HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(don't forget to share the goods!)

Hazel's Halloween Jokes!

Knock, Knock.

Who's there?

Goblin.

Goblin who?

Goblin up your pieces!

Hazel's Halloween Jokes!

Do mummies like playing chess?

Answer: Of course! They get all wrapped up!

Hazel's Halloween Jokes!

Do skeletons like playing chess?

Answer: No, they don't have the guts!

Hazel's Halloween Jokes!

Are witches good at chess?

Answer: Yes, they always win the "shrill"iancy prize!

TROYIS!

Bored of standard chess? (hopefully not)

Looking for something new to do with your spare time?

Then try TROYIS! I recently found this game online, and it's quite interesting. The idea is to move your knight around the board, landing on all the white squares (they turn coloured when you land on them) within the time limit. Yes, a new challenge for all you blitz players! The full version is available for a fee (US $19.95, lifetime access), but you can play for free up to 15 minutes per day (which, in my opinion, is more than I can fit in my schedule anyway). Try it for yourself, and if you get really good at it, challenge friends!

TROYIS: http://www.troyis.com/troyis.php

Also try: BLOKUS http://www.blokus.com/ (not chess-related, but involves strategy...play against the computer or real people for free!)

Another Puzzle!

This one's fairly simple. A knight starts at the square numbered "1" and travels around the board, touching each square once and only once, finally ending at the square numbered "36". Part of the knight's route has been numbered for you...your job is to fill in the rest!

Credit: http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/puzzleclub/chess-puzzle.php

(Check out this site for many non-chess-related puzzles. If you liked this puzzle in particular, tell the site managers and they will try to add more chess-related puzzles in the future!)

C.H.E.S.S.

C - Canadians
H - Have
E - Extra
S - Special
S - Skills

C - Coaches
H - Help
E - Enhance
S - Student
S - Success

C - Champions
H - Hold
E - Excellent
S - Simul
S - Sessions

C - Canadians &
H - Hazel
E - Express
S - Strong
S - Support

Keep supporting Canadian chess!

Chess Sudoku Puzzles

"The digits 1-8 and a chess piece in each row, column, and region. Each piece should attack the numbers 1-8 exactly once."

PUZZLE 1:

PUZZLE 2: PUZZLE 3:

Credit: http://www.toothycat.net/wiki/wiki.pl?PeterTaylor/ChessSudoku

Also check out: http://www.chessdoku.com/ (however, this link only replaces numbers with chess pieces, rather than combining them). Great for kids!

3 X 3 Chess Analysis

Very interesting link!
http://kirr.homeunix.org/3x3-chess/

Chess 'n Math update

Fritz 12 available at the Strategy Games store:
Toronto (now)
Montreal (now)
Ottawa (Saturday)
Online (now)
+ free shipping in Canada
http://chesstalk.com/boutique/store/panier.php?langue=EN&action=Ajouter&code=O-890&index=cba98ad11889e49ffb07dcc808995e60

Also: Scholar's Mate magazing (for kids) now available free online. http://www.chess-math.org/scholarsmate/

Chess in the Library update

Posted by Yuanling Yuan:

"For all of you who has been following our progress, we have HUGE news for you! First things first, the Chess in the Library program has suddenly jumped from 3 libraries to 6 confirmed libraries! They are (in order of starting date): Brookbanks, Pleasant View, Maria A. Shchuka, Deer Park, Northern District and Fairview. The program at Deer Park library will be starting on the same date as Maria A. Shchuka library, which is Nov 7th, 2009. Michael's blog has more interesting information regarding the Deer Park library. Check it out! The other two libraries, Northern District and Fairview, will be starting next January. Please visit our website http://www.chessinthelibrary.com/ to see the exact starting dates and addresses for all the new libraries.

Second, I would like to announce that we have received another donation toward our program. My team and I all really appreciate it. This donation isn't a large amount, but it represents support and trust, which are far more important. Seeing more and more people using their actions to show us that they care about the program is one of our biggest motivations in making this program bigger and better. You can read the full report regarding this donation at my blog.

Last but not least, we might add a new feature to our program. For a long time now, my team and I (especially Michael) have been discussing about a new aspect for our program - teaching. Every week when we go to the libraries to organize the program, we see a couple kids making illegal moves and agreeing on checkmates that are clearly not checkmates. We explain to them the rules every time but it then starts to get repetitive. The same issue would come up more than a few times because due to the lack of time, we only briefly explain the concepts and the kids simply cannot remember it. Thus, giving some lectures once every week or two for the first half an hour would be very effective to their chess improvements. We want to help them improve as much as possible. Of course, this isn't something that you can think of one day and start doing the next day. Our biggest challenge is, how are we going to teach the kids? We can't teach using a standard board, we need a demo board at each library.

Adding this new feature to our program not only will increase the amount of our participants, it will also increase the average chess level. As much as my team and I want to teach the kids, we simply cannot do so at the moment due to the lack of demo boards. Let us know what you think of this idea! If you like the idea of this new feature and wants to support it by making a donation (a demo board, money, anything!), please contact me at yuanling_1@yahoo.com. Your donation will be greatly appreciated by the kids (mainly them) and us!!"

Chess T-shirts

Chess-themed t-shirts! http://www.endgameclothing.com/

Halloween costumes, anyone?

While online, I came across these chess-themed costumes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.costumzee.com/tag/chess/

...and for someone REALLY into chess & with A LOT of money...check out these hats and tunics
http://www.megachess.com/phats.htm
http://www.megachess.com/ptunics.htm

Chess Puzzle

White to move. Force mate in two moves!

Hazel's Jokes!

Why would pawns make good auditors at the start of the game?

Answer: They make sure to cover every file!

Why would a chess player make a bad auditor?

Answer: He only sees black and white!

Another Junior Tournament

- Chess Academy of Canada tournaments
- Oct 25, 2009 – Dec 13, 2009 (a new tournament every sunday)
- Thornhill Community Centre, 7755 Bayview Avenue (North of Steeles at John Street)
- 1:30pm – 2:30pm lessons
- 2:30 pm – 5 pm tournaments (CFC rated)
http://www.chessacademycanada.110mb.com/flyers/RP2009TournamentsC-jan09.pdf

Tournament update!

I always have trouble sorting through all the tournament information...so to save you all some time, here is what I have found:

HIGHLIGHT THIS WEEKEND

- KW Oktoberfest Open 2009 http://www.kwchessclub.com/

JUNIORS

Oriole Junior Tournament
- October 18, 2009
- Oriole Community Centre, Toronto
- 1 to 4 pm
- $12 ($8 for Oriole Chess Club members)
- register by email: annmail2008-oriole@yahoo.ca

Chess 'n Math Halloween Tournament & Dress Up
- October 25, 2009
- Marshall McLuhan Catholic S. S., Toronto
- 11:30 am, tournament starts at noon
- $16
- New this year: lessons before the tournament (10:30 - 11:30) for an additional $9 per lesson
- http://chess-math.org/pdf/tor_oct_25.pdf
- prize for best costume!!!

Grand Prix Event #1 *one of my old favourites!*
- November 15, 2009
- Marshall McLuhan Catholic S. S., Toronto
- 10 am, tournament starts at 11:15 am
- $25 per tournament
- if you register for ALL THREE grand prix events by November 4, save $15
- http://chess-math.org/pdf/tor_nov_15.pdf
- For best prize eligibility, attend all three grand prix events: November 15, 2009, January 31, 2010, and May 2, 2010

Swansea Chess Club Saturday Rated Tournaments
- Every Saturday
- Swansea Town Hall Community Centre
- 12:30 pm, tournament 1 - 4 pm
- $15, second child in the same family $10
- http://www.chess-math.org/chess/ontario.php?fonction=begin-ON-Toronto-SwanSea

Knights of Chess Sunday Rated Tournaments
- Every Sunday
- 5635 Yonge Street, Toronto
- 4 pm, tournament starts at 4:30 pm
- $15
- http://chess-math.org/pdf/knights.pdf

ALL AGES

Saturday Blitz
- October 17, 2009 (a new tournament every Saturday)
- 1098 Danforth Ave, Toronto
- 2 pm
- Vlad (647) 207-9342

Toronto Women's Chess Championship
- October 27 - December 8, 2009
- Earl Bales Park, Toronto
- 7 pm each week
- $60
- register by October 20, 2009
- http://www.torontochess.org/drupal/node/176

October Blitz
- October 31, 2009
- Simcoe County Chess Club, Barrie
- $25
- register by October 28, 2009
- http://www.simcoecountychessclub.com/october_blitz

2009 CHESSCA OPEN *pre-registered list just updated*
- October 31 - November 1, 2009
- Elora Mill Inn, Elora
- see link for schedule
- $65 BY TODAY, $80 AFTER TODAY, $100 at the door
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=1920
- new this year: more prizes and offerings from sponsors!

2009 Guelph Fall Pro-Am
- November 7 - 8, 2009
- University of Guelph
- Saturday 10:am, 1:30pm, 6:00pm, Sunday 10:00am, 2:00pm
- Pro Section $55, others $35. Late Fee: $10.00 on site
- http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=2074

Canadian Post-Secondary Chess Championship
- January 15 - 17, 2010
- Hart House, University of Toronto
- 6:30pm Friday, 10am & 3pm Saturday & Sunday
- $120 per team - $20 discount if registered in advance by cheque by December 15th. Free for schools outside of Ontario (register by e-mail by Dec. 15).
- http://hhchess.sa.utoronto.ca/cpscc

Chess in the Library
- Every Saturday
- Brookbanks Library, Toronto
--> RUNNING 10 am - noon casual simuls
- Pleasant View Library, Toronto
--> RUNNING 10 am - noon casual chess
- Maria A. Shchuka Library, Toronto
--> NOVEMBER 7, 2009 noon - 2 pm new
- free!
- http://www.chessinthelibrary.com/about_us.html

RESULTS

Congrats to all participants and prizewinners at the Toronto Thanksgiving Open the past weekend. http://gtachessevents.memberlodge.com/Default.aspx?pageId=458543

OPEN
1st and 2nd GM Bator Sambuev, IM Nikolay Noritsyn 5/6
3rd IM Leonid Gerzhoy 4.5/6
4th IM Artiom Samsonkin, Alexander Martchenko, David Cummings 4/6

U2300
1st Yuriy Kryvoshlyk 3.5/6
2nd & 3rd Karl Sellars, Pavel Rakov, Nikita Gusev 3/6

U2200
1st & 2nd Ruperto Frilles, Ilia Bluvshtein 5/6
3rd Mavros Whissell 4.5/6

U2000
1st Konstantin Semianiuk 5.5/6
2nd & 3rd Dennis Khaiter, Uwe Hahnewald 4.5/6

U1800
1st & 2nd Ferdinand Supsup, Michael Song 5.5/6
3rd Nathan Farrant-diaz, Chris Takov, Mike Ivanov, Richard Wing 4.5/6

U1600
1st Magas Yusuf 5.5/6
2nd Michael Rogers 5/6
3rd Steve Karpik, Yinshi Li 4.5/6

U1400
1st Qiang Li 5/6
2nd Wayne Siu 4.5/6
3rd Zhanna Sametova, Derek Green 4/6

UNR
1st Eric Song 3.5/6

DON'T FORGET TO ORDER...
- Fritz 12, Bullet Chess by Hikaru Nakamura and Bruce Harper

Hazel's Jokes!

What do kings and rooks eat for dinner?

Answer: "Castle"roles!

(Casseroles)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Top 10 things to be thankful for:
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Food/Water
4. Shelter (our homes and neighbourhoods)
5. Our country
6. Human rights/Freedom
7. Education
8. Jobs/Financial security
9. Life
10. Chess!

Toronto Thanksgiving Open next week!

Saturday October 10 - Monday October 12
Macedonian Community Hall, 76 Overlea Blvd

Promotions:
1st place (Open Section) - $1,000 prize guaranteed!
$10 discount if you played in the Toronto Labour Day Open

Note: This tournament is CFC rated.

More information available on the website: http://gtachessevents.memberlodge.com/Default.aspx?pageId=442079

Famous Chess Players

No...I don't mean grandmasters, but people who are/were famous in other disciplines:
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/famous.htm

Some notable names:
- John Adams, US president
- Ben Affleck, actor
- Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria
- Alan Alda, actor
- Woody Allen, actor/producer/director
- Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher
- Antonio Banderas, actor
- Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
- David Blaine, magician
- Anne Boleyn, mother of Queen Elizabeth I
- Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor
- Barry Bonds, baseball player
- Bono, singer (U2)
- Richard Branson, entrepreneur
- Mel Brooks, producer/actor
- Kobe Bryant, basketball player
- Nicholas Cage, actor
- Lewis Carroll, writer
- Jimmy Carter, US president
- Bill Cartwright, basketball player/coach
- Fidel Castro, Cuban president
- Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player
- Charlie Chaplin, actor
- Charlemagne, French leader
- Ray Charles, musician
- Anton Chekhov, dramatist
- Cher, singer
- Frederic Chopin, pianist
- Winston Churchill, British PM
- Grover Cleveland, US president
- Christopher Columbus, explorer
- Bill Cosby, actor
- Tom Cruise, actor
- Leonardo da Vinci, scientist/artist
- Salvador Dali, artist
- Matt Damon, actor
- Ted Danson, actor
- Neil Diamond, singer
- Charles Dickens, writer
- Albert Einstein, scientist
- Elizabeth I and II, queens of England
- Roger Federer, tennis player
- Ian Fleming, author
- Michael J. Fox, actor
- Jamie Foxx, actor
- Benjamin Franklin, politician/inventor
- Sigmond Freud, phychiatrist
- Zsa Zsa Gabor, actress

AND MANY MANY MORE!

Please don't get me involved in this!

"Says the guy whose daughter's blog gets free plugs from KS's blog." - Brian Profit, chesstalk

I have no idea why the thread is closed, but I'll post my response here instead:

Please do not get me involved in this argument. The Stockhausen incident has already caused tension in one family, and further conflict and personal attacks only seem to divide us (chess players) further. Personally, I am trying my best to promote chess in Canada, and I don't like seeing references to me or my blog in such a distasteful manner. What I post is my sole discretion, and I don't decide whether or not Kevin Spraggett posts my material on his blog (I don't even have contact with him). In fact, I have never judged my blog based on its "free plugs", but instead, on all the work I have put into it, and the people it may have helped. If you don't like it, or think I have some unfair advantage, then just don't read it.