Chess Memories

Meggar got these chess shoe laces for her "old" boyfriend, Edmund. He's too big for the kindergarten team now, so she wanted to wish him good luck at state this weekend :-) My boys have "outgrown" chess as well, but we have good memories of it. I actually hope to find the K-State chess set for Dorito (manufactured by a senior in engineering).

Chess Merit Badge

Mr. Bird says Dorito is the FIRST ONE in our Robidoux Scout District and among the first in the nation to earn the Chess merit badge. It was only launched in September, and actually all three of my boys passed the requirements today. Last weekend's chess tournament was kind a bust with very low attendance, so this makes up for it.  And it is exciting to sew ONE more badge on Dorito's sash before his Eagle ceremony.

Rock - Paper - Scissors & Mind-Reading

Somehow, the twins started using "Rock-Paper-Scissors" about age 8 to settle important disputes such as who gets to wear the new clothes v. the hand-me-down pair from Reid, or who can be the goalie first for street hockey, or who has to carry the violin music to lessons.  I'm amazed that they don't have identical answers (!) to the game.  Polar Bear claims that Winger predominantly chooses Scissors.  Hmm...  Does he win with that strategy?  Certainly in hockey, they have a keen sense of where the other one is going to be and the passes work miraculously.  Everyone calls it Twin Telepathy.  I chuckle to myself and wonder:  Do they have the same dreams at night? similar strategies in chess? mathematics?  I also had a laugh at Boy Scout dinner last night when Eli Brown told about playing "Rock-Paper-Scissors" with his sister, and he got frustrated as she continued to choose Scissors every time: "When I was Rock, I would always win, and when I tried Scissors, we would tie!  My mom told me to give up, but then Annie chose Paper and tricked me!"  He is so logical :-)

State Chess Tournament

Each grade competes on its own at the fall Missouri State Chess Tourna- ment.  So we spent the day in Columbia on the MU campus waiting for each of the five rounds to see who would win, lose, or draw.  Here is Edmund calling Meggar to tell her that he won the first few rounds in the Kindergarten division.  He placed 2nd overall.

The twins were their own worst enemies in the 7th grade division, especially with two other teammates from St. Joseph who were all winning at the end of three rounds!  Polar Bear ended up in 2nd place, behind Ben H. and David won 5th place, just above Cecilia.  As a team, they happily won the 1st place trophy!

Dorito did alright with the competition, and his 10th grade team finished in 2nd place which meant no trophy.  Still it was a fun day on our first (and probably last) visit to MU -- sorry J.L.

Learning on the Internet

We are avid members of the Homeschool Chess team, so of course, we had to complete the homework assignment: watching chess traps and openings on the Internet.  Mr. Bird suggested http://www.jrobichess.com/ for the "Ruy Lopez Mortimer Trap" and http://www.thechesswebsite.com/ for the "Guioco Piano Opening Attack."  It's beyond me to keep up with all these strategies, but it will hopefully pay off for them at the upcoming state chess tournament.

K-6 Chess Tournament

The twins had a Saturday without hockey-shocking-so they entered the Oakhill Chess Tourna- ment in Kansas City. We carpooled with Jonathan and Jackson, which was fun in itself. The St. Joseph Homeschool Team won the 1st place trophy! Individual medals included: Winger (6th place) and PolarBear (2nd place tie). PolarBear beat the boy who defeated Tommy earlier, and laughed off the offer of bribe money midway through their 5th round game. Good competition!

Twins Take a Few Rounds of Chess

The twins were sad to miss Supernationals last week (due to hockey try-outs). Today they dived into the local chess tournament, but Tommy Palmer got the best of Polar Bear. Both he and Winger still finished in the top 10 overall for their age group. They were more excited about the "Bughouse" tournament, where 4 players work simultaneously on 2 chess boards. They had worked out secret passwords: 1 = queen, 2 = rook, 3 = knight, 4 = bishop, 5 = pawn. (How clever!) They could have been in the championship, but Polar Bear failed to notice his opponent's clock ran out just before Winger got stuck in a check-mate. Good effort -- which got them a 3rd place medal!

Chess Champions

The 7-9th graders took 1st place in the un-rated division at Supernationals!! How wonderful for Dorito and his friends--the trophy is almost as tall as he is! (picture to come) Mr. Bird was very proud as they had 4 players finish in the top 15, too. Dorito keeps telling us stories of the HUGE Gaylord Opryland Convention Center with indoor waterfalls, bridges, and gardens.

Chess Tournament in Progress

Dorito is in Nashville--playing in the world's largest chess tournament along with 5,200 students from 45 states. Yesterday, he lost the first match and beat his second opponent. His St. Joe K-9 team is in 1st place after the first day!! Very exciting. It's also been fun to hear him talk about the chess inventions in the vendor area. "Pounder chess" lets you make one move as the piece you just captured. 3-D chess lets you move vertically up the side wall (built with shelves). And some version where the piece permanently is attached to the square, and you move them together each time. Crazy!

State Chess Tournament

Polar Bear did great at chess! He medaled in the 5th grade division at the Missouri State Chess Competition yesterday. He was 15th overall out of 71 individual players. He won 4 matches and lost 2. He led his team of 5th graders (which included his twin Winger who won 3 and lost 3) and they earned the 4th place trophy out of 26 teams! VERY GOOD results.

Dorito also played all day in the 8th grade division amongst 107 players. He also won 3 matches and lost 3 --saying the competition was pretty stiff. Our St. Joseph Homeschool Chess Club brought home two team trophies and had 7 medalists!

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Terry were chaperones for the Schmidling boys since Captain had a trip out of town. I heard that Terry dished it out, but the boys gave it right back to him!

Their Own Wheels

The three boys wanted to ride their bikes to chess class - 1.35 miles from our house. They know the route, so I said "Yes." Dorito didn't want to admit he fell and his chain came off. I was impressed that he fixed it without calling me to come pick them up. They even packed water bottles and granola bars to have on the way home. The bikes were quite popular and other boys wanted to ride around the parking lot after class was over.

In class, they learned an opening move called "The Stallion," which Winger explained to me in great detail that went over my head. Meanwhile, I'm marveling that my identical twins can play against each other in chess - because they think so much alike!

Back on Board

You can see the love in their eyes -- my three sons returned to Chess Class with Mr. Bird this afternoon! First, they had a few practice rounds at home before going. Then, they talked the whole way there about who else would attend the class. At supper, the whole conversation was about "What's your best opening move?" and code words like E-4, primary squares, and blitz. Best lesson: "Mr. Bird said not to bring out your Queen before making 15 moves."

Chess Tournament

Polar Bear won 2nd place! and Winger took 5th place! in the Grades 4-6 division of the Robidoux Chess Tournament today. Their team won 2nd place overall, and the coach was a bit disappointed because not all the players could attend.

Dorito placed 13th in the junior high division. Chess is their "brain candy," and it was a fun treat this weekend. Best of all, they bought a new chess timer like Mr. Bird's to use at home!

Chess Tournament

Check! Dorito placed 4th in the Junior High division by winning 3, losing 2. His homeschool team took 1st place. Winger placed 8th in the 4th-6th grade division by winning 3, losing 2. His homeschool team took 1st place, also. Polar Bear placed 10th by winning 2, tied 1, draw 1. Tough competition since every match was with someone in the older division!