I wanted a place to post chess stuff. So I am starting this thread.
I went to a very young kids tournament. I am walking around looking at the games. They are amazing. One move white may be +/- (winning advantage white) the next it could be =+ (black slight advantage) and the next -/+ (black has a winning advantage.) There was this little girl, maybe eight years old, if she weighs a feather over fifty pounds is a miracle. The ratio of boys to girls was maybe 4:1 favoring boys. Anyway, I am strolling the isles, assessing positions, calculating variations, assigning +/-, =, +=, etc to each. But I stop at this little girls table. Her position is one I might have achieved. She is playing logically, sound positional chess, with a minefield of possibilities for her opponent to step on.
I watch as she squeezes her opponent like a boa constrictor, and now, all she has to do is, go for the throat and annihilate her opponent in a sequence of moves that forces a win. Instead she plays a passive move, a horribly weakning move, my heart drops. Her opponent jumps all over her, she is under extreme duress now, and eventually succumbs to a combination that leaves her defenseless. I can see tears out of the corner of her eyes (boy I have been there) she doesn't say a word. She tips her king over, extends her hand in resignation, tears now visibly flowing from her eyes.
I follow her to her parents (after she comes out of the bathroom so that no one can see her cry), make a couple of suggestions and show her how she might have proceeded logically from the position to gain the full point. She listens attentively, can follow the suggestions in her head. I told her one more thing, when she has an advantage, she must convert that advantage in some way. In this particular position, I told her she needed to turn into a dragon and go for her opponents throat and obliterate him. She shakes her head yes. I watch her next game. She is again playing beautiful positional chess. Develop, gain central influence, put the king in safety, sieze open lines, parry tactical threats. She has reached a position where she is clearly better. She goes on to win this game in a forceful style. I show her a forced win with a queen sacrifice that would have won by force in mate in seven, but that is way to much to ask for.
Well done.
I went to a very young kids tournament. I am walking around looking at the games. They are amazing. One move white may be +/- (winning advantage white) the next it could be =+ (black slight advantage) and the next -/+ (black has a winning advantage.) There was this little girl, maybe eight years old, if she weighs a feather over fifty pounds is a miracle. The ratio of boys to girls was maybe 4:1 favoring boys. Anyway, I am strolling the isles, assessing positions, calculating variations, assigning +/-, =, +=, etc to each. But I stop at this little girls table. Her position is one I might have achieved. She is playing logically, sound positional chess, with a minefield of possibilities for her opponent to step on.
I watch as she squeezes her opponent like a boa constrictor, and now, all she has to do is, go for the throat and annihilate her opponent in a sequence of moves that forces a win. Instead she plays a passive move, a horribly weakning move, my heart drops. Her opponent jumps all over her, she is under extreme duress now, and eventually succumbs to a combination that leaves her defenseless. I can see tears out of the corner of her eyes (boy I have been there) she doesn't say a word. She tips her king over, extends her hand in resignation, tears now visibly flowing from her eyes.
I follow her to her parents (after she comes out of the bathroom so that no one can see her cry), make a couple of suggestions and show her how she might have proceeded logically from the position to gain the full point. She listens attentively, can follow the suggestions in her head. I told her one more thing, when she has an advantage, she must convert that advantage in some way. In this particular position, I told her she needed to turn into a dragon and go for her opponents throat and obliterate him. She shakes her head yes. I watch her next game. She is again playing beautiful positional chess. Develop, gain central influence, put the king in safety, sieze open lines, parry tactical threats. She has reached a position where she is clearly better. She goes on to win this game in a forceful style. I show her a forced win with a queen sacrifice that would have won by force in mate in seven, but that is way to much to ask for.
Well done.
