DHLC Newsletter - JANUARY 2014 edition
Dan Heisman Learning Center
Newsletter for January 2014
Happy New Year
Contents
Welcome!
News
Dan's Corner
Thoughts from Edward
Blog highlights
Puzzles of the Month
Want to get in touch with the newsletter crew? Write to them at DHLCNewsletter@gmail.com
WELCOME!
NewsletterJauary edition, volume 13
Welcome to the Dan Heisman Learning Center!
All members of the DHLC share a common interest and we all have the strong desire to improve our chess playing. We are truly a group BY the members FOR the members. No matter if you are a master or completely new to the game, we welcome you. Please do take a look around the forums to see where other members can help you improve or you can help others as well.
We at the DHLC encourage active participation, good sportsmanship and above all, fun in learning this wonderful game. Whether your preference is for live chess, longer correspondence (“online”) games, some vote chess or working your way through the instructional articles written by some of stronger members, there is something for everyone at DHLC.
Important for Android users!
HReedwork
As a service to DHLC, I am letting folks know that if they are using the Android app, they need to do a complete uninstall and reinstall fresh from Google Play (not some copy somebody may have had), and that should restore old and working functionality of the Android app.
All of the admonishments that people may have been thinking have already been said, and I am confident that Eric (founder) is thinking deeply about what just happened.
For more on this topic, people can read this forum topic. It seems to still be very active with administrators monitoring and users helping each other out. http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/andriod-app-update-pushed-out-yesterday?page=1
Late breaking news for Android users! Message from "jac1yn", Chess.com staff: "Hi Everyone. Happy New Year! Just wanted to let you know that if you would like to be involved in the beta testing of the new app, you can join the Google Plus community here: https://plus.google.com/communities/103811010308225325535
Slow events in the DHLC
SirIvanHoe
Grand Prix Points!
Beginning on Dec. 30, 2013, the DHLC's Slow Chess League will begin a Grand Prix point system!
Every game played win, lose or draw (and every game won by forfeit) in the Slow Chess League during any week in the contest year except for League Qualifier tournaments will count as 1 Grand Prix point.
Additionally, tournament winners (Slow Swiss and 1-2 Pairing) will be awarded Grand Prix points at a rate of 3 x # of rounds for first place, 2 x # of rounds for second place, and 1 x # of rounds for 3rd place (individual or for each team member of a winning team) in addition to the points for games played. Tied winners will split the rewards (eg, 1st + 2nd for 2 players tied for 1st), no tiebreaks. Points for tournament wins will count only if a tournament starts and ends in the contest year.
League Qualifier tournaments do not score Grand Prix points. Weekly and Quad tournaments do not score winner points (but do score points for games played). Points for new tournament types debuted during the year may or may not accumulate Grand Prix points and rules for that will be announced on a tournament by tournament basis.
Note that the rules listed here may be adjusted up until the start of the contest year.
We will compete annually for the highest Grand Prix point total. The 2014 competition will begin on December 30, 2013 and last until December 28, 2014.
The prize for the most Grand Prix points accumulated in 2014 will be a $50 Gift Certificate to the DHLC Shop!!!
DHLC Slow Swiss -- TEAMS!
Signups Are Now Open!
We often get requests for a true head-to-head, team vs. team style tournament, and we've been working to make that happen.
Well, the time is here! The DHLC and their Slow Chess League are proud to present our very first Team Only tournament!
DHLC Slow Chess - Team #1 will begin on Monday, January 13, 2014.
Only qualified Slow Chess League players are eligible for this tournament. (You must be a veteran league player or have successfully completed a League Qualifier 3 round tournament.)
There will be teams of 4-6 players with an average rating of the top 4 rated players of under 1500. Only 4 designated players will play for each team in each round.
As this is the league's first venture into this type of tournament, this tournament will be paired for 3 rounds (unless more than 8 teams are formed).
2014 Grand Prix points will be awarded for games played and for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers (each team member who plays at least one game gets winners points calculated by 1-3 x # of rounds played).
For a chance to play you need to sign up at: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/dhlc-slow-chess---team. Invitations will be sentto a playing group where you'll find instructions for getting started. After checking in, you'll have a chance to find your place on a team. There will be no separate individual competition in this tournament, only team competition. Players who are not chosen for teams will not be paired.
New to our events?
League Qualifer Tournament
This is the event that all new league players MUST compete in successfully to qualify to enter regular tournaments in the DHLC Slow Chess League. This is a 3 round event with games played at a time control of G/45+45. In order to qualify you must participate in all 3 rounds, observe all league rules, and complete at least 1 game. Before signing up below, read our rules here. Use this time zone converter to help with scheduling your games. (Enter New York in the converter to get ET.)
League qualifers happen every three to four weeks. Watch for signups in the DHLC proper. Want to see how it works?
DHLC Slow Chess Weekly
Signups Are Now Open!
This brand new tournament format is designed to let regular league players get an extra game on any single week that they'll have the time to play.
New Feature! - We now offer both G/45+45 and G/90+30 sections. Let us know when you sign up which time control you want - or sign up for both! Being a single round event means that due colors are not observed week to week. Each week's pairings will not in any way be based on pairings or results of previous weeks. You must be a qualified league player to participate in this event.
DHLC Slow Chess QUADS
Signups Are Now Open!
2 time controls G/45+45 & G/90+30 - double round robin quads by rating
Note that rounds for all time controls are 1 week for new sections formed.
Rule Change - Games may not be played earlier or later than the scheduled round. A withdrawl from a quad will count as forfeits for all remaining games in the quad and means it will likely result in Immediate and indefinite league suspension.
G/45+45 (1 week per round - 6 round event runs 6 weeks)
1800+
U1800, U1600, U1500, U1200.
G/90+30 (1 week per round - 6 round event runs 6 weeks)
1800+
U1800, U1600, U1400, U1200.
Sign up here: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/dhlc-slow-chess-quads
Mention the section for which you'd like to sign up. You MUST be a qualified league player to sign up for this event. Your Live Standard rating at the time a quad starts will determine what rating class you may enter. Players may not play outside of their actual rating class. Players may sign up once in each time control, and then may add their name again after a new quad including them has started. Quads will begin when 4 players sign up for a single time control / rating class or as soon as TDs are available with rounds to start on a Monday. Slow Chess League rules will apply.
Please be sure to check Tracking Comments so you'll know when your quad has been formed.
As with all of our tournaments, players will be invited to a specified playing group. The quad forum is unlocked when the assigned TD has arrived.
We anticipate beginning new quads again on Monday, December 30 2013.
Dan's Corner
NM DanHeisman
A really interesting game I played against the then Scholastic Coordinator for Pennsylvania. I am especially proud of my counter-sacrifice 25...Rab8 where I had to get a feel on how to give back material and get a handle on the prospective endgame:
Want more tips? Turn to Dan's Tip of the day!
http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/dans-tip-of-the-day
Thoughts from Edward
EarnestDignity
I have done some research regarding a series that I discussed with some of the members of the newsletter. Specifically, "my idea was that our members might like to read some short monthly segments about the benefits of chess … with an initial focus on the benefits our younger members might enjoy."
- Chess dramatically improves a child's ability to think rationally.
- Chess increases cognitive skills.
- Chess improves a child's communication skills and aptitude in recognizing patterns, therefore:
- Chess results in higher grades, especially in English and Math studies.
- Chess teaches the value of hard work, concentration and commitment.
- Chess instills in young players a sense of self-confidence and self-worth.
- Chess makes a child realize that he or she is responsible for his or her own actions and must accept their consequences.
- Chess teaches children to try their best to win, while accepting defeat with grace.
- Chess provides an intellectual, competitive forum through which children can assert hostility, i.e. "let off steam," in an acceptable way.
- Chess can become a child's most eagerly awaited school activity, dramatically improving attendance.
- Chess allows girls to compete with boys on a non-threatening, socially acceptable plane.
- Chess helps children make friends more easily because it provides an easy, safe forum for gathering and discussion.
- Chess allows students and teachers to view each other in a more sympathetic way.
- Chess, through competition, gives kids a palpable sign of their accomplishments.
- Chess provides children with a concrete, inexpensive and compelling way to rise above the deprivation and self-doubt which are so much a part of their lives (Palm, 1990, pp. 5-7).
- Chess accommodates all modality strengths.
- Chess provides a far greater quantity of problems for practice.
- Chess offers immediate punishments and rewards for problem solving.
- Chess creates a pattern or thinking system that, when used faithfully, breeds success.
- Competition fosters interest, promotes mental alertness, challenges all students, and elicits the highest levels of achievement.
A learning environment organized around games has a positive affect on student’s attitudes toward learning. This affective dimension acts as a facilitator of cognitive achievement. Instructional gaming is one of the most motivational tools in the good teacher’s repertoire. Children love games. Chess motivates them to become willing problem solvers and spend hours quietly immersed in logical thinking. These same young people often cannot sit still for fifteen minutes in the traditional classroom. Chess is an exercise of infinite possibilities for the mind, one which develops mental abilities used throughout life:concentration, critical thinking, abstract reasoning, problem solving, pattern recognition, strategic planning, creativity, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, to name a few. Chess can be used very effectively as a tool to teach problem solving and abstract reasoning. Learning how to solve a problem is more important than learning the solution to any particular problem. Through chess, we learn how to analyze a situation by focusing on important factors and by eliminating distractions. We learn to devise creative solutions and put a plan into action. Chess works because it is self-motivating. The game has fascinated humans for almost 2000 years, and the goals of attack and defense, culminating in checkmate, inspire us to dig deep into our mental reserves. To the players, the game is like an unfolding drama; the players live through the emotions of an exciting story.
Chess has a powerful aesthetic appeal. The best chess games are works of art. They are the products of original and creative thinking. The beauty of chess is as compelling and pleasure giving as any other art form. The endless opportunities for creating new combinations in chess are perhaps comparable to painting or music.
Several benefits accrue from the teaching and promoting of chess to children:
- Chess limits the element of luck; it teaches the importance of planning.
- Chess requires that reason be coordinated with instinct [intuition]; it is an effective decision teaching activity.
- Chess is an endless source of satisfaction; the better one plays, the more rewarding it becomes.
- Chess is a highly organized recreation….
- Chess is an international language…. It can be a lifelong source of interest, amusement, and satisfaction. Chess provides more long-term benefits than most school sports (Hall, pp. 4-5).
Chess clearly is a problem-solving tool, an “ideal way to study decision-making and problem-solving because it is a closed system with clearly defined rules” (Horgan, 1988). When faced with a problem, the first step is to “analyze [it] in a preliminary and impressionistic way: sizing up the problem” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), possibly looking for patterns or similarity to previous experiences. “Similarity judgements may involve high levels of abstract reasoning” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3). As in mathematics, which might be defined as the study of patterns, pattern recognition in chess is of prime importance in problem solving. After recognizing similarity and pattern, a global strategy can be developed to solve the problem. This involves generating alternatives, a creative process.
A good chess player, like a good problem solver, has “acquired a vast number of interrelated schemata” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), allowing for good alternatives to quickly and easily come to mind. These alternatives must then be evaluated, using a process of calculation known as decision tree analysis, where the chess player/problem solver is calculating the desirability of future events based on the alternative being analyzed.
Chess builds life skills and critical thinking. Clearly, one crucial lesson all young people must learn is to think before they act. Chess teaches this skill in an authentic way: every move in chess has consequences, and successful players must learn to anticipate these consequences many moves in advance. An opponent’s expected response is what guides the player’s decision to make or avoid a certain move.
As students play chess, they naturally engage in the process of metacognition, asking themselves questions such as "Now, what led me to move there?" "Why did my opponent make that move’ "How did she put me in checkmate? And how can I avoid it next time?" This constant reflection on causes and motives, as well as anticipation of future actions, builds an important skill that students will use in all aspects of their lives.
Chess is more than a game. Chess is an interactive, authentic, three-dimensional activity that naturally encourages and supports marginalized students in successful transitions toward expanding their vision of the world beyond their home turf and toward academic proficiency and confidence.
Blog Highlights!
Dr_Cris_Angel
A few excellent blogs to include this month.
RandomJeff had me in stitches with his Weekend Mood Swing blog!
http://www.chess.com/blog/RandomJeff/weekend-mood-swing
The entire Tips for Novices series written by Gunners2004:
http://www.chess.com/blog/Gunners2004/tips-for-novices-1---the-queen
http://www.chess.com/blog/Gunners2004/tips-for-novices-2---king-safety
http://www.chess.com/blog/Gunners2004/tips-for-novices-3---basic-checkmate-patterns
http://www.chess.com/blog/Gunners2004/tips-for-novices-4---opening-traps
http://www.chess.com/blog/Gunners2004/tips-for-novices-5---the-knight
http://www.chess.com/blog/Gunners2004/tips-for-novices-6---winning-a-won-game
OneArrow shares some information about the Millionaire Chess Tournament that was organized by GM Maurice Ashley and his business partner Amy Lee. For those of you (like myself) who did NOT know, OneArrow is a chess author and journalist, and is a contributor to Chess Life magazine. We are fortunate that he is sharing some blogs with us and will definitely look forward to more!
http://www.chess.com/blog/OneArrow/millionaire-chess-tournament-notes
Again from OneArrow, this time, it is an interview with with GM Maurice Ashley. Wow! Thanks so much for sharing!
http://www.chess.com/blog/OneArrow/maurice-ashley-mini-interview-about-millionaire-chess
Have a blog you think would be interesting and worth sharing? Please let us know about it! As you can see, blogs do NOT have to come from expert players. We all have something to share!
Chat Room Chess Club!
Dr_Cris_Angel
The Chat Room Chess Club meets on Monday evenings at 7:00 PM Eastern time and runs until about 10:00 pm (or later!!) and can be found here: http://www.chess.com/groups/home/dhlc-chat-room-chess-club. Worth nothing, RoninReturns often visits as well and will try to hold the club open later so more of our members can take advantage. We hope to see you there!
Puzzles of the month
Farnel
How the Girls Play
In late 1986, I flew from Perth, Western Australia to Adelaide, South Australia, to play in the Adsteam-Lidums Tournament which was also the Australian Open Championship for 1987. At that time, it was the biggest and strongest tournament ever held in Australia. Numerous GMs and many other titled players from all over the world made their way to join many of Australias best players, and the rest of us at the lower end of the chess scale, for a very enjoyable 2 weeks of chess.
Won by Hungarian GM Gyula Sax with an outstanding 10-1 score, the tournament also included GMs Eric Lobron (Germany), Tony Miles (England), Ian Rogers (Australia), Eugenio Torre (Philippines), Carlos Garcia-Palermo (Argentina) and Stefan Djuric (Yugoslavia); sorry if I have forgotten any. Quite a cosmopolitan field just there, and there were quite a few other countries represented as well.
However, as star studded as that list may be, for many of us there in Adelaide we were more interested in the attendance of a remarkable family from Hungary - the Polgars. At the time Susan was the best known and probably most successful but all were already strong players and Judit, just 11 years old, was starting to show the potential she would soon live up to. Indeed, in this event we were told that with her win against IM Drimer from Romania, she became the youngest player to ever defeat an IM in an international tournament in open competition.
Susan gave a simul on one the "rest" days during the tournament, and my story from that simul is a sad one for me. I achieved a winning position at one point in our game (yes, I now know it was winning - various chess engines since have confirmed it), but chose the wrong recapture at the critical point, made a mess of my position and then proceeded to lose quickly. Another lost opportunity.
The whole family made a great impression on those of us at the tournament and indeed right across Australia through substantial publicity of their visit. Sifting through some of my Australian chess literature recently reminded me of this event and I decided to bring you some examples of their play.
So this month all our puzzles are from the games of the three Polgar sisters. Has there ever been a stronger chess family?
An easy one to start with, this warmup is from a game played by Sofia when she was about 6 years old. It is white to play and mate in two.
Our final position from Susan shows a fine example of knights at their best. It is no surprise that in this position, they should be so effective given how well they have infiltrated the white position. Black to play and win.
That's it from me for another newsletter. A few more puzzles than usual, but I thought that only one or two positions from each of the Polgar sisters wouldn't quite be enough. Hope you enjoy them. See you again next month.
