Hello all and welcome to the second edition of the Gazette.
Festivities have passed, and I wish an happy new year to all of you.
This week, we have for you some great quality articles written by members of the Sharks. Well start off with the customary member interview, designed to put in a spotlight a member of our group, then well have a piece written by Neb-c one of the Gazette's editors and Razhan-K a volunteer reporter finally, keyif has writen a splendid article which I know you will find interesting.
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Member Spotlight
Freddie_Sugden
I believe Freddie was one of the first chess.com member to join the Sharks, he is a sympathic young man. He is involved in a large amount of groups and don't just sit there but actually interact with the group. I am glad that he agreed to have this interview.
Hi could you tell us a bit about yourself ?
I am 14 years old and love chess. It is the main passion in my life and I think myself to be a very keen and successful person (doesn’t everyone!). I live in Devon, England and go to a brilliant grammar school. I want to be a barrister.
How did you discover chess?
My grandmother brought me a very simple set and showed me how the pieces moved and then my father took me from there.
Did you get any formal training?
No not at first, but now I have just started an hours training every two weeks for £15.
Does anyone play in your family?
My father plays.
How did you come about chess.com ?
A mixture of chess contacts at my local club and google advertising.
How do you like it and what do you like about chess.com ?
It has so many different things to do such as join groups, play tournaments and read forum posts, watch videos etc….It is the perfect chess tool to help my OTB play.
Since you have joined chess.com has your chess improved?
Yes I think so even though I have been a member for just over a week!!
What is you favorite opening with Black and White
With white it is the Smith-Morra Gambit against The Sicilian and against e5 it is the Evans Gambit and for Black against e4 it is the marshall attack, against d4 it is the Cambridge Springs.
You have recently joined the sharks , how is it?
Great, never realized people were so kind as give away books and I am very keen to join the vote chess matches and team matches!
How would you compare it to the other group that you are a member of
Joint best or maybe the best!
Any advice to the new chess.com members?
Join as many things as you possibly can and get involved because it is worth it if you get yourself known and have a high rating.
Thank you for your time Freddie
Eliza for the Sharks’ Gazette
Chess.com was made on 05/18/2007 and is the world's biggest and best chess site.
For the first edition we will just talk about chess. Chess made in India in the early 6th century. It was called caturanga, which is translates as “four divisions(of the military)”. The board is st up like this
White moves first and then black moves after. The game usually last around 40 minutes but can last over 4 hours. The pieces are called pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen and king. The king is the most important piece. If the king is in checkmate the game is lost. There are many types of chess – normal chess, blitz, correspondence, tournament and some not normal like pawn chess or suicide chess. Blitz is fast(Usually less than 10 minutes) and can be played in many ways. Correspondence chess is when you are not close to the person you are playing but by email, post or online. To be a grandmaster your rating must be over around 2500.On chess.com you get a rating but it is not accurate because of other players losing on time.
stay tuned for the next edition of chess(.com)
Groups are a good feature of this site and is found rarely on other chess sites.They help to improve chess play either by cool programs or by increasing friendships between the members of the group.Making the group be like a family boosts the member's will of improving.If the group's members have a strong bond,then there will be good teamwork in the vote chess and active contribution to the group.The group will be more lovely.Active members and admins will of course improve the group.Groups are not always good when its size is really big.Some small groups can help you actually improve very fast and you will also have fun there because of its active members and admins.Having fun at a group makes the members like to be in the group and contribute to it.This site is improving and the group features are improving too,there are team matches and vote chess games that can occur between two groups,and there is also a Season for the team matches.Groups are a good way to make you improve but you should choose correctly and try to contribute to the group.
The Sharks Gazette Psych Corner by Keyif
Welcome to the Sharks Gazette Psych Corner, this time I would like to talk about the "Life Skills" that can be gleaned from Chess.
For example you can learn the following:
- "Control your own destiny." You learn this by not waiting for your opponent to make you do something but by planning ahead and carrying out your plan.
- "Anticipate trouble before it occurs." You acquire this by looking at the postions on the board and, hopefully, seeing what is coming and averting it.
- "Push yourself." This comes by playing opponents better than yourself, analyzing one level more than usual and by studying the "Books" a little bit more.
- "Avoid making poor decisions that give you a long-term weakness." By remembering that every move of a game is a decision that has both advantages and disadvantages. Keeping this in mind and weighing all the options will help you gain more life skills in this area.
- Chess helps you with "foresight" You gain this by putting yourself in your opponents position and thinking about what he/she is thinking and then trying to thwart them. You can do this by asking yourself "If I were playing their side what move would I make?" Then look ask, after the move is made, "What are the short-term and long term consequences of this move?"
- "Situational Analysis." This is improved by your identifying the position, examining the possible alternatives and choosing the best possible move.
The below problem is a good example of making a good well thought out "wise decision"
What is the best move?
a. d4
b. g4
Life lesson:
Anticipate trouble before it happens. You need to understand the consequences of your actions and think before you move. Sometimes there are simple decision that appear easily solved. In our example there are two choices but only one is the correct one.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this counseling session :) Next time we will discuss something a little more fun.
Whats happening in the Sharks right now ?
Final Flash is currently running a very successful pyramid tournament, i was told that already 3 people had made it to Level 2. In order not to "jinx" them i won't say their names 
Final Flash will give us a small hindsight on how to run a Pyramid tournament in our next edition.
The Live Chess Ope has started, the pairings have been posted, I imagine now members are trying to contact eachothers to play their games. here is the list of participants.
The Open is a fun event and a "tester" for a planned inter group event
- Enjoy and have fun-
The Sharks are currently involved in 19 team matches and 6 vote matches, GO THE SHARKS GO
Welcome to all new members of our group.
As a member, you will receive 2 free chess book of your liking every months for as long as you remain a members visit this page (link removed visible only via the sharks edition) to choose your books. it is not a scam! it is for real
The Monthly Chess.com trophy is still ongoing,and you can vote here
Finally, an idea box has been created in the forum, please use it, it will help us to make the Sharks even better, we are looking for volunteer to write article for the gazette if you are interested, tell us in the appropriate forum thread.
As far as recruiting new members for the sharks, it is an ongoing process, I am honoured to say that the Sharks is THE fastest growing group on chess.com.
I hope you enjoyed this 2nd edition of the Gazette and stay tuned for the 3rd which will be published on the Sunday 1st of February