Friendly Hills got shut out against Metcalf A and B as expected, but our easiest match is next week - we need a win or draw against Faithful Shepherd to come out ahead of them. If we do, I think we get the 3rd place trophy because Metcalf can only get one trophy. It is mathematically possible to come out ahead of Metcalf C if we can beat Faithful Shepherd 5-0 and Salem Hill can beat Metcalf C 5-0. Athough not likely, it could well happen.
Salem Hills needs a win or a draw against Metcalf C to hold onto third place. A loss would put us in 4th place.
Scores
Rd 3 Metcalf A 5 FHMS 0
Salem Hills 4.5 Faithful Shepherd .5
Metcalf B 4 Metcalf C 1
Rd 4 Metcalf A 3.5 Salem Hills 1.5
Metcalf B 5 FHMS 0
Metcalf C 4 Faithful Shepherd 1
Next week it's:
Met A vs Met B
Salem Hills vs Met C
FHMS vs Faithful Shepherd
School Matches Games
Met A 4.0 18.5
Met B 4.0 17.0
Salem 2.0 12.5
Met C 1.5 7.5
Friendly 0.5 3.0
Faithful 0.0 1.5
Friday, February 1, 2019
Sunday, January 27, 2019
2019 Season - Rounds 1 & 2
STANDINGS
TEAM Match Games
Metcalf A 2.0 10.0
Metcalf B 2.0 8.0
Salem Hills 1.0 6.5
Friendly H. 0.5 3.0
Metcalf C 0.5 2.5
Faithful S. 0.0 0.0
Rd3 FHMS vs MetA, SH vs FS, MetB vs MetC
Rd4 FHMS vs MetB, SH vs MetA, FS vs MetC
PROBLEM 1
Here's a position from Shanmuka's (Friendly Hills) game on board 4 against Metcalf C.
The game has been fairly well-played on both sides with neither side getting much of an advantage.
Black has just played f6 and it's Whites turn (Shanmuka's). What's White's best move?
In the game, he played Nf3, but he had a better move. If you said Nxc6, nice try, but Qb6 could create some problems for the knight. The move that gets the advantage is 1. Qh5+ leaving a chance for Black to make a blunder. Rf2 is instant checkmate. Ke7 drops the Queen. Kf8 is all that's left. Then 2. Qxh6+
Ke8 (blocking with either rook looses material) 3.Qh5+ Kf8 4.Nd3 leaves White with a sight advantage but if Black had made any mistakes, it could be over.
PROBLEM 2
Luke from Friendly Hills is playing black and comes up with a nice combination. Can you find his next two moves?
TEAM Match Games
Metcalf A 2.0 10.0
Metcalf B 2.0 8.0
Salem Hills 1.0 6.5
Friendly H. 0.5 3.0
Metcalf C 0.5 2.5
Faithful S. 0.0 0.0
Rd3 FHMS vs MetA, SH vs FS, MetB vs MetC
Rd4 FHMS vs MetB, SH vs MetA, FS vs MetC
PROBLEM 1
Here's a position from Shanmuka's (Friendly Hills) game on board 4 against Metcalf C.
The game has been fairly well-played on both sides with neither side getting much of an advantage.
Black has just played f6 and it's Whites turn (Shanmuka's). What's White's best move?
Ke8 (blocking with either rook looses material) 3.Qh5+ Kf8 4.Nd3 leaves White with a sight advantage but if Black had made any mistakes, it could be over.
PROBLEM 2
Luke from Friendly Hills is playing black and comes up with a nice combination. Can you find his next two moves?
A little decoy followed by a fork. 1....Rxd3 2. Rxd3 Qb1+!
PROBLEM 3
Owen from Friendly Hills played a game that was close all the way. He had managed to gobble up a pawn on b5, but black advanced his d pawn threatening to queen. What's the best way for Owen to stop that pawn?
Owen tried Rd5 thinking he would gobble up the d-pawn, too. Imagine his horror when his opponent played Rf5+ forking the rook. Owen can take the rook, but the pawn queens. Instead, Owen should have played 1. Rb1 Rd7 2. Rd1 Kf7 3. Kf4 Kf6 4. Ke3 Kf5 5. Rxd2 Rxd2 6. Kxd2 with a draw.
PROBLEM 4
Lennox from Salem Hills had a wild game against Metcalf. After getting ahead in position (see diagram below), he fell behind by a knight, only to come back and checkmate his opponent with the blind pig mate!
Here Lennox has a chance to put his White out of his misery. What's Black's killer move?
If you said Qc3, that's what Lennox tried. But that let his opponent escape by castling. Look at White's King - it has nowhere to go. The correct move is to castle kingside threatening checkmate. All attempts by White to save his king fail - try it out on your own board, or click on analyze game on your school's chess blog page and enter this position.
PROBLEM 5
Here Zachary from Salem Hills, playing black, has mopped up some pawns with his Queen. Black blocks check with his queen. How should Zach proceed?
Zachary rightly remembered that when you're ahead, trade. Plus it gave him time to save his knight.
He played 1. Qxe2+ Kxe2 2.Nd5. But his 2-pawn advantage slipped away. Nevertheless with some good endgame play he managed to queen a pawn and win. However, he could have made it much easier with 1.Ne4+ Kf3 2.Qxe2 Kxe2 3.Ng3+ picking up a rook and making the endgame easier.
PROBLEM 6 (Hard)
Luke (Friendly Hills) vs Michael (Salem Hills) - a wild game. It was well-played and even, until Luke made an ill-advised pawn move. Though the edge went from Luke to Michael it remained basically even until Michael got a KR fork with his knight. By move 20 Stockfish (the chess analysis engine) had Michael up 12 points.
Michael struggled to come up with a killer move and by move 29 Luke had some severe threats going in spite of being down in material. They agreed to a draw though the computer had Luke up 5.
Here's the position when Michael had the 12 point lead. Can you find Black's winning line of play.
Michael tried Qa5+ but eventually Luke's King found refuge among his kingside pieces. The correct answer, according to Stockfish, is Re8. This grabs that open file and keeps Luke's King in the open. For example, Ke3 is met with Qe7 and there is no way to save the pinned Bishop and Black's pieces come flooding in. If instead, Luke plays f3, Michael plays d5 and once again the King is in the open.
The game might continue 24.Bd3 Qa5+ 25. Kd1 Qxa2 26. Qh6 Qb3+ 27. Kd2 Qxb2+28.Kd1 Qg2 29. Rf1 Nb3 (It's not quite over but it will be soon.) Sometimes it's really hard to come up with the right move even when you've got the lead and a strong position.
Monday, January 22, 2018
2016 Season
Minnesota Junior High Chess League - Cities Division
COACHES
A match will consist of five games pitting one school against another. Top player from one school will play the top player from the other school, etc. Coaches should develop a way to rank their players. If a team does not field a full team, players must move up leaving the bottom boards vacant. You will forfeit the games on those boards. The team that scores 3 or more points is the winner of the match. If a team score 2.5 points it is considered a draw. With forfeits it is possible that neither team will win the match. The team that wins the most matches advanced to the playoffs. In case of tie in matches, the total points will be used as a tie breaker. You may bring extra players and sub them into your team, but they must stay in proper order according to their ratings/ranking. We will match the extras up for practice games that will not affect the league scores.
So far we have Friendly Hills (1), ...
Fees are $?? for the first team. ($?? for two teams, $?? for 3 teams.)
Make checks out to Minnesota Junior High Chess League and mail to
Brian Ribnick
Metcalf Jr. High
2250 Diffley Road, Burnsville MN 55337
There's an invoice available on the link to the League site in the upper right.
If anyone else wants to join, send Bill Heinemann an e-mail at gemshein@hotmail.com
2016 SCHEDULE
A - Breck B-Cap C-FarnA D-FarnB E=Sew F=Friendly
Jan 27 9:00 - 12:30 Seward Montessori Matthew's Center
Team listed 1st is White on Boards 1, 3 and 5
Round 1 9:15 A vs B, C vs D, E vs F
Round 2 10:25 (or sooner) A vs C, B vs F, D vs E
Round 3 11:35 (or sooner) F vs A, D vs B, E vs F
Done at 12:45 at the latest
Feb 10 8:45 - 12:15 Friendly Hills M. S. ant Church on Arcade
Round 4 8:50 D vs A, C vs F, B vs E
Round 5 10:00 (or sooner) B vs C, F vs D, E vs A
New format for round 6 due to the fact that I just learned that 2 teams from this division will advance to playoffs.
Round 6 11:10 (or sooner) Team 1 vs Team 4, Team 2 vs Team 3, Team 5 vs Team 6.
In round 6, preference for White on odd boards will be given to Breck, Farnsworth A and Friendly Hills since they were black 3 times in the first 5 rounds.
Final Standings 12:20
Done at 12:25
Playoffs March 3, at Metcalf Jr. High in Burnsville.
Awards will be given at St. Kate's at the State Tournament (on March 24-25)
DIVISION RULES
(League rules available at the link in the upper right.)
Teams should bring their own notation paper, pencils, chess sets and clocks.
Players should bring their own clocks to ensure they will have a clock for their game.
Rules are USCF rules. All games must be notated (moves recorded) by both players. A clock will be used on all games. Each player will have 30 minutes with a 5 second delay (35 min with no delay). We could run over an hour by 7 minutes on a 40 move game or by 15 on an 80 move game, but with so few games we are more likely to finish early. So I think we'll be OK with this time control.
Touch move - if you touch a piece with the intent to move it you must move it if you can legally do so. If this means you have to block check with your queen, so be it. If you touch an opponent's piece with your hand or your piece with intent to capture, you must capture. A player is not required to say check. The three-move repetition rule will be enforced. Press the clock with the same hand that moved your piece. No kibbitzing, verbal or otherwise - penalty will be forfeit of 1 point from your team score that round. If you have a question or issue, raise your hand. No one will remind you to press your clock or notify you if you have an illegal position on the board. You must be aware of these yourself.
COACHES
A match will consist of five games pitting one school against another. Top player from one school will play the top player from the other school, etc. Coaches should develop a way to rank their players. If a team does not field a full team, players must move up leaving the bottom boards vacant. You will forfeit the games on those boards. The team that scores 3 or more points is the winner of the match. If a team score 2.5 points it is considered a draw. With forfeits it is possible that neither team will win the match. The team that wins the most matches advanced to the playoffs. In case of tie in matches, the total points will be used as a tie breaker. You may bring extra players and sub them into your team, but they must stay in proper order according to their ratings/ranking. We will match the extras up for practice games that will not affect the league scores.
So far we have Friendly Hills (1), ...
Fees are $?? for the first team. ($?? for two teams, $?? for 3 teams.)
Make checks out to Minnesota Junior High Chess League and mail to
Brian Ribnick
Metcalf Jr. High
2250 Diffley Road, Burnsville MN 55337
There's an invoice available on the link to the League site in the upper right.
If anyone else wants to join, send Bill Heinemann an e-mail at gemshein@hotmail.com
2016 SCHEDULE
A - Breck B-Cap C-FarnA D-FarnB E=Sew F=Friendly
Jan 27 9:00 - 12:30 Seward Montessori Matthew's Center
Team listed 1st is White on Boards 1, 3 and 5
Round 1 9:15 A vs B, C vs D, E vs F
Round 2 10:25 (or sooner) A vs C, B vs F, D vs E
Round 3 11:35 (or sooner) F vs A, D vs B, E vs F
Done at 12:45 at the latest
Feb 10 8:45 - 12:15 Friendly Hills M. S. ant Church on Arcade
Round 4 8:50 D vs A, C vs F, B vs E
Round 5 10:00 (or sooner) B vs C, F vs D, E vs A
New format for round 6 due to the fact that I just learned that 2 teams from this division will advance to playoffs.
Round 6 11:10 (or sooner) Team 1 vs Team 4, Team 2 vs Team 3, Team 5 vs Team 6.
In round 6, preference for White on odd boards will be given to Breck, Farnsworth A and Friendly Hills since they were black 3 times in the first 5 rounds.
Final Standings 12:20
Done at 12:25
Playoffs March 3, at Metcalf Jr. High in Burnsville.
Awards will be given at St. Kate's at the State Tournament (on March 24-25)
DIVISION RULES
(League rules available at the link in the upper right.)
Teams should bring their own notation paper, pencils, chess sets and clocks.
Players should bring their own clocks to ensure they will have a clock for their game.
Rules are USCF rules. All games must be notated (moves recorded) by both players. A clock will be used on all games. Each player will have 30 minutes with a 5 second delay (35 min with no delay). We could run over an hour by 7 minutes on a 40 move game or by 15 on an 80 move game, but with so few games we are more likely to finish early. So I think we'll be OK with this time control.
Touch move - if you touch a piece with the intent to move it you must move it if you can legally do so. If this means you have to block check with your queen, so be it. If you touch an opponent's piece with your hand or your piece with intent to capture, you must capture. A player is not required to say check. The three-move repetition rule will be enforced. Press the clock with the same hand that moved your piece. No kibbitzing, verbal or otherwise - penalty will be forfeit of 1 point from your team score that round. If you have a question or issue, raise your hand. No one will remind you to press your clock or notify you if you have an illegal position on the board. You must be aware of these yourself.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
Interesting positions from the matches
I'll be adding more to this positions post as I have time. Check periodically to see if one of your games is here. Answers are at the bottom of this post.
Position 1 Round 2 Victoria vs Peyton. Peyton has just played b5 and Victoria is trying to find a good place for her queen. Where should she move?
Problem #2 Harrison of Cap Hill has just played Ba3 preventing Caleb of Farnsworth from Castling and also threatening immediate mate on e7 if the Queen moves. What should Caleb do?
Problem #3
Simon of Farnsworth has just played Bh6. How should Oscar of Friendly Hills respond?
Answers
#1. Nxb5 if cxb5 2. Bxb5+ Ke7 Nxc6+ winning the queen. If instead of Ke7 he tries Nd7 it's still Bxe7+ Ke7 Nc6+ and the queen is a goner. Even if he doesn't take on move 1, white has many threats.
#2. Move the queen anyway. ... QKd2+ 2. Kf1 Qxf2# This would have resulted in a drawn match between Capitol Hill and Farnsworth A.
#3. The queen is the only thing supporting that bishop - give it a nudge - Bc8. The queen must move and the bishop falls.
Position 1 Round 2 Victoria vs Peyton. Peyton has just played b5 and Victoria is trying to find a good place for her queen. Where should she move?
Problem #3
Simon of Farnsworth has just played Bh6. How should Oscar of Friendly Hills respond?
Answers
#1. Nxb5 if cxb5 2. Bxb5+ Ke7 Nxc6+ winning the queen. If instead of Ke7 he tries Nd7 it's still Bxe7+ Ke7 Nc6+ and the queen is a goner. Even if he doesn't take on move 1, white has many threats.
#2. Move the queen anyway. ... QKd2+ 2. Kf1 Qxf2# This would have resulted in a drawn match between Capitol Hill and Farnsworth A.
#3. The queen is the only thing supporting that bishop - give it a nudge - Bc8. The queen must move and the bishop falls.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Final Standings (Verified)
Here are the final standings of the Twin Cities Division of the Jr High Chess League.
I corrected numbers for Peyton and Oscar. Now all totals match.
This was not an SCA event and therefore no merit points were awarded.
I have begun to post some interesting positions from some of the games on the most recent post.
I corrected numbers for Peyton and Oscar. Now all totals match.
This was not an SCA event and therefore no merit points were awarded.
I have begun to post some interesting positions from some of the games on the most recent post.
Team Results
Seward and Capitol Hill advance to the playoffs at Metcalf Jr. High Mar 21. Gook luck!
|
Individual Results
Several players have earned an outstanding player award (*) by scoring at least 5 points. You will learn more about that award at the playoffs at Metcalf.
Just a reminder to the teams going on, to keep your players in proper order. Tap into the USCF or SCA databases to get the relative strength of your players, or have an internal rating system. Then keep you players in that order. Players are sorted below based on their typical board number with board 1 listed first.
Forfeits 16
Just a reminder to the teams going on, to keep your players in proper order. Tap into the USCF or SCA databases to get the relative strength of your players, or have an internal rating system. Then keep you players in that order. Players are sorted below based on their typical board number with board 1 listed first.
| Team | Name | W | L | D | Award | |
| Seward | Tiger | Worku | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nelson | Munene | 5 | 1 | 0 | * | |
| Sam | Kendrick | 6 | 0 | 0 | * | |
| Marshall | Urban | 5 | 0 | 1 | * | |
| Noah | Muller | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Alex | Schuck | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Malcolm | Munene | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Capitol Hill | Sasha | Hydrie | 5 | 0 | 1 | * |
| Mani | Chadaga | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Roger | Easthouse | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Joseph | Thompson | 4 | 0 | 2 | * | |
| Matthias | Baese | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Harrison | Ash | 5 | 0 | 0 | * | |
| Breck | Ishan | Nadkarni | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pat | Liss | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Ben | Liss | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Peyton | Schweibert | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Aditi | Nadkarni | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Ethan | Richter | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Farnsworth | Seth | Xiong | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Shyion | Bonner | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Chinu | Thao | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Bobby | Fraser | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Pahlee | Thao | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Simon | Thao | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Caleb | Vang | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Victoria | Vang | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Dineth | Altmann | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Luche | Yang | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Annabel | Yang | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Kevin | Thao | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Elvis | Schiung | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Fr. Hills | Josh | Philips | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| Tom | McDermott | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Carter | Hahnfeldt | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Oscar | Halverson | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Isaiah | Walker | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Jack | Larson | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Emma | Stevenson | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Monday, February 2, 2015
Positions from Jan 31 and next meet
Saturday's Meet
Next matches are Feb 28. 2015. Meet at 8:45 at First Covenant Church in St. Paul 1280 Arcade. (3 blks North of Maryland) When entering the building from the parking lot, turn left on the sidewalk before you enter the building and head toward the triple doors to the south.
Rd 4 Capitol Hill vs Seward, Farnsworth A vs Friendly Hills, Farnsworth B vs Breck
Rd 5 Seward vs Breck, Friendly Hills vs Farnsworth B, Capitol Hill vs Farnsworth A
Rd 6 Team 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 and 5 vs 6.
After 6 rounds the top 2 teams advance to the league playoffs at Metcalf in Burnsville on March 21. Top teams are determined by match record, then total points for the tiebreaker. If still tied it goes down to how they did head-to-head.
Here are some positions from Jan 31.
Here Oscar Halvorson of Friendly Hills, playing White has a chance to put away Noah Muller from Seward on board 4. Oscar almost got it right, but couldn't quite finish it. What should he have done?
This is how the game progressed, Oscar playing wonderfully.
1. Qg6+! Kh8
2. Qxh6+ Kg8
3. Nxg5 Ne5
...but then he couldn't find the next move. What should he have played?
That knight on e5 is messing up everything. Just take it! Bxe5 with multiple threats of checkmate.The game continued 4. Qh7+ Kf8
Oscar can still win. How?
Oscar played 5. Bxf7? but 5. Bxe5 still wins. Qd7 is the only move that staves off mate 6. Qh8+ Ke7 7. Bf6#
Problem #2 Dineth Altmann of Farnsworth missed what I thought was the easiest path to victory for Black. What move would guarantee an easy win?
I thought 1. ... Qf6+
2. Kh5 Qg7 makes it easy to pick off the dangerous pawn.
But he played 1. ... Qf5+ 2. Kg7 Now normally a pawn on h7 and the King guarding h8 is a draw for White, but Dineth's King is close enough to get the win. How?
2. ... Qf6+ 3. Kg8 Ke6! 3. h8(Q) Qf7#! Matthias could have asked for a knight, but Black could still win quickly. How?
3. h8(N) Qh6 4. Nf7 Qg6+ 5. Kh8 Qf6+ (taking the knight with either piece results in stalemate)
6. Kg8 Qxf6+ and the rest is straightforward.
Next matches are Feb 28. 2015. Meet at 8:45 at First Covenant Church in St. Paul 1280 Arcade. (3 blks North of Maryland) When entering the building from the parking lot, turn left on the sidewalk before you enter the building and head toward the triple doors to the south.
Rd 4 Capitol Hill vs Seward, Farnsworth A vs Friendly Hills, Farnsworth B vs Breck
Rd 5 Seward vs Breck, Friendly Hills vs Farnsworth B, Capitol Hill vs Farnsworth A
Rd 6 Team 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 and 5 vs 6.
After 6 rounds the top 2 teams advance to the league playoffs at Metcalf in Burnsville on March 21. Top teams are determined by match record, then total points for the tiebreaker. If still tied it goes down to how they did head-to-head.
Here are some positions from Jan 31.
Here Oscar Halvorson of Friendly Hills, playing White has a chance to put away Noah Muller from Seward on board 4. Oscar almost got it right, but couldn't quite finish it. What should he have done?
1. Qg6+! Kh8
2. Qxh6+ Kg8
3. Nxg5 Ne5
...but then he couldn't find the next move. What should he have played?
That knight on e5 is messing up everything. Just take it! Bxe5 with multiple threats of checkmate.The game continued 4. Qh7+ Kf8
Oscar can still win. How?
Oscar played 5. Bxf7? but 5. Bxe5 still wins. Qd7 is the only move that staves off mate 6. Qh8+ Ke7 7. Bf6#
Problem #2 Dineth Altmann of Farnsworth missed what I thought was the easiest path to victory for Black. What move would guarantee an easy win?
2. Kh5 Qg7 makes it easy to pick off the dangerous pawn.
But he played 1. ... Qf5+ 2. Kg7 Now normally a pawn on h7 and the King guarding h8 is a draw for White, but Dineth's King is close enough to get the win. How?
2. ... Qf6+ 3. Kg8 Ke6! 3. h8(Q) Qf7#! Matthias could have asked for a knight, but Black could still win quickly. How?
3. h8(N) Qh6 4. Nf7 Qg6+ 5. Kh8 Qf6+ (taking the knight with either piece results in stalemate)
6. Kg8 Qxf6+ and the rest is straightforward.
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