A little out of date (sorry Reid!) but Reid Seghers took 2nd place in the Reserve Section of the recent USCF Wisconsin Junior tournament (under age 20, under 1100 rating for Reserve). Reid won 4.5 out of 5 of his games to boost his rating to over 1000! Great job Reid!
Also attending were Evan Seghers and Josh Bartz, who had some great games and very tough opponents- and took notation to learn from their defeats! Since the tournament, Josh has been working very hard on his game. Way to go Josh!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Next tournament: USM November 22!!!
The next tournament for LDMS as a team is NEXT WEEKEND, November 22, at the prestigious University School of Milwaukee. Last year at USM, Mill Valley Elementary's team took first place! Maybe some of those same players - and some of our new players - can contribute to helping LDMS do it this year! This promises to be a GREAT tournament by a new Chess Association, the WSCA. The tournament flyer can be accessed by clicking here.
Gregory Reese, Sr., who has done so much for Muskego chess and for many of our LDMS players, is one of the organizers of this new Chess Association. Ashish Vaja, a Wisconsin Master and top-flight trainer, and Mike Neitman, a Wisconsin USCF leader, will be tournament directors. I would like very much for us to support this new Chess Association through our attendance and of course through our best efforts as players.
I'd like for us to have a big showing at this tournament!!! Please let me know if your child would like to play. If your child is on the fence, or perhaps fearful of attending their first tournament, let's talk! This would be a great one to start. Remember Chris M's success just a few weeks ago in his first tournament!!! There is a K-6 and a K-9 division- I know we will at least have a K-6.
Thank you very much.
Mark Seghers
(262) 679-4051 home
(414) 379-7401 cell
seghers@gmail.com
Gregory Reese, Sr., who has done so much for Muskego chess and for many of our LDMS players, is one of the organizers of this new Chess Association. Ashish Vaja, a Wisconsin Master and top-flight trainer, and Mike Neitman, a Wisconsin USCF leader, will be tournament directors. I would like very much for us to support this new Chess Association through our attendance and of course through our best efforts as players.
I'd like for us to have a big showing at this tournament!!! Please let me know if your child would like to play. If your child is on the fence, or perhaps fearful of attending their first tournament, let's talk! This would be a great one to start. Remember Chris M's success just a few weeks ago in his first tournament!!! There is a K-6 and a K-9 division- I know we will at least have a K-6.
Thank you very much.
Mark Seghers
(262) 679-4051 home
(414) 379-7401 cell
seghers@gmail.com
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Kasparov v. Topalov (1999)
Did you ever hear of Garry Kasparov? An amazing chess player and amazing leader. Actually had the guts to challenge Putin for Prime Minister of Russia (although of course due to the facade of democracy they have over there, Mr. Kasparov was not allowed to win). Sort of like playing chess with no Rooks or a Queen.
Here is an amazing game of his from 1999, rated by some as one of the best games of chess ever played. Click on the controls to move through the game. Check out the Rook sacrifice on move 24! After black takes with pawn, Kasparov makes a devastating check with his remaining Rook- Question here- why doesn't black take back? Give it a little thought... then enjoy the rest of the game...
Here is an amazing game of his from 1999, rated by some as one of the best games of chess ever played. Click on the controls to move through the game. Check out the Rook sacrifice on move 24! After black takes with pawn, Kasparov makes a devastating check with his remaining Rook- Question here- why doesn't black take back? Give it a little thought... then enjoy the rest of the game...
No Chess Team on Nov 10
NO CHESS ON MONDAY Nov 10. Mr. Seghers will be out of town. Class resumes the following week, on Nov 17.
Watch for the announcements for the beginning of Mr. Antoniewicz' Thursday Chess Club! I strongly recommend this club for players of all skills to learn and practice!
- Mr. Seghers/ Mark
Watch for the announcements for the beginning of Mr. Antoniewicz' Thursday Chess Club! I strongly recommend this club for players of all skills to learn and practice!
- Mr. Seghers/ Mark
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Internet Chess Club
One thing I strongly recommend to the LDMS players is the Internet Chess Club. You can find the Internet Chess Club, or ICC, at http://www.chessclub.com/.
To register for the ICC, you go to this site, read about it, and then download the "Dasher" software to your computer. There is a free trial, or you can pay right away. For students, the fee is $29 for a full year.
The ICC Dasher is your window into the online chess world. Over 100,000 games are played each day. There's usually about 3,000 people online at any time, sitting at their computers somewhere in the world. To play, you simply ask for a game. The Dasher asks what kind of opponent you want, what color you want to play, how long of a game, etc. You submit your request and wait- usually just a few minutes- and your game begins!
After you're done with the game, you can save and/or print the notation so you can replay the game! In fact, if you EMAIL that notation to me, I can post the ACTUAL GAME here on our blog site!!! Below as an example of how a game looks when it is posted on the Internet. A very sloppy late night game I played recently... I look forward to posting our own games soon as soon as I get some notation from you!
To register for the ICC, you go to this site, read about it, and then download the "Dasher" software to your computer. There is a free trial, or you can pay right away. For students, the fee is $29 for a full year.
The ICC Dasher is your window into the online chess world. Over 100,000 games are played each day. There's usually about 3,000 people online at any time, sitting at their computers somewhere in the world. To play, you simply ask for a game. The Dasher asks what kind of opponent you want, what color you want to play, how long of a game, etc. You submit your request and wait- usually just a few minutes- and your game begins!
After you're done with the game, you can save and/or print the notation so you can replay the game! In fact, if you EMAIL that notation to me, I can post the ACTUAL GAME here on our blog site!!! Below as an example of how a game looks when it is posted on the Internet. A very sloppy late night game I played recently... I look forward to posting our own games soon as soon as I get some notation from you!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Nov 3 Class Update
Great class today from 3-4 in Room 419.
13 kids today- very attentive, one and all. Thanks to parents for encouragement on your side!
Today, we talked about the great tournament last Saturday, and the two coming up- this weekend in Oshkosh, and the weekend after at Goodrich. Chris said he enjoyed his first tournament and everybody got to see the trophy.
We walked thru a couple of the tournament games, and talked about 1) the scholar's mate and 2) the fools' mate. Kolt had a three-move win on Saturday! We talked about how that happened.
We then talked about decoys leading to wins, and leading to forks which can win at least a piece.
Then, Evan came up and taught the kids a little about ENDGAMES... Evan showed how a pawn can be escorted to the end of the board by a King, and how best to protect the pawn along the way, either with a King or a Rook. The other kids were very respectful and attentive to Evan.
Some kids (Rachel, Brady, Zeke, and others) mentioned they want to become registered for the USCF- this is a great move! I'm awarding 5 chess points for registration. Almost every kid got 3 points today for a great class. I am keeping track of the chess point accumulation and will be posting the tallies very soon.
Mr. Seghers / Mark
13 kids today- very attentive, one and all. Thanks to parents for encouragement on your side!
Today, we talked about the great tournament last Saturday, and the two coming up- this weekend in Oshkosh, and the weekend after at Goodrich. Chris said he enjoyed his first tournament and everybody got to see the trophy.
We walked thru a couple of the tournament games, and talked about 1) the scholar's mate and 2) the fools' mate. Kolt had a three-move win on Saturday! We talked about how that happened.
We then talked about decoys leading to wins, and leading to forks which can win at least a piece.
Then, Evan came up and taught the kids a little about ENDGAMES... Evan showed how a pawn can be escorted to the end of the board by a King, and how best to protect the pawn along the way, either with a King or a Rook. The other kids were very respectful and attentive to Evan.
Some kids (Rachel, Brady, Zeke, and others) mentioned they want to become registered for the USCF- this is a great move! I'm awarding 5 chess points for registration. Almost every kid got 3 points today for a great class. I am keeping track of the chess point accumulation and will be posting the tallies very soon.
Mr. Seghers / Mark
Sunday, November 2, 2008
LDMS Knights Take First in K5 at Holy Trinity WSCF!!
LDMS Rocks the WSCF!!On Saturday, Nov 1, Lake Denoon took first place at Holy Trinity Lutheran School in Okauchee, in the WSCF K-8 Championship.
The team of Kolt, Reid, Chris M, and Rachel took 13.5 points, winning by 2.5 over Brookfield Acadamy. Kolt and Reid took 4 points, Rachel won 2.5 points, and...
The big news in this tournament was Chris Mangan, who in his FIRST TOURNAMENT EVER, got THREE WINS!!! This is a great beginning for Chris!! Our goal for new tournament players is usually to win ONE game... that is hard enough... but Chris won THREE! Way to go Chris! Without his wins, we would not have won the tournament!
The big news in this tournament was Chris Mangan, who in his FIRST TOURNAMENT EVER, got THREE WINS!!! This is a great beginning for Chris!! Our goal for new tournament players is usually to win ONE game... that is hard enough... but Chris won THREE! Way to go Chris! Without his wins, we would not have won the tournament!
It is a little nervewracking to play in your first tournament. Chris put aside his nerves, and got it done! In his last game, he was behind, when he saw the opponent's weak point! Sliding his rook to the back row, Chris trapped his overconfident opponent's King in the corner behind his pawns.
Kolt Otterbacher took fifth place to win a trophy in K5! In tiebreakers, Reid took sixth place. Chris took 18th and Rachel took 20th in the crowded K5 field.
The top K-5 teams were as follows:
1 LAKE DENOON MIDDLE SCHOOL, MUSKEGO (4) 13.5
- OTTERBACHER, KOLTON (4.0,546)
- SEGHERS, REID N (4.0,885)
- MANGAN, CHRIS (3.0,369)
- GOMOLL, RACHEL (2.5,345)
2 BROOKFIELD ACADEMY, BROKFIELD (4) 11
KULKARNI, PRANAV (5.0,1122)
ULATOSKI, HANNAH (3.0,457)
YAHIAOUI, SAMMY (2.0,286)
ULATOWSKI, GRETA (1.0,100)
3 TOSA SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES (6) 10.5
WIJETUNGE, ROSHAN (4.0,704)
TOYE, BRANDON (3.0,497)
MINIX, SAM (2.0,291)
McGEE, MAYA (1.5,202)
4 BLAIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WAUKES (9) 10.5
BUE, BEN (3.0,437)
SOLFEST, MIKE (3.0,380)
SOTO, RICARDO (2.5,489)
HAUSER, NICK (2.0,260)
GRAYSON, JON (2.0,221)
In the K-8 division, Evan Seghers played alone and did very well, winning 4 out of his 5 games. His only loss came against the very tough Magellan player Troy Z, who was able to create a passed pawn and promote to win. We'll see you again, Mr. Z! *smile*
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