Chess Notation

At today's meeting we introduced the topic of Chess Notation. This is a formal way of recording every move in a chess game. As we discussed this morning, this can be important for a number of reasons:
* If the game gets interrupted, you can start back later in the same position
* If there is any question about how the pieces got to their current location, you can track it back
* If you notice an illegal position, you can figure out how you got there
* You can replay the game later for study and improvement.

Chess notation will be REQUIRED at our tournament games, and in the meantime it is really great to get in the habit of writing your games down -- that way it will become second nature to you.

There is a great, simple overview here that will remind you of how to notate your games, if you have any questions. At the end of that post there is a good example of a simple but very famous chess game. Another cool thing about chess notation is that you can take historical games and play them through with a friend or by yourself.

White       Black 
1. e4          e5
2. Nf3       d6
3. d4         Bg4
4. dxe5     Bxf3
5. Qxf3     dxe5
6. Bc4       Nf6
7. Qb3      Qe7
8. Nc3      c6
9. Bg5      b5
10. Nxb5   cxb5
11. Bxb5+ Nbd7
12. O-O-O Rd8
13. Rxd7   Rxd7
14. Rd1     Qe6
15. Bxd7+ Nxd7
16. Qb8+!! Nxb8
17. Rd8#

If you want to learn more about notation, this page has some great ideas about how to use notation to analyze and further understand games you have played.

Don't forget this week's homework -- play at least two games of chess, notate as you go, and bring the notation in for us to look at next week. I would prefer it if you can play a game with a human being, but failing that, you can play against a computer or online chess game.

See you next Tuesday!

Introducing the Woodlawn Chess Club!

Welcome to the Woodlawn Chess Club!

I am really excited to get to meet all of you, and I look forward to working with you each Tuesday morning. Whether you are just learning how the pieces move, or are a seasoned tournament veteran, or somewhere in between, we will find lots of opportunity to improve your skills, learn more about the game, and have a lot of fun along the way.

Each week we will split our time between talking about some aspect of chess and playing real games with each other. The equipment is provided by the school; all you need to bring to the meetings is your switched-on brain and a pencil.

The Woodlawn Chess Club is affiliated with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Scholastic Chess Association, and we will be participating in tournaments sponsored by this group throughout the year. These are entirely optional, but totally fun. The first team tournament is Saturday, October 19th, in Charlotte. I will post more details here shortly.

This blog will be used to share information about upcoming tournaments or other club activities, and post online resources to help improve your playing further.

Please take a moment to register for our mailing list using the form to the right of this post. I would love to get both the students and the parents added to the mailing list, to make it easy to get information out as quickly as possible. If you have questions, comments, or other ideas, please feel free to email me.

See you Tuesday!

Bill