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Excerpt from ‘Developing Chess Talent’ by Karel and IM Merijn van Delft

Chess is a suitable sport for many children and adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Scientific research on this subject is lacking, also on an international level. Experience indicates that chess stimulates social, emotional and cognitive development.
A ‘super championship’ for Jaap de Vries

‘Mate’, Jaap de Vries (9) announces firmly. After an attack on the enemy king, Jaap manages to score his third full point during national championships for chess pupils in Gouda. ‘My rating is rocketing sky high!’, he shouts.

Jaap is not very keen on a conversation with a total stranger. But this changes if he is allowed to play a game of chess with him. Then he talks incessantly between moves. ‘If I play chess, I keep learning more and more. It’s a fun sport, actually.’ Jaap wants to learn to play good chess.

‘This is a super championship!’, he says.

Jaap is suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. Because of this, he has few social contacts. In between tournament rounds, he plays games on his

Nintendo. In fact, this is precisely what does allow him to make contact with other children, who come to him to see what game he is playing. ‘If you share his interest, he is open for contact’, his mother Annemieke has noticed. ‘These games look individualistic, but for Jaap they are an opportunity to make contact with other children.’

Jaap takes in sounds much more strongly than others, says his mother. ‘His brain does not filter away these background sounds.’ That is why he

wears custom-made earplugs when he plays chess with other children. He keeps his kinetic unrest under control with a toy snake that he can fiddle with.

Jaap plays chess every week, in the youth section of De Wijker Toren. Trainer Jan Sinnige teaches a group of four beginners. ‘Jaap has a good contact with the other children of the group, but not with children from other groups of the youth section’, he says.

‘At the chess club he can gradually build up contacts’, Jaap’s mother tells me. ‘He has no friends in the neighbourhood. At the chess club he feels at home.’

Read more at Chessbase.com

New York is in the midst of a youth movement in chess. Robert Hess and Alexander Lenderman are the most recent teen stars to join Grandmaster ranks, but there are a couple of others who have those aspirations.

Justus Williams and Josh Colas are two of the hottest stars in scholastic chess today. Both are 11-years old and are blazing a path to the National Master title. Both have ambitions to earn the coveted the coveted Grandmaster title.

Both Justus and Josh, at 11 years old, are outstanding scholastic players and both would like to become Grandmasters. Both will square off in a seven-game blitz match in New York City.

Justus has scored recent successes and now has a rating of 2130. Josh has also improved rapidly and is now at 2080. Both players are the sons of proud parents and have sacrificed to support their chess endeavors. They have done a wonderful job! Josh attends Highland Middle School in White Plains, NY. Justus attends Eugenio Maria De Hostos – I.S. 318 in Brooklyn, NY.

Read More @TheChessDrum

Another great chess website.   The Chess Drum was nice enough to mention Chess-Coach.net on the site this week.  The Chess Drum has been cataloging chess history amongst blacks around the world for eight years.

Some of the exciting features of the Chess Drum include the Drum Majors of Chess and Historic Moments.

Chess accomplishments around the world can be found on this site and it is a honor to be acknowledged here.

Site Name: The Chess Drum, http://www.thechessdrum.net
Birthday: 12 February 2001
Home Base: USA
Purpose: (1) to highlight the chess activities within the African Diaspora (2) to serve as a vehicle for fostering a greater sense of community within the chess world (3) to facilitate the sharing of ideas and knowledge and (4) to demonstrate the true universality of chess.
Reason Created: lack of coverage on Black players in the chess media
History: http://www.thechessdrum.net/65thSquare/DrumHistory.html
Video Tours: 7th Anniversary, 8th Anniversary
Creator: Dr. Daaim Shabazz (Da-eem Sha-boz)
Career: University Professor (International Business)
Learned Chess… from an encyclopedia after seeing two boys in the neighborhood playing at night under a lamp.
Skill Level: Candidate Master (2000-2199 USCF)

*  *  *

Current Size: more than eight-thousand (8000+) indexed pages
Viewership: 200+ countries and territories
Media Exposure: Europe Échecs (France), Radio France International, Black & White (India), Kenyan Chess Magazine, U.S. Chess Life, Trinidad Guardian, Washington Post (USA), Neues Deutschland (Germany), ChessBase.com (Germany)
Motto: KEEP THE BEAT GOING!!
Sponsorship: None
Staff: One person
Proudest moment: Serving as webmaster at the historic Wilbert Paige Memorial in Harlem, New York.
Most gratifying project: The Chess Drum’s “Wall of Fame”
Latest major addition: blog, RSS feed
Nicest gesture: A chess cake presented to me by Kay Umeakunne.
Most satisfying reward: The volumes of supportive mail and contributions from around the world. Let’s me know all the hours are not in vain.

To find out more or to arrange an interview contact:

THE CHESS DRUM
c/o Dr. Daaim Shabazz
P.O. Box 7663
Tallahassee, FL 32314-7663 (USA)
webmaster@thechessdrum.net

Skype: dshabazz
ICC: chessdrummer
WuChess.com: chessdrummer

Where: Greater Atlanta Christian School, 1575 Indian Trail Rd, Norcross GA 30093
(please use entrance farthest from I-85)

Format: 5-round, unrated, Swiss-style tournament; open to all Georgia students in grades K-12;
In 13 sections, one for each grade, with 30 minutes per player as the time control.

Prizes: Trophies to all who score 3.5 or better, minimum 3 trophies per section. Participation awards to all players.

Entry Fee: $20; but $10 if attending a title 1 school.
Entry must be received by Tuesday, October 13. Make check payable to: GCA. There is no on-site registration.
Late payments and registrations not accepted.

Registration: Please mail payment and registration form to:  GCA, P.O. Box 91, Tucker, GA 30085-0091

Schedule: Rounds: 10-11:30-1-2:30-4. Award ceremony ASAP after last round ends.
Registration list will be posted by 9:00am. It is the parent’s responsibility to arrive early
enough to verify that the information is correct or to have errors fixed before round 1 begins.

Byes: A student may miss one or two rounds if arranged in advance with their registration. All byes
will be zero-point byes. Players must commit to play at least three rounds.

Information: GA Chess Assn President Scott Parker, 770-939-5030, gradelevels@georgiachess.org, www.georgiachess.org

Sets and Board supplied only for tournament play. Chess clocks not supplied. Please bring one if you have one. Bring your own set and board for use between rounds for game review and play. We suggest you bring your own lunch and snacks.
We strongly encourage everyone, especially first-timers, to read the attached frequently asked questions <http://www.georgiachess.org/downloads/FAQ_Grade-levels_2009.pdf> .

Appleton Early Learning Center has participated in our pilot program with 4 and 5 year old students.  This program was conducted over a six week period.

We have been able to demonstrate that children can learn and demonstrate critical thinking skills at this age.

We are looking forward to continuing with this age group for extended sessions and possibly trying some gender-based sessions.

The October issue of Chess Life for Kids is out and available online.  You must be a member of the United States Chess Federation to see the online version.

If you haven’t joined the USCF yet, please click here to join.