Renaissance Knights Chess News

53rd Quest Annotated Game

2010-07-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

By Jeff Caveney

The Open section of the May Knights Quest came to an exciting conclusion with the game between Kent Cen and Jordan Cohen on Board 1 in the final round. Both players went all-out to attack the opposing king -- in fact, both players sacrificed their queens during their attacks! Play out the game below and enjoy:
White: Kent Cen (1940)
Black: Jordan Cohen (2022)

Renaissance Knights Quest
May 16, 2010

Round 4, Board 1

1.e4 c5
2.c3 g6
3.d4 cxd4
4.cxd4 d5
This is a good answer to the 2.c3 line against the Sicilian.
5.exd5 Nf6
6.Nc3 Bg7
7.Bb5+ Bd7
I prefer 7...Nbd7 here. Black will castle next, then move the knight on d7, then win back the pawn on d5 with a good position.
8.Bc4
Now Black's bishop on d7 and knight on b8 are misplaced, and it is more difficult to win back the pawn on d5.
8...O-O
9.Qb3 Qb6
10.Nf3

I would have just exchanged queens, and Black has a difficult position. But as spectators we can all be grateful the queen exchange did not happen, which made possible the exciting attacking game that follows.
10...Rd8
11.O-O Na6
12.Re1 Kf8
13.Qa3
The chance to attack the e7 pawn and the king behind it on f8 tempt the white queen to step away from the queen trade.
13...Nb4
14.Bf4 Rac8
15.Ne5 Be8
16.Qb3
The queen comes back to give extra protection to the bishop on c4 under attack.
16...Qxd4
17.Ne2
It looks like there should be some way for White to punish Black for his queen's pawn grab in the middle of the board surrounded by white pieces, but Black's attacks on the bishops on f4 and c4 seem to save him. For example 17.Qxb4 Qxf4 18.Nxg6+ hxg6 and after White captures on e7 the black king just steps away back to g8, or 17.Qxb4 Qxf4 18.Qxe7+ Kxe7 19.Nxg6+ Kd7 20.Nxf4 and the hanging bishop on c4 comes back to haunt White after 20...Rxc4.

17...Qc5
18.Be3 Qd6
19.Bf4 Qc5
If Black tried 19...Nh5 with the idea 20.Nxg6+ Qxg6 21.Qxb4 (unclear), White had the answer 20.Nxf7! with an unusual double attack on the queen, followed by 21.Nxd8 winning material.
20.Be3 Qc7
Black doesn't want a draw by repetition of moves. But this daring refusal to draw is also very risky. Again, as spectators we can be thankful for it!
21.Bf4 Qa5
22.Bd2
By avoiding the repetitions the black queen has gotten the knight on b4 caught in a nasty pin.

22...Nfxd5
23.a3 Ba4
24.Qf3 Bxe5
25.axb4 Rxc4
Black sacrifices his queen for just one bishop! But he has some attacking chances that are tricky for White to deal with, and both players were running very low on time by this point in the game. The players had to stop writing down their moves, but thanks to the DGT electronic display board Renaissance Knights used on Board 1, we were able to record all the rest of the moves too.
26.bxa5 Bc6
27.Qh3 Nf6
28.Qh6+ Kg8
29.Bc3 Ng4
30.Qc1 Bxh2+
31.Kh1 Rd5
31...Rd5 is a beautiful and powerful attacking move! The rook moves up on the open d-file with the idea of next moving over to the h-file to attack the exposed white king. This "up and over" move by a rook on an open file is an important attacking strategy to remember.
32.Nf4 Bxf4
33.Qc2 Rh5+
34.Kg1 Rh2
Now Black has a bishop and knight for the queen, and his attack is still going strong.
35.f3 Bxf3
36.Rxe7
Setting up the counter-attacking threat of Re8 checkmate!
36...Rxg2+
In time trouble Black doesn't find a way to deal with the counter-attacking threat. After the game Master Ken Wallach, whose two young sons played in the Knights Quest tournament, pointed out Black's winning move 36...Be3+! After 37.Rxe3 Nxe3 Black is attacking White's queen and the attack on the white king is still going. I tried to find some more counter-attacking tricks for White, but Wallach showed Black can at least get to a winning endgame: 38.Re1 (still trying for Re8 checkmate!) Rxc3! (with no bishop on c3, there's no checkmate!) 39.Qxc3 Rxg2+ 40.Kh1 Rc2+ 41.Kg1 Rxc3 42.bxc3 and the knight, bishop and many pawns will easily beat the rook.
37.Qxg2 Bxg2
38.Re8 checkmate 1-0.
A disappointing conclusion for Black, but in an exciting back-and-forth game that ends decisively, there's always one player who's disappointed with the result. We should all thank both players for giving us such an enjoyable game to watch, analyze, and play over!

53rd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

2010-07-09T04:37:00.000-07:00

MAY 16 - 53rd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

MAY 16 - 53rd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

MAY 16 - 53rd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

MAY 16 - 53rd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

JEFF CAVENEY WINS 1st PLACE at the CICL Individual Championship

2010-07-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

JEFF CAVENEY Wins 1st Place at the CICL Individual Championship

RKCF would like to congratulate, Expert Jeff Caveney. for winning 1st Place at the 'Chicago Industrial Chess League Individual Championship' on May 8, 2010. Jeff is an excellent chess teacher and an incredibly strong player. Jeff told us all his opponents played well, and he annotated his game against Expert Andrew Hubbard for the 'Knights News'. Thank you Jeff.

CICL Individual Championship
Round 2, Board 1
White: Andrew Hubbard
Black: Jeff Caveney

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Ba4 Nf6
5.O-O Be7
6.Re1 b5
7.Bb3 d6
8.c3 O-O
9.h3 Na5
10.Bc2 c5
11.d4 Qc7
12.Nbd2

This is the main line of the Ruy Lopez, and this position was just as familiar to chess players in 1910 as it is in 2010.

12...Rd8
13.Nf1 cxd4
14.cxd4 exd4
15.Nxd4

White also could have delayed this recapture and played 15.Bf4 first.

15...d5
16.e5 Ne4
17.Nd2

This is a mistake because it blocks in the bishop on c1.

17...Bc5
18.Bxe4 dxe4
19.N4b3 Nxb3
20.Qxb3 Rd3!

Activating the rook and pushing the queen back.
21.Qd1 Bxf2+!
With a big lead in development, White's pieces tied up, and no protection for his king, now is the time to sacrifice the bishop to expose and attack the king.
22.Kxf2 Qb6+
23.Kf1
23.Ke2 could have led to the same position as the game after 23...Re3+ 24.Kf1.
23...Rxh3!!
Temporarily sacrificing a rook too to strip away all the pawns in front of the king. Black will soon start getting his material back with interest.
24.Nf3
Hubbard fights hard to stay alive in a lost position. The main lines were 24.Nxe4 Rh1+ 25.Ke2 Bg4+ winning the queen and 24.gxh3 Bxh3+ 25.Ke2 Bg4+ 26.Kf1 Bxd1 27.Rxd1. White has a rook, bishop and knight for the queen, but Black also has 3 extra pawns, and most important all White's pieces are undeveloped and tied up doing nothing. A move like 27...Qh6 looks strong, threatening to harass the king with checks, the tactical point being 28.Nxe4 Qh1+ 29.Ke2 Qxe4+.
24...Rh1+
25.Ke2 exf3+
26.Kxf3 Bb7+
27.Ke2 Rh2
28.Rg1 Qg6
29.Qd4 Rxg2+
30.Rxg2 Qxg2+
31.Ke1
Amazingly White isn't dead yet, but the endgame will eventually be winning for Black if he plays accurately. The two extra passed pawns on the kingside are too much, even with opposite colored bishops.
31...Bf3
32.Qf2 Qh1+
33.Qf1 Qh4+
34.Qf2 Qe4+
35.Qe3 Rd8
36.Qxe4 Rd1+
37.Kf2 Bxe4
38.b3 h5
39.Ke3 Bd5
40.Bb2 Rxa1
41.Bxa1 g5
Here with under 5 minutes on the clock I stopped writing the moves down. The following are the rest of the moves as best I can remember them.
42.Bc3 Kh7
43.Kd4 Be6
44.Kc5 Kg6
45.Kb6 h4
46.Be1 Kf5
47.Kxa6 Bd7
Black didn't bother to protect the a6 pawn, since the king could drive the bishop away from that diagonal. But Black does bother to protect the b5 pawn, because the bishop has more room on this diagonal, and because two pawns would be much more dangerous counter play for White than one pawn on the queenside.
48.Kb6 Kg4
49.Bf2 Kf3
50.Bc5 Be6
Now Black can give up the b5 pawn because his own h-pawn is so close to queening. 50...Be6 stops White from playing e6 himself and then Bd6 covering h2.
51.a4 bxa4
52.bxa4 h3 White resigns 0-1.

52nd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

2010-07-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

APRIL 11 - 52nd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

On the Road Trip with RK…2010 All Girls' National Championship, Columbus, Ohio

2010-07-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

On the Road Trip with RK…2010 All Girls' National Championship, Columbus, Ohio

by Sheila Heiser

The drive to Columbus, Ohio was pleasant and not too long. As always, on a road trip everyone is happy when arriving at their destination. The Hyatt was very accommodating and enjoyable; bustling with enthusiastic chess players of all ages. After check in and unpacking, it was time to acclimate to the venue and meet up with the other players.

Everyone was excited to be there. This was Georgia’s Wolf’s first National, and Shayna Provine, who is more seasoned on traveling and participating in out of state tournaments, was happy to share in Georgia’s joy of this experience. The girls’ combined friendship and chess made it an exceptionally pleasant time for all.

Georgia did very well; she played in ‘U10 and under’ winning half her games, 3 wins out of 6 games, placing 26th out of 55. She was constantly alert, always ready to do analysis of her games with RK Coach FIDE Expert Eric Heiser, was a wonderful good sport no matter how her games went, plus she had a lot of fun and loved the experience. Georgia was an absolute pleasure to be with at all times. RK would love to take her on all our "On the Road Trips"!

Shayna Provine played up in the ‘U18 and under' the only 4th grader in this section. Shayna is 10 years old and has been playing at tournaments for only 1 year, her first tournament was the Knights Quest in March '09. Her performance was amazing, winning 3 ½ games out of 6, and placing 7th out of 16. Winning two trophies! (One in the main tournament and one in the blitz tournament). Watch out, Shayna may be the first home grown female chess master from Illinois! She was also a pleasure to be with all weekend; RK is very fortunate to have such fantastic girls!

Huge congratulations to Shayna and Georgia, plus big thank you to the great parents of the girls, everyone made this trip a big success!

Click here: 2010 All Girls' National Championship
Annotated Game analysis by Jeff Cavaney:

White: Shayna Provine (1489)
Black: Janel Diaz (1368)
1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qa5
4.d4 c6
5.Nf3 Nf6
6.Bc4 Bg4
7.O-O e6
8.Bf4 Nbd7
9.Re1 Bxf3
10.Qxf3 Qb4
11.b3 Qb6
11...b5 doesn't work because it leaves the c6 pawn pinned: 12.Nxb5! cxb5 13.Qxa8+.
12.d5 cxd5
13.Bxd5 Rc8
14.Bc4

14.Bxb7 doesn't work because 14...Rxc3! 15.Qxc3 Qxb7 wins the bishop and knight for the rook, and Black still has the threat of ...Bb4 skewering the queen and the rook.
14...Bb4
15.Re3 O-O
16.Qg3 Nh5
17.Qh4 Nxf4
18.Qxf4 Bxc3
19.Rxc3 e5
20.Qf5 Qd4!

Surprisingly White has no good defense to this move. Black exploits the two unprotected white rooks on the same diagonal, as well as the pin on the white bishop on the c-file. On the last move White needed to keep her queen controlling d4 to stop this move.
21.Qh3

21.Qd3 wasn't any better after 21...b5! 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Bxb5 Rxc3 24.Bxd7 Rxc2 and Black is winning.
21...Nf6

Black misses her chance: 21...b5! was the winning move. Even after the mate threat 22.Bd3, the block 22...g6 is still winning for Black because of the deadly attack on the white rooks. After 23.Rxc8 Qxa1+ 24.Bf1 Rxc8 25.Qxd7 Rxc2 the black king hides on g7 and Black is winning. This is simpler than 22...f5 23.Bxf5 Rxc3 and Black has to calculate all the ways the queen and bishop can chase her king around.
22.Rf1

Whew! With one rook safe, Shayna can get her other rook and bishop out of the sticky situation on the c-file, or do even better...
22...b5
23.Bxf7+!

Shayna turns the tables on the c-file: instead of a pin, now it's a discovered attack by her rook and queen on the black rook on c8! And just like that, White is winning. When two good players compete, one move can be the difference between victory and defeat
23...Kxf7
24.Rxc8 Rxc8
25.Qxc8 Ne4
26.Qf5+ Kg8
27.Re1 Nd6
28.Qxe5 Qxe5
29.Rxe5
With the queens exchanged Black has no chance to save the game anymore: in this kind of endgame with pawns on both sides of the board, the knight cannot compete against the rook.
29...Kf7
30.f4 Nc8
31.Rxb5 Nd6
32.Rd5 Ke6
33.c4 Nf5
34.Kf2 h6
35.g4 Ne7
36.f5+ Kf6
37.Rd6+ Kg5
38.Kg3

The sudden threat of h4 mate! forces Black to give up her knight for just a couple pawns.
38...Nxf5+
39.gxf5 Kxf5
40.c5 Ke5
41.b4 h5
42.h4 a6
43.Rxa6 Kd5
44.c6 Kd6
45.b5 g6
46.Ra7 Kc5
47.c7 Kb6
48.c8=Q Kxa7
49.Qc6 g5
50.b6+ Kb8
51.Qc7+ Ka8
52.Qa7 mate 1-0.

LAKE ZURICH CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-07-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

APRIL 10 - LAKE ZURICH CHAMPIONSHIP

51st QUEST TOURNAMENT

2010-07-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

MARCH 21 - 51st KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT
MARCH 21 - 51st KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

CHESS BLOOMS in CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2010-07-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

Chess Blooms in Chicago Public Schools by David Heiser

As the end of winter was approaching, 643 Chicago Public Schools students in Grades K-8 competed at the district’s Elementary Schools Sports Program (ESSP) Regional Chess Playoffs to determine which schools and individuals will compete on the first day of spring (March 20, 2010) at the City-Wide Championship to be held at King High School.

Over the past three years chess has blossomed within CPS Sports Program. In 2007 fewer than 200 students in grades K-8 participated in the City-Wide Chess Championship. Due to problems with the tournament, Calvin Davis, Director of Sports Administration, decided to hold another chess tournament, and choose the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation to organize and run the event. RK and CPS Sports Department ran the ‘CPS All Grade Tournament’ and it was such a huge success that everyone was enthusiastic for more organized chess for the CPS students. Also, RK had recently partnered with CPS and the City of Chicago to make chess a part of the annual Chicago Sports Festival held annually in December, resulting in continued grow with apparent positive results for the CPS chess programs.

Working closely with the Sports Administration and the school chess coaches, RK continued its involvement with CPS Chess which saw a tremendous growth in just the first year. Chess is a recognized sport in CPS and is a part of the Winter Sports Season which runs from December through April. At the conclusion of the 2007/2008 season we introduced the North and South Regional Playoff tournaments, in our first year participation increased to 427 students, and the growth continued the 2nd year with 567 students. 3rd year, we are happy to report, 643 players from 68 schools competed in the Regional Playoff’s!

The Regional Playoffs are individual/team competition with team awards based on the top 5 scores in 4 divisions: K-2, K-4, K-6 & K-8. The top three teams and top 4 individuals (not part of the top three teams) advance to the City-Wide Championship. At the championship the top three teams are limited to 5 players making a move even playing field for smaller schools.

This year’s South-Side Regional Playoff was held on March 6 at Phillips High School where 243 students from 29 Schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the ‘CPS Championship’ are: K-8 Gunsaulus, Beasley Academic Center & Seward Academy; K-6 Beasley Academic Center, Keller & Lenart; K-4 Deenen, Coles Academy & Tarkington; and K-2 Keller, Turner-Drew & Deneen. Due to an ineligible player on the Keller team they were disqualified from advancement paving the way for the 4th place team from Metcalfe to advance.

The North-Side Regional Playoff was held at Northwest Middle School where 400 students from 39 schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the championship are: K-8 Burbank, Bateman & Goudy; K-6 Bell, Edgebrook & Edison Regional Gifted; K-4 Edgebrook, Decatur & Burbank; and K-2 Decatur, Burbank & Walt Disney. My Congratulations to all who made the ‘CPS Championship’.
Not only has chess grown at these events but during the past year there has been a dramatic increase in the number of CPS students and schools participating in weekend tournament in the city. I credit this growth to one of the first changes I made to the program that required all schools and individuals to participate in at least one tournament to be eligible to compete in the Regional Playoffs.

As a Co-Founder and President of the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation it has been a privilege working with and supporting chess in Chicago Public Schools for the last several years, and I was honored to be asked to serve as the ESSP Chess Coordinator this year and look forward to the growth of Chess in Chicago.

More information about Chicago Public Schools Chess program can be found at www.cpschess.com

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

MARCH 20 - CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP

MARCH 20 - CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS NORTH REGIONAL PLAYOFF

2010-06-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

MARCH 13 - CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS NORTH REGIONAL PLAYOFF
MARCH 13 - CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS NORTH REGIONAL PLAYOFF

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS SOUTH REGIONAL PLAYOFF

2010-06-26T04:51:00.000-07:00

MARCH 6 - CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS SOUTH REGIONAL PLAYOFF

STEVENSON HIGH SCHOOL FINISHES 2nd at STATE

2010-06-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

The Stevenson Chess Team finished the 2010 IHSA State Chess Team Tournament with a record of 6-1, with tie-breaker points earning them the 2nd Place trophy. Niles North (another North Suburban Chess League -NSCL- team) captured the State Championship with a 7-0 record. This is the 7th consecutive year that Stevenson has finished in the top 6 at the state tournament, including a State Championship 2 years ago. Stevenson's only loss was to the number one seed Whitney Young High School.
In addition to the team trophy and 2nd place player medals for each team member, freshman Matt Yang won the first place medal on Board 3, senior Scott O'Connor tied for 10th place on Board 4, senior Peter Karalis finished in first place on Board 6, and senior Victor Zhou finished in 9th place on Board 8. Other team members were Josh Dubin, Kent Cen, Adele Padgett, Corbin Rudnick, with alternates Saieesh Rao and Vishish Verma. Sophomore Josh Dubin won a special award as one of the highest rated high school chess player in Illinois. The Stevenson team is coached by Rob Krause, with Scott Oliver club sponsor.
Rob Krause also initated a special one day chess clinic on Saturday with the assistance of Renaissance Knights and FIDE expert Eric Heiser.

BEST GAME & BEST TACTIC OF THE GCSC

2010-06-25T03:53:00.000-07:00

by Jeff Caveney
The best game I saw at the Greater Chicago Scholastic Championships was Arjun Nandy's attacking win vs. Rohan Mhaskar on Board 2 in the 4th round of the K-8 Varsity section. Arjun's game was an excellent example of how to conduct a kingside attack against the popular Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defense. Rohan put up very tough resistance, and almost escaped with his king right into the center of the board on e5 and d5. To win the game, Arjun had to find a difficult combination where two precise checks set up a pin that made a knight fork of the king and queen work.

White: Arjun Nandy (1600)
Black: Rohan Mhaskar (1702)
Greater Chicago Scholastic Championships
K-8 Varsity section
Round 4, Board 2
February 27, 2010

1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 g6
6.Be3 Bg7
7.f3 O-O
8.Qd2 Nc6
9.Bc4

If White castled queenside right away, Black could play the center pawn break d6-d5. White plays Bc4 first to stop d6-d5. This is called the Yugoslav Attack. White attacks on the kingside and Black attacks on the queenside. Chess masters like to play both sides of this position, but in my opinion for amateur and scholastic players it is easier to play for White than for Black. White just pushes his pawns in a "pawn storm" on the kingside, while Black has to combine piece and pawn moves in a more complicated way on the queenside.
9 ... Bd7
10.O-O-O Rc8
11.Bb3 Ne5
12.h4 h5
13.Bh6

The Black king's best defender is the bishop on g7, so White trades it off.
13 ... Nc4
14.Bxc4 Rxc4
15.Bxg7 Kxg7
16.Nd5

White trades off another Black defender, the knight on f6.
16 ... Nxd5
17.exd5 Qc7
18.g4 Rc8
19.Kb1 Rh8
20.Rdg1 Qb6
21.c3 a5

Notice how Black's pawns are much slower than White's pawns, and Black's queen is blocking his own b-pawn from pushing forward.
22.gxh5 Rxh5
23.Rg5!

The Black rook on h5 is the last defender of the Black king, so once again White trades the defender off.
23 ... Rxg5
24.hxg5

The point of the pawn storm is to open files in front of the king, and now White has an open h-file to attack on. He threatens Qh2 with a devastating queen and rook invasion against the Black king.
24...f6

Black recognizes the danger, and after a long think he prepares an escape route for his king.
25.gxf6+ Kxf6
26.Kc1

White probably didn't need this safety move with his king before playing Qf4+.
26 ... Qc5
27.Qf4+ Bf5
28.Qh4+ Ke5
29.Qxe7+ Kxd5

Black has done an excellent job of running away with his king, and there is no guarantee that White will be able to catch him. But now White finds an excellent and very accurate combination of checks to win the game:
30.Qf7+!

When I was watching the game, I was expecting 30.Qxb7+. But Arjun Nandy looked deeper and moved his queen to f7 to check for a very good reason, as we will see two moves later!
30 ... Ke5
31.Re1+ Kf4
32.Ne6+!

The point! The queen checked on f7 so that now the bishop on f5 is pinned! So the bishop can't take the knight on e6, which wins the Black queen with this fork.
32 ... Kxf3
33.Nxc5 Rxc5

And after winning the queen, White went on to win the game.

The most amazing tactic I saw in the tournament was by Ryan Toepfer vs. Derek Mizushima on Board 2 in the last round of the K-6 Varsity section. Derek played very well and was up a rook, but Ryan saw a beautiful hidden tactic to win the queen, and went on to win the game.

Ryan as Black had a rook on e8, protected by his king on f8, and it was pinning the White queen on e6 with the White king on e2. But Derek as White had just played one of his rooks down to d8, counter-pinning the Black rook on e8. Derek's other rook on d1 protected his rook on d8. But now Ryan's amazing tactic was his queen on b4 moved ...Qxc4+!! Since the white queen on e6 is still pinned, it can't take the Black queen on c4. White has to get out of check, and next move Black will play Queen takes Queen on e6, winning the white queen. Ryan did this and went on to checkmate and win several moves later.

There are many examples of this tactical pattern from real games in chess puzzle books, which means that many chess masters don't see it coming either. This game was a good experience for both Ryan and Derek, who I am sure will both use this tactic to win a lot of games in the future.

Ryan deserves a lot of credit for finding this beautiful tactic, but the first thing Ryan said to Derek after the game was, "I was very lucky, you were winning." This is excellent sportsmanship: After winning, Ryan gave his opponent credit for playing well and having a winning position most of the game. Derek also exhibited good sportsmanship in defeat, not complaining or getting angry or upset, even though it is always painful to lose a tough game when you were winning. It was so pleasant to see both players' good sportsmanship, instead of the opposite situation where the player who lost tells the winner, "You were very lucky," which is bad sportsmanship. As a tournament director and teacher, I am always happy to see players being good sports whether they win or lose.

GREATER CHICAGO SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-06-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

GREATER CHICAGO SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP by Jeff Caveney

Over 150 enthusiastic young chess players came to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Northbrook the weekend of February 27-28 to play in the Greater Chicago Scholastic Chess Championships. The kids and their families came from Chicago, the suburbs and all over Illinois, neighboring Wisconsin and Indiana, and even as far as Colorado and Maryland to compete for the beautiful and gigantic trophies for the top teams and individuals. Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation and the Kasparov Chess Foundation sponsored the event, modeled after the long-running successful New York tournament with the same format. This is the first time the event has been held in the Chicago area.

In the K-12 section, the competition was so tough that 6 players tied with 4 points out of 5 games. Shivram Chandramouli (Munster High School, Munster, Indiana) took 1st place with the best tiebreaks, an impressive result since he was rated 9th out of the 30 players in the section. James Bowen (University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Tyler Lerner, Lukasz Zak (Lane Tech High School, Chicago), Matthew Barbian (Libertyville High School, Libertyville, Illinois) and Eric Emer (Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 2nd through 6th places respectively. Especially notable was Lukasz Zak, who was unrated going into the tournament. Since Zak won an overall prize, Anud Dahiya (Naperville North High School, Naperville, Illinois) took the 1st unrated prize with 3 points, and his teammate Charles Coffman (Naperville North) took 2nd place unrated with 2 points.

Alex Yerukhimov (University School of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) took the 1st under-1500 prize with 3 points. His teammates dominated the Junior Varisty top prizes: Kern Khanna, Sam Schlesinger, John Venable and Ishan Sinha (all University School of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) took 1st through 4th. Charles Helding (St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago) took 5th place JV. Thomas Grudzinski (Lane Tech, Chicago) took 1st place under-900 JV.

The 1st place K-12 team trophy went to University School of Milwaukee. Naperville North and Lane Tech took 2nd and 3rd place.

In the K-8 Varsity section, Yue "Penny" Xu (Urbana Middle School, Urbana, Illinois) took clear 1st place with 4 wins and a draw. Arjun Nandy (University of Chicago Lab School, Chicago) took clear 2nd place with 4 points, and Rohan Mhaskar (The Prairie School, Racine, Wisconsin) took clear 3rd place with 3.5 points. David Peng (Winkelman School, Glenview, Illinois), Jack Xiao (Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Eamonn Moore (Elm Place School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 4th through 6th places with 3 points each. Alec Feygin (Glen Grove School, Glenview, Illinois) won the 1st place under-1200 prize with 3 points.

St. Gilberts School in Grays Lake, Illinois took the 1st place K-8 Varisty team trophy.

In the K-8 Junior Varsity section, John Lennon (Keystone Montessori School, River Forest, Illinois) took clear 1st place with 4 wins and a draw. Alfredo Rodriguez (Logandale Middle School, Chicago) took clear 2nd place with 4 points, and Andy Xu (Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took clear 3rd place with 3.5 points. Brian Davis and Sylvester Highley, Jr. (James Hart Junior High School, Homewood, Illinois) took 4th and 5th places with 3 points, and Billy Hoseman took 6th place with 2 points. Frederic Fosco (GIFT Homeschool Group, Elgin, Illinois) won the 1st place under-700 prize with 3 points. Durman Jackson (James Hart Junior High School, Homewood, Illinois) won the 1st place unrated prize with 3 points, Quentin Kakuda (Lake Zurich Middle School South, Lake Zurich, Illinois) took 2nd place unrated, and Joshua Chan (Thomas Jefferson School, Hoffman Estates, Illinois) took 3rd place unrated.

James Hart Junior High School in Homewood, Illinois won the 1st place K-8 Junior Varsity team trophy, and Logandale Middle School in Chicago took 2nd place.

In the K-6 Varsity section, Allen Guo (Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took clear 1st place with a perfect score of 5 points. Ryan Toepfer (Decatur Classical School, Chicago) and Daniel Bronfeyn (Aspen Elementary School, Vernon Hills, Illinois) took 2nd and 3rd places with 4 points. Miranda Liu (Lake Bluff Elementary School, Lake Bluff, Illinois) took 4th place with 3.5 points. Derek Mizushima (Potomac Elementary School, Potomac, Maryland) and Josh Power (Bernard Zell School, Chicago) took 5th and 6th places with 3 points. Asher Borstein (Bernard Zell School, Chicago) won the 1st place under-1000 prize with 3 points.

In a very close competition between two Chicago schools, Decatur Classical School took the 1st place K-6 Varsity team trophy by a half point over Bernard Zell School, who took 2nd place.

The K-6 Junior Varsity was by far the largest section of the whole tournament, with 46 kids competing. Brody Frapolly (Wildwood School, Chicago) and Coleman McJessy (Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School, Chicago) both earned perfect scores of 5 points, with Brody Frapolly taking 1st place on tiebreaks and Coleman McJessy 2nd place. Erik Csima (Lone Tree Home School, Lone Tree, Colorado), Finn Buck (Homeschool, Cambridge, Wisconsin), Dylan Cotter (Crow Island School, Winnetka, Illinois) and Jacob Fox (Dewey Elementary School, Evanston, Illinois) took 3rd through 6th places with 4 points. Georgia Wolf (Thorp Scholastic Academy, Chicago) won the 1st place under-900 prize with 3.5 points. Nikita Smyrno (Ivy Hall School, Buffalo Grove, Illinois) won the 1st place unrated prize with 3.5 points, and Alex Ortiz (Galileo Math & Science Academy, Chicago) and David SIlva (Canty Elementary School, Chicago) took 2nd and 3rd place unrated with 3 points.

Dewey Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois won the 1st place K-6 Junior Varsity team trophy. Bernard Zell School in Chicago took 2nd place and Thorp Scholastic Academy in Chicago took 3rd place.

In the K-3 Varsity section, Derek Mizushima who came all the way from Potomac, Maryland took clear 1st place with a perfect score of 5 points. Ronin Moore (Sherwood School, Highland Park, Illinois) took clear 2nd place with 3.5 points. Ranadheer Tripuraneni (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois), Megan Wei, Michael Wu (both Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Kevin Wang (Oak View Elementary School, Fort Wayne, Indiana) took 3rd through 6th places with 3 points. Sean Li (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois) won the 1st place under-900 prize.

Laura Sprague School in Lincolnshire, Illinois won the 1st place K-3 Varsity team trophy. May Whitney School in Lake Zurich, Illinois took 2nd place.

In the K-3 Junior Varsity section, 4 players tied for the best score with 4 points. Jesse Prilutsky took 1st place with the best tiebreaks. Erik Csima who came all the way from Lone Tree, Colorado took 2nd place, Edward Esgar (Sherwood School, Highland Park, Illinois) took 3rd place, and Vishay Ram (Fry Elementary School, Naperville, Illinois) took the 1st place under-500 prize -- all of them scored 4 points. Finn Buck (Homeschool, Cambridge, Wisconsin) took 4th place with 3.5 points, and Allan Lopez (Three Oaks School, Cary, Illinois) and Annie Xu (Half Day Elementary School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) took 5th and 6th places with 3 points. Sonny Zhou (May Whitney School, Lake Zurich, Illinois) and Annie Clement (Jane Addams School, Palatine, Illinois) won the 1st and 2nd place unrated prizes with 3 points, and Sam Zacks (South School, Glencoe, Illinois) won 3rd place unrated with 2.5 points.

Finally, Amanda Csima from Lone Tree, Colorado won the 1st place kindergarten prize with an amazing 3 points. William Zhu (Laura Sprague School, Lincolnshire, Illinois) won the 2nd place kindergarten prize with 2 points, and Colin Mizushima from Potomac, Maryland won the 3rd place kindergarten prize with 1.5 points.

Lone Tree Home School in Lone Tree, Colorado won the 1st place K-3 Junior Varsity team trophy.
Standings K-3 & K-8 Championships photos K-6 & K-12 Championships photos

50th KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

2010-06-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

FEBRUARY 7 - 50th KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

Renaissance Knights Quest turns 50

by Jeff Caveney

The Super Bowl wasn't the only big competition on Sunday. Earlier that afternoon at the Renaissance Hotel in Northbrook, 78 chess players young and old battled at the 50th monthly Knights Quest tournament organized by the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation. The Knights Quest was the original series of monthly Scholastic & Adult Class Tournaments in Chicago having three sections: U800 and U1200 for children and an Open Section for children and adults. Today the series has expanded to 4 sections: U600 & U1000 for children and U1400 and Open for children and adults. The success of these tournaments has changed the landscape of scholastic tournaments in Chicago; more and more organizers have switched to this format from the traditional grade level format.

FIDE Master and former 'Illinois State Champion' Aleksandar Stamnov won the top section of the tournament with a perfect 4-0 score. Two of his opponents, Paul Seet and Joey Bikus, won all the rest of their games to tie for 2nd with a 3-1 score, as did Expert Larry Cohen. There was a four-way tie for 5th place at 2.5 points: Howard Cohen, Timothy Zhou, James Demos and Ryan Toepfer. A field of 22 players took on the challenge of competing in the top section.

Another 22 players battled in the next section, for those with ratings under 1400. The competition was so tough that no one won all of his or her games, but 3 young chess players tied for 1st with 3 wins and a draw for 3.5 points: Akash Mattu, Josh Power and Miranda Liu. Three more players scored 3 wins and lost only one game to one of the top finishers. They tied for 4th with 3 points: Lukasz Tony Zak in his first ever rated chess tournament, Daniel Sun and Eric Gan.

The third section, for young people with ratings under 1000, had 12 players and the competition was intense. Avinash Rajendra secured 1st place with a perfect 4-0 score. Samuel Bergman and Anupama Rajendra tied for 2nd place with 3 points each. There was a big six-way tie for 4th place at 2 points: Joshua Liu, Adarsh Mattu, Prateek Dullur, Jacob Zhou, Vishesh Verma and Brody Frapolly.

Finally, the section for young people with ratings under 600 or beginners had 24 enthusiastic players. This section always has a mix of new young players in their first or second ever tournament and more experienced players. Jason Bai won the section with a perfect 4-0 score. Dylan Cotter earned 2nd place with 3 wins and a draw for 3.5 points. Five more players tied for 3rd place with 3 points: Saivikas Gundam, Frederic Fosco, Brandon Smithson, Owen Power and Ethan Shifrin.

Congratulations to all the winners! We also congratulate everyone who bravely competed in such a challenging tournament. At Knights Quest events, every young player who doesn't win a trophy for the top 5 places receives a medal in recognition of the achievement of coming out to compete, playing hard, and having fun!.

The next big event 'Renaissance Knights' will hold is the Greater Chicago Scholastic K-12 Championships, in partnership with 'The Kasporov Chess Foundation'. This unique tournament is coming to Chicago for the first time; it is similar to “The Greater New York Scholastic Chess Championships!”America’s longest-running rated scholastic chess tournament. Last weekend's Greater New York Scholastic Championships had a record breaking turnout with over 900 players. The Greater Chicago Scholastic K-12 Championships will be held at the 'Crowne Plaza Hotel' in Northbrook the weekend of February 27-28. All young players from kindergarten to 12th grade are welcome to attend, and players can play either on Saturday or Sunday or both days. Please visit the event page for more information on this regional championship tournament: 2010/Greater Chicago

2nd INDIAN TRIALS TOURNAMENT

2010-06-12T04:54:00.000-07:00

JANUARY 10 - 2nd ANNUAL INDIAN TRAILS LIBRARY

49th QUEST

2010-06-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

JANUARY 3 - 49th KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

Mayor Daley's Holiday Sports Festival

2010-06-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

DECEMBER 27 & 28 - CHESS PAVILION MAYOR DALEY'S HOLIDAY SPORTS FESTIVAL

Mayor Daley's Holiday Championship

2010-06-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

DECEMBER 27 - 2nd ANNUAL MAYOR DALEY'S HOLIDAY CHAMPIONSHIP

CONGRATULATIONS

TO ALL THE WINNERS!

DECEMBER 27 - 2nd ANNUAL MAYOR DALEY'S HOLIDAY CHAMPIONSHIP

48th QUEST

2010-06-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS

OPEN SECTION
29.50 Demos, James
25.75 Shekhtman, Louis
16.50 O'Connor, Scott
16.00 Toepfer, Ryan
16.00 Pollack, Walter
16.00 Smith, William

U1400 SECTION
26.25 Noonan, Kevin
25.00 Dhiman, Rahul
23.75 Habrel, Samiylo
20.06 Gant, Jordain

U1000 SECTION
21.75 Wallach, David
20.25 Wallach, Adam
20.19 Wu, Michael
19.63 Prugh, Ronan

U600 SECTION
23.25 Noonan, Mark
18.50 Yu, Chenshu
16.50 Fosco, Frederic
16.25 Maguigad, Noah

DECEMBER 6 - 48th QUEST

CHICAGO TOY & GAME FAIR 2009

2010-06-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Knights had an exhibit at the Chicago Toy & Game Convention at Navy Pier November 21-22. We set up a giant sized chess set that kids especially enjoyed playing with. We met a lot of people and gave them fliers about the chess classes we teach in Chicago area schools, and about our upcoming events.

We found that among all the high-tech toys and new board games, people who love toys and games still love chess! Kids and adults alike eagerly challenged our expert instructors to a game throughout the weekend -- the games with Stormtroopers always drew a lot of attention. We also had the chance to teach kids how to play chess. We were very pleased when we heard a group of kids, when asked what their favorite exhibit was, enthusiastically answer "Chess!"
Renaissance Knight looks forward to continuing to work with the Chicago Toy & Game Convention in the coming years.

November 22 - Chicago Toy & Game Fair

KNIGHTS WORKSHOP

2010-06-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

The "Sneaky Scholar's Mate" and How to Stop It
Lesson from the December Knights Quest
By Jeff Caveney

Many beginning chess players lose a game to Scholar's Mate in their first or second tournament, and then learn how to stop it. But at the December Knights Quest tournament, I saw a game in the Under 600 section where one player found a way to keep trying to get Scholar's Mate even after his opponent stopped it in the first 4 moves. I want to share this example with Renaissance Knights players, parents, and readers, so everyone can learn how to defend against this trick too.

The game began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Bc4. With the good move Nf3, you think White doesn't have to worry about Black playing for Scholar's Mate!

But Black found a sneaky way to try. He played 3...g5. The idea is to play the pawn to g4 next to attack the knight on f3, make it move, then play the Black queen to f6 or h4 to go for Scholar's Mate with Qxf2.

White did not realize Black's plan, and made a developing move that is usually good, but doesn't defend against Scholar's Mate: 4.Nc3 g4 5.Nxe5 Qh4.

Here White did see the threat of Qxf2 Scholar's Mate, and played 6.g3. But Black still did not give up on Scholar's Mate, and played 6...Qh3.

White made another developing move that is usually good but doesn't defend against Scholar's Mate: 7.d3.

Now Black played 7...Qg2 threatening Qxf2 Scholar's Mate and also threatening to capture the unprotected rook on h1.

White tried to run away with his king and protect his rook with his queen: he played 8.Ke2. Unfortunately for him, now 8...Qxf2 was still checkmate because White's pawn on d3 and queen on d1 block his king's escape.

This is a good learning experience for everyone to pay attention to. White was not a bad player, he is a good player who has won trophies in the Under 600 section before. He just didn't know how to defend against this sneaky version of Scholar's Mate. Let's take a look at what White should play instead to defend himself and stop this trick:

First, right away after 3...g5, White can simply castle! 4.O-O is an excellent move. Now the rook on f1 is defending the pawn on f2, and there will be no Scholar's Mate. Black cannot threaten checkmate on h2 so quickly or easily, and if he tries with moves like 4...g4 5.Nxe5 Bd6 6.Nxf7 Qh4, White can defend safely and easily with 7.g3. So, this is yet another good reason to castle early in the game!

Next, after 4.Nc3 g4 5.Nxe5 Qh4, White can play 6.d4 to block the Black bishop from f2. With no bishop protection, there is no Scholar's Mate by the queen. Now White has both center pawns, both knights, and a bishop developed, while Black's bishop has to move away from the pawn attack and the Black queen has no support from other pieces. White has excellent chances to win the game now, and Black is in big trouble. This idea of pawn to d4 to block the bishop on c5 is also a good idea to know for many different situations in the opening -- as long as you have enough protection for the d4 square, which White does here: If the Black bishop takes the pawn, the White queen takes the bishop back safely.

Finally, after 6.g3 Qh3 7.d3 Qg2, this is White's last chance to defend. White needs to play 8.Rf1 to stop the checkmate on f2 and save his rook at the same time. It's too bad that White can't castle on the kingside now, but he can still develop his queenside pieces and then castle on the queenside to be safer. This is not quite as good as the first two ways to defend, but it is still a good position for White, and remember: Any position is better than getting checkmated!

You may wonder what happens if White tries this trick against Black. Let's take a look:

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qf3 Nf6 4.g4.

Once again, castling is the best defense! 4...O-O. After 5.g5, Black's knight has to retreat with 5...Ne8, but he is safe because his castled rook on f8 defends f7.

Another example is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.g4 Bc5 4.g5 Nxe4 5.Qf3. Now castling is not a good defense because the White queen can take the unprotected Black knight on e4. Black could play 5...Nxg5, which defends f7 for the moment and attacks the White queen too. But I prefer to push the d-pawn into the center to block the White bishop: 5...d5. Now White only has one little trick: 6.Bxd5 Qxd5 7.d3 and Black has to watch out for the pin: Don't play 7...Nxf2 and lose your queen to 8.Qxd5! As long as Black doesn't lose his queen like this, he will be ok. There may be some wild and crazy back-and-forth piece captures for the next few moves, but Black won't have a bad position as long as he or she keeps the queen or trades it for the White queen. For example 7...Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bxg1 9.dxe4 Qc4+! and next move Black can retreat the bishop on g1 to safety and have an extra bishop. Add extra protection to f7 on the move after that with castling or Be6, and Black will have a great position and White will be in big trouble.

The good part is, once you learn these ways to defend yourself, you will start winning all the games against the players who try tricks like pawn to g4 or g5, because you will get to the positions where THEY, not you, are in big trouble. You will more than make up for the one or two games you lost to a sneaky Scholar's Mate the first one or two times somebody tried it against you.

I wish everyone the best of luck that plays chess the right way and develops their pieces and learns how to stop all the Scholar's Mate tricks and punishes their sneaky opponents who try them!

PHPL - RKNIGHTS

2010-06-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 18 - PROSPECT HEIGHT PUBLIC LIBRARY

6 CORNER'S CORNUCOPIA

2010-06-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Renaissance Knights joined other community groups Saturday, September 19, 2009 to participate in the Cornucopia event at the Six Corners area in the Portage Park neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. The Bank of America branch at 4901 W. Irving Park Rd. kindly hosted us, making room for us to set up an information display, a jumbo size chess set, and a number of chess boards. Some of the best chess players and teachers on Renaissance Knights' staff were present. We invited any and all community members who came by to challenge our teachers to a game, and we offered chess piece keychains to anyone who could beat FIDE Master Zin.

The Cornucopia event was a successful and enjoyable experience for all. Area businesses displayed green balloons and people visited them in a "treasure hunt", getting cards stamped at each location. A special highlight of the day was the appearance of Elvis on stilts, who sang and even stopped by our boards to play a little chess. Renaissance Knights thanks the Cornucopia organizers and Bank of America for their generous hospitality in hosting the event and giving us a warm welcome to the community.

SEPT. 19 - KNIGHTS CHESS PAVILION CHICAGO'S 6 CORNERS CORNUCOPIA

44th QUEST

2010-06-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 9 - 44th KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT

KNIGHTS WORKSHOP

2010-06-08T06:10:00.001-07:00

JULY 26 - KNIGHTS WORKSHOPS

43rd QUEST

2010-06-08T05:34:00.001-07:00

JULY 12 -43rd KNIGHTS QUEST

LAKE ZURICH CHALET - RKNIGHTS

2010-06-08T05:23:00.001-07:00

AUGUST 10 - 14 - JR KNIGHTS SUMMER CAMP LAKE ZURICH

PROSPECT HEIGHTS LIBRARY - RKNIGHTS

2010-06-08T04:29:00.000-07:00

JULY 28 - CHESS DAY AT PROSPECT HEIGHT PUBLIC LIBRARY

WRIGHT COLLEGE - JR KNIGHTS

2010-06-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

JUNIOR KNIGHTS CHESS CAMP - NORTHBROOK

2010-06-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

JULY 13 - 14 - JR KNIGHTS CHESS CAMP NORTHBROOK

We had a lot of fun!

TASTE OF CHICAGO

2010-06-06T09:37:00.001-07:00

JUNE 26 - JULY 5 - 3RD TASTE OF CHICAGO CHESS PAVILION

2nd MURPHY TOURNAMENT

2010-06-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

JUNE 8 - 2 nd MURPHY SCHOOL TOURNAMENT

GALILEO LAST DAY

2010-06-06T07:10:00.001-07:00

MAY13th GALILEO

CPS TEACHERS & COACHES WORKSHOP

2010-06-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

"Incorporating Chess into the Classroom" MAY 19
Senior FIDE Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky
& CPS Teacher Mrs. Lasisi

Coaches Workshop - MAY 18

Senior FIDE Trainer Michael Khodarkovsky

May 18 & 19 Workshops

LAKE ZURICH CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

2010-06-06T05:13:00.000-07:00

APRIL 25 - CHARLES QUENTIN CHAMPIONSHIP

CHESS CAMP IS FUN ! - RKNIGHTS

2009-03-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

JUNIOR KNIGHTS CHESS CAMPS

RENAISSANCE HOTEL - JR KNIGHTS CHESS CAMP

2009-03-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

JULY 13 - 17, 2009
9 AM - 12 PM Half Day
Campers will receive instruction from our staff of world class chess educators, all of whom have vast experience teaching children. Campers will be placed into groups based on ability & age & will be led through various activities, including tournaments, blitz, lectures, bughouse, & game analysis. The instructors will cover openings, endgames, tactics, & strategies. Ages 6 -16.
*Tuition includes snack, camp T-shirt, scorebook, certificate w/group photo & work folder*
CAMP SITE: Renaissance Hotel,
933 Skokie Blvd, Northbrook, IL.
REGISTRATION FEES: $185 half day, $160 additional siblings
ELIGIBILITY: Ages 6 -16, students of all strengths & experience are invited to attend. Campers will be grouped according to age & ability.
REGISTRATION: Print out forms below & mail to:
Renaissance Knights, PO Box 1074, Northbrook, IL 60065
PAYMENT: Can be made online or sent in with forms
ONLINE ENTRY - FORMS - FLYER - DIRECTIONS

LAKE ZURICH CHALET - JUNIOR KNIGHTS CHESS CAMP

2009-02-27T22:29:00.000-08:00

AUGUST 10 - 14, 2009
9 AM - 12 PM Half Day
9 AM - 3 PM Full Day
Campers will receive instruction from our staff of world class chess educators, all of whom have vast experience teaching children. Campers will be placed into groups based on ability & age & will be led through various activities, including tournaments, blitz, lectures, bughouse, & game analysis. The instructors will cover openings, endgames, tactics, & strategies. Daily physical activities, swimming, playground, & other fun stuff. Ages 6 - 16. *Tuition includes lunch, camp T-shirt, scorebook, certificate w/group photo & work folder*.
CAMP SITE: LZ Chalet, 200 S. Rand Rd., Lake Zurich, IL
REGISTRATION FEES: $325 full day, $275 additional sibling(s)
$185 half day, $160 additional sibling(s)
ELIGIBILITY: Ages 6 – 16, students of all strengths & experience are invited to attend. Campers will be grouped according to age & ability.
CLOTHING: Wear/bring clothes & shoes for sports activities & swimming.
REGISTRATION: Print out forms below & mail to:
Renaissance Knights, PO Box 1074, Northbrook, IL 60065
PAYMENT: Online or sent in with forms
ONLINE ENTRY - FORMS - FLYER - DIRECTIONS

WRIGHT COLLEGE - JUNIOR KNIGHTS CHESS CAMP

2009-02-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

JULY 20-24, 2009
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Full Day
Campers will receive instruction from our staff of world class chess educators, all of whom have vast experience teaching children. Campers will be placed into groups based on ability & age & will be led through various activities, including tournaments, blitz, lectures, bughouse, & game analysis. The instructors will cover openings, endgames, tactics, & strategies. Daily physical activities, including swimming & other fun stuff. Ages 6 - 16. *Tuition includes lunch, camp T-shirt, scorebook, certificate with group photo & work folder*.
CAMP SITE: Wright College, 4300 N. Narragansett Ave, Chicago, IL 60634
REGISTRATION FEE: $250 for 5 days of chess, fun activities, lunches & snacks.
ELIGIBILITY: Ages 6 – 16, students of all strengths & experience are invited to attend. Campers will be grouped according to age & ability.
CLOTHING: Wear/bring clothes & shoes for sports activities & swimming.
REGISTRATION: Print out forms below & mail to: Renaissance Knights, PO Box 1074, Northbrook, IL 60065 or register in person at 4300 N. Narragansett, Chicago, RM A120.
PAYMENT: Online, sent in with forms, or in person at Wright College
ONLINE ENTRY - FORMS - FLYER - DIRECTIONS

CPS CHAMPIONSHIP - RKNIGHTS

2009-02-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

The night before the CPS Championship, throughout Chicago, snow, snow & more snow fell through the evening, & we had calls of concerned inquiries whether the tournament was canceled. The early morning drive was treacherous from the NW suburbs, but we kept our ‘eyes on the prize’ (a great day, for the 170 CPS students from 37 schools, their parents & coaches), with great hope they would all brave the weather conditions for this spectacular event held at Martin Luther King High School. To our delight almost all the students attended, & the CPS director, 15 of RKNIGHTS staff, the MLK HS engineer, in addition the Sun Times & Fox News, which helped make it a fabulous day.
Congratulations to all the winners !
2009 CPS Championship Standings

IL. SCHOLASTIC CHESS SCHOLARS - RKNIGHTS

2009-02-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

IL SCHOLASTIC CHESS SCHOLARS BENEFITS:

ISCS Training Workshops (Monthly - 2 Hrs) - NO CHARGE

$5 off 'selected' RKNIGHTS Tournaments

RKNIGHTS Master Training Workshops - HALF PRICE

Discounts to ‘selected’ RKNIGHTS Summer Camps & Events

Opportunities for Prizes & Awards

Occasions for volunteer w/RKNIGHTS Programs

Certificates & Letters of Recognition to School

Renaissance Knights Shirts

A lot of learning & fun…!

COMMITMENT:

Good Sportsmanship & enthusiasm for learning.

ISCS Training Workshops -Attend 6 (min) in a year. NO CHARGE

RKNIGHTS tournaments -Attend 4 (min) year. Scholarships available

Volunteer at 2 (min) RKNIGHTS Programs (2-4 hrs total)

Learn & have fun…!

IL. SCHOLASTIC CHESS SCHOLARS - CONGRATULATIONS

2009-02-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

1. Tarun Rao
2. Mitchell Warren
3. Avery Shuster
4. Matthew Steindel
5. Kevin Noonan
6. Samiylo Habrel
7. Georgia Wolf
8. Penelope Wolf
9. David Silva
10. Spencer Holbrook
11. Fredric Fosco
12. Mathew Corrigan
13. Jonathon Parts
14. Alex Ortiz
15. Sam Spina
16. Joshua Macius
17. Will Madson

IL Scholastic Chess Scholars are chosen on merit basis from the thousands of children participating in Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation Programs. The selected participants are nominated by RKNIGHTS directors and teachers. The criteria used: Good sportsmanship; engaged students eager to learn and have exhibited ability for perseverance; work well within group and team setting; who are able to meet the requirements/commitments of the IL. Scholastic Chess Scholars Program.

Indian Trails Public Library Chess Tournament -RKNIGHTS

2009-02-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

The Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling had it's fifty year birthday, the director's of the library chose to include a 'Chess Tournament' to be part of it's celebration of activities representing this very special passage of time and called the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation to help. The RKNIGHTS ran the chess tournament and the library staff was excellent in their support and assistance. One librarian confided she didn't think too many players would show up. To every one's delight and surprise over fifty children and adults came to partake in the exciting tournament. Everyone had a good time, the library staff enjoyed it, and some chess player's had asked the library and the RKNIGHTS, to please have more chess tournaments. We will have another one next year! MORE PICS

Boys & Girls Club of America & RKNIGHTS

2009-02-18T20:28:00.000-08:00

Fun with chess at Boys & Girls Club of America

by M.R. RKNIGHTS Teacher & Chess Expert

Renaissance Knights sponsored a chess afternoon for the Login Square Boys and Girls Club in Chicago. Many kids showed up for the various daily activities at Boys & Girls Club, but chess seemed to steal the show. A lot of people flocked to come play chess and also to learn about the game. The always popular big chess pieces was also a huge attraction. A large group of kids stayed for the whole three hours and many came to watch as well as learn the basics. RKNIGHTS thanks everyone who participated and played, and to the staff for helping out and encouraging the kids to try something new. RKNIGHTS also works with the Boys & Girls Club in Elgin & Waukegan.

Emerson Elementary School - RKNIGHTS

2009-02-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

by M.R. RKNIGHTS Teacher & Chess Expert

A first time chess program (Junior Knights) was kicked off at Emerson Elementary school on February 6, 2009 and the many kids who attended, really loved it. Renaissance Knights would like to thank the alderman of Berwyn for his generous contribution in helping to establish the newly formed and very popular chess program. The new chess enthusiasts were welcomed by the President of RKNIGHTS, Mr. David Heiser, followed by FIDE Master Aung Thant Zin (Burma) and Expert Mark Robledo teaching chess to the eager students yearning to learn the game. Many thanks to the staff at Emerson and Mrs. Shelly Titzer, for bringing chess and its benefits to the school and surrounding communities of Chicago.

Chess Art & Poetry Awards at Galileo Academy

2009-02-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

Renaissance Knights has partnered with Ms. Lasisi 5th grade class whose theme for the year is chess. Pictured below is some of the chess art the students made. Personnel from RKNIGHTS judged the students work (art & poetry) & provided awards for the winners. The students did so well it was very difficult to pick the winners. PICS

Ukrainian Chess Federation's VP Visits Galileo Academy

2009-02-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

January 12, 2008

Renaissance Knights sponsored the visit of Leonid Timoshenko, Vice President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation, to Galileo Math and Science Academy where he visited with Mrs. Lasisi’s 5th grade class whose theme for the year is chess. The students learned about chess in the Ukraine and the success the Ukrainian teams had at the recent Chess Olympiad. Accompanying Mr. Timoshenko was International Master Stan Smiatankin (Belarus). Also in attendance were Oleksandr Gaman (Consulate General of Ukraine), Lisa Wiersma, (CPS Interim Director of Partnerships) & Darrin Osborne (CPS Sports Department). MORE PICS

Words of Encouragement for Knights Quest Players: You Are Better Than Your Rating!

2009-02-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

by Jeff Caveney
RKNIGHTS Teacher & Chess Expert

As an instructor and Knights Quest tournament assistant, I have observed a lot of games of young players under 1000 rating. I have also studied many of those games as a chess instructor for these players. I want to tell all Knights Quest players and their families that in my professional opinion, you are all better chess players than your rating shows!

Watching the under-800 section for many months, I have to say I have never in my life seen so many players with 700 ratings play chess so well. When I compare your games in the Quest to other games in outside tournaments, the 700 rated Quest players are at least as good if not better than the 900 rated players in other tournaments. I am sure the same will be true for the 500 rated Quest players in the under-600 section and the 900 rated Quest players in the under-1000 section this year.

You may wonder why this happens, I think it is because you are all playing most of your games against other Quest players whose ratings are also lower than their real chess strength. If a group of 20 players with 700 ratings all play each other month after month, they will all improve a lot, but their average rating will not go up because they are always playing against the other people in the same group who are also improving along with them. The same is true for the 600 and 500 rated players who have to play against the 700 rated players.

The moral of the story is don't be discouraged if your rating doesn't go up a lot in the Quest tournaments! In reality, the experience of playing in the Quest every month is making you a much better chess player. Later, when you go to other tournaments, you will find yourself beating much higher rated opponents and your rating will suddenly go up hundreds of points in a very short period of time. Other players will wonder how you improved so fast. The answer is:from the experience you gained by playing in the Knights Quest every month! MORE PICS - MORE PICS - MORE PICS

CHITAG - RKNIGHTS

2009-02-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

by Jorge Barrera RKNIGHTS Teacher
November 20-21, 2008

Filled with all kinds of new and old games, Chicago's Navy Pier became a kid's dream land when the 'Chicago's Toy and Game Fair' came to town.

Amongst all the new games, some not even clearly released, one of the older all time favorite games was still among the most popular. Chess!

For both days, the Renaissance Knights chess booth was filled with all kinds of players, offering a rest even to parents, many of who took part in a friendly game of chess against their loved ones.

Not everyone was a friendly match though, for both days quick blitz tournaments were held, with prizes for the participants. Also, for those who needed even more of a challenge, chess puzzles were provided and the more daring could play some of our expert teachers.

All was great fun, and was clearly very nice to see that chess is still just as popular even with all the newer games next to the side of the chess booth.

Besides looking at all the games, toy fair goers were able to indulge themselves with the merchandise of many different vendors, a lovely Christmas atmosphere, and a great show performed by many talented kids.

We are very please with everyone that visited us and we hope you had a great time. Look for our RKNIGHTS chess tournament at CHITAG next year! MORE PICS

PLATO ACADEMY TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

2009-02-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

JUNIOR KNIGHTS CHESS TOURNAMENT

by Jorge Barrera

RKNIGHTS teacher

It was with great dedication that many of our students came on a chilly morning to face off and test their new or refined chess skills. Thanks to Plato Academy in Morton Grove, we were able to conduct our tournament in a very spacious and certainly an unique venue (a church).

After three rounds of play, not all the trophies were determined, making the fourth round very tense for some players.

RKNIGHTS thanks everyone that supported us to make this Saturday a success for chess! MORE PICS

TASTE OF CHICAGO - RKNIGHTS

2009-02-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

by Jorge Barrera
June 27- July 5, 2008

As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Chicago is known for its myriad cultures and neighborhoods. As a celebration of this diversity, the Taste of Chicago has been a very popular festival, as it brings all of the different cuisines into one place: Grant Park. From June 27th to July 6th, millions of people gathered to enjoy the culinary creations of hundreds of Chicago’s restaurants. From the famous Chicago-style pizza to more exotic dishes such as alligator, every visitor had a chance to find something to their liking, or at least experience the diversity that this festival brings.
Even when ‘The Taste”, as it is known by locals, is a food festival, there are many other activities and diversions. The easiest one to spot is the bright Ferris wheel in the center of the festival, but there is also live music, sports activities, and of course the fireworks display that culminates the festival.
Despite so many activities, tucked away near the south end there was a tent which housed what to many was a surprise. Three rows of chess boards, surrounded by two giant chess sets, and a calendar full of chess activities, were the oasis of many. Some attendees were happy to take comfort in the shade, and play a friendly game with their friends, others preferred to wait and try their luck with the giant chess pieces, while yet others played with the “knights” in the front.
There were many chess activities throughout the week. A few blitz tournaments in which participants only had 5 minutes to finish the game. There were also a couple chess puzzle solving contests, where contestants had to find the best moves in a game played by chess master years ago. Also there were a few simultaneous exhibitions with one of the Renaissance Knights master players, in which one of the Renaissance Knights players matches up against many different players at the same time, making one move at a time for each game. To top it all off some of the expert players held chess workshops in which players of all skills could learn a thing or two.
Amongst this chess playing haven, there was also information about the Renaissance Knights different programs, such as developing chess programs in schools, summer chess camps, and upcoming prize tournaments. Also, there was some information of upcoming and past events, and for the keen observer there was the chance to win a chess computer in a raffle.
The feedback from all the visitors was overwhelmingly positive. There was so much enthusiasm, that although the Renaissance Knights tent was scheduled to be at The Taste for only a few days, a two day extension to bring chess to the festival every single day was almost obligatory. Everyone had a great time, from the beginner to the advanced, and from the young to the old. There were a few challenging games, in which tensions rose, and there was also many games in which more casual players just wanted to enjoy their time at The Taste.
It is clear that chess at The Taste was a very successful event. With so many different people, and so many different food and activities, this festival has really shown how diverse Chicago is. And yet, as it was evident, this culturally diverse group has made chess one of the things that they clearly have in common, just as having a good time on a hot summer day in Chicago’s Grant Park. MORE PICS