Sport Quotas

Good day everyone

I would like to post the following, after the big discussion in the news regarding Transformation in Sport.

Re: TRANSFORMATION progress Western Cape Schools chess:

The Western Cape Top Schools TEAM (primary and high schools) that are going to the SA's in Pretoria in December of this year, consists of 66,6% brown/black players & 33,3% white players. Team management in the same ratio! Some teams consist of BOTH colour!

ALL other sport could use the "UNFORCED CHESS ROUTE" to transformation with tremendous success!  Each learner / administrator / educator has GOD-created POTENTIAL.  HOW is this potential unlocked?
(1) Taking schools chess TO a COMMUNITY
(2) Creating EQUAL OPPERTUNITIES on a MULTI-LEVEL process approach (district and regionals)
(3) PROPER MANAGING the process
(4) DEVELOPING / EMPOWERING and TRAINING passionate VISION, MISSION & GOAL driven administrators / educators.

Here's to taking the "unforced chess route."

~ Johan Alberts

AWSUM August month for Aristea Chess

Good day everyone!

I am very proud to say that August has been a very good month for Aristea Chess.  Not only have the girls team participated at three different events, but our under 13 team has been doing very well as well!  They have completed 4 matches, and have not lost a match thus far.  They played against Durbanville and won 4 – 2. They played on the Hartenbos Tour, against Hartenbos Primary and won the 24 – 0! Three rounds, 8 players, we did not lose a match!  Then last Friday, we played against Gene Louw and won the match 4 – 2! Today, 29 August, the under 13's played their last league game against Meridian Pinehurst, and won the match 4,5 - 1,5!  Congratulations to everyone who participated.

The girls’ team played in the District North and WP Top Schools tournament. They also played in the Marie Delport Woman’s Day tournament in Worcester.  There one of our learners, Kiara Blows, won the under 10 section!  I just want to say how proud I am of each of you that played!

I invite everyone and anyone (Primary school learners only!) to play in our locally organised friendly tournament on Saturday, 20 September 2014.  For more information, please go to our chess blog, aristeachess.blogspot.com.  Just click on the Tournament News tab and you can enter on the website as well; payments can be made on the day.  Just enter here on the right!    >>>   

Kind regards

:-)

Term 2 Chess at Aristea Primary

Good morning everyone!

I know, I know! Today is the first posts in almost 3 months, bur like all things there is a very good reason why one does not have time to blog.  In my case an unfortunate and not so good one: I went through a tuff situation at home.  Will publish the whole story in the July holidays.  (I still have one weeks school left for this term).

School info:  We are currently in the exams.  Its ending on Tuesday.  Thus no practices.  We will start again the first Tuesday in the 3rd term.  Practices will continue to be on a Tuesday and Thursday, with league matches taking place on Fridays, and tournaments taking place on Saturday mornings!

Updates:
We played four league games in the second term, and the results were as follows:
Match 1 vs Eversdal, u/13 and u/11's lost
Match 2 vs Curro - Cancelled due to the golfday
Match 3 vs Welgemoed, u/13 lost and u/11 draw
Match 4 vs Durbanville, u/13 won
Match 5 vs El Shaddai, u/11 lost

Tournaments:
We played our second friendly tournament at the end of May on a Saturday morning.  We only had 20 players, but LOTS of fun!  Click here to see the photos on the photos page.

First we had the 4* high school players playing a round robin tournament. * JJ being the volunteer who 'won' his place in this round robin.  The results, Corbin 1st, JJ 2nd, Trevor 3rd and Wouter 4th.

Then we had the four girls play in another round robin tournament.  The results, Angel-Leigh 1st, René 2nd, Jessica (grade 4) 3rd, and Keisha 4th.

While these two round robins were played, all the rest played in one tournament of 4 rounds.  All the seniors, juniors and beginners in one mix.  The results were as follows:  (Click on the image to enlarge)

Afterwards, we had two more mixtures of groups playing together: 10 in each group, playing 3 more games.
The High school boys, with the Seniors, and the Juniors, Beginners and Girls playing together.
Their results were as follows:

Last words for today: Expect more posts in the week.  I plan to post a new puzzle each day, and more interesting articles that I found on the internet.

"Coming attractions":
The under 13 team is going on a tour to Mossel Bay, mid August. The names will be published this coming week!

Then we have the district top school play-off's this coming term - the girls team are going to be there!

Then, another thing to look forward to is the 3rd term league matches starting early in August! AND of course more tournaments on a Saturday morning. I will keep you posted.

:-)

13 Very common checkmates that everyone should know

Let us revisit some puzzles with easy checkmate patterns

Click on the puzzle to take you to the other 12 puzzles, on the puzzles page.

For each one, find checkmate in one move.

Enjoy!
:-)

Our players at the WP Chess Championships

Good luck to our players: 

 Craig Strydom - boys under 14

 Kalim Meyer - boys under 8

Kiara Blows - girls under 10

Round 1 - all our players are playing black!

Just note: I will only be able to update the primary schools' results.

:-)

WP Closed 2014 Schools Chess Trials

Good afternoon everyone!

I'm officiating at the WP Closed Schools Chess Trials today and tomorrow.  I would just like to wish three of our schools learners good luck! They are: Craig Strydom, Kiara Blows and Kalim Meyer.

Congratulations also to Craig - he was named headboy in our school last week!

Thus, follow the blog for round for round results in each section.  I will try my best to keep you up to date.

Kind regards,

:-)

           

Junior & Senior Tournaments 14 March 2014

Good morning players and parents

What a Friday the 14th it has been!  (Luckily in a good way and not a bad, Friday the 13th way!)

Not only did we celebrate Pi Day in the morning, but we had two chess tournaments taking place simultaneously in the hall in the afternoon.  Both the Junior and Senior tournaments took place, after the junior tournament had to be postponed due to a fumigation taking place in the school that Friday.

I am proud to say that both tournaments and the Pi Day celebration was a huge success. Congratulations to Joshua Snyman in the grade 5E1 class, who remembered 116 Pi digits in the correct order!

Back to the tournament results though.

The juniors' top 10 results were as follows:
10th  Kristin Izaks 1.5 out of 3 (only lost one game)
9th Neelan Koopman 1.5 / 3
8th Safa Hassiem 1.5 / 3
7th Nica Oosthuizen 1.5 / 3 (She is in grade 3!)
6th Britney Cupido 1.5 / 3
5th Ethan Boois 2 / 3
4th Daniel Snyman 2 / 3
3rd Marius van Schalkwyk 2.5 / 3
2nd Ntsika Ketsekile 2.5 / 3
1st Diego Kleinhans 3 / 3

Congratulations Diego!

The seniors' top 10 results were as follows:
10th JJ Oosthuizen 2 / 4
9th Alex Mckenzie 2 / 4
8th Wouter Rademeyer 3 / 4
7th Trevor Rademeyer 3 / 4
6th TC Theron 3 / 4
5th Craig Strydom 3 / 4
4th Tyler Pretorius 3 / 4
3rd Kyle Naidoo 3 / 4
2nd Luke Roos 3 / 4
1st Corbyn Blows 4 / 4

Congratulations Corbyn!

Just a note, the players with the same score (3 / 4), are separated by Tie Breaks.

At this time, I don't have fast wireless internet, thus I can't load the photos that I took.  I will load it in the week.

Congratulations to the winners, and congratulations to the players for the sportsmanship that I saw.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

This week, we only have chess practise on Tuesday, as Thursday is the start of the long weekend.

:-)

Chess improvement for beginners and novice players

This morning I saw the following post on Susan Polgar's Blog, and thought this is excellent for especially all our beginners and novice players.  Thanks to technology, I sent her a tweet and she gave me permission to use anything I wish!  Thanks again Susan. :-)

The Importance of Defense in Chess
Susan Polgar

We all like to be in a position to attack freely and look for ways to checkmate our opponents. However, we cannot always get to that position. In fact, at times we end up on the other side of the coin and need to find the right defensive moves to avoid losing or to turn things around.

In this column we shall examine four examples of successful defense in dangerous looking positions.

In this column we shall examine four examples of successful defense in dangerous looking positions.  (I'm only going to use 3)

1)


In the position above, white’s Rook and Knight work together well in creating a checkmate threat with Rxh7. How can Black defend against it? The solution is: 1...Nf3+ 2.Kg2 Ng5 and Black is out of danger.

2)


Do you see what is White’s sneaky plan in the position above? The plan is to checkmate with Qxb7. So as Black, how would you defend against it?
If, 1...Qb6 then Black’s Knight remains unprotected and White can simply capture with 2.Qxe7.

How about blocking the threat with 1...c6? That seems to work except it allows the highly unpleasant pin by 2.Bf4! So what is the solution?

The right answer is: 1...Nc6! and Black is out of danger.

3)

In the final position above, white’ main threat is Qh8 checkmate. Would 1…Kh6 solve the problem?

No, as after 2.Qh8 the King has no escape on g5.

Would 1...g5 work, freeing up the g6 square? Not quite, because after 2.Qf6, Black cannot properly defend against the upcoming Rh8 threat.

Therefore, the only correct solution is: 1...Be5! and if 2.Qg8+ Kh6 3.Qf8+ then 3…Bg7 saves the day.

Remember, if you are under attack, do not panic! Not every attack leads to checkmate if you defend correctly! And always look out for your opponent's plan.

Another Chess puzzle

Another one from the Chess Club Live page on facebook

1) Rxe4     fxe4
2) Qg3+     Kd2
3) Qf2+      Kd1
4) Qe4#

If it was white to move, can you find checkmate in just one move!?

:-)

Chess puzzle

I recently 'liked' the facebook page, Chess Club Live.

Today I got the following puzzle:  White is going to win after 5 moves, but he sacrifices series pieces.
Just have a look:

For the beginners, following the previous post, you have to say which Knight moves to c4, because the Knight on e5 can also move to that spot.
1) Ndc4      dxc4 (pawn takes the Knight)
2) Qxg6      hxg6 (pawn takes the Queen!)
3) Nxg6      fxg6 (pawn takes the Knight)
4) Bc4+      Kf8
5) Rh8#

WOW!! Brilliant play by White.

The whole game can be seen on the chess-king.com website.  Click here to go to that website.
Also note on that website, is that this game was played in 1901, in Antwerp!

:-)

Aristea Chess News - 1st Edition

In stead of writing a letter each time, I am going to put it in a "Newspaper or Article" form.

I changed our blogs header picture to the same pictures as below, the date and year just in a different spot.

Below is our first edition for our new 'publication'. 

Dear parents and players

It is time for change 

I want to bring a new feel to the communication with the players and parents.  I almost want to make it seem as if you are reading an article in a newspaper! We have had a very busy term so far, but very encouraging.  We had more than 20 players join our beginners’ class and I really see a lot of potential.  More of beginners class later in the publication.  Also in this communication you will find how our players did in the District- and Welgemoed tournaments. I also report on the practises and how we are going to implement some changes in this department as well. The exciting news in this edition of Aristea Chess News is the upcoming tournaments for this term.

District Tournament results

U8: Kalim Meyer 1.0* –

BRONZE Medal for coming in 3rd in this section!!

U10:    Kiara Blows 3.5* – 

Ninth place in this section and the 3rd girl.

  
U12: Alex Mckenzie  3.0

Jordan Jacobs 1.5

U14:  Craig Strydom  4.0*

   JJ Oosthuizen 4.0

   Kian Blows 3.0

   Alton Nel  3.0

   Zukhanye Mqumbisa 2.5

   Kyle Naidoo 2.0

   Ndinani Sibelekwana 2.0

   Xander West 1.5

*Congratulations and good luck to Kalim, Kiara and Craig, chosen in the District team to play in the WP Championships on the 28^th and 29^th of March 2014, at the Kuilsriver Sport School.

We also had old Aristea learners play in the high school section, three of them advancing to the WP Championships.  Clint van Rooyen played under 16 and came in 8^th place.  Jenna Ziegers also came in 2^nd place for girls under 16. Lathitha France came in 3^rd place for girls under 14.  More old Aristea learners included Liam Meyer and Cheran Melite.

Welgemoed tournament results

The two Jacobs brothers, Jordan in grade 6 and Matthew in grade 3 played in the tournament organised and presented by Welgemoed Primary.  I am proud to say that both of them won a medal and represented Aristea in a very good manner.  Congratulations to both of you!

Practises

Practise times stay the same, on a Tuesday and a Thursday, from 14:35 to 15:35.  The change comes in with who plays and practises where the seniors are going to practise in the grade 5E2 class of Mr. Bekker, with Mrs Geldenhuys keeping score.  The beginners are going to play, practise and learn in the Arts & Culture Room, with me.

Aristea Tournament

I am proud to announce that we are going to have our own schools tournament in March.  Like last year, I am organising a senior and junior / beginner tournament – only this time, on separate dates!  The details are as follows:

Junior tournament

Date: Friday, 7 March 2014.

Time: Directly after school in the classroom next to the photocopy room. We start at 14:00 sharp!

Rounds: 3 Rounds

Time control: 15 / 15 – 15 minutes per player

Round 1: 14:00 – 14:30

Round 2: 14:45 – 15:15

Round 3: 15:30 – 16:00

The prize giving will be directly afterwards.

Senior tournament (Gr. 8 & 9’s also welcome)

Date: Friday, 14 March 2014.

Time: Directly after school in the classroom next to the photocopy room. We start at 14:00 sharp!

Rounds: 4 Rounds

Time control: 10 / 10 – 10 minutes per player

Round 1: 14:00 – 14:20

Round 2: 14:30 – 14:50

Round 3: 15:00 – 15:20

Round 4: 15:30 – 16:00

Prizes

After each tournament is finished, I urge the players not to go, but to stay for a short prize giving where gold medals will be awarded to the winners in each tournament. The 2^nd and 3^rd place will receive a chess piece keychain.

Entry fees

Entry fees for both tournaments are R10 per player, and are payable on the Thursday before each tournament.  Late entries will only be accepted if arranged with me before the time.  The money is going towards a new chess clock and we are raising funds to go on a tour on a Saturday morning to a town in the Boland somewhere.

Blog

For the new chess players and chess parents, I would like to inform you of our school’s chess blog. The address on the internet is: www.aristeachess.blogspot.com On the blog you will find much more information regarding chess, chess puzzles and you can even check your chess knowledge by taking an easy chess exam!  It also gives you some benefits of playing chess. How it improves players’ skills not only in chess but in life as well.

Chess Notation

For every move, you must write the letter of the piece and the block grid reference where it moves to.

The pawn does not have a letter, you just write the block that it moves to.

The Rook begins with a “R”

The Knight begins with a K, but it is a silent K, thus we write it with an “N”

The Bishop begins with a “B”

The Queen begins with a “Q”

The King begins with a “K”

Important: The pieces names are always in a Capital letter and the board letter are small caps.

When you capture a piece, you will write “x”

When you put your opponent in check, you must write “+”, when it’s checkmate, you must write “#”

If White wins, then you write 1 – 0.

If Black wins, then you write 0 – 1.

For example: Bishop capture a piece on b4; Bxb4

More on chess notation in the next edition.

Tournament entry form

Before the players can enter the tournament, they must find the winning move for the puzzle below.  If they can’t find the answer, they must talk to another chess player or work together with someone to find the answer.  This is almost like your qualifying thing you have to do before you enter.

Here are some answers that are wrong, because Black can move out of check, capture the attacking piece or move something in the way.

Rd1 +   Ke7

Or he can move something in the way: His Knight or his Bishop: Nd3 or Nd7, or Bd2 or Bd4.

Qa8 +   Kc7, Kd7, Ke7

Qd7 +   Kxd7, or Nxd7

Remember, white must move and the Black King must be in checkmate (#)

The correct answer, he must move: ___________________

Notate the move after you have read through the Chess Notation paragraph on the previous page.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Player Information

Name: ______________________

Surname: ____________________

Grade: ______________________

Date of birth: _________________

Parent Contact Details

Cell nr: ______________________

Home nr: _____________________

Email: _______________________

Date: ________________________

Tournament selection – please tick the appropriate choice

□ Junior tournament on 7 March 2014.

□ Senior tournament on 14 March 2014.

I will make sure that the entry fee of R10 will be paid on or before the 6^th or 13^th of March 2014. 

Signature: _______________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final results of our Aristea Players

District North Individual Chess Tournament

Results: Aristea Players

U8:
   Kalim Meyer 1.0 - BRONZE Medal for coming in 3rd in this section!!

U10:
   Kiara Blows 3.5 - Ninth place in this section and the 3rd girl.  

U12:
   Alex Mckenzie  3.0
   Jordan Jacobs 1.5

U14:
   Craig Strydom  4.0
   JJ Oosthuizen 4.0
   Kian Blows 3.0
   Alton Nel  3.0
   Zukhanye Mqumbisa 2.5
   Kyle Naidoo 2.0
   Ndinani Sibelekwana 2.0
   Xander West 1.5
   
Check the following website if you have made the District team to play in the WP Closed on the 28th and 29th of March.  www.wcschess.co.za

I am very proud of you all!

:-)

I have heard that 3 of our current players are going to play in the WP Closed Tournament (WP Championships - all the top 10 of all the districts against each other).  Then I also got news that 3 of our ex-Aristea learners are going to play in that same tournament:

Congratulations to Kalim Meyer u/8, Kiara Blows u/10, Craig Stydom u/14, Lathita France u/14, Clint van Rooyen u/16, Jenna Ziegers u/16

Tournament results with 1 round to go

Here are our players' results before the last round:

U8:
   Kalim Meyer 1.0

U10:
   Kiara Blows 2.5

U12:
   Alex Mckenzie  3.0
   Jordan Jacobs 1.5

U14:
   Craig Strydom  4.0
   JJ Oosthuizen 3.0
   Kian Blows 3.0
   Kyle Naidoo 2.0
   Ndinani Sibelekwana 2.0
   Alton Nel  2.0
   Xander West 1.5
   Zukhanye Mqumbisa 1.5

Good luck to all of you for the last round of the tournament!

I will be holding thumbs!

:-)