We had an excellent turnout, with 50 children from all over Mecklenburg county joining us for my last event (for a while). The home team definitely had an advantage with 14 players and came in first place. Go Providence Day School! Of course, I work at many of the children's schools, so I wasn't really able to root for anyone. Not that you can when your printer doesn't work the day of the event! I was doing everything by hand, including the k-2 pairings, in the TD room. Well, the kids had fun without me! Thank you to my TDs and assistants Sujata Gupta, Marjorie Hyde, and Jason Prescott for running the floor and snacks while I hovered worriedly over file cards and computers. Congratulations to all of the players who came out, and sorry to those who did not register in time; there will be more events in the future!! Go to the photos button to see pictures of your kids in action over the chessboard.
RESULTS: k-2
1st place Katherine Elizabeth Ma, St. Patrick's Elementary, 4 points winning a trophy
2nd place AJ Dickinson, Clear Creek Elementary, 3.5 points, winning a trophy
3rd place Jack Hollingsworth, Charlotte Latin, 3 points, winning a medal
4th place Caroline Darwin, Myers Park Traditional, 3 points, winning a medal
5th place Jason Wu, Matthews Elementary, 3 points, winning a medal
3-5 Section
1st place Austin Chuang, Providence Day School, 4 points, winning a trophy
2nd place Jaiden Chuang, Providence Day School, 3 points, winning a trophy
3rd place Field Crumley, Providence Day School, 3 points, winning a medal
4th place Cole Ammons, Providence Day School, 3 points, winning a medal
5th place Luke Mitchell, Eastover Elementary, 3 points, winning a medal
6th place Aristede Brown, Wadell LA, 3 points, winning a medal
7th place Spence Bradley, Selwyn Elementary, 3 points, winning a medal
Blitz, Bughouse, Queens Academy December 17. Download a flyer on left!
Queens Academy October 29
Meet at Barnes and Noble on Sharon Road from 2-4pm. Hot chocolate for everyone! Download a flyer by clicking on FLYERS tab at left.
Free festival at Park Road Park on October 8th from 2-4pm. Learn about chess history, geography, make your own maps! Play blitz chess, bughouse and make your own chess books! Chess for all ages and levels---completely free! Donations accepted.
Please drop us an email if you are coming: jprescott@overthechessboard.com
NEW! Online Registration!
Now you can easily register online directly for all events. Hit the ONLINE REG button to get started!
Calendar of Chess Events for Fall 2011
Join us for our next Queens Academy and King & Queens Match Saturday August 20th. Girls only from 1-2pm. The whole family is welcome from 2-4pm. Meets at Barnes and Noble 4020 Sharon Road. Sign up now because space is limited!! Download this flyer on the left.
Weekly Chess Club
New Events in the Pipeline!
New events are coming up this fall...stay tuned! While there is no event in July, save the date August 20th for another great workshop! More soon...
Chess for everyone! Kids versus adults and each other in our first ever Family Fun Day! Download the flyer for more details. There will be two sections so everyone can play someone else at his or her level. Queens Academy first from 1-2. Match from 2-4pm. Register early; space is limited!
Queens Academy
Girls' and Women's Chess Academy (now called Queens Academy) April 30th!
Just for boys! April 30th will be our first ever Boys only Academy! Meet at Barnes and Noble from 2-4pm. Workshop and Nationals Prep too. This is our first Kings Academy. Dads are also welcome! Download a flyer for more information. Please register early via email to secure a spot.
Girls' and Women's Academy March 26
March 26th at Barnes and Noble on Sharon road---join us for our monthly Girls' and Women's Chess Academy! Hot (or cold?) chocolates for everyone. Fun and friendly workshop for girls of all ages and levels. Please email me to register: jmartin@overthechessboard.com . Pay onsite: $10 for one and $15 for two family members.
Next Girls and Women's Academy and States Prep
Kings and Queens Match a Success!
Our Kings and Queens match was a huge success! We had thirty-five participants in the cafe at Barnes and Noble on Sharon road. Children and adults of all levels and schools from Mecklenburg, Union, and Lincoln counties showed up for the event. Everyone played at least 3 games.
Winners were George Hechtl (undefeated, adult)'; Evelyn Stouse, 5th grade St. Patrick's Elementary; Luke Harris 1st grade Myers Park Traditional School, Jaiden Chuang 4th grade Selwyn, Austin Chuang 3rd grade Selwyn. Also winning prizes were Joshua Scott 2nd grade MPTS and Emma Modesitt 4th grade Dilworth Elementary. Prizes were different coloured chess pieces, pink chess boards, and Austin and Jaiden shared a professional chess bag with camo details. Everyone got a hot chocolate for participating.
Naturally I forgot my camera. But I won't forget what a great time everyone had! We are sure to do this again...
Next Girls Academy AND Kings and Queens Match Jan. 22
CMS Teacher Workday Tournament Jan 21
Chess tournament hosted by Young Master Chess on Jan. 21, a teacher workday, at Myers Park Traditional School. Visit Young Master Chess for more info!
Next up: Kings and Queens Match!
January 22nd: Girls academy meets from 1-2, then the 2nd ever Kings and Queens Match will be held from 2-4pm.
Boys, girls, moms and dads ALL invited!!
Space is very limited---meets in Barnes and Noble on Sharon and Colony in Southpark.
Register by emailing me. More info soon...
New Pics up
New pictures up--check to see if your cute kids are there--click on photos.
2010 Womens World Championship Going on NOW
2010 Women's World Championship happening NOW in Turkey, December 2-25. Our reigning US Champion, Anna Zatonskih, is the only woman playing for the United States. See Chessbase for complete coverage including video of the event. It's a 64-player knockout tournament. Zatonskih is still in after 2 rounds, and the current World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk is also playing strong.
UPDATE: Hou Yifan from China is World Champion! She is the youngest women's champion now, at only 16 years old!!
December 4th Academy a Success at New Location!
On December 4th the Girls' and Women's Chess Academy met at Barnes and Noble at Morrison in Southpark.
We had 12 participants and met in the cafe where the staff set us up with tables and an easel for demonstration. We learned about Battery tactics and checkmates and played against new partners. Girls from 5 schools were represented and some moms stayed on, too. Mothers greatly welcomed!!
Best of all, we got to meet Mayor Foxx! He was pleased to see how smart our girls were. Of course his children are invited to our next event!
I'm so glad our first event at our new location was a success! Next we'll have our Kings and Queens Match hosted there on January 22nd. Boys, girls, moms and dads invited!
Next Girls and Womens Academy October 16th
Ladies of all ages and skill levels are welcome to join us at Borders Bookstore in Southpark from 1-3pm. We will meet upstairs for coffee, chocolate, chess and a girls only atmosphere! For more information and registration details please download a flyer on left. Hope to see you there!
Next Girls and Womens Academy Sept 18
Next Girls and Women's Academy will be Sept 18th. Please join us! Download flyer at left for complete information.
Women's Chess in the News
NPR reports on women's chess and the controversial topic of women's only titles and tournaments. What do you think?
50% off chesskid.com memberships!
Chesskid.com has discounted memberships by 50% for students of Ms. Martin! Past, current, or prospective students eligible. Instead of $4.99 a month ($60 a year), pay only $30 a year!! Chesskid.com is 100% safe and offers tons of fun chess activities for kids. Plus you can play against other people online! Join Ms Martin's Chess Monsters Online Club and play matches against other clubs. Excellent practice for tactics, play, puzzles, instructional videos and articles...Ms Martin is a weekly author (BoundingOwl)---check it out!
Try Chesskid.com for free now. If you like it, and want to get full benefits, please contact Ms.Martin at jmartin@overthechessboard.com for a free tutorial on how to use the site, along with any questions you might have. You can pay at the next Girls Academy, Sept 18th, or through paypal, a free internet service, to jmartin@overthechessboard.com.
Next Girls and Women's Academy July 24
Join us for iced coffee, chocolate, and chess! July 24th Saturday at Borders in Morrocroft Plaza. ALL AGES and ALL SKILL levels are welcome. See flyer at left for more details or email jmartin@overthechessboard.com with questions. :)
Next Girls Academy June 19
1-3pm chess for all women and girls! Coffee and chocolate, too...download flyer on left.
Next Girls' and Women's Academy
MAY 22nd. Meet us at Borders from 1-3 for coffee, chocolate, and chess for every female of every level. Download flyer at left.
Learn Chess Online
Check out my instructional articles online at www.chesskid.com. My name is BoundingOwl, or Ms Jessica Martin.
Click to see how the girls did. And thanks again to everyone who made the tournament the biggest and best yet! Our next Girls Academy is April 17th, see you soon! DL the flyer on the Flyers page.
NC Girls State Championships
Girls from all over the state of North Carolina came to Charlotte's Myers Park Traditional Elementary school to play for a $500 Scholarship to college and 20 trophies and medals. We broke last year's record of 32 with 46 girls! This is so great. Clearly we can get more to play, but the turnout was much better this year. Check out our photos to see your young ladies in action over the chessboard! Charlotte was most represented, but Durham, Boon, Asheville, Wilson, and Winston-Salem among other cities were also present. We were so lucky to have Laura Lee, number one ranked woman in NC, join us for an inspiring speech and game review to start our day. Ms Lee currently teaches chess at CYCC on weekends while also going to college.
The top section was very difficult. We were fortunate to have Rifeng Xia (Wendy) a 1900 FIDE rated exchange student play in the top section, along with 1700+ rated girls: Brittney DeWitt, Indira Puri (last year's winner), and Grace Campbell. The section included 14 players with most over 1000 and several brave u1000 girls. The u600 players had more than 30 participants, many of whom especially appreciated the face painting, and many more who along with the fun will likely have to compete in the Championship section next year.
1st place Winners: In the top section: Grace Campbell with 3.5 out of 4 wins the $500 scholarship to college! This is just one month after her brother Will Campbell won the 1st place scholarship at the NC State Scholastics amongst high schoolers! Go Campbells!! In the U600 Section, Jesse Coward and Lily Burdick both went 4 and 0, and Jesse won on tiebreaks! Impressive! Complete results will be up on USCF soon. This tournament would not have been as punctual or fun without the help of Bill DeArmey who helped TD the floor, and Sarah Sauer and the other moms who painted faces between rounds. Thank to you to all volunteers and parents who support women's chess! It takes a village, as they say...
1st Ever Kings and Queens Match
16 boys and girls showed up at Borders Bookstore at Morrocroft Plaza on Friday, March 26th, for our first ever Kings and Queens Match. Everyone played at least two games, and were paired against opponents who were approximately at their level. Still I had only 3 girls out of the 16 participants, so I'm hoping next time for a more equal ratio. The schools represented were Myers Park Traditional, Providence Day School, St. Patrick's School, Eastover Elementary, and Endhaven Elementary. I was pleased to see several students who had never participated in competitions before! The winners were in first place : Zina Alu, who won a trophy; 2nd place Nate Harper and Campbell Krause both winning a magnetic chess set; and 3rd place Jackson Sippe, also winning a magnetic chess set. Most of the children notated their games and I was very impressed when I analyzed several students' games afterward, at how much they have learned in class. (They must have a supergreat chess teacher! ) We will definitely host another of these events!
MPTS students succeed at States!
Mike's and Jessica's students take 3rd, 6th, and 5th places in the states the last weekend of Feb. in Greensboro, with our k-1, k-3, and k-5 teams respectively. The kids played 7 rounds of chess over two days, and worked very hard. We are very proud of our students!
Take Our Survey
I'm curious why people think there are fewer women and girls playing chess (perhaps I should add the word 'seriously') than men, in the U.S. Click on the survey button and write a few words! 3 questions only! You are completely anonymous. This is a social survey, and will help make our services better. (And answer a few of my own questions!) Thank you---Jessica
Girls' and Women's Academy
Next Girls Academy for Girls and Women will be March 13th. Meet at Borders Bookstore, 3900 Colony Rd from 1-3pm. Register early! JMARTIN@OVERTHECHESSBOARD.COM
Only 1 more lesson and one training session (March 26th) before the Girls States Championships on March 27th!!
Over The Chessboard is proud to host the 2010 All Girls State Championships! Host site is Myers Park Traditional Elementary school, in Charlotte. Save the date: March 27th!!
Excellent news!: The NCCA has magnanimously offered a $500 scholarship to the college of the winner's choice!!! This is in lieu of the Polgar Invitational, which is canceled this year. We hope to have 100 girls come! Any girl up to age 19 from anywhere in NC is welcome and encouraged to play. Spread the word!
Download a flyer with all the information and register via email/paypal now! Go to the flyers tab.
February 6th Girls Academy
Next Academy for girls and women will be Feb. 6 at Borders bookstore. Come join us from 1-3pm for a chess workshop and play! Sorry, no boys allowed! (boys can come to our kings and queens club, coming soon)
January 23rd Girls Academy
Girls Chess Academy for women of all ages and abilities! Join us at Borders Bookstore in Southpark for some chess and fun. See the Flyers page to download specific information.
Charlotte Girls Academy November 21, 2009
Charlotte Girls Academy was a success! We had 9 girls (like 9queens.org!) show up and participate in a lesson about Women's U.S. Champion Anna Zatonskih. We analyzed her brilliant 3rd round game against the superstar Irina Krush, commenting on superior piece development, attacking moves, and making plans. Higher level ideas included good and bad bishops and when to trade pieces. They played against some one they'd never met, and we sat in a circle at the end to discuss what we had learned. Everyone made a new friend, which is important in women's chess, to encourage lasting participation. They practiced covering their eyes like professional chess players (super cute) and focussing hard on their games. I encouraged them to play aggressively, not passively, and to raise their hands and try, even if they didn't know the answer. One of the goals of Girls Academy is to increase the self-esteem and self-confidence of the students through believing in themselves.
Kings and Queens Championship Results
Next Girls Academy June 19
Results from the NC Girls State Championships
NC Girls State Championships
1st Ever Kings and Queens Match
) We will definitely host another of these events!
Girls' and Women's Academy
