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Did you expect such an epic tie break and that you would have a hockey score at the end?

•  How could one expect this? Of course, the tie breaks were very tough for me, as well as for my opponent. In classical round I won one game, and easily. The second game was also not bad. Well, I got worse end game, but I was sure I could manage a draw. But I blundered at one point and the tie break history began. I had to balance and catch up all four games, two times with black. But what is strange: I always knew that all will be alright. I think by the end of the day I was luckier because of my physical shape. I do a lot of physical trainings lately. Even here, in Khanty, I don’t miss my trainings, I work out, I swim, I go to sauna and only then I come to play. Obviously I was in a bit better sporty shape.

•  As famous proverb says Mens Sana in Corpora Sano?

•  Exactly. In principle, an answer to a question if chess is sport is very clear for me. Of course yes! Professional chess players are always under stress. Without good sporty shape you will not survive.

Alena Kats (Girls Under 14) and Tanuj Vasudeva (Under 8 Open) both have perfect 3/3s at the World Youth in Antalya, Turkey, which runs from November 11-23. Tanuj was on the cover of the latest CL4k as “Mr.Perfect” and wrote on his blog, Tanuj’s Chess Chronicles “Thanks to Chess Life 4 Kids Editor, Glenn (Peterson) for the new moniker.” So far the label is sticking! We also have two players standing strong with 2.5/3, Tommy He and David Adelberg. But in this 11-round tournament, no one can be counted out.

UPDATE: Tanuj remains perfect after four rounds! He’s the only American with a perfect score as Alena Kats, unfortunately, lost.

The US team scored 13.5/25 today. See full squad scores below. Follow the action on the official website and chessdom.com. The live game link shows top boards from each section.

Tanuj is also blogging about his experience here.

TheChessGym.com Chess Coach Rene Philips stirs excitement during his recent visit to Atlanta.  Coach Rene was in town to witness and mentor two of his local students who participated in the Boris Kogan Memorial held at the Atlanta Chess Center this past weekend.

While attendance at this event was low, it didn’t keep the excitement down in the skittles room.  It was standing room only while Coach Rene entertained the crowd. 

Several other chess coaches joined the fray after key upsets were being handed out in public.  This reunion was welcome to the ACC’s local players, many who believe that the chess community had become some what stagnated.

Destiny Christian Academy has been working with Chess-Coach.net for six weeks. This young group of kindergarten and first-grade students have proven that chess can be learned at early ages.

Several students have been selected for National Competition to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, May 2010.

DCA is participating in a nine week chess program.  Included in the basic chess instruction are several levels of recognition.  Level 1 Mastery.

Each Child is able to identify each piece on the board by name and set the board up in less than 1 minute.

Level 2 Mastery each child is able to identify piece values and demonstrate

how each piece moves.

Level 3 Mastery includes the beginning concepts of strategical thinking.

Each child must be able to solve the 10-piece puzzles.  There are 9 Levels of Mastery in the beginner set of chess instructions.