... which showcased his fighting spirit! Enjoy this interesting game
- Coach Sean Tobin.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
My Kids and their hardware!
TEAM CHESS EXTREME!
Ok - having fun is the main priority but of course!
Getting youngsters to play in their first tournament is the biggest challenge you will ever have as a chess coach. There could be numerous reasons for this - the child lacks confidence in her or his game, the parents lack confidence, the family schedule doesn't permit attendance at such events, a particular family does not value a culture of education as much as they should or the Parents didn't even know that a sub-culture of Scholastic chess players even existed. There are many, many possible reasons why some Parents do not actually want their child to play - a common one is that it infringes upon their "me" time on the weekends.
Everyone has different expectations for their child's first chess club experience. No matter what the expectations or whether or not a child can participate in the additional chess playing opportunities that exist outside of the confines of their chess club it is my mission to make sure that each and every child has fun playing chess while learning. That is it in a nutshell!
Make it a great day - today and every day!
Chess Coach Sean Tobin.
Getting youngsters to play in their first tournament is the biggest challenge you will ever have as a chess coach. There could be numerous reasons for this - the child lacks confidence in her or his game, the parents lack confidence, the family schedule doesn't permit attendance at such events, a particular family does not value a culture of education as much as they should or the Parents didn't even know that a sub-culture of Scholastic chess players even existed. There are many, many possible reasons why some Parents do not actually want their child to play - a common one is that it infringes upon their "me" time on the weekends.
Everyone has different expectations for their child's first chess club experience. No matter what the expectations or whether or not a child can participate in the additional chess playing opportunities that exist outside of the confines of their chess club it is my mission to make sure that each and every child has fun playing chess while learning. That is it in a nutshell!
Make it a great day - today and every day!
Chess Coach Sean Tobin.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Some AWESOME VIDEOS OF ----> AMBER 2010!
No - Amber is not a woman... irr check that, actually she is but it is not what you might have been thinking! She is the daughter of multi-billionaire Joop van Oosterom who was at one time the Correspondence Champion of the World. The event is named after his daughter Amber.
This event has been held since 1992 and attracts the world's very best players. This is a top notch chess event that always produces some very interesting games. The format alone lends itself to wonderful games - one half of the event is a blindfold event and then the other half of the games are "rapid play". These are treated as two separate events and then also as a combined event with first place winners for each. Here is the Wikipedia blurb on the AMBER CHESS TOURNAMENT:
This event has been held since 1992 and attracts the world's very best players. This is a top notch chess event that always produces some very interesting games. The format alone lends itself to wonderful games - one half of the event is a blindfold event and then the other half of the games are "rapid play". These are treated as two separate events and then also as a combined event with first place winners for each. Here is the Wikipedia blurb on the AMBER CHESS TOURNAMENT:
"The Melody Amber chess tournament (officially the Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess Tournament) is an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players, from 1992 onwards. Since the second edition, the event uniquely combines blindfold chess and speed chess, and has been held in Monte Carlo. The tournament is sponsored by the Dutch billionaire and world champion of correspondence chess, Joop van Oosterom. Named after his daughter, the tournament is usually held in March.
The player with the most titles (as of 2008) is Vladimir Kramnik, with six."
- Wikipedia entry on "AMBER CHESS TOURNAMENTS".
For the complete coverage of this event please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_chess_tournament
Also the outstanding CHESS VIBES folks have - once again - produced some wonderful video coverage of this tremendous event. For access to these videos please visit the actual tournament host website at:
http://www.amberchess2010.com/
Or go to the main page for all CHESS VIBES videos at:
http://www.chessvibes.com/
They cover top notch events from all over the world - so if you enjoy watching their online videos then viewer be forewarned - you may spend a lot of your online time surfing solely at that website!
Enjoy - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
CHESS CLASS AT BASIS March 17th, 2010
BASIS WAS GREAT TODAY - JUST WHAT I NEEDED!
Today I had a great class at BASIS - I got to fill in for my friend Liulia Cardona who is a Woman's FIDE Master. She is originally from Cuba and has quite the background in chess - quite the resume you would say. She called me to sub her class - I suspect I was the first person that she called - and I jumped on the opportunity.
I didn't have either of my afternoon schools today as both Chandler and Kyrene school districts have break this week so you better believe that I jumped on the opportunity to work with some of my former students - some of the best players in Arizona : Tony, Bryce and A.J. They graduated from MISSION MONTESSORI into the BASIS fifth grade class - most of my MISMON kids end up at BASIS by fifth grade.
We had a lot of fun today - I had them in stitches at points during our lesson and then during the play period! This club has 15 players in it - a nice sized chess club with lots of very strong players. The largest club that I have right now has 30 kids in it while I have one that only has 5 youngsters enrolled - every school chess club is different and unique to the kids that define it at that particular time. Every school and every school district is different too, also the various Parents will have their differing expectations of what chess club should mean to their children. Give it a year and the club will change as students come and go over the course of time.
Today was a good day - I look forward to more of these - THANK YOU LIULIA! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.
Today I had a great class at BASIS - I got to fill in for my friend Liulia Cardona who is a Woman's FIDE Master. She is originally from Cuba and has quite the background in chess - quite the resume you would say. She called me to sub her class - I suspect I was the first person that she called - and I jumped on the opportunity.
I didn't have either of my afternoon schools today as both Chandler and Kyrene school districts have break this week so you better believe that I jumped on the opportunity to work with some of my former students - some of the best players in Arizona : Tony, Bryce and A.J. They graduated from MISSION MONTESSORI into the BASIS fifth grade class - most of my MISMON kids end up at BASIS by fifth grade.
We had a lot of fun today - I had them in stitches at points during our lesson and then during the play period! This club has 15 players in it - a nice sized chess club with lots of very strong players. The largest club that I have right now has 30 kids in it while I have one that only has 5 youngsters enrolled - every school chess club is different and unique to the kids that define it at that particular time. Every school and every school district is different too, also the various Parents will have their differing expectations of what chess club should mean to their children. Give it a year and the club will change as students come and go over the course of time.
Today was a good day - I look forward to more of these - THANK YOU LIULIA! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.
HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY!
HAPPY St. PATRICK'S DAY!
Back in Massachusetts - St. Patrick's day is a big deal! In Phoenix it is NOTHING!!!! Whoa... I had assumed that there was a large Irish population here but I guess not or rather not anymore. Talking with some of the staff and teachers today over at Mercuy Mine I found out that there "Used to be Parades..." I heard that at about 7:20 AM when I went in for my morning chess club there. That meant no St. Paddie's day cross country or road race for me today! Whoa - big surprise as I was looking to go do one that would be local and easy for me to attend!! No leaving my friends house and going to a local event for me though.
If you didn't wear green today you may have been pinched! This does have an origin my friends! Irish folk, at one point it seems, believed that they would be warning friends and family members who did not wear green about the Leprechauns who just might take offense BY PINCHING THEM. I am a little confused though - was it green that they were supposed to be wearing or was it Orange? I don't know as I am a little vague on this and no one has yet corrected me about this. Could be that none of this info is legit!
Make it a great day one and all - especially on St. Pattie's day! - Coach Sean Tobin.
Back in Massachusetts - St. Patrick's day is a big deal! In Phoenix it is NOTHING!!!! Whoa... I had assumed that there was a large Irish population here but I guess not or rather not anymore. Talking with some of the staff and teachers today over at Mercuy Mine I found out that there "Used to be Parades..." I heard that at about 7:20 AM when I went in for my morning chess club there. That meant no St. Paddie's day cross country or road race for me today! Whoa - big surprise as I was looking to go do one that would be local and easy for me to attend!! No leaving my friends house and going to a local event for me though.
If you didn't wear green today you may have been pinched! This does have an origin my friends! Irish folk, at one point it seems, believed that they would be warning friends and family members who did not wear green about the Leprechauns who just might take offense BY PINCHING THEM. I am a little confused though - was it green that they were supposed to be wearing or was it Orange? I don't know as I am a little vague on this and no one has yet corrected me about this. Could be that none of this info is legit!
Make it a great day one and all - especially on St. Pattie's day! - Coach Sean Tobin.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
WORSE FATES THAN PLAYING & ENJOYING A GOOD GAME OF CHESS...
NOT MY IDEA OF FUN.
I don't know about you, but I am going to stick with playing chess... playing ring around the Ford with a Polar Bear is not my idea of fun. I hope he didn't lock his keys in the truck... and why is his friend only taking pictures instead of helping him? Also... what happened to the friend once he got into the truck? Hmm...
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