Oooo Shiny!

Everyone loves a good picture. For us chess players an embedded game we can follow is nice too. But if you go back in my blog history you can see nearly all of my pics have vanished. Oh well. Back to the breach. Here we go kids.                                               

Five things to do to play well in chess.

1.Play the same opening for a year. As White play 1.e4, or 1.d4. As Black against 1.e4 play e5, e6, or c6. Against 1d4 play The Queen's Gambit Declined (All Purpose System) Tartakower Variation, or The Tarrasch defense.

2. Deal with mistakes. Stop making simple piece drops. Notice and capitalize on the mistakes of the other player.

3.Make moves that matter. Get your pieces off their starting squares and into the game. Get Knights into the center, and Bishops on good diagonals. Get those rooks onto the open files. Get more space.

4.In an endgame after the Queen's are off and the game will be won by a pawn promotion, get your King into the center. The King is a fighting piece that does not need to hide any more.

5.Stay tough. Play the strongest moves you can find from the start to the end of the game. If you are losing, fight for your life! If you are winning, keep making strong moves.

Daniel Narodisky, Under 12 World Champion.

Our kids only have club once a week. We went to a tournament in Columbus and took second place. We entered a local Toledo tournament and were first in the k-5 section. We are holding most of the top boards in the GLCA when we have our little meets. I am so proud of them.

We are not Daniel Naroditsky, and I am no Elizabeth Vicary. But we are doing what we can with what we have.

Looking at these beautiful capable young people I am so sad for the loss of those twenty children in Connecticut today.

I want to do something for those families. But what can be done now? All I can do is pray. And I will.