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.
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
