Summer classes started Sunday, June 15 and end July 20. Monday night classes are on break for the summer. Fall classes start Sept 7. The registration form for Fall classes is here: Sept - Oct 2008 classes.

Summer Chess Camps:
My summer camp schedule is here: Summer 2008 Camp Schedule.

Upcoming Events:
Late Oct/Early Nov - 2008 Future Champion's Chess Challenge. Allderdice HS. When the exact date and further details are available, the info will be posted here.

August 16 - Summer 2008 Scholastic Chess Challenge. St Anthony's Center of Holy Child School. Results are here: Results.

Chess Photos: Have some free time? Check out our: Chess Photo Pages

The August 2008 ratings are online. Grades for Fall 08 are being used. If your child's school has changed, please email me with the update. Click here to view the list: Western PA Scholastic Chess Ratings List

NOTE: The USCF releases "official" rating updates on a monthly basis. However, there is still a time lag because each month's list is prepared about 2 weeks before the 1st of the month. If you play in an event the day after the cutoff date, you could still have a lag of up to 6 weeks before it impacts on your official rating.

Honor Roll list is updated quarterly. The latest list is here: Western PA Scholastic Chess Honor Roll

The Honor Roll lists the name and school for the top 15 players in each grade. Students must be currently active and have played at least 10 rated games. Students in grades K & 1 start the year with a lower requirement of only 4 rated games, which is gradually increased to 10 as the school year progresses. Out of town players who have played in one of our scholastic events during the past year are also eligible for the list. To learn more about chess ratings, click here: Chess Ratings Explained

Past News & Assorted Items:

The 15th Annual Western PA Scholastic Championship was held 6/14/08 at CMU. Here are some photos:

The full list of results can be found here: Results.

Champs of the Championship section in the 2008 Northern Regional Chess Championship were the Priore brothers, Daniel and Anthony, both finishing with perfect 4-0 scores. Daniel took the 1st place trophy on tiebreaks. Readers might be interested to know that their two sisters also won trophies. Ashley Priore went 4-0 to take 1st place in the Grade 2&3 Beginner, and Claire Priore took 5th place in the 675-824 section. Champions of the other sections were: David Donohoe, Premier, James Tyler Wake, 825-999, Andy Yu, 675-824, Tim Ketterman, 500-675, Jacob Brown, 7-12 Beginner, Sam Mason, 4-6 Beginner, and Brennan Keuchel, K-1 Beginner. In the team competition, Canonsburg Middle School did it again, taking clear 1st, besting 2nd place Providence Alpha, 3rd place Fairview Elementary, and the all the other teams competing. Congratulations to all the participants. Full results here: Results.

The 35th Annual Library Chess Finals was held on 3/29/08 at the Northland Library. Our 1st place champions of year are Daniel Priore in the Senior Division and Jack Mo in the Junior Division. A photo report is online here: 2008 Library Finals Photo report. Full round by round results here: Final results.

The 2008 Pittsburgh Scholastic Chess Championship was held on 2/16/08 at Brashear High School. 182 players fought for the title of City Champion. 1st place winners were: Jimmy Yuan (6-12 Championship), Michael Porcelli (6-12 Advanced), Justin Williams (6-12 Intermediate), Oliver Lin (6-12 Beginner), Ryan Tsai (K-5 Championship), Victor Yu (K-5 Intermediate), Teddy Townsend (4&5 Beginner), Tim Ganger (2&3 Beginner), and Luka Stratimirovic (K&1 Beginner). In the Team Championship, Canonsburg Middle School powered their way to first place. Full results are here: Results.

The 14th Annual Fox Chapel Chess Championship was played on 1/26/08. This tournament was only open to schools in the Fox Chapel area. 55 players participated. Continuing a streak of successes, O'Hara Elementary won the team competition for the 3rd year in a row! (Fairview won in 2005, Kerr in 2004, and Hartwood in 2003). Queen of the tournament was Fox Chapel student Sequoia Leuba, who finished with a perfect score in 6-12 Advanced section. The 1st place finishers in the other sections also finished with perfect scores: Alex Zhang (3-5 Advanced), Alexander Olsson (3-6 Beginner), and Logan Dick (K-2). Congratulations to them, the other prize winners, and all the participants. For the full results, click here: 14th Annual Fox Chapel Championship Results.

Here is a picture of the winning O'Hara team:

We kicked off the 2008 season with the 9th Annual Catholic Schools Chess Championship at The Campus School of Carlow University. A strong Providence Heights Alpha team powered their way to the top of the team competition, led by Grade 3-12 Advanced section winner Michael El-Kadi and 2nd place Tyler Shick. Second place team was Sacred Heart, narrowly edging out Carlow on tiebreaks. Tops in the Grade K-12 Beginner section was another Alpha player, Troy McChesney, and 1st in the Grade K-2 section (for 2 tournaments in a row) was Steve Keelon from JFK Catholic. Here is a photo of the Alpha team:

Complete results and a full list of winners are here: 9th Annual Catholic School Championship results.

The 10th Tri-State Junior Open brought 245 players to CMU on 12/15/07. Interestingly, in the team competition, North Allegheny Intermediate High School won 1st place for a second tournament in a row, proving that their victory in the 2007 Future Champions Chess Challenge in November was no fluke. North Allegheny edged out the well organized Canonsburg Middle School team by 1/2 pt and the Montessori Bowling Green team from Ohio (who won in 1/06) by a full point. In individual results, Kevin Mo returned to the top by winning the Championship section and Kevin Xie took 1st in the Premier. Other 1st place winners were Sam Gershanok, Evan Turner, Andrew Mao, Richard Gayler, Justin Williams, Isaac Rogers, and Steven Keelon. The full listing of results is here: 10th Tri-State Junior Open Results

The 2007 Future Champions Chess Challenge drew 147 young scholars to Allderdice High School on 11/3/07. First place champions in each of the 8 sections were: Daniel Priore, Kevin Xie, Vijay Viswanathan, Eli Frye, Simon Lipsky, Tadas Antanavicius, Antonio Ascencio, and Steven Keelon. Congratulations to them and all the other winners! In the team competition, North Allegheny Intermediate put in a strong showing, topping 2nd place Canonsburg Middle School by 4.5 points. Providence Alpha took 3rd. For a full listing of results, look here: 2007 Future Champions Chess Challenge Results

The Summer 2007 Scholastic Chess Challenge was held on 8/18/07 at St. Anthony's Center of Holy Child School. Despite an early loss to Jimmy Yuan of Morgantown, Kevin Mo won his remaining games and extended his winning streak in the Championship section to 4 of our tournaments in a row! Rafael Katz topped the Premier section. Top school was St Louise de Marillac on tiebreaks over Providence Heights Alpha. Full results can be viewed here: Full results

The 14th Annual Western PA Scholastic Chess Championship was held on 6/16/07 in the familiar setting of Rangos Ballroom at CMU's University Center Building. 206 players battled it out in 8 sections. Taking his third 1st place in a row, Kevin Mo finished at the top of the 6-12 Championship section. Kemen Linsuain won the K-5 Championship. The star of the day was special guest speaker, 3-time US Champion Larry Christiansen. Highlights of Grandmaster Christiansen's visit included a blindfold game with Hibiki Sakai, speed chess with Junior Master Alex Heimann, speed games against the tournament players (at Queen odds), and a 10 game blindfold simul later that evening. For a full tournament results, look here: Results. A page about Larry Christiansen will be added later.

Grace Dorohovich, 2007 Grade 6-12 City Champion, and Ben Molin, 2007 Grade K-5 City Champion!

The Pittsburgh Youth Chess Dragons at the 2006 PA State Championship:

Happy Dragons from K-3 Open & K-6 Under 800, and Randall Gough, 2005 PA Elementary Champion!

The Pittsburgh Youth Chess Dragons triumph at the PA State Chess Championship in Carlisle! We have won 1st place Club Team trophy in the K-3 Open for 5 years in a row! We also took 1st place Club team in the K-6 Open, K-6 Under 800, and K-9 Under 1000. We were tied for 1st in the K-12 Under 1300, but finished 2nd in that section on tiebreaks. The Pittsburgh Youth Chess Dragons are teams put together by Jerry Meyers, composed of students from his various classes.

2005 K-6 Open Club Champions!

In past years, we were able to bring a number of special guests to Pittsburgh. One memorable visitor was Gregory Kaidanov, who was the highest rated player in the US when he visited. To see more photos of Grandmaster Kaidanov and our other special guest, click here: Annual Guest Speaker Program

Grandmaster Kaidanov's blindfold game against Gabriel Petesch was a highlight of his visit

The 2003 Tri-State Junior Open, with 379 participants, was the largest local tournament ever held in Western PA!! Here's how the main playing room looked at the start of the 1st round:

1) History
Chess is a classic game of strategy, invented more than 1500 years ago in India. Legend has it that the ruler of India asked his wise men to devise a way to teach the children of the royal family to become better thinkers and better generals on the battlefield. Chess was the result. In the centuries since its invention, chess has spread to every country in the world. While countless other games have died out, chess lives on. In the United States, it has received endorsements by many educators, ranging from Benjamin Franklin to former U.S. Secretary of Education, Terrell Bell. In Western Pennsylvania, more than 70 schools and a dozen libraries offer chess programs, reaching several thousand students each year.

2) Academic Benefits
We have brought chess to the schools because we believe it directly contributes to academic performance. Chess makes kids smarter. It does so by teaching the following skills:

Focusing - Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully and concentrating. If they don’t watch what is happening, they can’t respond to it, no matter how smart they are.
Visualizing - Children are prompted to imagine a sequence of actions before it happens. We actually strengthen the ability to visualize by training them to shift the pieces in their mind, first one, then several moves ahead.
Thinking Ahead - Children are taught to think first, then act. We teach them to ask themselves “If I do this, what might happen then, and how can I respond?” Over time, chess helps develop patience and thoughtfulness.
Weighing Options - Children are taught that they don’t have to do the first thing that pops into their mind. They learn to identify alternatives and consider the pros and cons of various actions.
Analyzing Concretely - Children learn to evaluate the results of specific actions and sequences. Does this sequence help me or hurt me? Decisions are better when guided by logic, rather than impulse.
Thinking Abstractly - Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider the bigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different, but related situations.
Planning - Children are taught to develop longer range goals and take steps toward bringing them about. They are also taught of the need to reevaluate their plans as new developments change the situation.
Juggling Multiple Considerations Simultaneously - Children are encouraged not to become overly absorbed in any one consideration, but to try to weigh various factors all at once.

None of these skills are specific to chess, but they are all part of the game. The beauty of chess as a teaching tool is that it stimulates children’s minds and helps them to build these skills while enjoying themselves. As a result, children become more critical thinkers, better problem solvers, and more independent decision makers.

3) Educational Research
These conclusions have been backed up by educational research. Studies have been done in various locations around the United States and Canada, showing that chess results in increased scores on standardized tests for both reading and math. A study on a large scale chess program in New York City, which involved more than 100 schools and 3,000 children, showed higher classroom grades in both English and Math for children involved in chess. Studies in Houston, Texas and Bradford, Pennsylvania showed chess leads to higher scores on the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.

4) Social Benefits
In the schools, chess often serves as a bridge, bringing together children of different ages, races and genders in an activity they can all enjoy. Chess helps build individual friendships and also school spirit when children compete together as teams against other schools. Chess also teaches children about sportsmanship - how to win graciously and not give up when encountering defeat. For children with adjustment issues, there are many examples where chess has led to increased motivation, improved behavior, better self-image, and even improved attendance. Chess provides a positive social outlet, a wholesome recreational activity that can be easily learned and enjoyed at any age.