Blog

Dr. Root had the following on the dry erase board today for Denton High School chess club students.

Notate your answers for 1-3 and play out Task A and/or Task B.

January 23, 2013

Scholar’s Mate for Beginners and Intermediates (two separate classes; 20 minutes for the Beginners and 35 minutes for Intermediates)

Dr. Alexey Root reviewed what happens when the defending king can occupy the promotion square. That is, she reviewed last week’s lesson of king and pawn versus king draw and the Philidor’s rook ending. This week, students looked at what happens when the defender is driven away from the promotion square. Students tried white pawn e2, white king e4, black king d6, White to move.

I had a demonstration board and, nearby, one chess set for every two children for the “practice” parts of my lesson plan. The groups rotated to me (35 minutes each for Intermediate and Advanced and 20 minutes for Beginner) in the order of Intermediate, then Beginner, then Advanced. There was a parent volunteer in my classroom.

Today's topic at Denton HIgh School chess club was the King and Pawn vs. King draw and the Philidor's rook endgame. In each case, students tried the positions with partners then Dr. Root showed the correct patterns on the demonstration board. She also showed how the endgames are related to each other. This chess content is covered in People, Places, Checkmates: Teaching Social Studies with Chess. After learning these endgames, students had 15 minutes to play for fun.

Before I began teaching each group, I explained my expectation of their raising hands before they speak, in the lecture setting, to allow everyone a chance to think without the answers being given away. For the beginner group, I also stated that hands need to be in laps during lectures (rather than playing with chessmen). 

The Coppell Gifted Association chess camp is December 26-28. Information is HERE and spaces are still available. Dr. Alexey Root will be teaching at the chess camp.

The camp is for ages 5-12.

Think Like A King donated chess software to Denton High School students training for SuperNationals V! Chess club today also featured a “white elephant” gift exchange, bughouse, and food.

At least five students from my Chess Online courses  plus the Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies from UT Dallas (my boss!) and around 35 other people showed up for the 7:20 p.m. screening of Brooklyn Castle on Saturday, December 8, 2012. The audience clapped for the film as the credits rolled.

Denton High School chess club students set up a position from the UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational (Round 8, Calugar vs. Chirila) and tried to find Black's 28th move. Round 8. White: IM Arthur Calugar. Black: GM Cristian Chirila. All games are on MonRoi under “2012 Fall UTD GM Invitational.” White: Kh3; Qe2; Rooks f2 and a1; Bf3; Pawns on c2, b3, and a2. Black: Kg8, Qe3, Rooks on g5 and f8; Pawns on e6, c6, b7, a7, h7, and g7.  Black to move. Then President Luis had students plan for a party next week and Dr. Root talked about this weekend's showings of Brooklyn Castle. Click on "Read More" for the solution to the given position.

Dr. Alexey Root will be presenting a “Q & A” after the 7:15 p.m. showing of Brooklyn Castle this Saturday, December 8, at the Cinemark West Plano. To prepare for the Q & A, she researched what has happened to the I.S. 318 students profiled in Brooklyn Castle in the almost three years since the filming wrapped.

Students reviewed their games from the November 16, 2012 Dallas Chess Club Friday night G/30 tournament. Then Dr. Alexey Root announced an upcoming tournament that Denton High School students could travel to as individuals and three tournaments that Denton High School chess club will travel to as a team.