Showing posts with label coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coaching. Show all posts

Wednesday 3 January 2018

Know the rules

There was an unbelievable incident at the recent World Blitz Championship, held on 29th and 30th December 2017, which showed that top players and an International Arbiter did not know the FIDE rules of chess! I am referring to the first round game between Carlsen and Inarkiev, where the following incident occurred:


As can be seen in the video, White plays Rxb7+, which was answered by the illegal move Ne3+. Carlsen should have claimed the game immediately, in terms of Blitz rule A.4.2, but instead played Kd3. At which point Inarkiev stopped the clock, claimed that Carlsen made a move in an illegal position, and somehow got the match arbiter to give him the point!!

Soon after this, the Chief Arbiter correctly told Inarkiev that Kd3 was not an illegal move and asked him to continue the game. Black refused, knowing that he had a lost endgame after the Rooks were swapped off, so the CA gave Carlsen the point.

This decision then went on appeal, and the appeals committee ruled in White's favour. You can find an interesting interview with Takis Nikolopoulos and another interview with Malcolm Pein about the incident and the relevant rules. It is worth noting that from 1st January 2018 the FIDE laws for Blitz and Rapid have been changed so that the second illegal move loses the game, but at the time the game was played, the first illegal move in Blitz or Rapid lost the game.

The moral of the story is know the rules! You can download these from the FIDE rules website.

Monday 17 April 2017

Chess and maths

It is well known that world champions Emmanuel Lasker and Max Euwe were also mathematicians, but I was quite surprised to realise that I have played chess against five professors of mathematics, namely Peter Dankelmann, John van den Berg and his father Johan, Michael Henning and Max Euwe. I don't believe I have played any other professors! I have also played against a number of actuaries, who are also very good at maths. Is there a connection between chess and maths? Both are based on problem solving. Chess players make extensive use of logic and pattern recognition skills, as do mathematicians. I think this is the reason that playing chess appeals to many mathematicians.

There is a school of thought that says that teaching chess to children is a good thing, as it also teaches them skills that can be used in other fields, such as mathematics.

In Ms Msomi's classroom at Kati Primary, Mandlazini Village, near Richards Bay
"Master Moves Kids" provides chess lessons that are linked into the school syllabus. It is supported by donations from many of South Africa's biggest companies. In the picture above, the pupils are learning about files by placing coloured stickers on a chess board. They are also learning about chess notation, number sizes, bar charts and co-ordinates at the same time!

There are lots of possibilities to learn whilst also having fun with chess. Take for example the piece values. When we exchange pieces, you have to add up how much each piece is worth and then say which is greater. Do we win or lose if we trade two minor pieces for a Rook? One final example, how do you move a Rook from a1, so that it touches every square on the board only once? My immediate reaction was the lawn mower method, but there is another, more elegant, solution. Think about it!

Saturday 4 March 2017

Grandmaster visit


Just a few days to go before Grandmaster Ernst arrives! He will be the special guest at this years Ethekwini Open, to be held at the Open Air School from the 18th to 21st March 2017. There will be a FIDE rated section as well as a Chess SA rated section. For further information, please see the following invitation to the Ethekwini open or give Erick Takawira (073 434 8634) a call.

Thursday 17 September 2015

Arbiters workshop

An arbiters workshop will be held on 19th and 20th September 2015 at Northwood High School (Durban North). The workshop instructors will be Keith Rust and Divesh Sookdeo. Saturday will be spent on training exercises and discussion of the FIDE Laws of Chess (2014), then there will be an open book exam on Sunday. Here is a more detailed training programme.

The cost for the workshop and exam will be R150, payable at registration on Saturday morning (08h30). Please bring the following to the workshop/exam:
1) Pens, pencils, ruler and Calculator
2) Exam pad/Notebook for the workshop
3) ID Book (proof of identity)

All attendees must read the AOC Arbiters Manual 2014, which is downloadable from the AOC downloads and resources page. Other course materials that will be referred to are the Chess SA rating rules and the AOC arbiter regulations.

Update 29th September: congratulations to Cheshni Jeena, Craig Atkinson, Rahul Beekrum and Sayen Naidu on becoming Candidate Provincial Arbiters. Lulama Qobo becomes a Tournament Supervisor and Ilshaad Hussain a Schools Supervisor.

Monday 7 September 2015

KZN Chess Queens

Reigning KZN champion, Joseph Mwale, has started a programme for all girls interested in playing chess. The first free coaching session for girls will be held from 15h30 to 17h00 at Gordon Road Girls School, on Wednesday 14th October 2015. Joseph hopes to host a tournament once every month for girls. Here is the entry form for the first such event, to be held on Saturday 19th October 2015, at Gordon Road Girls School.

PS. Here a couple of photos from the inaugural tournament:



Wednesday 18 March 2015

Coaching workshops in KZN

Sandile Xulu reports that, for the very first time, KZN will have a database of Chess Coaches in all 11 districts.
KZN Chess Association has just completed launching the CHESS COACHES ASSOCIATION in all 11 districts. A move to train coaches was warmly welcomed by district associations as this will help improve their competitiveness when it comes to provincial tournaments.
UTHUKELA Coaches showing off their garden chess set in the city of LADYSMITH
LISA GRIFFITHS (in red) with her enthusiastic team of UTHUNGULU Coaches
LULAMA QOBO training from the podium at LUTHULI Museum in ILEMBE District
Previously, chess coaches would come from Durban only but this will soon change as coaches from all over the province will receive continued training. While most of the coaches are ‘Development Coaches’ others have very good potential to soon coach at a higher level.
AMAJUBA Coaches embraced the KZNCA Vision 2015 of ’50 clubs’
CHESS moves into the council chamber in LADYSMITH
Chess is making inroads at the heart of the ZULU KINGDOM 
Coaches Associations will act as a supporting structure to the district structures. This move will see more clubs being formed.
At Shisanyama in Bhekuzulu township, VRYHEID, chess is played while listening to some good music...
UMZINYATHI Coaches learning a new way to teach chess
LULAMA QOBO demonstrating a few coaching lessons in DUNDEE
February was an extremely busy month for the facilitators. Altogether, a total of 130 coaches were trained throughout 11 districts and this training took place every weekend from 14th February to 1st March 2015.
SANDILE XULU ‘teaching’ LULAMA QOBO a few blitz lessons over breakfast in VRYHEID
OXFORD GUEST HOUSE hosted the facilitators with warm hands in VRYHEID
Thanks to Mbongeni Sithole, Mondli Mkhize, Lulama Qobo and Erick Takawira for facilitating these workshops and making a success of them. I (Sandile Xulu) was also one of the facilitators. Thanks to all the district officials and others who helped make sure that these workshops ran smoothly.

Saturday 28 February 2015

Chess SA seeks managers and coaches

We have just received the following documents from Marcelle Agulhas, the General Secretary of Chess South Africa. The closing date for all applications is Sunday 15th March.

1.  2015 Team Managers Application Form for International Tournaments.
2.  2015 Team Coaches Application Form for International Tournaments.

The documents contain a list of ten international events in 2015 where South African chess players can be expected to participate. This is an astonishing number of events when you consider that Chess SA is currently in arrears with FIDE. Some amounts have allegedly been outstanding since 2011.

In early December 2014, FIDE published a notice that Federations more than 6 months in arrears would have services suspended and players from those Federations would not be able to take part in any FIDE rated events. FIDE then published the names of the Federations affected on its website:

Federations in Arrears   
Wednesday, 31 December 2014 09:36
official logo
In accordance with decisions of Presidential Board in Sochi, FIDE publishes the list of Federation in Arrears.

Until the arrears have been paid off, players from these Federations cannot participate in any FIDE events that are under the aegis of
a) the World Championship & Olympiad Commission or Events Commission,
b) Continental competitions that provide qualifiers to any of the aforesaid competitions.

The list will be regularly updated.

(South Africa was one of the countries listed.)

Monday 23 February 2015

Trainee arbiters workshop

A workshop for trainee arbiters and organisers took place from 6th to 8th February at Coastlands Durban. It was organised by KZNCA president Sandile Xulu who invited 2 representatives from each of the 11 districts within KZN province. The chief trainer was Rudolf Willemse, who was assisted by Keith Rust. An intensive course in the Laws of Chess started on Friday afternoon, with the basic laws and a discussion on the conduct of the players and the role of the arbiter. On Saturday we completed the competition rules and looked at how the rules differed for rapid play and blitz. After which it was time to install the Swiss Arbiter pairings software and try out some Swiss pairings for a small tournament. Then we learnt how to do round-robin pairings and how to calculate rating changes. Phew! it was a long day. Then on Sunday, it was the dreaded exam, which lasted for 3 hours.

The chief trainer was Rudolf Willemse (from Johannesburg),
pictured here next to one of the new KZN Chess Association banners
Listening to Rudolf on the Laws of Chess
Keith Rust explains increments using his DGT digital clock
How does this Swiss Arbiter program work?
Bongani Mkhunya shows the pairings software on his computer
A team photo, showing off the new KZNCA golf shirts
Taking notes on how to do round robin pairings
Rudolf Willemse, Sandile Xulu and Keith Rust
Taking the final exam on Sunday morning
Sandile Xulu after a successful workshop is completed
Congratulations to Mbongeni Sithole who qualified as a Tournament Supervisor and to the following people who qualified as School Supervisors - Lulama Qobo, Lulama Nqubuka, Nkosinathi Masuku, Eugene Bernard, Cyril Thanda Danisa and Welcome Gwamanda.

Monday 22 December 2014

Chess Teachers Workshops

Erick Takawira reports: It was a great learning opportunity for Educators in Harding, Durban and surrounding areas. KZNCA with the continued support of LDM organized three teachers workshops. Training was conducted for 60 teachers who will be assisting in the process of starting new clubs in their schools. The topics included Basic skills, chess benefits, creating visual aids, lesson plans and curriculum, chess classroom management. There were lots of group activities ... Tower building competition, creating visuals and hands-on activities and a whole lot more fun activities.

The day ended on a high with every teacher taking a chess set for their school and with the conviction to go back and create Chess clubs. Come January, the Umlazi District Chess League will roll into action! A big thank you to LDM and Kales Chetty for the 54 chess sets, 10 demonstration boards, Teachers Manuals and Certificates.

OUR CHESS FAMILY IS GROWING!!!

The Facilitators Erick Takawira and Cyril Danisa
Proudly Harding Educators “showing off” the chess sets donated by LDM
Charity begins at home… 
Lesson plans at their very best…
Creating Visuals !!
A moment of Introspection!
Building towers……
….. exam in progress!
“Let’s use a book for elevation”
and the winning tower is …. This TOWER!!
Knight dance 1..2.. step take left/right!
Connecting the dots to Math, ladders and Chalk!!!

Sunday 26 October 2014

Chess moves to Abalindi

Chess featured recently in the Daily News when a garden chess set was installed at the Abalindi Welfare Society in Inanda. The delighted orphans also received a gift of chess sets to promote the royal game.

Mbongeni Sithole, Kales Chetty (from the main sponsors, LDM Consulting), unknown, unknown,
Sandile Xulu (president of KZN Chess), unknown, Erick Takawira (head coach KZN Chess)




Saturday 6 September 2014

Giant chess sets for KZN schools

Sandile Xulu reports: 
On Tuesday 2nd September 2014 the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education, Ms Neliswa Peggy Nkonyeni expressed a wish that, in each and every new school to be built in the Province of KwaZulu Natal, there will be a garden chess set.
Speaking to students, educators and business persons at Stanger South High School in Ilembe District, the MEC announced that she wants chess to be rolled out to all schools in KZN. She was talking in the school assembly before walking into a classroom where grade 10 students had their first chess lesson. It was a first-hand experience of ‘classroom chess’ for the MEC as well. As part of her visit to the school, the MEC donated scientific calculators to further enhance mathematics and motivate students to take science subjects.
President Jacob Zuma has repeatedly made a call in support of chess being introduced to all schools in South Africa. Through his own initiative, the Jacob G. Zuma Foundation, President Zuma has launched a program called ‘Chess-in-Schools’ which will see many schools benefit from having a school chess program.

KZN Chess Association President Sandile Xulu together with Ilembe Chess Association chairperson Welcome Gwamanda conducted the chess lessons. Problem was, students were so interested in chess that they did not want the session to end!
The MEC donated some chess sets to help the school start their own chess program. Business people also pledged-in their support to make sure that chess becomes a success story in Stanger South High School.

For more information, contact Sandile Xulu.