Abe’s played in a chess tournament last Saturday, won the second place. Since the entry fee’s only five dollars, we didn’t expect any prizes. However, in the end, we were told that the park district had prepared some gifts for the winners. Several of the top performers, including Abe, got surprise prizes. How nice! Here [...]
Last week, Abe attended a chess camp, the same camp he attended last month. There were quite a few grandmasters as instructors at the camp. The lectures in terms of depth and quality must be excellent since Abe told me they were all very good. The biggest benefit the chess camp brought to Abe, I [...]
Back in January, I heard this story from NPR. Days ago, NPR said he has been caught. As many people and the police will be relieved by this news, however, it is unexpected to hear “…there’s already talk of a movie deal. Harris-Moore’s mother, Pamela Kohler, has reportedly hired Courtney Love’s lawyer to represent her [...]
I read Anxiety On The Grass from New Yorker (issue of June 28, 2010). The article talked about Roger Federer: Unlike Agassi and countless other tennis prodigies, Federer never had to deal with pressure from an ambitious parent…His Swiss-born father… and his mother, who is South African, …played recreational tennis at the firm’s small club [...]
Abe played in two tournaments last weekend — one on Saturday and one on Sunday, scored one point out of three and two points out of four, respectively. The performance was certainly not that good, however, it wasn’t as poor as his in recent weeks either. I had been telling him all the time: 1) [...]
Abe went to a chess camp last week. There were five groups in the camp based on ratings of campers. Abe was placed in the group 5—the strongest group. Abe also came to the same camp last year, he won the first place easily in his group— group 3 at the time (there were chess tournaments [...]
After reading this article (The Leap) from New York Magazine, I felt very very sad. I remember a similar case happened to one of my classmates when I was in the graduate school. After the first exam, at which I did poorly, so were most in the class—many failed, as told by the professor the [...]
I was glad Abe was calm and in not a bad mood this raining Saturday. If you follow this blog, you know that he’s been in a slump in chess recently. In order for him to break out of the slump, I made the following plan: 1) He should play more games. 2) He should [...]
About months ago, I pre-ordered the book: Chess Child: The story of Ray Robson, America’s Youngest Grandmaster. I received it two days ago, finished reading it yesterday. It has been long long time since I finish reading a book in one day, not even the book Searching for Bobby Fisher. What a great father-son story. [...]
On the way to the parking lot from the playing hall, Abe said: “I am in a slump.” “You will get out of it someday.” “You know I have been on a losing streak since last tournament.” “It is OK.” I said. “But I learned nothing from it.” Pulling the car out of the parking [...]
Last Saturday, Abe had the worst performance in any chess tournaments—lost all four rounds, scored zero point in the end. Before the tournament, he said to me, as usual, “I do not want to go. Do we have to go?” We did not have other engagements on the Saturday. He might just fool around— watching [...]
Last Saturday, Abe and I went to a chess tournament. Abe did so-so if not poorly in the tournament. He lost one, drew one, and won two, all to lower rated opponents. Of course, there were still some thing good about the tournament. It’s not, however, the chess games themselves; it is the time in between [...]
Yesterday evening, driving Abe home from his soccer practice, I heard something interesting from an interview on NPR: Some one said that no chess players had reached grandmaster quicker than 10 years. I had an immediate doubt whether it’s a fact. I knew some recent chess prodigies got the GM titles when they were younger [...]
OK, I am kidding. I don’t mean to borrow the title of book: From London to Elista, a chess book covers relative recent events. Abe likes it; he likes to read games, although he has not developed an interest in the anecdotes. Last Saturday, we went to Hales Corners Challenge XI in Milwaukee. Abe was eligible [...]
Abe usually gets up at 7 am at Saturdays, he then dresses up and goes downstairs to watch TV or play video games. But not last Saturday; I told him the night before, if we’d wake up at 7, we’d go to a chess tournament, otherwise, we wouldn’t go. I did not tell Abe about [...]
The book is My life and Hard Times by James Thurber. Although it is an old book, it includes many short, sweet and funny stories; it’s the best written book I have read so far. I have no reservation to recommend it to kids and the parents to read. Check you local library, and I am [...]
Before round 7, Abe asked me to check his game during his play (The tournament hall was spacious, spectators were allowed). In other rounds, from now and than, I peeked at some games including his, and took a few pictures (I always had the flash off). He probably meant to check his game more often. I [...]
One of my friends—who is also a chess parent— told me during a chess tournament, according to his observation, if Abe comes out of chess playing hall quickly, he wins his game; if he comes out late, he maybe in trouble. It is a compliment to Abe. Abe has the tendency to be aggressive and [...]
From time to time, you may feel frustrated with your kids. For example, they keep playing video games on the computer although you yelled several times ” It is dinner time. Go wash your hands.” The kids don’t listen to you, or listen but wouldn’t do what you asked. Be calm, it is normal, and [...]
I recently read a very interesting article named The Junior Meritocracy in New York magazine (Feb 8, 2010). The article explained why the kindergarten admission tests required by many New York schools could be worthless. It also discussed IQ scores and proposed a better alternative screening method for future success. Some interesting points and associated [...]
