Oct 30, 2015

Today we learned about the things that most often confuse people about the rules of chess.
We learned about en passant, castling, pawn promotion, check, checkmate and stalemate.
We talked about pawns and highways. We learned who foolish Freddy is.
We learned the Fool's Mate and the Scholar's Mate.
... and we played some chess.

Don't worry if your rating is still at or near 100. The ones above 150 all were in chess club last year.

Name	30-Oct
Isaac	285
Tapio	267
Kartik	253
Gage	208
Theo	203
Hale	190
Bharath	168
Abe	151
Preston	132
Alex	119
Luc	111
Eli	110
Thomas	100
Jagger	100
Ethan	100
Stella	100
Kiran	100
Michael	100

Fall Session Has Begun

The fall session has begun. We meet in the library from 3:45 to 5:15. We have 18 students.

Today we learned a little about how knights move. If you start a knight on the a1 square and move it 149 times, what color square will it be on? (They all got it right!)

We learned a little poetry:
     A knight on the side
     Gets fried!

We learned that the pattern of squares a knight can move to can look like a circle, a diamond, or a
square depending on your imagination. We learned how a bishop or a rook can trap a knight - even how a king or pawns can.

We learned why a rook is happy in the back row. It has to do with the number 14.

We learned the three objectives at the start of the game:
1. Control the center by occupying or attacking it.
2. Develop your knights and bishops - get them out of the back row and into the game.
3. Make sure your king is safe, which usually means castling.

We learned all the rules of castling - including a new one they had to add to the rulebook.

... and we played some chess.

Name	23-Oct
Isaac	261
Tapio	247
Kartik	223
Gage	218
Theo	169
Abe	159
Hale	156
Luc	135
Bharath	134
Thomas	125
Alex	115
Preston	105
Eli	105
Jagger	105
Ethan	105
Stella	100
Kiran	100
Michael	100