richard Montgomery
7. Magruder
8. McLean
In an event like this, using tiebreaks makes even less sense than in a regular tournament, so it is better to think that Langley, Jackson-Reed, and Oakton tied for second place, with Blair, Richard Montgomery, and Magruder tying for fifth.
Chantilly won all three of its matches without relying on the tiebreak system designed to eliminate drawn matches. Demonstrating how evenly matched the teams were, five of the twelve matches ended with 2-2 scores, with tiebreak employed to determine the winners.
Twenty-seven schools entered the league this year. Plaques acknowledging regular season performance go to Langley as the top Virginia school, Richard Montgomery as the top Maryland school, and Jackson-Reed as the top District of Columbia school. In addition, BASIS DC won the competition for the top DC Public Charter School, with E.L. Haynes finishing as the runner-up in that category.
The regular season competition was a hybrid of online with in-person matches. The large majority of matches were played online, but a few were played in person. Scheduling the matches was a challenge for the coaches and captains, and during the playoffs the coaches had a meeting to discuss methods to improve that process. Those suggestions, which are designed to improve the communication process among the competing schools, will be implemented for the 2024-2025 season.
Registration for next year’s season will begin in September, with the first matches taking place in November. The 2024-25 regular season is scheduled to end in March 2025. Learn more at: https://chessctr.org/macl/
The DC K-12 Girls’ Open Chess Tournament, held this past Saturday at the Lamond-Riggs/Lillian J. Huff Neighborhood Library in Northeast, drew a big crowd of chess enthusiasts. Over 30 girls showed up to the competition, some of them experienced chess veterans and some who were brand new to tournament play. Everybody had a great time.
We take our hats off once again to Chess Girls DC for putting on another fantastic event, and more broadly for all their hard work to promote chess for women and girls these past several years. We are already looking forward to the next big all-girls’ tournament, the 7th annual DC Girls’ Regional, this coming October.
The Metro Area Chess League continued its trend of closely decided matches at the top in Round 7. Leaders Langley edged their contest against Montgomery Blair by 2.5-1.5, clinching a playoff spot with their seventh win in seven matches. Behind them, however, there is a very close race, with Chantilly, Jackson-Reed and Oakton currently holding the three remaining playoff spots. Of those on the outside looking in, Blair and Richard Montgomery both have a serious chance of making the playoffs with a win in their final round matches.
Judit Polgar is an inspiration to chess players throughout the world. The strongest female player ever, she is outspoken in encouraging girls, women, and children to learn to play chess.
The Queen of Chess was written by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by Stevie Lewis. Written and illustrated for children, this book avoids the problems many books about chess have faced. Polgar’s story needs no embellishment. She became an international chess sensation by the time she was nine years old, and during her career she defeated 11 World Chess Champions, including Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen when each was ranked the best in the world.
The book takes its readers through her history, starting when she learned the rules of the game at age five. Children will be able to relate to her path and should find inspiration from the success that came from her dedication and hard work.
Appropriately, the book avoids all mention of controversies. There is no mention of the game she lost to Kasparov that was marred by his violation of the touch move rule. Later, Polgar beat him after he had suggested that she was a “circus puppet” and that women should stick to having children instead of playing competitive chess. Polgar faced discrimination both because she is a woman and because she is Jewish. That she overcame irrational prejudice in a game of logic and skill makes her journey more impressive, but it was good judgment to avoid those subjects in a book for children.
Polgar has written her own series of instructional chess books for children. Chess Playground, illustrated by her sister International Master Sofia Polgar, is in use in schools in her native Hungary and in China. https://www.juditpolgarmethod.com/
The Queen of Chess offers a few basics about the game and provides a puzzle that comes from a game Judit won at age nine. The book is not designed to teach chess but provides a wonderful introduction to one of the heroes of chess. Published by Little Bee Books, this book is a suitable gift for students in the primary grades (kindergarten through third grade).
The revived Potomac Youth Chess League has wrapped up its first season back in action. A previous iteration of the league ran from 1997 to 2010. The format and structure were similar to the PCSAA Chess League that we ran for charter schools the past three years; this year, that competition was merged and enlarged to be open to all middle schools in the greater Washington area.
Matches consisted of four-player teams from each participating school, and were played online during Saturday afternoons on lichess.org. Eight schools took part this year, and matches began on January 6 and concluded on March 23. Congratulations to league first-timers Capital Village PCS, whose team came out on top of a close race to take the title ahead of DCI.
Final standings below:
School
Match Points
Board Points (tiebreaker)
Capital Village
5
33.5
DCI
4.5
32.5
Washington Latin
3
31
BASIS DC
3
24.5
Two Rivers
2.5
17
Ingenuity Prep
2
19.5
Meridian
1
10
Capital City PCS
0
0
We hope to continue to grow the league next year. If you are interested in having your middle school participate, please send an email to admin@chessctr.org.
Since 1992, we have been providing challenging instruction and making chess fun for students. Our nationally certified chess teachers are experienced with all levels of ability. Camp will be challenging and interesting for all and our focus is on improving chess skills through practice and lessons. The teachers place more emphasis on learning than on winning. Good sportsmanship is the key to having fun.
Thousands of students have participated in our camps, with many enjoying camp so much that they return year after year and dozens continue to play at a master level. Our students have won more than a dozen national championships, hundreds have earned academic college scholarships, and more than 20 have become national masters.
Our summer chess day camps consist of chess instruction and play, as well as recreational activities. Camps start at 9:00 am ET and end at 3:00 pm ET. Aftercare (until 5:00 pm ET) is available for an added fee. Campers need to bring/pack a bag lunch each day.
There will be about one teacher per ten students and enrollment is usually capped at 32 campers total for each week. Depending on the week and camp location (see below) students rising into grades 2-7 or rising into grades 3-9 are welcome.
Camp Week #1:June 24-28, 2024 White Oaks Elementary School in Burke, VA (Map) Rising Grades 2-7 (Beginners to Intermediate) REGISTER HERE for Camp Week #1
Camp Week #2: July 1-5, 2024 [No Camp on July 4th] Location TBD (in Montgomery County, MD) Rising Grades 2-7 (Beginners to Intermediate) More details and registration available the first week of May 2024.
Camp Week #3: July 8-12, 2024 Churchill Road Elementary School in McLean, VA (Map) Rising Grades 2-7 (Beginners to Intermediate) REGISTER HERE for Camp Week #3
Camp Week #4: July 15-19, 2024 Churchill Road Elementary School in McLean, VA (Map) Rising Grades 3-9 (Intermediate to Advanced) REGISTER HERE for Camp Week #4
Camp Week #5:July 22-26, 2024 Colvin Run Elementary School in Vienna, VA (Map) Rising Grades 2-7 (Beginners to Intermediate) REGISTER HERE for Camp Week #5
Camp Week #6: July 29-August 2, 2024 Colvin Run Elementary School in Vienna, VA (Map) Rising Grades 3-9 (Intermediate to Advanced) REGISTER HERE for Camp Week #6
Camp Week #7: August 5-9, 2024 Alpha STEM for the Gifted in Oakton, VA (Map) Rising Grades 3-9 (Intermediate to Advanced) REGISTER HERE for Camp Week #7
For more information about our summer chess day camps, call us at 202-857-4922 or email admin@chessctr.org.
In addition to the chess tent, there will be live music, authors reading from their books and engaging in discussions, children’s programs, cookbook demos (and quite a variety of food vendors), poetry readings, and booksellers.
For many years, Allan Savage performed a simultaneous chess exhibition at the festival. Allan, a friend of the Center, passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic, and the Center has picked up the torch.
David Sherman, a former Maryland and DC Champion who used to teach chess with us, volunteered last year and again this year to continue Mr. Savage’s tradition.
Looking for Chess Books? The U.S. Chess Center also has over a thousand used chess books for sale, starting at $1.00 and up and your purchase helps support the charitable mission of the Chess Center. Peruse our inventory of used chess books at https://chessctr.org/usedbooks/
Whittier Elementary School in northwest DC recently completed their March school chess tournament! Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Eddie Koen, 22 students attended, with nine winning trophies. The U.S. Chess Center assisted Mr. Koen in directing the event.
The Saturday morning event was held in the school gymnasium, using the cafeteria for parents and overflow. Mr. Koen welcomed the competitors, he and I discussed the value of chess in encouraging healthy competition and good sportsmanship, and play began.
The tournament had students play the Pawn Game at the beginning, the way we teach students the basics of chess, then proceed to the full game of chess. Prizes were awarded for both overall winners in the full chess and Pawn Game sections, as well as the top performing student 2nd grade and below in both groups. Not all the students were in the school’s chess club; however, the chess club almost swept the trophy winners. Excellent performance by all students who showed up!
Trophy Winners
Pawns Tournament, Top Finishers 2nd Grade and Under: 1st Place: Kennedy 2nd Place: Joaquin 3rd Place: Maxwell
We try to inculcate our motto of Friendship, Courage, Integrity to all our students. We see examples of these traits in many strong chess players, although, regrettably, not all. The best female player ever, Judit Polgar, with the active participation of her sister, International Master Sofia Polgar, recently performed a simultaneous exhibition in the German Parliament in Berlin to honor the hostages taken from Israel into Gaza. The exhibition strengthened the ties of friendship between Germany and Israel, while allowing 40 chess players the opportunity to face the Polgar sisters, who are retired from active competitive play.
The simul in the German Bundestag on March 14
With anti-Israel sentiment running high in many places, it took considerable courage to speak out for the hostages. Judit is a chess player of unquestioned integrity. Despite facing discrimination as a young player, which deprived her as a teenager of opportunities to compete for the World Chess Championship and to represent her country of Hungary in the Olympiad (she was offered, but declined, the chance to play in the Women’s Division of each), she steadfastly worked to become the strongest female player ever.
In rising to the top of the chess world, Polgar defeated 11 current or past World Champions including Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov when they were each ranked #1. She broke Bobby Fischer’s record of becoming the youngest grandmaster ever and did so before the changes in the system that allowed the rank of grandmaster to become more common. She is the only woman ever to be ranked among the top ten players in the world.
When she speaks on an issue, the world listens. Now, she speaks on the topic of hostages. As she recently said, “Speaking up for hostages is not political. It is humanitarian. The world of sports is asking all athletes to heed the call to protect the safety and security of all hostages.”
The exhibition was staged by Chess4Solidarity, a collaboration between Germany and Israel.
Yesterday at St. Luke’s we brought the curtain down on the Metro Area Chess League for the season, with students from eleven of our clubs turning out to represent their school teams. In what was a close race all year to the finish, Spring Hill held on to first place in the final standings by ten points over Churchill Road, with White Oaks, Poplar Tree and Kent Gardens all close behind them.
However, while everyone competes hard to win, the results are of secondary importance when compared with the experience and confidence the students gain when representing their schools in a competitive setting. We’re happy to see several of our students from the League go on to take part in competitions like the state championships — held this past weekend — and the Nationals, coming up next month.
Round 13: Kent Gardens 3-1 Colvin Run Willow Springs 3-1 Ravensworth Spring Hill 4-0 Oakton Greenbriar West 2-2 Lorton Station Orange Hunt 0-4 Poplar Tree White Oaks 2-2 Churchill Road
Round 14: Poplar Tree 3-1 Greenbriar West Colvin Run 2.5-1.5 Willow Springs Churchill Road 2-2 Spring Hill Lorton Station 1-3 Kent Gardens Oakton 1-0 Orange Hunt Ravensworth 0-4 White Oaks
Final Standings after Matchday 7 of 7: Spring Hill 178 Churchill Road 168 White Oaks 164 Poplar Tree 157 Kent Gardens 154 Willow Springs 130 Colvin Run 122 Greenbriar West 115 Orange Hunt 79 Oakton 52 Ravensworth 50 Lorton Station 36
Spring is the season for major scholastic tournaments. In the District of Columbia, the K-5 Championships were held this past Saturday and the Grades 6-8, and 9-12 Championships will be held this weekend. In Virginia, all of the scholastic championships were held this past weekend.
The Virginia State Championships were held in Roanoke this year – not an easy drive for our northern Virginia students. Dozens of students made the trek anyway and were rewarded with great competition.
The students renewed friendships and had a wonderful time, despite the cold and windy conditions outside. Playing chess is a wonderful way to make and keep friendships.
The U.S. Chess Center congratulates the students and thanks the parents from Churchill Road, Colvin Run, Greenbriar West, Kent Gardens, Poplar Tree, and Spring Hill for going. While we believe that playing is more important than winning, we should note that students from every school where we run the club brought home at least one trophy.
This year has been the most competitive Metro Area Chess League since we brought the competition back in 2021. Two dozen public, private and charter schools from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia are matching wits to try to earn one of the available four playoff berths at the end of the spring.
Three-quarters of the way through the regular season, Langley High School (McLean, VA) have separated themselves from the chasing pack, having won all 6 of their matches and scoring 20.5 out of a possible 24 board points. League newcomers Chantilly High School (Chantilly, VA) have been their closest competition with 5 match points out of 6 — their only loss coming against Langley in a close 1.5-2.5 decision in Round 4.
Behind them, MACL debutants Jackson-Reed High School from northwest D.C. and two-time defending champions Montgomery Blair High School from Silver Spring, MD are tied on 4.5 match points and would get the final two playoff spots if the season ended right now. But with Oakton, Richard Montgomery and Magruder all in close contention just outside the top four, we expect a close race to the finish.
Two teams associated with the U.S. Chess Center played in the World Amateur Team Chess Championship in New Jersey over the weekend, and both returned with impressive awards. The Spring Hill Elementary team was the top elementary school team, and our team from the Theophilus Thompson Club was the top team with an average rating of under 1900. Congratulations to our students!
The World Amateur Team Championship, which was the US Amateur Team Championship when I was competing, was one of my two favorite tournaments (along with the U.S. Open) each year. Instead of scoring wins and losses as individuals, scores are based on the team results. Each team is four players, and they line up against the four players of another team. If a team scores more than two points (one point per win, a half-point for a draw) they score a win. With two points, a team draws that match.
Teams often decide on clever names, and the tournament offers special prizes for creative names. My favorite came from a group of women from the DC area about forty years ago. They dressed in nuns’ habits and called themselves Our Lady of Perpetual Check.
The team format relieves a lot of the pressure ordinarily experienced in chess tournaments, making the event more relaxed and fun. As a player in a team competition, if I lost my game but the team won, I could be happy. If I won my game and the team lost, I could still be satisfied that I did the best I could for the team. If I won and the team won, that was best of all. When I lost and the team also lost, we could accept that our team was out-matched and we would move on to the next round. In short, the result of each game and match was tempered and every round was a fun experience.
Both the Spring Hill Elementary and the Theophilus Thompson teams consisted of players who had experience in big tournaments, so being in a ballroom with more than 1,000 players was not daunting. The teenagers went 4.5/6; the elementary team scored 3.5 points in the six rounds.
We began the holiday weekend at St. Luke’s for the penultimate round of this season’s Elementary Team League. In spite of the inclement weather that as forecast for the morning, we still had a good turnout on Saturday afternoon.
The top of the leaderboard remains mostly unchanged. Spring Hill and Churchill Road remain in the top two positions and look set to fight it out for the season title on the final match day on March 16. White Oaks, Poplar Tree, and Kent Gardens are all still in with a mathematical chance of first place but they would need the leaders to slip up in four weeks.
Round 11:
Kent Gardens 4-0 Ravensworth
Spring Hill 2-2 Churchill Road
Greenbriar West 1-2 Poplar Tree
Oakton 0.5-1.5 Lorton Station
Orange Hunt 1-3 White Oaks
Colvin Run 2-1 Willow Springs
Round 12:
Churchill Road 3-1 Kent Gardens
Willow Springs 2.5-0.5 Oakton
White Oaks 3-0 Greenbriar West
Lorton Station 0-3 Spring Hill
Poplar Tree 0-3 Colvin Run
Ravensworth 2-1 Orange Hunt
Standings after Matchday 6 of 7:
Spring Hill 152
Churchill Road 148
White Oaks 138
Poplar Tree 127
Kent Gardens 126
Willow Springs 111
Colvin Run 103
Greenbriar West 99
Orange Hunt 79
Oakton 48
Ravensworth 40
Lorton Station 22
Apparently, I have stamina problems. The blitz tournament went far better than expected, but then one tough draw in rapid time control, and all my energy was zapped. I was able to rally by Game 4, but this was certainly not my best effort.
I spent drizzly Super Bowl Sunday indoors, playing at the Tysons Corner Action and Blitz tournaments hosted by DMV Chess. I’ve been to this regular tournament often, with middling but always rewarding results. However, this was my first time also attending their earlier blitz tournament, my second ever.
I didn’t expect to win the blitz tournament, and I didn’t, but I came within a half point hair. Instead, I ended in a 3-way tie for 2nd place, and 3rd place overall after tiebreaks. Facing opponents far more skilled than myself, including my friendly rival Don MacLean, I managed to pull out an excellent 7.0/10 points.
The blitz tournament was double-pairing, meaning I played two games against each opponent. It started out slow, trading wins against my first two opponents, before sweeping the next two. While the games were interesting, I couldn’t tell you how I won (or lost) them, except in one notable game. Still, I greatly enjoyed the pace and casual nature of the ordeal. Faster chess favors intuition over calculation, and as such favors me. My last opponent was the eventual winner, but I still won our first game. The confidence from that win went a long way in our second game. However, just as the defensive tango started getting spicy, I hung a back-rank mate. I lost out on the $100 and settled, quite happily mind you, for third. I credit hosting the weekly Bishops and Beers open chess night for my blitz success.
During the intermission between tournaments, Don and I went for a walk to get a late lunch. Two other players from the blitz tournament drove by and offered us a ride to a nearby restaurant. This was their first tournament ever, and it was exciting to chat with new faces. We talked about and played a game over a quick meal, before hurrying back for the rapid tournament. After talking with me and Don, the pair also decided to try out the rapid tournament!
The first 41 moves of Round 1 (before time pressure set in)
Game one was a tense affair. I felt safe throughout the opening as white’s minor pieces tripped over his pawns, but he still didn’t give me a way in. That changed after we traded queens and I got the opportunity for a pawn to break through. We picked up the pace as my opponent’s clocked ticked lower and lower. It soon reached a scant 2 seconds on the clock to my 3 minutes. His endgame was stronger than his middlegame, even while living on the 5 second delay. We at last reached a dreaded queen vs. rook endgame, in my favor. While I had studied this very endgame before, I couldn’t figure out the method over the board. The game ended with a stalemate trap, with a crowd of onlookers watching me flail.
The worst part about long games is that you have no time before the next round. Which probably led to game two being such a rollercoaster. It started strong, as I locked his pieces behind his pawns. To save a bishop, I threatened to sacrifice the other for a repetition. My opponent, rated 300 points higher than me, did not allow the draw. Instead, his counterattack threw me into a tight position. To exploit his advantage, he sacrificed a rook for a mating attack. However, he again allowed a chance for a repetition. Now a rook up, and holding, I felt like I could do better than a draw. I was wrong, and I lost.
Game three was a sorry affair that I am not proud of. All I could think of was how I was outplayed in last game, and distracted by a mechanical humming sound in constant one second bursts. Even with ear plugs in, or perhaps because of it, I couldn’t keep my mind off that humming and oh there goes my knight. I resigned far earlier than I would normally, because I had to admit I wasn’t giving nor could give my best. At least now I had time to rest between rounds.
With 0.5/3, I was paired with another kid who had so far gone 0.0/3. Neither of us were having a good tournament. I got myself tangled in the opening (that mechanical humming was a Chinese water torture on my brain), but my gracious opponent allowed me to awkwardly unfold my position. By the time I was ready to attack, I noticed his isolated king’s pawn and seized on the weakness. I traded pieces, confident that I would be favored in the endgame. I was saved from defending that confidence when my opponent gave away his queen en prise and resigned.
Just two rounds remain after the latest Saturday of matches in the Elementary Team League. Churchill Road and Spring Hill are still at the top of the leaderboard. Poplar Tree, with a perfect eight wins from eight games, remained in fourth but made some big gains on the schools in front.
The next League match is on February 17, and then the season finishes up on March 3. Any student from one of our after-school clubs who knows the rules of chess is welcome to sign up to play in the League, and we especially encourage those kids who have never played competitively outside of their school.
The fall semester of our after-school clubs has drawn to a close. At Greenbriar West Elementary this past Monday, we commemorated the last day of the session with a chess and pizza party. Mr. Mehler, as he always does, took on six students at a time in a simultaneous exhibition, as did Mr. Carr. Below are some photos from the simul and party.
