Colle Queen's Gambit Declined French

To heck with long term purity. Lets get down and dirty with quick success.

Let the purists rage that I should take months to teach them endings and tactics and never restrict their growth by doing such a horrible thing as teaching openings.

Bullocks!

We only play once a week. We only have an hour. We are ordinary kids who probably will not go on to play competitive tournament chess as adults.

I will teach them the fastest cleanest way to win right now. I call Cecil Purdy as my witness. Let them learn one simple opening that will get them into the middle game and then play on from there.  Colle as white, Queen's Gambit Declined and French as Black. Over and Done.

Let the other schools do better. We will do the best we can with who we are and what we have right now.

Of course I wish I had time and they had the inclination to master endings they would be lucky to reach.

But what they need is tactical vision!

And as for the opening, think about football. Even pe-wee league has a few basic plans. Just because it is not a pro-set does not mean they can do without some organization. Openings are our Football plays. We cannot continue to pretend they don't matter.

Let purist snobs lift their noses and sneer. I hope our kids push their kids off the board.

Gesu Chess 2012

I love volunteering as a coach for the Gesu Chess club. Almost everyone who is in the club this year already has a year of experience.

The room is more difficult than last year. Last year I could go in early and set up the room. This year I rush in with the students as school ends. Last year I could set up the desks into an order that simulated a tournament. This year the desks are in a more clustered configuration suitable for small groups, but not ideal for chess. Last year I had access to the white boards where I could put chess quotes, piece valuations, and game scripts up. This year there is no space.

But I have dreams! These are wonderful children. They learn. They are stronger than they were last year.

I think that I can facilitate some order into the chaos, by initiating an internal tournament.

Part of the joy of chess comes from winning games. Part of the joy is the pleasure of mastery that grows with study. Part of the joy is participation in chess culture which transcends time and space. And part is the camaraderie of fellow chess players.

I dream happy dreams for our kids.