North Shore Teams Elementary Chess 2009

Wow, 50 kids from 9 differents schools fought the best for 4 hours for the 2009 Team North Shore Championship. It was quite a show and Chartwell saw their 5 years domination ended not without a fight only 1 point behind the new champion. Braemar finishes clear first in a dramatic way. A stalemate against Pauline Johnson saved them and sent Pauline Johnson 2nd again for a 3rd or 4th year in a row. As the organizer, I sure get overwhelmed to see those young kids giving all their best. Congratulation to all participants!!
Final results
1. Braemar 14 points
2. Pauline Johnson 13.5 points
3. Chartwell 13 points
4. Cleveland 11.5 points
5. Gleneagles 10.5 points
6. Canyon Height 9.5 points
7, 8 and 9th are Andre Piolat, Collingwood and Holy Trinity

The best individuals results are Scott Brooks 5 points (Pauline Johnson), Kevin Meng (Collingwood) 4.5 points, Ifan Yang (Chartwell), Sam Gouneili (Pauline Johnson), Henrik Parker (Canyon Height), Austin Dunn (Braemar) and Colin Beardmore (Breamar) 4 points

Concentration Is The Secret Of Strength

Her some quotes taking from Kevin Spraggett`s blog. If you don`t know Kevin, he is a Canadian Grandmaster and World Chess contender in 1989 living now in Portugal.

Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you (Arnold Palmer)

Much tongue and much judgement seldom go together (Roger L`Estrange 1616-1704)

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way (Babe Ruth)

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. (Confusius)

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. (Bruce Lee)

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. (Pele)

You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.

The greatest efforts in sports come when the mind is as still as a glass lake. (Timothy Gallway)

Your spirit is the true shield. (Morihei Ueshiba)

Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles. (Alex Karras)

Some people want it happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. (Michael Jordan)

Concentration is the secret of strength (Ralph Emerson)

In order to excel, you must completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to ward willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100% dedication you won`t be able to do this. (Wilson Mizner)

Way To Go Janak !

Janak at age 10 became the youngest BC junior Champion ever. More info at www.juniorchess.ca


Janak Awatramani a pre-teen and a regular for few years to my monthly Active chess tournament in Vancouver won clear Gold at the North American Youth Championships in Mexico, in the U10 open section. Players from Canada, the United States and Mexico competed against each other. He was also conferred with the title of Candidate Master, and has been invited to represent Canada in Brazil next year for the Pan American Chess Championships.
On the picture, Janak is the one on the right.

Prior of his great feat in Mexico, Janak also won clear first the week before the Vanc. Active Sept II BC Chess Fundraiser which collected $141 that day. I was second tied with Dan Scoones. Here what BC Master Dan Scoones has to say about Janak: " He's fast, he's aggressive, and he's dangerous!"

Chess Puzzles Books For Children

To get better in chess, you must play a lot, read a lot and the most important of all, solve a lot of chess puzzles. That`s why I just released 3 chess puzzles books for children. I have
Level1 for age 6 and up. $12 (Beginner)
Level 2 for age 8 and up. $13 (Intermediate)
Level 3 for age 10 and up. $15 (Advanced)
More info at wcjchess@hotmail.com (Luc)

I am now working on my 4th one which should be ready next summer.

St-George`S Junior Open 2009

The St-George`s Junior Open was a major success with an amazing participation of 110 participants divided in 5 sections.

Here the winners of top 3 per section

Section Open
1st John Doknjas 2-3 Anderson Yee and Alice Xiao
Crosstable at http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200911044

Section A
1st Alex Sabaratnam 2nd Leanne Hwa 3rd Raphael Babar
Crosttable at http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200911041

Section B
1st Lionel Han 2nd Andy Qian 3rd Robin Yu
Crosstable at http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200911040

Section C
1st Maggie MacInnis 2nd Kevin Lin 3rd Atid Schmidt
Crosstable at http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200911039

Section D
1st Luke Pulfer 2nd Joshua Doknjas 3rd Kevin Meng
Crosstable at http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200911038

Opening Principles

The opening moves of a chess game are extremely important. To play them well you must have the proper objectives in mind. Aimless, purposeless moves lead nowhere and moves made with faulty objectives lead to trouble.
The purpose of the opening is not to checkmate your opponent. Abandon all ideas of checkmating in 5 or 6 moves. Any moves which is even threaten mate at this stage of the game are probably bad moves unless your opponent has played very weakly. The average game of chess lasts about 40 moves. Checkmate rarely comes before 30 moves have been played. Even the chess champion of the world could not checkmate an ordinary player in much less than 25 moves.
Realize, therefore, that if you set out with the idea of checkmating in a few moves, you are breaking the principles of good chess; you are trying to do something which cannot be accomplished against reasonable defense. The moves you make with this false objective in mind are bound to be bad moves which may boomerang and cause your own defeat.
THE ELEMENT OF TIME
A player who mobilizes quickly gains a great advantage over an opponent who wastes time in the opening and fails to develop all his pieces. The element of time, important in all stages of the game, is particularly decisive in the opening. In chess, "time" is the number of moves taken to reach an objective. If two moves are used to do something which could be accomplished in one move, time has been wasted. The objective of the opening should be the mobilization of all your pieces in as few moves as possible.
Any loss of time in the opening gives your opponent an opportunity to mobilize a more powerful striking force and gain a definite advantage in effective power. (From An Invitation of Chess, Irving Chernev, 1945)