Scholastic

08
Jan 22
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Zhao starts the year with a perfect 4.0

Category:Scholastic

Dennis Zhao won the first Junior Joust of the year with a perfect 4-0 score. The 4-round 14-player event was held on January 8, 2022.

Compete standings here.

Games here.

Pictures here.

10
Oct 21
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Fall JJ Starts With 4-Way Tie

Category:Scholastic

The Fall Junior Joust series kicked off with a hard-fought 4-way tie for first place. With a score of 3.0-1.0, Sahan Doraiswamy, Avery Beck, Benny Zhang, and Carrey Liu all tied for first place in the Fall Junior Joust No. 1. Liu won his first three games and looked like he would win the event. But, Doraiswamy won a critical last round game to tie things up. The 4-round G/15 Swiss was held on October 9, 2021.

Complete standings are here.

Games here.

Pictures here.

26
Sep 21
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Coach’s Corner #2

Category:Adult,Scholastic

They say that one of the best ways to improve your chess skill is to go over your games, especially those pesky losses. Fortunately, TCC’s DGT boards and software not only let us broadcast the games on the big screen, which everyone seems too enjoy, they let us capture the game scores.

Below you will find all 20 board 1-4 Junior Joust Summer Final games played on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. I lightly annotated all 20 games with the help of Stockfish 14. Hopefully, by reviewing these annotated games you can pick up some chess tips to improve your game. Surely, there are mistakes in my analysis. If you find something feel free to let me know.

I also looked for patterns. The theme I would like to stress today is development and castling early. Several games were lost because players neglected development or their King got caught in the center. Remember, the opening is a race and you should try hard to not waste time. Castle early and pay close attention to your Monarch’s safety. Focus on occupying or controlling the center.

Another theme is your before-moving safety check. Many pieces were hung so watch out, sit on your hands, and keep a close eye out for loose pieces and mates in one — both your King and theirs! Before you reach out and move your piece, consider how your opponent might reply. Do you have any hanging pieces? Does he have a mate in one? Do you have a mate in one? Several mate in ones were missed in these games so you might be surprised.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the games as much as I did.

Chris Roberts

You can also view the games here.

25
Sep 21
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Antonio Wins Summer Finals

Category:Scholastic

Lorenzo Antonio won the Junior Joust Summer series finals with a score of 4.0-1.0 and a tiebreak Blitz win over Wynn Marple. The 5-round 13-player G/15 invitational Swiss was held on September 25, 2021.

Complete standings are here.

Games here.

Pictures here.

10
Jul 21
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Another 1st for Evan Zhao

Category:Scholastic

With an undefeated score of 3.5-0.5, Evan Zhao won clear first place in the first Junior Joust of the Summer season. The 15-player, 4SS was held on July 10, 2021.

Complete standings here.

Sixteen games from the top four boards here.

More pictures here.

16
Jun 21
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Coach’s Corner #1

Category:Scholastic

They say that one of the best ways to improve your chess skill is to go over your games. Unfortunately, most of the Junior Joust games are not recorded because of the fast time control. But, the good news is that TCC’s DGT boards and software not only let us broadcast the games on the big screen, they let us capture the game scores.

Below you will find 16 of the JJ games played last Saturday, June 12, 2021. I have lightly annotated all 16 games with the help of Stockfish 11. Hopefully, by reviewing these annotated games you can pick up some chess tips to improve your game.

I also looked for patterns.

On the positive side, the opening play was very good. Most games followed a book line for awhile. We had several Scandinavians, Ruy Lopez’s, Two Knights, Four Knights, and a few Queen Pawn openings. We even had a Fried Liver Attack. Most games saw both players Castling early, a very good thing. It seems to me that only a few games were lost due to lack of opening knowledge. Overall, time management was very good: I don’t recall seeing one game flag, at least on the top boards.

On the need-to-improve side, there were many outright hung pieces, and three hung Queens. There were three back rank self mates, and three missed mate in ones. Of course, it is painful when we make these kind of mistakes. And, we all make them, especially in fast games. But, these errors are correctable by doing a safety check before you move. “Sit on your hands” as we have been coached, and for good reason. As expected, there were many missed tactics. Many were one- or two-move combinations. While it takes more work to hone this skill, it can be done. And, the answer is to do chess puzzles every day.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the games as much as I did.

Chris Roberts

View on iPhone here.

Alternative game viewer here that may display better on a smart phone.

PS. The viewer has a chess engine that you can enable by clicking on the following icon: