CLAUDIA ENDS DAY 1 OF THE NATIONAL K-12 SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 1.5/2

Hilton Anatole
National K-12 Scholastic Championship
Update after the 2nd round


We thank God for the privilege of sharing moments as blessed as these, to be involved with our children regardless of the outcome of an event. Today Claudia finalized day one her first day of play by defeating Vincent Turturro of Arkansas in 13 moves.

In the second round she drew with Alec Anderson Conner (1708) in the 2nd round.

Tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. she will be facing a player from California. Claudia is doing well and in great spirits.

ROUND 1 OF THE NATIONAL K-12 SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS TODAY AT 1:00 P.M.

It all starts at 1:00 p.m. today! Who are the players to beat in Claudia's 6th grade category? Actually all of them, but if we concentrate on the top 3 ratings it would have to be:

1. Joshua Colas of New York - 2113 rating (picture above)

2. Justus D. Williams of New York - 2097 rating

3. Kyle Shin of California - 2066 rating

As of yesterday, the USCF was reporting 1,204 entries and in Claudia's category 101. If the event were to start at this moment without anymore registrations, she would start in 50th place. The beauty of chess is not where you start but where you finish.

WCM CLAUDIA MUNOZ IS GONE TO DALLAS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NATIONAL K-12 SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP

WCM Claudia Munoz left earlier today to participate in the National K-12 Scholastic Championship in Dallas, Texas. Claudia and her mother will be spending the night at Brady, Texas, with family friends, in order to proceed to Dallas in the morning. This tournament is the first of several steps to be taken in the next 140 days, to increase Claudia's rating to where she can participate in 2010 in the World Youth Championship.

Since the age of six Claudia had been living in Mexico as an American due to her parent's business ventures, therefore only playing in two or three tournaments per year in the United States. She just completed her relocation back to the United States after a 6-year absence to work on her chess rating. She leaves behind in Mexico a difficult track record to beat as she won 5-consecutive Coahuila state championships without ever losing a game as well 3-consecutive prenational championship without losing as well. In 2007, she won the bronce medal at the Mexican Open in her category and in 2008 she proceeded to win 3 medals at the Mexican Scholastic Championship. The Mexican Scholastic Championship has 3 events and takes a week to complete. With these accomplishments she still managed to win a gold medal for the United States - undefeated - in the North American Youth Championship 2007, where she earned her FIDE Woman Candidate Master title. Ninety days later she won the Susan Polgar National Open 2008, again undefeated.

With Claudia's exit from Mexican chess, she will now concentrate on getting her USCF rating to reflect her true strength, her current rating is not even close to her strength.

WRITTEN BY A FRIEND OF JERRY NASH - FORMER SCHOLASTIC AND FIDE DIRECTOR AT THE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION

We have all gone through difficult times in our lives where it seemed that the rain would not stop pouring. However, we know that life does not pause forever on that cycle - life goes on to better things.

A few months ago, the United States Chess Federation began to downsize its staff, due to the legal issues with GM Susan Polgar, and in the midst of that battle a friend was one of the casualties - Jerry Nash. Jerry was the Scholastic and FIDE Director at the United States Chess Federation before he was laid-off in a highly controversial move for us members.

I am not here to debate the USCF - Polgar lawsuits, I think our readers know where we stand on this issue since we have taken a public stand in both our blogs. This however did not prevent the USCF from naming me Head of Delegation of the USCF team that participated in the North American Youth Championship in Mexico this past October - there are no squares on the chess board for politics...only for the pieces and pawns.

I first established contact with Jerry Nash in the autumn of 2007, when I inquired about an international tournament for my daughter Claudia. I was very impressed with his professionalism and ethics. There was never an email that was not answered promptly and a call that was not answered affirmatively. Through my own problems and difficulties in chess related matters, he proved to be not just helpful but very professional.

As the years have gone by I found Jerry to be a key component of the USCF. When I heard of his departure from USCF, I was shocked as several of us were. Since then, we have continued to keep in contact. That is what true friends do.

I asked Jerry to allow me to post his resume on this blog because in my own way I want to help him as I have been helped by him.

I call out all the supporters of Jerry Nash to join me to help him gain employment at this time. Although Jerry is currently involved in the development of a chess program at a major university, the grant will take at least two years to materialize.

Jerry needs employment now regardless of location in the United States.

People, let's get moving now...
__________________

Jerry Douglas Nash

2647 Lake Pointe Drive

Cookeville, TN 38506

931-787-2756 – Cell

jerrynash@frontiernet.net,

EDUCATION:

1973 - 1977

University of Tennessee, Martin, Tennessee,

Graduation Date: May, 1977.

DEGREE: Bachelor of Arts with a Major in English and Minor in French. Tennessee Standard Teaching Education Certificates in English and French for grades 7-12.

1980 - 1984

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth,

Texas, Graduation Date: May, 1984.

DEGREE: Master of Divinity

Additional Studies:

Studies in world religions, world views, cross-cultural

communication,premarital counseling, and Russian language.

EXPERIENCE:

2009 – Present

National Education Consultant, United States Chess Federation, 2647

LakePointe Drive, Cookeville, TN 38506.

2005 – 2009

Scholastic & FIDE Director, United States Chess Federation, PO Box 3967,

Crossville, TN 38557-3967.

2003 – 2005

Office Administrator, Scofield Law Firm, 901 Lake

Shore Dr Ste 900, Lake Charles, LA 70601.

2003

City Planner II, City of Lake Charles, 326 Pujo Street, Lake Charles, LA

70602-0900.

2002 - 2003

Founder and Director of Global Pawn Promotions, 313 W. Oak Lane,

Lake Charles, LA 70601.

1989 - 2001

Director of Baptist Collegiate Ministry, McNeese State

University, 4328 Ryan Street, Lake Charles, LA 70605, 337-477-4866.

1986 - 1989

Director of Baptist Student Union, Louisiana College, Box 547 LC, Pineville, LA 71359, 318-487-7498.

1984 - 1986

Associate Director of Baptist Student Union, Northeast

Louisiana University, 1005 University Avenue, Monroe, LA

71203, 318-343-4359.

1981 – 1984

Athletic Director, Seminary South Day School, 500

W.Kellis, Fort Worth, Texas, 76115.

1977 - 1980

Teacher, Union City High School, English and French,

Union City, Tennessee.

OTHER EXPERIENCE:

Conference Leader for Local, State, and National Collegiate Conferences.

Travel in the U.S., England, Finland, Sweden, Germany.

Trip Leader for College Students across the United States and in Mexico.

Leader of Collegiate groups on multiple trips into Eastern Europe 1991- 2001.

Ministry Positions/Speaker in Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, and Texas.

WWW.OHIO.COM REPORTS

Kris Meekins (standing), 18, a national chess master and a senior at Lake High School, plays multiple boards of chess at the Voris Community Learning Center in Akron, Ohio.

(Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal)

Most sports pit teams against similar-size teams or one-on-one matchups.

But on Saturday afternoon, Kris Meekins of Springfield Township spent a few hours playing some one-on-18.

The 18-year-old chess master and Lake High School senior displayed the prodigious talent that garnered him the title as a National Master and the top chess player in the state of Ohio as he took on all comers at a simultaneous exhibition at the Voris Community Learning Center in Akron.

Sponsored by the Akron Chess Club with help from the YMCA, the exhibition pitted Meekins against any and all players. After a couple of hours, the Master was 13-0.

''There hasn't been any real competition yet,'' said Joe Yun, executive director of the Akron Chess Club.

''They don't know it yet and they keep playing, but he's beat a few people in six or eight moves,'' he said.

Meekins was introduced to chess at 12 years old by his father, Curt, whom he quickly surpassed in skill. Meekins joined the Akron Chess Club where Yun and other experienced players saw something special in the then-preteen.

''Oh, you can recognize talent right away. There is only so much studying and reading and practicing you can do before natural talent has to kick in to take you to the next level, and he's way beyond talented,'' Yun said.

At 14, Meekins won $10,000 and a trophy at the 33rd annual World Open chess tournament in Philadelphia. He has steadily climbed up the state and national rankings and is currently sitting atop the state rankings.

Meekins is not only a chess master but also a proponent of the game as a way to teach strategic and critical thinking, as well as a social outlet.

''I always liked strategy and games that make you think,'' Meekins said during a break.

''I'm definitely a proponent of chess. It also helps me in other things in school like math. And this YMCA is a great location. I've met so many people from all over just from playing chess and it keeps kids off the streets,'' he said.

The Akron Area YMCA has a pilot program at Voris elementary.

Meekins stood in the middle of a square formed by tables full of 18 chessboards ready for play. Meekins, toting a big bottle of blue Gatorade and occasionally pausing to check his phone between moves, slid from game to game quickly assessing each situation, making a move and moving to the next, usually leaving his opponent staring intently down at the board.

Among the fodder for Meekins' chess cannon was Akron Chess Club member Walter Hunt of Akron, whose defeat came after about 40 moves.

''I lost but I think he took it easy on me. Lots of times he won't mug you directly. He'll just take his time and gently mug you,'' Hunt said chuckling.

Larry Murphy and his young son Richard drove from Hermitage, Pa., to take on Meekins.

''We saw it on the Web site and how often do you get to play a National Master?'' the elder Murphy asked while munching on Burger King.

In his game, Murphy was doing better than most of the competitors and even had a possible winning position.

''Yeah, I see it. I just don't know how to make it work,'' he said staring at the board.

Meekins said he doesn't get much practice out of these exhibitions, but he simply enjoys playing chess, meeting new players and spreading the word.

Meekins will graduate next spring and says he's considering going to the University of Akron and believes a career in medicine may be in his future. But he also may apply for chess scholarships at schools such as the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Maryland.

---

Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.

FIVE MORE DAYS BEFORE THE START OF THE 2009 NATIONAL K-12 CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP IN DALLAS, TEXAS

2009 National K-12 Chess Championship

485 Teams from 39 States:

AR 3

AZ 24

CA 31

CO 9

CT 7

DC 4

FL 29

GA 2

IA 2

ID 3

IL 11

IN 3

KS 5

KY 5

LA 13

MA 5

MD 3

MI 5

MN 4

MO 10

MS 1

NC 4

NE 1

NJ 17

NM 5

NV 3

NY 52

OH 10

OK 17

PA 5

RI 1

SC 1

TN 3

TX 141

UT 5

VA 17

WA 14

WI 4

XX 1

1125 Players: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

16 Sections

K12 Blitz 79	K6 Blitz 67	Friday Simul 37	1st 77	10th 50	11th 48
12th 43	2nd 115	3rd 137	4th 156	5th 117	6th 99
7th 106	8th 80	9th 54	Kinder 43

Note: Sections will only be shown if there are players registered for them.

39 States Represented:

AR 22

AZ 34

N-CAL 20

S-CAL 18

CO 11

CT 18

DC 3

FL 94

GA 2

IA 3

ID 3

IL 12

IN 9

KS 12

KY 9

LA 35

MA 11

MD 5

MI 5

MN 5

MO 12

MS 1

NC 5

NE 2

NJ 32

NM 22

NV 5

NY 226

OH 23

OK 30

PA 5

RI 1

SC 1

TN 5

TX 368

UT 6

VA 29

WA 16

WI 5

THE GOVERNMENT OF PERU REWARDS THE CORI BROTHERS WITH $17,000 DOLLARS FOR WINNING THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP IN TURKEY

While in the United States we debate whether chess is a sport or not, the countries of Latin America have no quarrels in this matter - from Mexico to Argentina chess is classified as a sport. Since chess is a sport in those countries, they are directly funded by their national governments or else they would perish. Case in point are the Cori brothers in Peru.

The Cori brothers are a brother and sister duo in the under 14 and under 16 categories. Both are international masters (one is a GM-Elect) and they recently won a gold medal each at the World Youth Championship in Turkey. We have all been in awe with the Polgar sisters and their achievements; however, we have not witnessed in recent times anything close to the Cori brothers.

What makes this story so moving is the fact that Peru is a nation with extreme poverty with a large native indian population, so traveling abroad has not been the easiest thing due to financial reasons. Yet through the hardships, the Cori parents have been able to launch their two children to the international chess arena.

This past week, the government of Peru announced that they will be investing $17,000 dollars in the Cori brothers for their achievements in winning two gold medals in the World Youth Championship in Turkey.

In the following link one can see how the Cori brothers were received at the airport upon their return from Turkey, they were welcomed like heroes:

http://www.rpp.com.pe/2009-11-26-hermanos-cori-fueron-recibidos-como-heroes-en-el-aeropuerto-video_225251.html,

Usually when articles about Latin American governments rewarding their citizens financially for sport achievements are written, most American readers tend to say, "They should be using that money to help their people so they won't have to come to the United States..."

I would answer that Peru helping the Cori brothers is exactly that - helping their people.

_________________

GOBIERNO PERUANO ENTREGA AYUDA ECONOMICA A CAMPEONES

El presidente peruano en funciones, Luis Giampietri, entregó hoy un total de 52.000 nuevos soles (unos 17.000 dólares) a los hermanos Daysi y Jorge Cori, campeones mundiales de ajedrez de las categorías sub'16 y sub'14, respectivamente. "Quiero expresarles, a nombre del pueblo peruano, la felicitación y el aliento correspondiente", manifestó el vicepresidente Luis Giampietri, encargado del despacho presidencial en ausencia por viaje del jefe de Estado, Alan García. Giampietri entregó a hermanos Cori, 15.000 nuevos soles (unos 5.000 dólares) y un ordenador portátil a cada uno, así como 22.000 dólares (unos 7.000 dólares) para los viajes que realicen como deportistas en el 2010, informó Palacio de Gobierno. Giampietri subrayó que el caso de los hermanos Cori es muy particular, porque "se trata de dos jóvenes muy pequeños en tamaño y edad, pero grandes en su formación intelectual, que nos han llenado de orgullo y satisfacción", al haber obtenido el campeonato mundial de ajedrez que se celebró el mes pasado en Turquía. En la ceremonia de reconocimiento participaron también el presidente del Instituto Peruano del Deporte (IPD), Arturo Woodman, y el titular de la Federación de Ajedrez, Milton Iturri, entre otros. FUENTE

AT AGE 11 - KAYDEN TROFF IS NOW NM KAYDEN TROFF

NM KAYDEN TROFF

Main Entry: ¹joy

Pronunciation: \ˈjȯi\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gēthein to rejoice

Date: 13th century

1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety
2 : a state of happiness or felicity : bliss
3 : a source or cause of delight

_______________

This is how our family felt yesterday when the Troff family informed us that Kayden Troff had become a National Master. We were honored to have met Kayden at the North American Youth Championship 2009 in Mazatlan, Mexico because we knew about his achievements at such a young age. We can witness that his parents have really invested not only time and finances into his upbringing but a strong spiritual foundation to go with it.

We celebrate this milestone in Kayden's life and we know that his transition from the National Master to other titles, whether USCF or FIDE (he is also a FIDE Candidate Master) will be very brief.

We invoke blessing from above on NM Kayden Troff from Upbeat Abed, Chess Mom Claudia, Christian Music Singer Faith Munoz and Woman Candidate Master Claudia E. Munoz.

MOTHER OF "SUBCOMANDANTE MARCOS" OF THE ZAPATISTA MOVEMENT PASSES AWAY AT AGE 70

(AP) – 4 hours ago

MEXICO CITY — The mother of the man Mexico's government has identified as Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos has died at Mexico City's airport.

Airport spokesman Jose Luis Hernandez says 70-year-old Socorro Vicente Gonzalez died Monday of an apparent heart attack while waiting for a flight to her home state of Tamaulipas.

Mexico's federal government has identified Marcos as former university instructor Rafael Sebastian Guillen Vicente. But Marcos, who appears in public with a ski mask covering his face, has never confirm it is him.

Marcos led the Zapatistas in an armed uprising in 1994 in southern Chiapas state. After initially battling them, the government turned to offers of negotiations and aid, which have gradually eroded rebel support.

AJEDREZ EN MEXICO REPRINTS A FULL PAGE ARTICLE WRITTEN ABOUT CLAUDIA IN THE MEXICAN NEWSPAPER "LA PRENSA DE MONCLOVA"

Along our chess journey we have made numerous friends in various countries, one of them is Mr. Hugo Aranda - editor of AJEDREZ EN MEXICO (Chess in Mexico). His chess portal is the best known in Latin America with an enormous amount of traffic. His portal can be found at www.ajedrezenmexico.org,

About a month ago, we received an email from a newspaper in Monclova, Mexico requesting permission to interview our daughter, WCM Claudia Munoz. As our readers know, Claudia is American born but currently lives in the U.S. - Mexico border. As a Hispanic chessplayer, she is a source of inspiration not only for Latinos but for Hispanic girls on both sides of the border. Her achievements on both sides of the Rio Grande, along with her enormously popular Spanish language blog: www.chesscampeona.blogspot.com, have positioned her as a Mexican-American to keep an eye on. Especially now that she is 4 weeks away from returning to North Texas to concentrate on chess, after only playing in 13 rated chess events in the United States in the last 4-years while on vacation.

Reporter Luisa Chavez Leija from "LA PRENSA DE MONCLOVA" interviewed our daughter in Spanish about her chess career since age 6, her chess achievements in Mexico as an American living there and about her return to the United States.

The newspaper printed pictures of Claudia receiving an award from the Governor of Coahuila in 2008, Mr. Humberto Moreira Valdes, after becoming the first chessplayer in the history of the state in becoming runner-up to the state's high performance award after winning 3 medals in the Mexican national olympics. Also, pictures of Claudia in Texas at the Susan Polgar National Invitational along with GM Susan Polgar when she won the Susan Polgar National Open in 2008 - undefeated.

The article demonstrates how Claudia's achievement in both countries - the United States and Mexico.

The full page article from "LA PRENSA DE MONCLOVA" can be seen at the following link as it was republished by AJEDREZ EN MEXICO:

http://www.ajedrezenmexico.org/articulos/2828/art%C3%ADculo-la-prensa-monclova-sobre-claudia-toda-una-plana,

SPORTS POLTICS AND ANTI-SEMITISM

By DAVID BEDEIN, Middle East Correspondent

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Jerusalem – Moments after her moving victory in the world junior chess championship, Marcel Efroimsky of Kfar Saba, Israel, stood proudly at the podium as the new world champion. She grasped her silver cup, stole another glance at the gold medal around her neck, and expected the Israeli national anthem to be played in the background, as is customary in every competition. But silence filled the air. An irksome silence.

Ms. Efroimsky, 14, comes from a dynasty of chess masters. She began playing at the age of 6 and at 9 competed in her first world championship. Her dream came true when she won the first place in the world championship for players ages 14 and under, which was held in Turkey, but was very disappointed when the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikva,” was not played, as the winning country’s national anthem customarily is.

“This is simply a scandal,” fumed Shai Efroimsky, the new champion’s father. “How dare they mix politics with sports? The rules explicitly say that the national anthem is to be played. And that was the case two years ago as well, when she won the championship for girls up to the age of 12 that was held in the same location in Turkey.”

Indeed, two years ago Ms. Efroimsky won the championship for girls aged 12 and under, held in Turkey, and she became the first Israeli girl to do so. At that time, before relations between Ankara and Jerusalem had deteriorated, the Israeli national anthem was played.

But, this time the competition ended in a very different way. The medals were handed out, the trophy was presented to Ms. Efroimsky and, after the speeches, the organizers suddenly decided not to play the national anthems of the countries from which the award-winners hailed. The exception was the Russian national anthem, after Russia won the largest number of awards in the various competitions that were held. This is the second incident in the space of a week in which Israel’s national anthem was not played despite the fact that an Israeli won first place.

The organizers claimed in their defense that they had been forced to shorten the ceremony and that was the reason why the national anthems were not played, but officials involved in the competition said they suspected that the Turks’ intentions had been clear—to refrain from playing the Israeli national anthem. “I suspect that this was a specific move against Israel,” said Mr. Efroimsky.

In the wake of the incident last night, Aviv Bushinsky, the chairman of the Israeli Chess Association, sent a telegram to the president of the World Chess Federation with a request that he investigate the incident. Mr. Bushinsky wrote that steps ought to be taken against the Turks if it should become evident that the decision to refrain from playing the national anthem was deliberate.

Hatikva Not Played At

Fencing Championship

Precisely one week ago Daria Sterlinkov, of Israel, won the gold medal in a prestigious fencing competition in Austria, while Alona Komorov won the bronze medal. However, in this case, too, the Israeli national anthem was not played upon the conclusion of the ceremony at which the awards were handed out.

The Israeli team coach, Yaakov Federman, said that the person responsible for playing the national anthems told him they were unable to find the Israeli national anthem.

“So, we decided to take the initiative and all the members of the delegation, 22 in number, sang Hatikva ourselves,” said Mr. Federman, who added that this was not the first time that an incident of this sort has happened. “Five months ago in Sweden we had the same story,” he said.

Yesterday, a moving ceremony was held at the Ort Maalot school in honor of the pupils Ms. Sterlinkov and Ms. Komorov, and in honor of the teacher at the school, Yaakov Federman, their professional coach. “We decided not to be silent over the Austrian decision to ignore playing the national anthem of the first place winner and that is why we held a ceremony at the school, in the course of which the Israeli national anthem was played proudly,” said the school’s principal, Avi Manshes.

“The Austrian ambassador was also invited to the ceremony, but he did not attend and sent a letter of apology about what happened in Austria as well.” The ceremony was conducted with the blessing of Dr. Orna Simhon, the director of the Israel Education Ministry’s northern district.



David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us

GOD ALWAYS HAS ANOTHER MOVE....

http://www.newburyportnews.com/punews/local_story_331212247.html,

By Rev. Clinton L. Barlow

In an art gallery in London, there hangs a famous painting that depicts the great encounter between Faust and the devil. The painting shows Faust and the devil seated at a chess board. The devil is leering at Faust, with a self-satisfied air about him, because he has just checkmated Faust's king and his knight.

Through the years, many people have stood before this painting. But one day, a famous chess master went to the art gallery in London to study the picture. He stared, he paced, he thought. Suddenly, the famous chess master saw something. And in the quiet and staid surroundings of the art gallery — and to the utter amazement of those standing around him, who were also looking at the picture — he shouted out, "It's a lie! It's a lie! The king and the knight both have another move!"

My good friend and colleague, the Rev. Kurt Traugott, recently shared this story with me. Reflecting on this story, Kurt had this to say: "It seems to me that, in a strange way, this is the meaning of the Incarnation and the blessing of Christmas. In Jesus Christ, God always has another move."

As we journey through this Advent season — recalling the stories of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, Herod, and wise men — let us ponder how 2,009 years ago God made another move. It is a remarkable story in the face of many checkmates. But each time that it seems that the story will end in disaster and unfulfilled promise, God makes another move. A move that no one else saw — a move that no one thought possible.

Certainly in these dark economic times we are looking for a sign, we are looking for hope, we are looking for light in the darkness of the world — light in the darkness of our own life experience.

Reflecting on all of this, the author Kathleen Norris has written out of her own life experience: " ... even in terrible circumstances and calamities, in matters of life and death, if I sense that I am in the shadow of God, I find light, so much light that my vision improves dramatically.

"I know that holiness is near. And it is not rooted in majesty. It does not assert itself with raw power, but it waits in puzzlement. It hesitates. Coming from Galilee, as it were, from a place of little hope, it reveals the ordinary circumstances of my life to be full of mystery and gospel, which means 'good news.'"

_____________

The Rev. Clinton L. Barlow is interim pastor of the Millbury Baptist Church.

WHY IS THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING CALLED "BLACK FRIDAY"?

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23^rd and the 29^th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees have the day off (with the exceptions of those employed in retailing, health care, and banking), which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. Some of the larger retailers (depending on the location) such as Sears, Best Buy, Macy's, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart have been reported to open as early as midnight on the start of Black Friday in localized areas and remain open for 24 hours throughout the day until midnight the following Saturday. Upon opening, retailers offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day (see Origin of the name "Black Friday" below). More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

source: wikipedia

WE WISH YOU A BLESSED HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY

We ask our readers to take a minute to reflect on God's blessings upon us and our family, it never hurts to give thanks to the almighty for His goodness. As we sit to enjoy our Thanksgiving meal, let us also think about what more we need to do in our lives so that we may be a blessing to others.


On behalf of the www.claudiachess.blogspot.com family: Abed, Claudia, Faith and Claudia Elizabeth we wish you a blessed Thanksgiving Day.

THE NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP IN DALLAS, TEXAS BEGINS IN 15 DAYS

December is a time for numerous changes in the Munoz family as our children will be getting ready to go to a regular school in January. They have been homeschooled for two years and in a few weeks they will be traveling to North Texas for testing prior to registering in school. During the trip, Claudia will swing by to Dallas to play in the NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP.

We are very excited as our family prepares for Claudia's assault on the USCF rating system, after having played mostly chess as an American living in Mexico since she was 6 years old. She would only play tournaments in the United States while on a quick vacation back home. In January 2010, Claudia will be living in Wichita Falls, Texas specifically to focus on school, church and chess.

Her 1484 USCF rating is extremely deceiving since its based on 3 rated tournaments per year, while on vacation in the United States, the last 4-years. When she begins to plays every two weeks in the Dallas Chess Club within 90 days an enourmous improvement will have ocurred on her rating.

2009 National K-12 Chess Championship

438 Teams from 38 States:

AR 8

AZ 23

CA 29

CO 9

CT 6

DC 3

FL 26

GA 2

IA 2

ID 3

IL 11

IN 3

KS 4

KY 5

LA 12

MA 5

MD 3

MI 5

MN 4

MO 6

MS 1

NC 4

NE 1

NJ 16

NM 5

NV 3

NY 46

OH 8

OK 14

PA 4

RI 1

SC 1

TN 2

TX 125

UT 5

VA 13

WA 12

WI 3

XX 1

WE ARE SELLING THE FOLLOWING 6-MONTH OLD STEAM TABLE IN EXCELLENT CONDITIONS

Recently, we reduced a portion of our business by closing down the food service venture that we had in an assembly plant. The following steam table had been purchased six month prior in Dallas, Texas before the company, in which we were contracted to provide service, downsized. It is for this reason that we are placing the following electric steam table for sale. The white wrapping on the bottom was never taken off from the unit, so its natural stainless steel chrome is still conserved. It has four compartments, which we divided in half in order to provide eight different varieties of food. Due to the fact that we live on the U.S.-Mexican border, we can sell this unit in either country without a problem.


Those interested in knowing more about the unit, please give us a call at 830-734-4956 or email us at claudiamunoz94@gmail.com, The steam table is affordable and in excellent conditions, evey offer will be considered.


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Para aquellos en Mexico que esten interesados:

http://chesscampeona.blogspot.com/2009/11/ponemos-este-bano-maria-steam-table-en.html,

OUR UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT OF THE ISRAELI CHESS FEDERATION LETTER TO THE FIDE PRESIDENT

Dear Mr. President,

I write to you with great concern following what seems as a serious incident that occurred. Today during the closing ceremony of the world junior championships held in Turkey. Happily our girl junior player, Marcel Efroymsky, has won the world title and the gold medal. As costumed in such events, the delegations prepared to stand and salute the national anthem of the winner's country.

Astonishingly and without any warning, the organizers decided to cancel the playing of the winners anthem . The Turkish organization has offered a ridiculous explanation that they do not have the time to spend on such event.

This excuse is absurd in light of the same venue hosting this event two years ago where all winner anthems were played! In there actions, the organizers demonstrated disrespect to the junior winners, their federation and their countries.

As chairman of the Israeli chess federation, I herby urge you to investigate this incident. I must say that this kind of boycott (if such occurred) strikes as a another example of how politics interferes with chess. I call you as president of the FIDE, for which the tournament carried your flag, to investigate this issue and if the information appeared to be accurate, then to denounce this disrespectful conduct if the information.

My feeling is, that such events hurt chess in general and send the wrong message the children who dream to become chess champions taking pride in representing their countries.

Yours truly,
Aviv Bushinsky
Chairman of the Israeli chess Federation

TWO SILVER MEDALS FOR THE UNITED STATES AT THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 IN TURKEY

In the World Youth Championship , two of our youngest competitors, Tanuj Vasudeva and Samritha Palakollu scored impressive 8.5/11 scores in the Under 8 Open and Under 8 Girls. Both were on the top boards all event and earned silver medals due to superior tiebreaks! Our other big medal contender, Jarod Pamatmat faltered in the last two rounds to finish with 7.5/11, only enough to place in 11th. Alena Kats and Sarah Chiang, who were also in contention for much of the event, finished in 7th and 8th, respectively. Dachey Lin had a strong finish in the Under 10 Open to place in a tie for 9th.

Samritha was on top of the field for much of the event, but lost her final round. As it turns out, she probably would have finished in second even if she won or drew her last game, since the winner scored 9.5 and had the best tiebreaks. Tanuj blundered in round nine but came back with a stunning last round attack to push back up in the standings.

USA Coaches
IM Armen Ambartsumian
FM Aviv Friedman
GM John Fedorowicz
FST (Fide Senior Trainer) Michael Khodarkovsky
GM Sam Palatnik

US Squad Final Standings

VASUDEVA TANUJ U-8 Open	8.5
ZENG WINSTON U-8 Open	5
LIN DACHEY U-10 Open	7.5
HE TOMMY U-10 Open	7
CHIANG JONATHAN U-10 Open	6.5
GUREVICH-GRIGORIEV DANIEL U-12 Open	6.5
PAMATMAT JAROD U-12 Open	7.5
KRISHNAN VARUN U-12 Open	6.5
SHEN ARTHUR U-12 Open	7
BROWN MICHAEL U-12 Open	6.5
ROZOVSKY DANIEL U-14 Open	5.5
ADELBERG DAVID U-14 Open	6
FINNEY STUART U-14 Open	6
NG ANDREW U-16 Open	5.5
FM GETZ ALEC U-16 Open	6
VIGNA LIZA U-8 Girls	7
WANG ANNIE U-8 Girls	7
CHAWLA ALISHA U-8 Girls	7
PALAKOLLU SAMRITHA U-8 Girls	8.5
LIAO SIMONE U-10 Girls	7
WCM CHIANG SARAH U-12 Girls	7.5
MATLIN ANNA U-14 Girls	5
KATS ALENA U-14 Girls	7.5
ROBINSON DARRIAN U-16 Girls	5.5
WFM MARSHALL ABBY U-18 Girls	6.5

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I HAD SEEN EVERY CHESS SET IN THE WORLD - I SEEMED TO HAVE MISSED ONE

When you think of a luxury chess board with pieces, you may conjure up images of fine crystal pieces with hand detailing and gold trimming with a chessboard made of marble squares. Opulent Items has other thoughts and has released their Wobble Chess Set.

With this chess set, the 15″ by 15″ board is made out of walnut and maple wood but what’s interesting about the board design is each square has a concave space which is quite unique. The reason for this unusual design is the chess pieces themselves, from the King all the way to the lowly low man on the totem pole, the pawn have rounded chrome bottoms that fit securely within each square. With the rounded bottom, the chess pieces are guaranteed not to fall over.

Personally, the pawns look more like bowling pins, but that’s another matter. So what does opulence such as this cost? The price for this chess set is $250 US but if you feel like saving a couple of bucks and have a few used car parts lying around, you may want to follow the steps of these creative souls that created their own metal chess set.

CHESS CLUB HOLDING A LOGO CONTEST

Hoping to attract the works of aspiring and talented Graphic Arts majors, the Chess Club has decided to sponsor a contest that will award $100 in cash to the student that submits the most attractive and professional chess logo design for the club.

The contest is open to all MATC students. Voting to decide on the winning entry will begin December 4, 2009, and the winner will be announced at the end of December. All design entries may be submitted at any one of the club's meetings.

For more information and meeting schedules, go to MATC's homepage and click on "Clubs and Organizations," then click on "Chess Club," or contact the president of the club, Miguel Garcia, at 414-687-7105.

AARON LEGACY CONTINUES...

Yesterday, I received an email from Aaron Deepak, father of North American Youth Champion 2009 – CM Deepak Aaron from New York, it was an article written by his son’s high school newspaper. To the ordinary eye, the article was one more “feel good” story, like the ones we routinely get when we share in the life experiences of other chess players. However what captivated me about the article was the picture centered in the written narration.

No, it was not a vain attempt at self adulation. You see, minutes before the closing ceremony, my marketer’s brain was thinking about a certain type of picture that would convey the moment. I was in the lobby of the hotel when I asked my daughter Faith to get four sheets of white paper and to write the following words on each sheet: BRAZIL 2010 OR BUST.

I rearranged the seating arrangements for the “epic pose” and quickly people began taking pictures with the four gentlemen holding their signs. I felt this picture would express the moment to the readers of CHESS LIFE ONLINE as well as those in our blog – what shallow vision. Underneath Deepak’s high school article picture the following inscription appeared:

www.indianchessfed.org,

I decided to click on it and within a split second I was transported from North America to India, in cyberspace of course.

I was in search of something written about Deepak in this Indian Federation chess blog. I just could not find what I was looking for… when suddenly at the bottom right hand column, under the October 7^th dateline I read “AARON LEGACY CONTINUES”.

After clicking on the header, I proceeded to read no so much about Deepak but about his father Aaron and his achievements in his younger years. My mind traveled back to Mazatlan to when I met Aaron, he spoke about his chess past but my ear was not so keen in remembering everything he told me.

It was all coming back to me as I read the article.

For an instance I felt a sense of pride in knowing this remarkable father, a man who would wait for his son to finish playing and in a calm fashion inquire on Deepak’s results.

The word “LEGACY” jumped at me from the All Indian Chess Federation website.

Legacy.

In our current times, I do not think for a second that our younger generations know what that word means. As a matter of fact, I do not think our current generation knows the meaning to the word either. Therefore, I decided to put the internet to good use and look up the word.

_____________

Main Entry: ¹leg·a·cy

Pronunciation: \ˈle-gə-sē\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural leg·a·cies

Etymology: Middle English legacie office of a legate, bequest, from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, office of a legate, from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus

Date: 15th century

1 : a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : bequest
2 : something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past ,

_______________

The second definition really touched a sensitive wire in me. What legacy was I leaving behind to my daughters? Would one day someone write the same about me when referring to Faith or Claudia?

I have never had the honor of meeting I.M. Manuel Aaron, one of India’s first international masters, Aaron’s father, and Deepak’s grandfather but I learned a valuable lesson – a good tree will seed good seeds to harvest regardless if it is the Indian sub-continent or the North American Continent – it does not matter.

That is legacy.
________________

FROM THE ALL INDIAN CHESS FEDERATION WEBSITE

Aaron Legacy continues...
By Arvind Aaron

Chennai-born Deepak Aaron won the North American Youth Chess Championship in the Under-16 category that concluded this week at Mazatlan in Mexico. Deepak had represented United States there. By virtue of this triumph, Deepak, eldest grandson of India's first International Master Manuel Aaron will play in the Pan American Games in Brazil 2010. He also became a Candidate Master.

Deepak, born on June 9, 1994 at Chennai to Ashok Aaron and Joy Pramila is a prodigious student living in New York state near Albany. His father Ashok Aaron had finished runner-up in the Indian National Sub-Junior and won an Open Tournament at Tal Chess Club in Chennai in his chess playing days. He had also helped Madras University win the All India Inter-University Championship at Bodh Gaya in 1985.

Deepak had been training with GM Kaidanov and his grandfather Manuel Aaron. He had plenty of domestic success in the New York area but this is his major success. Deepak and his mother joined his father in the United States in September 1996. Like other boys of his age, he likes basketball and video games. Deepak's trainer for opening preparation is with Israeli GM Ronen Har - Zvi, a former world under - 16 champion.

CHESS TEAM MEMBERS TO VIE FOR GRANDMASTER STATUS

Nov. 18, 2009

The annual UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational tournament gets under way on Saturday, Nov. 21, with two 10-player sections to give the team’s masters an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming Pan-American Intercollegiate chess tournament.

Those in the top grandmasters (GM) section can also seek to achieve grandmaster norms; three are required for the prestigious and difficult title.

Those in the IM section can compete for norms for the international master title. This international tournament is rated by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), the organization sanctioned to award these international titles which are recognized throughout the world.

Visiting grandmasters with their FIDE ratings for the tournament include the following:

• GM Zviad Izoria from Republic of Georgia, 2589.
• GM Giorgi Kacheishvili from Republic of Georgia, 2583.
• GM Ildar Ibragimov from Connecticut, 2577.
• GM Babakuli Annakov from Texas, 2451.

In addition, UT Dallas’ own two GMs Alejandro Ramirez (2547), an arts and technology graduate student from Costa Rica; and Amon Simutowe (2481), an international political economy graduate student, will take part in the GM section.

Chess coach and International Master (IM) Rade Milovanovic has high expectations for the team to achieve multiple norms after their winning result against their recent victory over the University of Belgrade.

“The team is playing at a very high level. They just had a great score against a strong Belgrade team,” he said. “Someone will break through at this tournament.”

Six UT Dallas students rated as international masters will also be competing in the top section:

• IM Jacek Stopa (2493), of Poland, a junior majoring in international political economy.
• IM Marko Zivanic (2472), of Serbia, a computer science graduate student.
• IM Julio Sadorra (2478), of Philippines, a freshman majoring in psychology.
• IM Puchen Wang (2466), of New Zealand, a sophomore majoring in business administration.
• IM Daniel Ludwig (2461), from Florida, a freshman majoring in statistics.
• IM Salvijus Bercys (2439), from New York, a junior majoring in finance/science.

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Media Contacts: Karah Hosek, UT Dallas, 972-883-4329, karah.hosek@utdallas.edu
or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu

"THE HINDU" REPORTS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE INDIAN CHESS TEAM AT THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP IN TURKEY

International Masters Vidit Gujarathi and S. P. Sethuraman shared the lead in the under-16 section while Delhi boys Aryan Chopra (under-8) and Vaibhav Suri (under-12) maintained their winning run after four rounds of the World youth chess championship at Antalya, Turkey, on Sunday.

Among the girls, Lasya Goli was the lone Indian in the lead after scoring her fourth successive victory in the under-12 section.

M. B. Prathima (girls under-8), M. Karthikeyan, Harshal Shahi (under-10), Ivana Furtado, Tejaswini Sagar (girls under-10), Tejas Ravichandran (under-14), P. V. Nandhidhaa, Pratyusha Bodda (girls under-14) and Debashis Das (under-16) were on 3.5 points.

YOUNG MEXICAN PLAYER DRAWS RUSIA WHILE ASLEEP ON THE BOARD IN THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

This morning I checked the FIDE website to get updated on the latest news coming out of the World Youth Championship 2009 in Turkey, when under the headline of day two activities I cam across this picture of one of Mexico's upcoming players - asleep on the board.

Under the picture, the FIDE staff writer wrote, "IT IS SIESTA TIME FOR OUR MEXICAN GUEST." (www.wycc2009.tsf.or.tr,) I was curious to know the game's result and against who he had played with.

He drew a russian with black.

Imagine what the player could have done if he had stayed awake?

SLOW INTERNET CONNECTION IS A MAJOR COMMUNICATION HURDLE AT THE WORLD YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP IN TURKEY

During the Pan American Youth Chess Championship this summer, we asked the delegate of Puerto Rico to be the special contributor of our Spanish language blog: www.chesscampeona.blogspot.com, it was our first experience in real time reporting. We held telephone interviews, special reports in Spanish and simply had a great time. We considered doing the same for this blog, but it totally passed my mind.

Today we communicated with 3-Americans in Turkey, through email, and the common denominator was the same: slow internet connection at the site. David Zeng, the father of Winston Zeng - North American Youth Chess Championship U-8, informed me he still could not get adequate internet speed at 2:00 a.m. even while everyone else was asleep.

That's bad.

Needless to say, as we get a "more personal touch" reporting from our special contributors - you will be the first to know.

THE 2009 PAN AMERICAN INTERCOLLEGIATE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TEXAS

Host of the

2009 Panamerican

Intercollegiate Team

Chess Championships


December 27-30, 2009
Sheraton South Padre Island Beach Hotel
South Padre Island, Texas

Room rate is $89 for up to four people.
For reservations call Teri Murphy 956 761-6551 or 800-222-4010

Team Format: 4 player Teams, up to 2 Alternates, Traditional 6 round
Fix Roster Swiss Tournament. Open to College and Universities teams
(at least two players) from North and South America
including the Caribbean.

Teams must supply letter from University stating that the players
meet eligibility requirements.

Time Control: Game/90 with a 30-second increment per move.
Notation is required throughout the games.
MonRoi Units (Electronic Scoresheets may be provided and must be used.)

Tournament is FIDE and USCF rated,
but uses United States Chess Federation Rules.

Entry Fees: Priority Registration by December 1, 2009: $200 per team;
After December 1, 2009, $225 per team.

For additional Information, contact Russell Harwood at (956) 882-5762
or (956) 551-0303, or email russell.harwood@utb.edu,

WE RECOGNIZE CHESS TEAM THAT WILL BE REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

USA World Youth Squad

USA VIGNA LIZA U-8 Girls
USA WANG ANNIE U-8 Girls
USA ZENG WINSTON U-8 Open
USA ADELBERG DAVID 2158 U-14 Open
USA KRISHNAN VARUN 2061 U-12 Open
USA LIAO SIMONE U-10 Girls
USA LIN DACHEY 1759 U-10 Open
USA MATLIN ANNA 1866 U-14 Girls
USA NG ANDREW 2113 U-16 Open
USA PAMATMAT JAROD 2008 U-12 Open
USA SHEN ARTHUR 2033 U-12 Open
USA BROWN MICHAEL 2037 U-12 Open
USA VASUDEVA TANUJ U-8 Open
USA HE TOMMY 1673 U-10 Open
USA CHAWLA ALISHA U-8 Girls
USA ROZOVSKY DANIEL U-14 Open
USA FINNEY STUART 1985 U-14 Open
FM USA GETZ ALEC 2234 U-16 Open
USA GUREVICH-GRIGORIEV DANIEL 1942 U-12 Open
USA KATS ALENA U-14 Girls
USA PALAKOLLU SAMRITHA U-8 Girls
WFM USA MARSHALL ABBY 2171 U-18 Girls
WCM USA CHIANG SARAH 1674 U-12 Girls
USA CHIANG JONATHAN 1623 U-10 Open
USA ROBINSON DARRIAN U-16 Girls

HURRICANE IDA HEADED TO THE U.S. GULF COAST

NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the United States this year, plodded Sunday toward the Gulf Coast with 105 mph winds, bringing the threat of flooding and storm surges.

A hurricane warning extended more than 200 miles of coastline from Pascagoula, Miss., east to Indian Pass, Fla. Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches are in effect across other areas of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, including New Orleans. Louisiana's governor declared a state of emerg