We've all seen scenes in movies like "Searching for Bobby Fischer" where parents get carried away with competitive chess and turn into monsters. They scrutinize their child's games and turn from supportive parents into abusive dictators. Is this just a Hollywood gimmick to tug on our heart strings? Unfortunately not. I've personally seen parents interrogating their children after a game and I'm sad to say that I'm no longer shocked when I do see it. The consequences of these parents behavior can derail a child from acquiring all the benefits that chess offers. So exactly what benefits are they gambling with? Just about every skill you can think of as necessary for a successful adult life:

In a 1973-74 Zaire study conducted by Dr. Albert Frank, employing 92 students, age 16-18, the chess-playing experimental group showed a significant advancement in spatial, numerical and administrative-directional abilities, along with verbal aptitudes, compared to the control group. The improvements held true regardless of the final chess skill level attained. [1], [2], [7]

In a 1974-1976 Belgium study, a chess-playing experimental group of fifth graders experienced a statistically significant gain in cognitive development over a control group, using Piaget's tests for cognitive development. Perhaps more noteworthy, they also did significantly better in their regular school testing, as well as in standardized testing administered by an outside agency which did not know the identity of the two groups. Quoting Dr. Adriaan de Groot: ...``In addition, the Belgium study appears to demonstrate that the treatment of the elementary, clear-cut and playful subject matter can have a positive effect on motivation and school achievement generally...'' [1], [3], [7]

In a 1977-1979 study at the Chinese University in Hong Kong by Dr. Yee Wang Fung, chess players showed a 15% improvement in math and science test scores. [4]

A four-year study (1979-1983) in Pennsylvania found that the chess-playing experimental group consistently outperformed the control groups engaged in other thinking development programs, using measurements from the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. [1], [4], [5], [6], [7], [23]

The 1979-1983 Venezuela "Learning to Think Project,'' which trained 100,000 teachers to teach thinking skills and involved a sample of 4,266 second grade students, reached a general conclusion that chess, methodologically taught, is an incentive system sufficient to accelerate the increase of IQ in elementary age children of both sexes at all socio-economic levels. [1], [7], [8], [9], [10]

This is just a small sample of experiments that demonstrate how chess isn't a worthless pastime just played by old men. It's a tool that can and should be used to cultivate children into adulthood.

Research and Benefits Of Chess - Source for Examples
Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Organization
Benefits of Chess for Children

I was talking with my chess coach about openings and he asked me if I was familiar the ECO (Encyclopedia of Chess Openings) Code Systems. I knew that it was a database of chess openings, but had no idea how to use it or how it was arranged. Well my coach went through the codes and what was in each category, but honestly the system didn't make logical sense to me. So I did what most of you would do and went to the internet to get a better idea of why/how the ECO was/is arranged. Unfortunately the only information I found was what I already knew. I couldn't find anything about how to use the system. So back to the internet, but this time I went to the newsgroups. This provided the kind of information I was looking for and now I'll share it with you.

First, let me give you the general description of the ECO. This is the description I found on most of the sites:

The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) is a book collection (now also a computer database) describing chess openings. The moves were taken from hundreds of thousands of games between masters, from published analysis in the Chess Informant since 1966, and then compiled by notable chess players. Both the ECO and the Chess Informant are published by the Serbian company Šahovski informator (homepage). These openings are typically provided in an ECO table that concisely presents the best opening lines.

Instead of the traditional names for the openings, ECO has developed a unique coding system that has also been used by other chess publications. There are five main categories, A-E, each of which is divided into a hundred sub-categories 00-99.

This description was a little too general for me. It doesn't really say anything about the arrangement of the openings. So I asked this very question to the knowledgeable people in the newsgroups. I got several very good responses, but thought the explanation provided by an anonymous person was the best and I'll post his reply below.

* 1.e4 openings

Most "B" codes - B20-B99 - cover the Sicilian 1.e4 c5 - (Alekhine's,
Scandinavian, Caro-Kann etc. are in the B00-B19 range). So B covers
"non-classical" responses to 1.e4.

Most "C" codes - C20-C99 - are double King Pawn 1.e4 e5. (C00-C19 is
the French Defense.) These are "classical" responses to 1.e4

* 1.d4 openings

Most "D" codes - D00-D69 - are double Queen's Pawn 1.d4 d5. (D70-D99
is the Grünfeld Defense.) So mostly (but not completely) "classical"
responses.

The "E" codes cover the Indian defenses to 1.d4. E00-E59 covers 1.d4
Nf6 2.c4 e6 (Nimzo/QID& related); E60-E99 covers the King's Indian &
relatives.

* Openings other than 1.e4 and 1.d4

The first code, "A," is more of a hodgepodge:

A00-A09 - irregular White openings
A10-A39 - 1.c4, the English.
A40-A49 - "irregular" defenses to 1.d4
A50-A59 - "irregular" lines after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
A60-A79 - Modern Benoni & related
A80-A99 - Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5

I hope this was helpful to you. I felt like I had a better understanding of the system which will allow me to use it more effectively after I read this response. The ECO survives because it's useful and as chess players we should know how to use it.

Below are a couple good ECO sites I found:

Maskeret- ECO
Supreme-Chess - ECO

On January 5 through the 7 I attended the Central Florida Class Championship. This was my first tournament since I started my scheduled chess training and this post will give a overview of that tournament. I'd like to say that I had a great time at this competition. It was one of the most smoothly run tournaments I have ever been to. The tournament director did an exceptional job of making sure all the rounds started on time and that everyone had a good time.

Round 1:

Round one of the tournament had me playing against an unrated player whose last tournament was in Cuba before he came to the United States. This was the first time I've ever played an unrated player in a tournament. I wasn't sure what to expect from this guy. I think round one of any tournament is difficult enough without having to worry about whether you're being fed to a shark. I was a little nervous about not knowing anything about my opponent's strength, but this actually worked out to be a positive influence on my game. Since I didn't have a preconceived notion of whether I should win or lose this game based on ratings alone I was free to simply play my game. We fought for about three and a half hours and ended in a draw.

Round 2:

Round two had me facing a player that was rated over 120 points above me. I had the white pieces in this round and use them to get a win from a very strong player. This game was one of those games where the pieces just appear to fall on the rights squares.

Round 3:

In this round I faced an opponent that I've played at three previous tournaments. It's strange to me because I've been playing tournament chess for years and can't think of anyone that I've played three times at tournaments. This opponent was also much higher rated then I was and he's beating me the last three times we've played. I honestly thought this was my time for revenge. In this game I played what I thought was a strong opening but became too aggressive and blundered. This initial assessment was absolutely wrong and in reality I played an awful game. I briefly went over this game with my chess coach and he pointed out obvious mistakes that I made and showed me a few mistakes by my opponent that I should have capitalize on.

Round 4:

Here I played a game against an opponent that was again rated higher than I was, but he made several mistakes that I was able to capitalize on and get a win. This game was interesting because I had several people watching the end game. After I got the win several people told me that my endgame play was very nice. I don't think I've ever had any one compliment me on my endgame.

Round 5:

This round much like round three had me facing an opponent that I had played in my last tournament. In fact before this round had started my opponent and I were discussing our styles in the cafeteria area of the hotel. We were actually sharing chess ideas about different openings and tactics. We had no idea that we would be playing each other in the coming round. Apparently he was listening better than I was because I managed to lose a piece in the opening. After a long fight he beat me.

Summary:

This was a good tournament for me to get back into the swing of things. This tournament increased my rating by about 30 points and I finished 2.5/5.

If you're interested in seeing the Cross Table click here.

I'm sorry about the delay between posts. I normally hate excuses, but I feel the need to explain my absence. First, I was on Christmas vacation in New Orleans visiting my grandmother and unfortunately had car trouble that extended my trip by several days. Car trouble is horrible at home, but it's a hundred times worst in a strange city during the biggest holiday of the year. While waiting for my vehicle I managed to catch a very bad cold. So on top of everything that was happening I was very ill. When I finally got home almost a week later than planned it was time to try and go back to work. Work was interrupted by a trip to the doctor where some very good prescription drugs were prescribed. The drugs had to work quickly because last weekend was my tournament. So as you can see I've had absolutely no time for blogging.

What I will do is get back to my regular schedule now that all that craziness is over. Look for a post very soon that will give a complete overview of my tournament. It's definitely worth the wait.