Новости
BALTIJA CUP 2014
„BALTIJA CUP 2014” - June 15-21, 2014, Palanga, Lithuania - Open, Youth and Blitz tournaments. +370 686 82025, Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript
The Baltic Summer Chess Camp 2014
The Baltic Summer Chess Camp 2014 (BSCC2014) is an event in which children from different countries assemble together for chess training and competition and have fun. Participants are expected from the Baltics, UK and elsewhere. It is an opportunity not only to play chess but also have a family holiday in the European Capital of Culture for 2014.
BALTIC CHESS GRAND PRIX OPEN
Chess weekend in Kaunas, 9-11 May, in hotel Europa Royale**** (Miško g. 11, Kaunas)
Chess in Schools – the South African approachAuthor: Juri Agafonov | Translated by Lauris Laimiņš and John Foley (CSC, Chess in Schools and Communities)
The “Chess in Schools” movement is developing worldwide. An interesting approach has been developed in South Africa by Marisa van der Merwe. Although South Africa is the most economically developed country in Africa and has huge reserves of natural resources there are also severe social problems. Its population of 52 million people have an average annual per capita income of $12,000 (compared to Latvia - 2 million people and $21,000) with a very uneven distribution. Unemployment is around 40%; one in seven of the population is illiterate and a third of working people earn less than $2 a day. There are high levels of crime and HIV infection reducing life expectancy to around 50 years. The schools experience difficult conditions - not all schools have access to electricity and the water supply and it is necessary to accommodate the 11 national languages. Marisa uses chess as a way to introduce children to mathematics, science and life skills. This concept, which is branded as the MiniChess Program, is intended to make children “school ready”. It consists of a 4-year course for children from the ages of 5 to 9, starting with the simplest concepts and gradually, step-by-step , developing their knowledge and skills. Using chess problems and examples, children learn arithmetic as well as geometric notions of space and the shapes of objects. The programme improves concentration and ability to solve logical problems. Amongst the other improvements cited are literacy, planning skills, co-ordinate systems, and learning to comply with the rules of a game. Marisa claims that all this develops children's thinking and confidence in a fun way, preparing them for our rapidly changing world. The MiniChess Program consists of text books, teachers guides, workbooks and computer programs to support the learning process. As of now there are no chess grandmasters in South Africa but 45,761 children were engaged in Marisa's programme in 2013! The World Junior (under 18 years old) World Chess Championship for 2014 will be held in South Africa which is likely to stimulate interest in the game further.
Chess in Schools – a major movement in primary educationAuthor: Juri Agafonov | Translated by Lauris Laimiņš and John Foley (CSC, Chess in Schools and Communities)
A major "Chess and Education Conference" was held in London on 7-8 December 2013. The conference was held during the 5th Congress of the London Chess Classic, which also included chess tournaments for children and adults, amateurs and professionals, as well as exhibitions and seminars. The Chess in Schools movement is being developed around the world by public organisations with the support of enthusiastic individuals, state and municipal structures, chess federations and clubs. Three dozen countries were represented on the conference. The only notable absentee was the international chess federation (FIDE) which has its own programme. Conference participants shared their experiences of teaching children chess in different countries, discussed the organisation of learning, the choice of strategy, fundraising, and public relations policy. In an extra day, December 6, there were specialist talks about issues of science research - teaching methods and the impact of chess on children's development.
The ways of developing chess in schools varies across the world. The Chess in Schools project is rapidly developing in Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Armenia, Hungary, South Africa, Germany, Britain and France. Latvia lags behind in implementing the social and educational benefits of chess, so its development deserves a detailed consideration.
Juri Agafonov,
Related links:
Chess in PlaviņasAuthor: Yuri Agafonov
All through the long history of chess people try to understand what it is: game, art or science. An interesting research on chess and its role in society has been conducted in year 2014 by Estere Fedoseeva, 11th grade pupil of Plaviņas Gymnasium, under the guidance of teacher of mathematics and physics Anita Seikovska. The objective of the study was exploration of development of chess in Latvia and particularly in Plaviņas district. Issues on history of competitions, dynamics of chess popularity and reasons for absence of interest towards chess have been explored. Different research methods were applied: gathering and analysis of the public information, interviews with chess players of the district, videorecordings of competitions, survey of 421 pupils and 21 teachers of Plaviņas Gymnasium. In primary school (1-4 grades) 44% of scholars know how to play chess, another 18% of children would like to learn to play, other 38% are not interested in chess. Why they are not interested? They prefer computer games (52%), 45% do not have free time for chess. In 5-9 grades interest for chess gets lower. 30% of scholars know how to play chess, 49% of pupils are not interested in chess. The reasons are “no free time” and “do not like chess”. In upper grades (10-12) proportion of pupils who consider that they know how to play chess reduces to 26%. Reasons for absence of interest towards chess are the same and in the same ratio – no time and do not like chess. Teachers have a more positive attitude towards this intellectual activity: 52% know how to play, 10% would like to learn to play, 38% have no interest (63% are involved in other activities, 25% do not need chess, no physical activity – 12%). Overall result for Plaviņas Gymnasium: one third of the pupils know how to play chess, almost a third would like to learn to and one third does not wish to attend. At earlier age chess is more interesting. This result was also confirmed by survey of local chess players. Consequently, chess training should start from early age, when interest is higher! Estere has gathered and summarized statistics of local chess tournaments that are regularly held thanks to enthusiasm of U.Melderis. Extensive school research included also video clips of blitz chessplayer games in lack of time. This part of the work was one of the reasons for undeservingly low assessment of the work on school research contest. The jury considered that a human can not think and make moves so fast, that “this video is a trick – high speed recording”. Obviously, they do not know how quickly founder of Microsoft Bill Gates has lost Magnus Carlsen. The richest man on Earth had two minutes and the world champion – thirty seconds in his disposal. However, eleven seconds were for Carlsen sufficient to checkmate the opponent: http://youtu.be/84NwnSltHFo.
Latvian Railway Open
Latvian Railway Open, 28-30 March 2014
Regulations: LV EN RU Results: | A | B | C | Games (PGN) Gallery: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Video
Vladimir Petrov Memorial - 2014
Vladimir Petrov Memorial - Jurmala, Latvia, February 21-23, 2014
Regulations: EN LV RU Results: | A | B | C | Blitz | Games (PGN) Gallery: | 1 | 2 | 3 |
*** CHESS CONGRESS DRUSKININKAI 2014
CHESS CONGRESS DRUSKININKAI 2014 (Druskininkai, Lithuania, January 17–22, 2014) - 2 Rapid and 1 Blitz chess tournaments (9 rounds, Swiss system), FIDE Trainers' Seminar - January 17–19, 2014).
Results: Druskininkai Rapid Aquapark Open Blitz Dainava
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